Here it is, June 18th, and school has been out for 4 days. I went up to the school today and saw my class list for next year. It's exciting to think of a new year... but not yet. Right now I'm still savoring the year I had this year with another wonderful group of young people.
Parents, you need to know what a HUGE difference it makes when you are involved with your children. Of course, those of you reading this most likely are the ones who ARE involved...and that's why your children do as well as they do. There is also a fine line between helping too much and helping just the right amount. Too much, and often it sends a message to a child that they aren't capable of doing it on their own. This ends up not helping as much. Helping, in what I consider 'just the right amount', is supporting, checking over, but not doing work for them, letting them make their mistakes and learn from them. Fortunately most of the involved parents are experts at this.
As a teacher, I usually know fairly quickly which children have support at home and which ones don't. I have to remember this isn't the child's fault... and work with them accordingly. Fourth grade is a huge transition year. Most students rise to the higher expectations and enjoy the challenge.
This year, not only did most of Room 8 rise to the academic challenge, but they also rose on another level. As most of you know, this was a difficult year emotionally because I lost someone very dear - very special to me. Camilla. She was a student of mine in the 2003-2004 school year. In January of that year, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Over the past three years, she became part of my family and I became part of hers. She left us on April 16th of this year.
I talked to Room 8 about it throughout the year. I talked to them about hope, about perseverance, about living every moment to its fullest. What I saw in your children was compassion...deep compassion. I know most of your children never met Camilla, but they learned of her through me. It is my hope that your children learned more about life...more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic.
I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more gentle class of 4th graders to go through this time with. I always miss my classes when they move on to 5th grade...but this class went through a lot with me. Their support and the kind words and support from many of you meant everything to me.
I am so proud of your children...I hope you know how much they have - and do - mean to me.
Carlo is a baseball guy. I can't even remember all that he had...but the first 4 or 5 items in his bag all had to do with baseball! This baseball he's holding is signed by a semi-pro team. I do remember he had a pretty valuable baseball card...and a stub from a professional baseball game he went to. 
This bracelet...it's red and black...and I can't remember what team it represents. If you know, you can leave the answer in the comments at the end of this post...and I'll add it in here.
