Tuesday, January 15, 2013

My third graders!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers

When I returned to the classroom after staying home for more than a decade, my daughter was in middle school, and I taught third grade.  Since our middle school got out 40 minutes before the elementary school, she would walk across the field to my school and hang out in the back of the classroom getting an early start on her homework.
A few years later when she was a senior, she greeted me with these amazing words, "Mom, your third graders are freshmen now!"  I had to remind her often that my "third graders" were now "high schoolers" just like her.
This past week, a colleague stopped to introduce me to her student teacher.  When she said my name, the student teacher exclaimed, "You were my third grade teacher!" We had a few lovely moments remembering the 1998-99 school year.  She shared updates on several classmates.  We reminisced about reading the first Harry Potter book that year and having an end-of-the-year  Harry Potter party.

I woke up in the middle of the night wondering about a bound book from that class and went in search of this special keepsake.  This book of bios and photos of each student on the first day of school was a favorite classroom book for the entire year.  I found it and shared it the next day with the student teacher who took it home to share this lovely picture and her bio from third grade with her mom.

And so this past week I surprised my twenty-six year old daughter with the words, "Sara, one of my third graders is teaching down the hall from me."


6 comments:

  1. That is so cool! I love that you still had a book made by the class. It is so fun to see our "kids" as grown-ups.

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  2. I love when that happens. I also loved when my daughter was in the trenches working in our district. I love when kids see me at the mall. And I especially love it when they remember something that we did together....but the best is when they say that I haven't changed. I sing a happy song in my heart. XO nanc

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  3. Such a special moment you were able to share with a former student, especially when you shared a book from the past. Then thinking how quickly time passes and our children grow up. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. What a delightful story! How special that a colleague is a former student. Love that you shared this!

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  5. I agree with everyone else's comment. What a cool experience! And how great that you still had the book that her class had made. I love when I run into former students!

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  6. What a neat story! I actually am constantly living the student end of this story, as I now teach in the district I attended K-12. During my travels through various buildings, I've gotten to work alongside many of my former teachers, and it's so much fun to see them in a new way. (Although I can't stop calling them Mr. or Mrs.!) At my new school this year, my AP Gov teacher from my senior year of high school is now one of my assistant principals, which is really fun!

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