Monday 20–Love from students!

Today my Christmas gift to my students was a pass-it-forward gratitude opportunity – I gave them “Thank You” cards to fill out for a teacher, coach, or worker at our school. Little did I know that at the end of the day I would find a whole stack of Thank You cards in my box! It wasn’t really my intention (I wanted to spread the joy around the school!) but I must admit that hearing their nice words did make my whole year! So, today I am grateful for my favorite segments from the letters:

Mrs. Payne,

1- “You are always so happy and energetic and whenever I come here I can’t help myself but to be happy. And you have made me realize that I can do hard things.”

2- “I am thankful you are a really good teacher”

3- “I am so thankful that you are my teacher. I was dreading English this year but then I got your class and we are learning real fun things.”

4- “I would like to thank you for all the support you gave me on our one on one interview. Many of the teachers expect us to get what they teach us on the first try, but you get that we need time to get things right. Many times I have had doubts about something and haven’t had the guts to ask you but after our talk I feel that I can ask anything and you would help me. You are a rare teacher . . . Thanks to you I feel that a teacher actually cares about what we think and feel.”

5- “I can honestly say that you have been my favorite English teacher that I have ever had.”

6- “I really do enjoy this class and learn something new every class period.”

7- “Your crazy side is my favorite because you say weird things and act hilarious and it’s the best to watch because you’re in a really good mood and it affects everyone else.”

8- “I like how you write comments on each of our papers. They are always so nice and informative. I always learn something new from every comment that is written.”

9- “You really have taught me how to put the stuff we learn into my life.”

10- “Thank you for helping me with my reading, like suggesting The Hunger Games (which is a great book).”

11- “Thank you for teaching me how to use MLA format. I’ve been using it in all of my classes and I’ve been getting much better score on my papers . . . these are things that I will use for years to come.”

12- “You have really helped me reach my learning potential. You individually help each students and it really makes a difference.”

13- “I learn a lot more because class is enjoyable.”

14- “You are without a doubt my favorite teacher. You explain everything so clearly and you make learning fun.”

15- “I have hated classical literature my whole life, until I have gone to this class! I was talking to my friend, and she just moved. Right before she moved she had to read Romeo and Juliet and her whole school despised it! She told me that the teachers here are “brainwashing” us into loving it! Isn’t that a good thing? That’s my point! You are such a great teacher and you are so into it, so that makes the rest of us into it!”

16- “Even though I thought you were crazy in the beginning of the year, you really show that you care about your students by really thinking about our seating choice. When I sat in the back with  --------- I didn’t do so well, but you changed my seating to the front where I actually learn. I’m also grateful of you as a teacher that you took the most boring story that almost everyone hates to a story that sounds like the most interesting thing ever.”

17- “Before this class I felt like I was really bad at writing anything . . . I feel that now I am not terrible at English. I really want to express my gratitude more, but I can’t find the words.”

18- “You make Honors English so much fun even though it’s a very hard class.”

19- “You are such a happy person and you’re one of the people that just make me want to be like you . . . I love how you connect everything to your life and make everything understandable.”

20- “Thank you for unfolding the amazingness of Romeo and Juleit. It kills me to stop watching/reading/talking about Romeo and Juliet.”

*Bonus - “I really enjoy your class because it is the only class that I feel I can really express myself and feel comfortable in the class. I’ve realized that your teaching style is much much different from the other teachers, and that is why I am so excited to come to your class everyday. You’re not afraid to express yourself . . . you are not afraid to put yourself out there and that is why so many students love you.”

*Bonus – “Even though your class is one of my hardest, it has been one of the funnest classes I have had!”