I LOVE signing yearbooks


 
Each year as I finish teaching, I have a group of (sometimes surprising) students who want me to sign their yearbooks. In the busy end of year bustle, they slowly walk to my desk and ask me to add my signature along those of their friends. It’s endearing, and I always consider it the highest of compliments.

For each student, I stop what I am doing and focus on that student, for those moments. I think of what I can tell them, if this is the last time I am able to interact. Almost always, I want to tell the student how wonderful I think he is. Or how smart she is. Or how impressed and thankful I am for the effort he has put into the class.

I keep the entries small. No more than a paragraph, and then I let the ink dry and close the book. This year, as I signed yearbooks, I realized that I had a yearbook entry in mind for each of my 164 students. Had they asked, I could have easily encapsulated my celebrations, my advice, and my gratitude, into an entry for each. That is, I believe, what is at the heart of personalized learning. I have a message for each student that is individualized, based on what that student has let me learn about her.

For those students who do not ask me to sign their yearbooks, I keep the message in mind; five years down the road, when I run into one of them in the grocery store, I can say with sincerity: I can’t believe how hard you worked in high school! You were an impressive student. I loved reading your wacky writing! Thank you so much for contributing in class. I am blessed to have taught you.

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