"It's as if a great bird lives inside the stone of our days and since no sculptor can free it, it has to wait for the elements to wear us down, till it is free to fly." Mark Nepo

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Some Advice


Tomorrow is the last day of school. For this school year. For my kids' third grade year. For me forever (at least as it's been for the last 22 years). Here is some advice, given in a journal response, in their own words (but not their original spelling) my young friends are sending me into the world with:

You should write about when you were little.

Write funny and entertaining books.

Have fun, sleep in.

Write a book about Toby.

Go become a writer.

Always be ready for students.

Read some books from your favorite author.

You should write really long stories for people.

When your book becomes a novel have a good speech ready.

Glue google eyes to the back of your head and watch me. (This from Josh. See previous post.)

Enjoy what you’re doing all the time.

Be careful not to make spelling errors. (Miraculously, there were none in the original response.)

If you are writing a book, you should write it about your last third grade class.

When you’re on Oprah you be minding. (When she read this aloud she said, "When you're on Oprah, remember to wave to the best third grade.")

Whatever you’re writing, keep writing until you think it’s perfect.

Write lots of books.

Don’t go away. Stay here because it is more fun than writing.

Move to fourth grade so I can be your student again.

You should do some books hard and some books easy.

Have fun.

Write what your mind says. Don’t copy.

And this last one, my favorite, from a boy who has been a particular challenge and who often refuses to write anything at all: Pay attention to your story. Think about your old students and always get a good night sleep. And so I shall. With my whole heart.

Image from Flickr


12 comments:

Carrie Wilson Link said...

That last one brought tears to my eyes!

I know you won't copy.

Carol Murdock said...

Oh..I like the ..........

write what your mind says, don't copy! How sweet!

Jessica Nelson said...

Awww, that's so bittersweet. I've got two favorites there. The don't copy, lol, and the have fun, sleep in. The innocence of children... LOL!

The Unbreakable Child said...

So sweet, Deb, I hope you will frame them! What a lovely tribute to a very lovely person.

hugs

Jerri said...

You could search the world over and ask the smartest, most successful writers in the world. You'd never get better advice than "Pay attention to your story."

hooray said...

"Write what your mind says. Don’t copy." and "With my whole heart." really got me! What a wonderful crew of kids. It's your time to fly!

Anonymous said...

With my whole heart, lovely.

Angie Ledbetter said...

The best sort of "going away" gift of their words to your heart.

kario said...

Always watch out for students.
Because that's what a teacher does. And you, my dear, are a teacher through and through.

What a beautiful tribute. I'm sobbing over here...

Amber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amber said...

Oh, those are AWESOME!! LOL! I love them all.

But what stikes me the most, is how they all know you are leaving to chase your dream. And what a powerful lesson that is to them!

When I was little, a teacher left to join the Peace Corp. And she told us all about what it was, and why it was important to her...And do you know that THAT is THE reason I ever went to college? It is. Because she said you had to be a college grad to do that, and the idea of it just TURNED me ON! So, even though no one else in my family, or at school, ever talked to me about college, it was always a GIVEN from that moment on. That was it.

See, you doing this, and talking about it with them will probably plant something in one or all of them, that you don't even know! I just think that is wonderful. You are teaching them all the way to the end.

:)

Gammary said...

on to the next adventure....but always remember the children. They are the geniuses of the world.