...any of my students! I never thought of this as a child with my own teachers, as an education student or even during my student teaching. However, it has been at the forefront of my mind and worries during my first five years of teaching. I want to embrace and embed each child I work with into my memory, locked in a vault forever. The problem is that I have a terrible memory! I've already forgotten the names of kids I have taught or coached. I get so mad and frustrated with myself when I'm trying to think of a child to reference in conversation and I just can't place them.
Part of the reason I want to remember all of my students is so that I can selfishly say "I was _________'s third grade teacher." Surely, I will be the reason at least one of them is famous! The more honorable reason I want to remember them is because each of them has touched my heart in their own individual way and forgetting them or the impact they had on me is just not an option. I want to remember every cute and funny thing they say and do. I want to remember the heart to hearts we had in the hallway about not knowing their dad or how they haven seen their mom in three days because she works nights. I want to remember each and every smile, tear, hug an laugh.
Only in a perfect world would this be possible. I'm only five years in and I'm already forgetting. There's too many kids and too many moments to have a spot for each one. So I do my best to hold the moments in my heart. As for the names and faces, well, I buy a school yearbook every year to help me with that. I am also fortunate to have worked in the same school for these five years. This allows me to turn to my coworkers who have been there with me to say, "Hey, remember that boy that...?" I feel like I'm doing the best I can, but it will never be good enough.
All this makes me wonder if all my teachers remember me. I could never know for sure, but over the years as I have run into them, they all have remembered me or done a good job of pretending to. I usually tell them my name and sometimes my siblings names and after a thought it usually hits them. I know I still remember all of my teachers, their names and their faces. I loved my first grade teacher. She was wonderful and created a school attitude of passion rather than dread. I was in her first class as a teacher. As far as first years of teaching go, she blew me out of the water. I think her first year of teaching was as meaningful to her as it was to us because a few years later she invited her first class (then 5th graders) to her wedding reception. We had our own private little room and it was awesome!
The degree, lesson plans, professional development, room setup and teacher relationships are all important. The students are most important. I hope that I am providing them with all of the education, support and guidance that each of them deserve. I hope they never forget me and I know that deep down inside my mind I will never forget each of them!
