Student Appreciation

[Karen C. Seddon]

I have an idea for helping your students remember this year. Why not make a simple audio recording of how you enjoyed this school year? Think about the power of putting a message like this in your own voice. Even if you took time in class to remind the student about all the good things you did as a class, they are so ready to bolt out the door that very little, if any, may be absorbed. What if you wrote out a heartfelt script, then recorded your message on an mp3, iPod, in Audacity or GarageBand and saved it as an mp3 file? You could give the students access to a website where they could download the file to their computer or mp3 players (don’t worry, they will figure it out) and then they can listen to your closing message whenever, wherever and as many times as they choose. It may sound selfish to remind them of why your class was so important this year, but isn’t that our job? Isn’t that the whole reason we poured our heart and soul into everything we taught them this year? How could we not remind them? Don’t worry about a professional format. So what if it has a few bloopers in it? It’s a message from the heart that they may treasure for years. Please let us know if you tried this student appreciation gift this year and tell us if it was worth your effort.