Learn Me Gooder (28 page)

With a little time gone by, I guess I turned out to be not so bad after all.

Since we’ve gone to the dress code, we don’t do the end-of-year T-shirt signings anymore. Invariably, there will be a couple of kids walking around in a collared white shirt that has names all over it, but I can’t imagine that makes their parents too happy.

Instead, at the end of each class, I gave every kid a big piece of construction paper. I showed them how to fold it repeatedly and draw boxes, and we had an autograph party. The kids collected signatures and notes in the boxes on a medium suitable for framing.

I usually make my own autograph paper as well and get the kids to sign it for me, and it’s fun to see what they write. There are always plenty of “Best teacher ever” variations (ticher, techer, tetch), but this group provided a few memorable quotes.
DaQuayvius wrote, “Your best student,” which I thought was highly wishful thinking on his part.
Isabel wrote, “You’re the teacher I never had,” which I found a bit confusing.
Tyler wrote, “Thank you for showing me everything you know.” Nice sentiment, but I’m slightly offended he thinks my knowledge stops at a third grade level.

I signed most of the kids’ papers with some variation of “Have a great summer!” Not Lakeisha’s, though. Right before she asked me to sign hers, she told me that Lex had written something mean on Ava’s paper. So on Lakeisha’s paper, I wrote, “Try to work on less tattling over the summer!”

Before we knew it, it was 3:00 and the kids were out the door. Most of them rushed me and gave me a big hug – except Betsy, who shouted, “NO!!” and walked carefully around the group hug.

Once the last child was on a bus and the big yellow transports rolled away, we were left with nothing but the silence of our thoughts. That’s when the slow clap began. Started by me. Ignored by everyone else.

Another year has come and gone. My test scores certainly were not the best, but I know everybody got smarter. I got a girlfriend, so the rest is gravy.

Now begins almost three months of rest, relaxation, and recharging the batteries. I’ve had my eye on those second graders for a while, and something tells me I’m going to need this time off to get ready for them.

I’ll also need the time off to get Jill caught up on the entire Star Wars experience.
Over and out,
Brad U Ayshun