Today you made me want to pull every hair in my head out. I would have loved five minutes without being interrupted, listening to tattle-tales, being touched, and having to ask you to remember to use your level one voices or stay on your pockets. I'm not sure why you felt compelled to stick markers up your noses or smear glue on your pants. I left school feeling grouchy and in need of a nap. However, as I write this after school, I cannot wait to see your crooked toothed, lopsided first grade smiles tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to hear about your adventures after school and get my guts squeezed out by your hugs when you come into class. Teaching you has been the most challenging job I’ve ever undertaken, but I wouldn’t trade my six months with you for the world. I want to thank you for being the world’s most fantastic first graders. I want to thank you for changing my life.
I know my job was to teach you the curriculum and make sure you’d mastered reading, writing, and math grade level expectations before second grade. However, each one of you has taught me so much more than I could have ever crammed into a lesson plan. You humbled me and taught me what true courage is. When I was six, I never came to school after spending the night in a hotel when a fire burnt down my house. I never knew what it felt like to have bruises on my body and bite marks on my arm from an abusive parent. I never felt the heartbreak of blaming myself for a divorce. I was never called a shithole by my dad and I never wondered if my mom would be in jail when I got home from school. I never felt the pain of hunger from missed meals or the embarrassment of not having a coat or new shoes in the winter. I didn’t feel the sadness that comes from having a mom addicted to meth. I didn’t know what it was like to lose electricity from not paying the bills or sleep under the dining room table because there simply wasn’t enough beds. You deal with these things on a daily basis, and still arrive at school eager and excited to learn. Your little hearts are breaking, but you put on brave smiles and learn the sounds that –ch, -sh, and –wh blends make. Your courage and optimism inspire me. My world would crumble if I encountered even one of these tragedies, yet you all handle them with more grace and maturity than I could ever imagine.
On my worst days, you were there with missing toothed smiles and big hugs to heal my hurting heart. You were quick to ask if I was okay and offer your first grade wisdom. One of you told me to “Learn more and grow bigger.” I will always be learning, friend, but hopefully not growing bigger. Your funny comments always made me laugh and reminded me not to take life so seriously. Thank you for making fart noises on the carpet (although I hated it at the time) and reminding me that it’s okay to lighten up and have fun. Thank you for keeping me informed of the latest updates in our first grade dramas. I could always count on you to keep me abreast of the latest news and I’m not sure I could have slept at night without knowing the latest boy who wanted to marry Brianna. Thank you for drawing me beautiful pictures, reminding me that I was your favorite teacher, and telling me that you loved me.
You have been the center of my world these last few months. I frequently find myself praying you’re okay on the weekends, finding things that remind me of you at the store, and brainstorming ways to help you remember tricky concepts. You have kept me awake at night and have been the cause of many an early morning. I’ve stayed late after school working to make sure you could learn to your full potential the next day. You caused me quite a few headaches, but also made my stomach hurt from laughing. You made me cry, but also gave me a ridiculous amount of smiles. You make me excited to wake up and come to school in the morning. You make me love being a teacher.
Thank you for being patient with me and putting up with my rookie mistakes. I know I wasn’t always patient with your mistakes, yet you allowed me multiple errors. I loved being a part of your learning. Thank you for allowing me to be there when the light bulb went off in your head and you fully grasped a new concept for the first time. Your love of learning is contagious and I loved seeing your enthusiasm. Thank you for letting me see the magic that comes from reading a book all by yourself or figuring out a tricky math problem. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and begging me not to make you stop writing for the day. Thank you for crawling up in my lap after school and sharing a book with me. These moments made all the hours of lesson planning worth it. You made learning come alive for me.
I get tears in my eyes when I think about leaving you in two weeks. I wish I could follow my fantastic first graders to second grade. I wish I could continue to be a part of your journey. You will forever hold a very special place in my heart and I could never forget each one of you. It has been an honor to work with you this past year and you have truly changed my life. Never forget how special you are. You have amazing potential and I’m expecting great things in the future. You are talented, funny, beautiful individuals who can (and will) impact our world. Thank you for being yourselves and allowing me to be a part of your lives. I will miss you, but I will never forget the lessons I learned with you. Thanks for everything, my first grade friends.
Miss Berg
