Often, after having spent the year together, the impact of the homeroom teacher is substantial but oftentimes goes unstated or unsaid. That in no way means that students don’t appreciate the time, energy and efforts of their teachers but perhaps don’t always take the time to actually think about it and put it into words. As a rotary teacher, this is something I like to coordinate as a class. In one of the final classes, we make something simple out of origami and insert a little personalized note (see tulip pattern below). Before writing them, we take the time to discuss what makes a message meaningful vs. superficial. I give them the following sentence starters for those who might need some ideas.
I will always remember you for
I really appreciated the time when
A valuable life lesson you taught me was
Thanks a lot for
As a person, your best qualities are
For fun, we collected them all and put them into a report card envelope and gave them to the teacher just as she was about to distribute theirs. I know that as someone who invested a great deal of time and personal energy into her class, these messages will be greatly appreciated. For the students, it is a chance to communicate a heartfelt thought that might otherwise go unsaid.
http://www.papercraftsforchildren.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/origami-tulips.jpg
