My Namesake

Class of 2012

Today was graduation day at our school. What a wonderful day! This group was the first seventh grade class I had six years ago. They will be missed!

At one of the parties I got to tour a student’s barn.

I have been reading personal experience narratives about that barn over the years, so it was fun to visit it.

I loved the light shining in.
The Barn Full of Stories
The Wall of Fame
Circle of Light

And bonus! I got to meet my namesake, which is a young goat. Miss K is raising three goats for 4-H. They are named Snap, Crackle Krebs, and Pop.

Crackle Krebs
Miss K with Crackle

I love living in Iowa!

I took lots of pictures at the barn today and Miss K said, “Now, you are probably going to write a blog post, right?”

Right! Thanks, K, for inspiring me to do so!

7 thoughts on “My Namesake

  1. Last week I was reminded that the first group of students I ever taught will be seniors next year. Yikes!

    We sure do fall in love with our students, don’t we? It’s hard to see them grow and go.

    -Laura

    1. Laura,
      Yes, it is hard to see them grow and go! This year was especially hard–that 8th grade class has rewritten me as a teacher. One of the students sent me the lyrics to the song “For Good” from Wicked. When I read them I realized it was true for me, as well. They have changed me:

      SO LET ME SAY BEFORE WE PART
      SO MUCH OF ME
      IS MADE OF WHAT I LEARNED FROM YOU
      YOU’LL BE WITH ME
      LIKE A HANDPRINT ON MY HEART
      AND NOW WHATEVER WAY OUR STORIES END
      I KNOW YOU HAVE RE-WRITTEN MINE
      BY BEING MY FRIEND

      I wrote my students notes for the last day, and used the Emerson quote you used with your 8th graders (and introduced me to) on each: “Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”

      You inspire me to love my students even more! I have much fewer than you, so I have more time to connect, but I could relate to your post about not being neutral. You are an inspiration, Laura!

      Denise

  2. So, I was reading your post and was thinking about you being at the graduation ceremony. (Which is one thing I have not done – attend my former student’s graduation). As I was reading I had hoped you would take pictures of that barn and sure enough there it was. I just love how you pair your photography with words as you excel at both! I loved those images and thought about your student writing about it with such love and passion. Barns are special places….and of course, Crackle Krebs! That made me smile.

    Then, I started reading the comments and had to grab the tissues. Laura is right – we DO fall in love with our students. June is such a bitter/sweet month. We know it’s time for our students to leave so that they can grow, and at the same time we want to keep them with us as it’s hard to say goodbye.

    I love the quote by Henry B. Adams: A teacher affects eternity – he can never know where his influence stops. Certainly Denise, you have affected the lives of all your students and I hope you get to witness more of that influence as you did this day!

  3. Oh, Nancy, what a lovely comment. Thank you for all the nice words.

    We do have a unique position–teacher to our “kids” for just a year and then push them out of the nest. There are some definite perks to starting over each year, but one of them is not saying goodbye to those students whom we have just come to know and love.

    However, I am the luckiest teacher ever now because I get to have my students for two years. I love my teaching assignment.

    Yes, your correction made me laugh–I would have known that you didn’t have just one student over all the years! đŸ™‚

    Thanks again,
    Denise

  4. Some day Denise – I’m coming to Iowa to visit. It just seems like a lovely place where life is good…dare I say not as ‘fast paced’ or is that just my perception. (Living in the Boston area – everything is rush, rush).

    I think it is wonderful that you get to create a stronger bond with your students, as you will have them for two years. Sometimes, it makes me wonder if we should ‘loop’ our kids. My daughter was in a looping class in Grade 1 & 2 and thrived. It certainly takes out the guess work at the beginning of the year and you can almost pick up where you left off. Yet at the same time – I enjoy a new class each year because of the challenge it provides for me and a clean slate for all!

    Enjoy your summer!

  5. We’ll have a place for you to stay, Nancy! I’ll show you around–a county or state fair would be good to see. It has got to be slower paced than Boston, even though we all get too busy here also.

    I would love to see the history in Boston. I’ve never been anywhere north of NYC, so I have a lot of historical and beautiful country to explore!

    Denise

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