Yeah–I know, it’s an oldie/but/goldie– but it’s still funny.
And now it’s on a wooden plaque that I put up by my clock–green, with a gold border, very nice, but that’s not the best part.
The best part is the signatures on the back from four of the best kids I may ever have taught (of course, at the end of the year, they’re ALL the best kids I may ever have taught, but since I’m very sincere every time, I guess that’s okay.)
They said wonderful things. They said my class was important. They said they liked my books (the one that read them–it’s not, after all (!) a class requirement.) They said I taught them essential skills–and not just knitting (yes, two of them said that specifically–they were my field trip kids to the yarn store:-).
In short, they said “Thank You.”
Do you know, no one ever thanked me for building the damned AP program in the first place? I’ve been running a student recognition program for six years, through 3 administrators, and only one of them has ever said ‘Thank You’. (No, not the current one…ssshhhhhhooooccckkkkkkkkkkkerrrrrr.)
But I have signed pictures and cards–and now a plaque–from students EVERY YEAR that say thank you. How is it that middle-management only learns to be gracious to the people it thinks will do something for THEM? I hope these students never lose this quality, this graciousness, because it has made one battle-scarred veteran look forward, every year, to another killing ground.
Bless them, it makes it worth it, every damned year–even this one.
