Why teachers are great, according to third graders

It’s the last week of school in New York City public schools-and before you ask, yes, we like to keep our kids in school as late as possible while every tourist child in the world is here, enjoying our lovely parks and pools and zoos and outdoor cafes, simply to torture our children for several weeks each summer. It toughens them up.

(Sometimes we even force them to eat quinoa and kale salad while non-Brooklyn children enjoy ice cream right in front of them. But that one we just do for fun.)

Thalia’s third grade class parents put together the most charming end-of-year memory book for their teacher full of drawings and notes from the children about what they remember most about Miss K.

(Their other teacher is already off on maternity leave if you might recall. And of course, she finally revealed the baby name to the kids. It’s Jack. I hear he’s very cute.)

Other students wrote fantastic little pieces about learning a lot in math, or how great the teacher is at substituting for the gym teacher (she really is!), trips to the Guggenheim Museum for art classes, the exercises they did each morning to start the day, or many of her funny stories. They were all terrific and thoughtful and charming and often funny.

But because it’s the law to like your own kid’s work the best, here’s Thalia’s contribution:

The best thing about my teacher | by Thalia | Mom-101.com

Illustration caption: Now never tell your parents I taught you about wedgies.

I wonder where she gets this oversharing thing from.

No idea at all.

But hey, it doesn’t even hold a candle to the kindergartener’s drawing of the school principal several years back by Sage’s classmate. That is easily the best thing drawn by any person of any age for any reason ever. No point arguing.

{9 Comments}

9 thoughts on “Why teachers are great, according to third graders”

  1. randi weingarten should hire you! So glad to hear that ny public schools have some gems of teachers. Sounds true also for some students. Love those illustrations, so thoughtful and creative! One question : do you save the hardcopy? How much stuff overall have you saved from the year ? Do you get rid of stuff without their knowing ? If so, do your girls ever notice? I feel like Nistar would notice every.last.colored.pencil I dispose of. Or rubber stamp. Or shape puncher. Or eraser. Or post it note. I love my daughter’s creativity but she has lots o stuff! The boys much less so. Can I really blame her? She is after all taking my Laura Ashley sheet (pink pinstripes, circa 1985) to camp with her this summer.

    1. We have some AMAZING teachers. And like every school–private schools included–some that could use a little help. Overall we’ve been very fortunate.

      As for kids’ art, have you seen the artkive app Rachel? Total lifesaver. I photograph everything, store it here, then at the end of the year you can even print it into a photo book right from the app. http://coolmomtech.com/2013/11/best-gift-books-for-kids-artkive/

  2. Really enjoyed your daughter’s favorite memory of her school year! Priceless!!
    Now that my kids are in high school and beyond I miss how attached they felt to their teachers when they were in grammar school- and how important school felt at the time. Now I live with far more cynical types than I care to admit (where did they get that from?…)- so enjoy these tender years. So lovely!!!

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