It was the penultimate day of school. (Yes, this is the same day as I wrote about yesterday.) I was covering a special ed teacher who co-teaches.
For second and fourth periods, I was co-teaching a seventh grade English class.
It was finals day, but Ms. Q was not giving a final. (One girl was disappointed that she didn't get to present her presentation. No one else in the class was upset at not having to do a presentation in front of the class.) She had a different activity for them.
The students were to write a letter to their future selves.
Upon completion, we sealed up the letter in front of them (without reading it), and Ms. Q set it aside to return to them as they graduate high school in five years (that would be 2029).
"But I don't want to write a letter to myself."
"I won't be here as a senior."
"I won't care what I have to say."
"How will you get this to me?"
We insisted, and they relented. Some ended up writing quite a lot. And some... Well, seventh graders.
It was such an interesting assignment. I've done something similar with a group at the beginning of the school year where they'd get the letter at the end. I don't think I've seen one where the teacher planned to hold onto the letters and then give them to the students' senior English teachers in five years.
I'd be curious to be a fly on the wall when the students get these letters later. They whined about it now, but I bet many of them will love this when those letters find them again.
They really don't realize how the time will fly. Or how much they will have forgotten. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they completely forget about these letters.
Wouldn't you love to find a letter from your seventh grade self? (Or not. It may have been a difficult year, depending.)
I definitely don't want a letter from my seventh grade self. Some things are better left in the past.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very interesting project. It would be fun to find out how many of the kids are still in that school, remember the letters, etc. I don't think I'd like to see a letter from my seventh grade self. I was still in the cult then, so I don't think it would have anything good in it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see how it wasn't a good time.
DeleteInteresting question. I'm a little surprised that my 7th grade English teacher, who was excellent and who was also my homeroom teacher, didn't do anything like that. It might have been interesting to read it now.
ReplyDeleteI don't think back in our day the teachers even thought of it. It's one of those things that seems obvious when you've heard of it, but before you've heard of it, it wouldn't occur to you.
DeleteThats great. What a creative idea! It would be interesting to know what the common themes area.
ReplyDeleteI didn't become anything of what i dreamt for myself as a teenager.
ReplyDeleteNeither did I.
DeleteI think it would be great if more people did this or just letter to them self.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great for our mental or emotional well being.
7th grade me would've done a poor job on a letter to myself. I'd love to have a day in the life letter tho, when did I wake - who I ate lunch with, etc., those are things forgotten.
ReplyDeleteThose are some of the things Ms. Q asked questions about (to prompt them on what to write). Hopefully some of them took the advice.
DeleteThat's an interesting project.
ReplyDeleteIt is.
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