*Once again I wasn't sure of what to post this Wednesday for a "wonder".
*Whenever that happens, something always seems to pop up and lands in my lap.
*This past Monday I arrived at school to find an email from a former student.
*It came as a complete shock. This particular student was a bit of a hand-full when I had him in fourth grade.
*After fourth grade he moved to a neighboring district and I wasn't sure how he was doing or how school was going.
*I have included our email exchanges because I think it shows the power of what we do with kids. I'm never quite sure if I'm making that positive impact on students that I want to; especially the "challenging" ones.
Email #1...
Hello Mr.Andrus! My name is Jack, I was in your 4th grade class.
I am now in 7th grade at P_ _ _ R _ _ _ Middle School in C_ _ _. I would
really like to thank you for making me interested in reading and all the
author meets we had over Skype. I now have a very high reading score on
MCA and its all thanks to you! I really can't thank you enough for all
the individual time you spent on teaching me to be a good student both at
home and at school!
Email #2...
Hey Jack,
It was awesome to get your email. There is actually still a picture of
you walking in the hall hung up here at Prairie View so I think of you
often. This is one of the best emails I¹ve ever gotten. I really want
you to know I appreciate you sending it to me. I¹m so happy things are
going well for you in 7th grade. I¹m especially glad to know that you are
doing so well with reading. As you probably remember, I love to read and
love books. I¹m still Skyping with authors and have actually had a couple
of authors visit us in person. That was really cool. It is always my
goal to help kids become the best student and person they can be. You are
a GREAT kid and I know will do wonderful things in your life. I can¹t
believe you are already in 7th grade. Time sure does go by fast. Thank
you again for this email and I am going to print it and keep it. It means
a lot to me. Please say hi to your dad for me. Take care and remember to
keep reading as much as possible.
Mr. Andrus
PS: Two books you may enjoy are called The Honest Truth and Some Kind of
Courage by Dan Gemeinhart. I think you would like them both!
Email #3...
Have you done any authors with your kids that I did with you? Like Dan Gutman? He may have been my favorite author of them all. I also enjoyed the song of the week! Are you still doing that? If so I feel it is a great way to send a message to kids.
Email #4...
Dan Gutman was awesome. I still remember his Skype visit. I try to do
new authors each year. One cool guy I had was Phil Bildner who wrote A
Whole New Ballgame and Rookie of the Year (comes out this summer). He was
really fun to talk to. Another awesome author was Jory John who wrote The
Terrible Two and The Terrible Two Get Worse. He was a young cool guy.
You might like those books!
Yes, we still do Music Monday. My class loves it. I do some of the old
songs and of course add new ones when I hear a new one that I want to
share with my class. I¹m glad you still remember that. I¹m never quite
sure what students remember from class and what they don¹t. I¹m glad that
you remember it. Yes, that is why I use the music songs because I want to
send a message to them about life and being a wonderful person.
Thanks for writing back! Mr. Andrus
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