My letter to the Garrison Mill Class of 2007-2008
May 22, 2008
To the Fifth Grade Graduating Class of Garrison Mill,
Can you believe it? We are at the finish line. You have survived a year’s worth of subject matter, problem solving, nightly reading, optional weekend homework, (if you were a student of mine) research, prewriting, drafting, editing, rewriting, underlining the question, circling the key words, reading the captions, analyzing the graphs, creating new graphs, bubbling in the answers, guessing and checking, eliminating the obviously incorrect answers, carrying out the investigation, reflecting on and evaluating the results, observing, plotting, drawing, practicing, memorizing, presenting, listening, repeating, considering, determining, and ultimately learning. It has been a year of action.
But what will you do tomorrow? Will you, students, continue to do what your teachers, parents, peers, and other community members have asked of you? Will you use what you have learned?
Will you remember the lessons, the activities, the surprises, the victories, and even the occasional disappointments? Will these events become touchstones for your future, or will the experiences of this year be safely placed on a display shelf, to be occasionally reviewed in the future, the way a treasured yearbook or trophy might be taken down and used as a conversation piece? As with a yearbook or a trophy, the dust may accumulate on your fifth grade year to the point that it loses its luster or it is otherwise worn and frayed. Is that the legacy of your experience from this year?
Remember what Stephen R. Covey has said: “To know and not to do, is really not to know.” In other words, the doing, the action, is where true knowledge and comprehension are found. You have been “doing” all year, but what you know depends on what you did!
Whether you realized it or not, our year of action planted seeds you will harvest in the future. Every step you have taken this year is another step on your life’s educational journey. You have learned academics assigned by the state of Georgia, Cobb County, and your classroom teachers. You have learned about yourselves and your friends by participating in discussions, working with partners, and reviewing for tests. With each action, you have developed skills to move you forward in some direction, whether it is according to your plan or in response to unforeseen circumstances.
For many of you, this recognition of your effort validates your hard work. You have followed the guidelines, completed the tasks, and tried to do your best. For others, you may have some sense that you could have done more, or that what you did was not your best. So be it. Either way, in the days ahead, you have an opportunity to do your best.
During this year, I have had two messages posted in my room which I believe to be true. The first one reads, “Make sure that your past does not hold your future hostage.” The second one reads, “Change brings opportunity along with it.” Both of these messages offer definition and hope for each day of a person’s life. Yesterday does not define what will come today.
There will always be change, and that is one thing that will never change. How you respond to change depends largely on your attitude. With each new day and each moment within it, you have the opportunity to redefine yourself. If you are used to your efforts being rewarded with success, it can be difficult to find the meaning in failure. However, there is meaning to be found when one exerts effort to try again following a real or perceived failure. If you learn from your mistakes, then you have not really failed, have you?
We teachers, believe it or not, face the same daily challenge. You students may have thought that teaching is nothing more than checking off a “To Do List” of lessons. It is a common misconception that people become teachers so they can be in charge of kids and tell them what to do. You may think that we enjoy being in control and that we spend our planning time conjuring up ways to make life inconvenient for you. The reality of the teacher and student relationship is actually more complex, and less sinister, than that.
Just as you students have depended on us teachers, we have depended on you. You have challenged us just as we challenged you. We have chosen to be here because we need to learn more ourselves, and this can only happen through teaching what we know. Teachers are only in existence when there are students. There can only be students if there are also teachers who are available to pass on what knowledge we have ourselves learned.
We teachers reflect on our successes and note the satisfaction such successes have brought us. Likewise, in the areas of our shortcomings, we try to understand where we went wrong. During our time with you this year, we sometimes believed our lessons with you were successful, and other times we wished different outcomes would have occurred.
We may have wanted to be more effective, more helpful, or more able to reach you in some meaningful way. There may have been times when these feelings were not obvious to you, but even in those moments our desire has been to connect with you in order to improve your knowledge, your skills, and eventually your ability to make good choices. It is part of our life’s work to understand and relate more effectively with our students and our peers.
If we teachers are to grow in our educational skills, we have been told that we must continue to model lifelong learning. Learning is dependent on evaluation, reflection, and determination by the learner. In the process of helping you to learn, we ourselves learn. Without these actions, we cannot determine what we should do in the future. If that sounds like a lot of work, that is because it really is! Really thinking takes concentration and effort.
It is, however, in moments when we are thinking about our thoughts, in what is called metacognition, that we must realize these struggles give our lives meaning and strength. Just as the butterfly must beat its wings against its cocoon in order to gain strength enough to fly, you have had to push away from this safe place in order to spread the wings which will carry you to the next phase of your journey. Your wings will carry you to where all of us can see the colors you display in all their glory.
I’m sure Ms. Wilson and Ms. Huffman would agree that a primary purpose in life is to take the opportunity to use your gifts, your talents, and your abilities to find your voice, your calling. Some people have a clear sense of this early on; they find their calling and pursue it. Others have to search longer to find theirs. Either way, this search is an action; it is a challenge.
Whether you view this year as your best so far, or as the year when you really struggled, remember that change has come today. Change brings opportunity along with it. Make sure that your past does not hold your future hostage. To change is to commit to action, just as learning is a commitment to action.
We believe in each of you and in your ability to continue active, lifelong learning for personal growth and self-mastery. We are proud of each of you and the changes you have made this year. It has been a pleasure teaching you and learning from the experiences we have shared. Good luck next year and have a safe, memorable summer.
Sincerely,
Alex McGill
Fifth Grade Teacher
Garrison Mill
Elementary
