Dear Parents,
I hope that you are well and looking forward to some time without your child "having" to do school under your guidance. This email serves as my final communication for this school year.
I'd like to start out by saying THANK YOU! Your child would not have been successful this year, especially this spring, without your support. I am grateful for everything that you did to help your child do their best work and be the best person they could be. I know it wasn't easy, as the work of a teacher and parent is often messy. Yesterday, when I traveled to your homes, your children looked excited, happy, and hopeful. Thank you for doing the amazing work to create this environment for them.
Report cards should arrive home soon. They do capture a snapshot of your child's progress this year. However, if you want to learn more about how your child did or what their next steps as learners are, please check out your child's Seesaw page. In particular please look at what they did and the feedback they got from me. Parents will have access to the Seesaw page all summer even though your child's access ends tomorrow.
I know this "COVID Spring" and the upcoming year will continue to bring great uncertainty to us all. While things won't always be easy, "we" have a role in continuing to shape a positive outlook on the world for our children, and thus ourselves. If your child wants to be a writer, reader, mathematician, scientist, social activist, doctor, dancer, musician, or anything they dream of, use language at home that helps them feel that they already ARE those things. We all need to help our children see that ANYTHING is possible. When your child does something well, be specific with your feedback so they know that it was a "skill" they learned that helped them accomplish the task, not an innate ability. If they say, "I can't," help them by saying "you can't do________, YET." Then show them the steps towards being more successful with that task. By adding "yet" and positive language into our daily lives we make a small difference today, but a BIG difference moving forward. This momentum is what your children need, and we do too.
As for summer, fun, and the future, I wish you all the best. I hope that you all are able to make the most of your summer and that you're able to find time to enjoy the small things, like flowers blooming, cooking a meal with loved ones, or swimming in the ocean, even when it's cold and you don't think that you'll enjoy it. I hope too that your family finds a safe way to continue to connect with friends. Attached to this email is a class list with contact numbers for classmates for when you want to encourage another connection for your child. As for the future, I hope that you all are able to stay healthy, stay productive, and continue to be the amazing people that your family needs. It's been an honor to work with you all!
Warmly,
Gabe