Final Thoughts

Well, maybe they are not my final thoughts.

Another year comes to an end.

Yesterday was my last class with this year’s batch of students in the professional year. I am truly blessed, I think, to have the great good fortune to have such wonderful young people in my classes. They are an inspiration to me; so much so in fact that I am going to make a concerted effort to attend grad for the first time ever. They certainly are worthy of my humble attendance; besides, I would very much like to meet the parents of such amazing children. I want to congratulate these parents on how superb they must be in raising such offspring.
You know the students have had an impact on you when you don’t want the year to end. I wish I could be their faculty adviser so I have an excuse to talk to them via e-mail and WebCT. I must be getting maudlin in my old age. In my final tribute to them in the last class I mentioned how much they had taught me that they would never know. This little missive is a feeble attempt to share some of the things they taught me.
You (I’ve switched to the second person because it is more personal than the third person) have taught me that you will be exemplary teachers because you are willing to teach who you are, not just the curriculum. Your presentations proved to be exemplary because you showed through your confidence, your modulated tone and expressive language that you belong in front of a class. It gave me great pleasure to watch you strut your stuff upon that sterile stage known as ATAC 1006.
Your helping of each other especially impressed me. Teaching is very much a collegial thing, and when one of you was stuck for a unit plan on Hamlet, three of you sent him detailed unit plans on the play. That, my friends, is collegiality. Make sure this continues on your placement, please. You all have WebCT into the foreseeable future, perhaps to the end of placement. Use it to help each other and contact me for help, questions, or you want to share some success you have had. Don’t be shy. Keep me in the loop, although I will not step on the toes of your faculty adviser.