End of the practicum is nearing — all late and missing assignments have been handed in and marked, letter grades have been finalized and crunch time was finally over.  Before parting ways with the class, I decided to leave behind a gift for each student.  I had three main objectives:

• Thanking the student for their hard work, and perhaps offer feedback regarding their progress throughout the year
• Recognize and acknowledge the bond we had developed together
• Attempt to communicate how much I valued our relationship through heartfelt comments or suggestions

Some cards were easier than others to write:  some students made obvious improvements, others overcame huge obstacles; yet others opened up and shared.  For some, it was difficult to find the right words; for others, my emotions bubbled very close to the surface.

The large card on the left is the only card I wrote that took up both inside pages.  I wrote it for a student in my class with whom I truly connected; and because I felt that I shared a bond with him, it was all the more frustrating as I watched him consistently prioritize everything else in his life over completing school work.  As time wore on, the small pile of homework became a hill, and the hill eventually became a mountain.  Everybody involved ran the full gamut of emotions, and then some.

Most days began with a pleasant conversation.  Two days before Friday, the last day of my practicum, he came to me with mixed emotions.  He told me that he wouldn’t be at school on Friday because his football team would be playing an important provincial-level match.  He’s deeply passionate about football — he always chose football practice over his homework — and there was much pride and excitement in his voice as he told me.  And then, the kicker… he’s sad that he would be missing my last day.  (I later realized that he was involved in planning my surprise party, became very dejected at the fact that he had to miss it, and gave it his all to resist the temptation to spoil the surprise [he succeeded!])

This student was a handful.  He was brutally honest — he would respond to homework reminders with “I have football practice tonight, so I’ll only have half an hour… I might be able to do one of those”.  This student knew what he want, followed his passion, and chose to stand up for himself time and time again in the face of dire, undesirable consequences.  He missed both of the field trips I planned for the class due to incomplete homework; he (understandably) expressed much displeasure, but completed a significant portion of his late assignments on both occasions.  On so many occasions I wanted to slap him on the back and tell him, “good job!”  With him, I walked the fine line between encouraging and redirecting, facilitating and teaching.

This was one of several gifts that I received from my school advisor and the class.  Why does it mean so much to me?

• The students decided to graphically represent the topics that they liked the most
• Through their expression, they clearly demonstrated evidence of learning

An informal self-reported poll revealed that the majority of the class liked Science the most; most of them cited the hands-on experiments as the main reason.  The cactus in particular made me extremely happy, because most of the class were bored to tears when it came time to tackle the Desert portion of the tasks.  The colour wheel in the top right was the icing on the cake!

This coincidental exchange of gifts confirmed the importance of strong, caring relationships.  Believing children to be appreciative of all the work I put in helps me give my all; confirming students’ appreciation through their heartfelt tokens of appreciation enhance my resilience tenfold and inspires me to surpass my efforts with the next group of students.