Dear Child,
Today is the second day of Parent/Teacher interviews. It’s another chance for me to sit down and talk to your moms and dads about how you’re doing and where we need to go next. These are short meetings. They’re 15 minute opportunities for us to chat, and I can’t help but wonder what gets lost in such short talks. So today I write this note to you to share what I want to make sure you know at the end of these interviews.
I’m proud of you! You continue to do better. You are working hard. You are pushing yourself to do more, share more, and show me more of your incredible thinking. You’re showing me that school matters to you, and you’re coming in every morning with a smile on your face and an eagerness to learn. I love that!
You’re teaching me a lot! You are telling me about things that matter to you. You’re forcing me to think of new ways to make learning meaningful. You’re not afraid to tell me what you don’t understand, and you’re making me think of how I can help you understand more. You’re telling me when you’re interested, and you’re telling me when you’re not. Sometimes it’s hard to hear that you’re “bored.” But hearing this is making me think of new ways to excite you, and for that, I’m grateful!
You’re making me laugh a lot, and you’re making me truly love my time in the classroom! Changing schools was hard. I wanted the change, and I was excited by it, but at the same time, I was also scared. I didn’t know what to expect. Have you ever felt happy and scared at the same time? This was like me! But you quickly made that scared feeling go away. You quickly made me feel welcome in a wonderful school with a wonderful community. Every day, you tell me stories and engage in discussions that make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts, and you just love to giggle along with me. It’s great that we can laugh together! You make me feel like the luckiest teacher in the world to be your teacher, and I honestly can’t ask for more!
I know that the Progress Report is short. I know that it’s full of many adult phrases and levels of progression. I know that it’s easy to focus in on those “marks”: progressing with difficulty, progressing well, or progressing very well. Please look beyond these levels. Look at what you can do now that you couldn’t do before. Celebrate this growth! And think about what you may still want to continue to work on, and we’ll work on these goals together. Goals are good! And I know that you can meet these goals because you understand the value in hard work, and you will put forth the effort because it matters to you!
And so, on this last day of interviews, I say to you, “Thank you for letting me teach and learn with you! I’m excited for the many months to come.”
Yours Sincerely,
Miss Dunsiger