So much has happened since my last day of school a week ago!  Where do I even start?  You would think I would have all the time in the world to sit down and blog but not a second!  I am going to go back to the end of the school year to share something I do each year.  For the past 25 years, I have been keeping a memory book of my students.  It is so much easier to take pictures now than it was back in the day!  I would have to wait forever to finish a film roll and then get them developed.  By the time I got the pictures back, the memory was far gone.  Now, it is right at my finger tips!  Super easy…..no excuse!  My students love to look at the memory book.  What are their top 3 things they like the most?

1.  The first thing they do is go back to the years when their siblings or friends were in my class to see them in my book.  It is so cute as they get excited to see them in this massive treasure!

2.  The next thing I hear is giggles.  Why?  Because they see my 80’s hairdo!!!  Haaaaa!  My poodle hair!  They even question if it is me or not!  Ha!  I recently showed some of my colleagues this pictures and my “Hero” partner Roberta, who I call “Berta” laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.  She wants to send it into Ellen.  We got on Youtube and she showed me some of Ellen’s episodes where they reveal the bad hair.  It was hilarious!

3.  Their third favorite thing is to read cards and notes from my past students who are now grown up!  Each year, I keep a student address list.  When they graduate from high school, I send them a card along with a picture of them in my classroom.  I ask them to write to me and let me know what their plans are for the future.  Some of them come back to me because they have moved. 🙁  A few students continue to keep in touch over the years and even send me pictures of their own children!  It touches my heart.

Whether you are a first year teacher or a “seasoned” one, it is never too late to start a memory book!  It has been my prized possession and whenever I begin to get a little burned out, I flip through the pages and realize why I am teaching!  I love my students!