My daughter Jessie, a writer, experiences this phenomenon frequently and one her many remedies of cure is to read. She recently wrote a blog post for Markham seventh grade students on Where the Wild Books Are , about the reasons that she reads. The third of her top ten reasons is for inspiration, so I took her advice and read. I was reading an article in the Nerdy Book Club called Life After Harry Potter by Michelle Brown. It brought me back to some of my own memories of favorite book characters and that feeling of knowing them personally. Often times when I become dysfunctional to my family because I am so engrossed in a story that I refer to my new friends in a book, my girls would remind me that the characters that I am reading about are not real.
So, I wonder... are our students reading books that create those kind of relationships? Building relationships with authors and the characters that they develop is what can create strong memories and those memories build during the elementary years creating a love for reading. "Life long learners", perhaps an overused label, are developed when children spend time making memories in school.
We are nearing the end of the year and its time to reflect back. During the month of May, we are already making plans for the next school year and it is important to use the past to improve the future. As teachers, especially new teachers, May marks the time of year with most of the year behind us. We look at our students, take those end of year summative assessments and .realize there is much to rejoice and be proud of in that reflection. How much of that reflection will become a memory for you? How many will become memories for your students?
As you reflect on memories for the 2015-16 school year remember to encourage your students to read and write... turn a memory into a memoir which will make the memories last.