SOL 14/31: My Lucky Streak (part two, the middle part)!

 

The middle event of my lucky streak was the best

and the one I celebrate the most.

It was bookended by two mailbox events:

the prize book that

arrived in my real mailbox

and the notice in my email box

that I'd won the commenting challenge.

I know you want to know, right?

What was the middle part of my lucky streak?

It was a box!

A box?

Yes, an ordinary cardboard box 

in the bottom of a closet 

turned sideways with the lid 

pushed against the wall.

The dirty laundry basket sits on top of it.

But the treasures it held?

And the time I've spent looking for them?

Lately, I've eyed the boxes in the garage,

wondering when it might be warm enough

to launch a full scale search out there.

It was one of those lost things

that lives just at the edge of consciousness,

and every once in awhile I would wonder

where those quilt square notebooks had gone. 

Every time I noticed a large white notebook,

my heart would leap and I would think,

"There they are!"

And then my heart would sink as I opened the binder

to daughter's Management Communication handbook

(the most intensive coursework I've ever seen on grammar),

or the binder filled with pictures for church classes. 

 I'm not sure what made me look

in the boxes in the bottom of the closet.

But when I checked, I discovered

one box filled with daughter's journals and

the next box filled with doll Tess and her birth story.

And then inside the third box,

I was elated to discover the long lost 

notebooks of 6th graders' quilt squares 

and the third graders' getting to know me pages.

When I taught 3rd grade my co-teacher

and job sharing partner always took pics

on the first day of school 

and asked students to complete a 

getting to know me page.

We would spiral bind these pages to make a book

and leave them out for the students to peruse 

throughout the year.

When I began teaching 6th grade, 

I wanted a similar project and 

the getting to know me paper quilt square was born.

Students filled out four sections with information

about themselves and the student picture 

(taken on the first day of school) graced the center.

It was always a race to get the squares completed

and the bulletin board assembled before open house,

but I loved watching 

students, friends, and family pore over this display.

I talked to my students about the unique qualities 

possessed by each of them and 

how each contributed to our classroom quilt.  

So I know you're wondering why I still 

have these quilt squares from my students 

and why almost five years into retirement

I was looking for the quilt square notebooks.

Whenever I bump into former students

or chat with their parents

(as often happens when you live in a small town),

I like to come home and look up their quilt square.

It's a wonderful glimpse of their 11 year old self.

Flipping through those pages

reminds me of each group and

the mosaic of personalities that were stitched 

together to create each year's unique quilt,

and I love remembering them!