`
My former students probably have no idea how much I keep track of them. I don't do anything insane, but if the Honor Roll is listed in the paper, I'll go through every name and say to myself, "She was mine. He was mine." When I run into a former student somewhere, we'll often discuss some of the classmates (and I have heard some pretty interesting updates). I've even had a couple of kids volunteer to bring their yearbooks to me so we can peruse and chat for awhile. These ladies in the photo stopped by my classroom last week to say "Hello!" Unabashedly, I pulled up their class list from two years ago (yes, they are Seventh Grade Queens now) and we went through every name for the latest news, updates, and gossip (loving gossip?). I love hearing about their classes, especially the electives they've chosen. I love to hear about their extracurricular activities. And I love to hear about the kids who are still managing to be GOOD! I breathe a sigh of relief and keep my fingers crossed that they'll be able to navigate all the pitfalls of teenage-dom.
i'm with you on keeping track of students. of course, it helps that i live in the school boundaries (and did while teaching), going to church with a lot of them. and (WEIRDNESS!) some of them were younger siblings of high school classmates of mine.....so too many connections there that i don't even have to try to keep up on my students' lives. it's always nice to see that they are serving missions, going to college, getting married (!!!!) and that they made it out of jr. high somewhat intact. ;)
ReplyDelete