Dear Regina, Even though we had a late start, I feel like I have learned so much about you. You are such a sweet, polite, and caring young woman. In our short time together I have seen you blossom as a writer. You are thoughtful and careful with your words. I enjoyed how much attention you gave to your characters’ name and their personalities while writing your children’s story. You were patient and welcoming with my feedback. I appreciate how quickly you opened up and how you didn’t hesitate to share your interests (and dislikes!) with me. I know that you will enjoy high school and find much success. Much love, Emily P.S. I’ll tell Miranda that you say hi!
It has been a privilege to discuss, to learn, and to share this journey of writing with you this semester. In every form of writing we have experimented with, you have been charismatic in your choices, experimental with your ideas, and responsive to feedback. For your children’s story about a winter wonderland adventure, I appreciated how you created funny and interesting characters like Olaf and the Fox. I also appreciated your short stories about your broken leg and your memorable fight in the form of diary entries. You had a sassy tone and memorable internal monologue. As I have repeatedly told you, you are my Maya Angelou. Your poetry is inspiring, and your voice will always resonate with your readers. I will never forget the lessons you taught me with your passionate poems. I look forward to you publishing more of your original poems in the future and performing your spoken word for others. On our last day together, I appreciated your excitement to tackle on the juvenile retention system. You are worldly and compassionate, and I am thankful for your willingness to think about connecting with the real world and real problems. Your voice matters! Thank you for working with me this semester. I will never forget our journey together, and I will always be on the look out for your writing in the future!
It has been great getting to know you. I cannot believe time has gone by so fast. It has been almost a year since we have been working together and I have seen you grow so much! I am very proud of you and all of your work.
Not only did we learn skills and strategies for reading and writing but also from one another. I hope you have enjoyed working together as much as I have enjoyed working with you. I hope you have developed a stronger liking for writing and different ways to express yourself. I also hope that you learned new skills and strategies when facing challenging texts!
Thank you for teaching me about diamante and acrostic poems. I can now try them with my students! Your love for gymnastics has made me want to learn more about it and try some of your skills from your informational text!
I hope you take our lessons into your future academic years. I know you will do great because you are a bright and eager person. I wish you nothing but the best!
Dear Jada, It has been a pleasure working with you in the Clinic for the past 9 months. I have enjoyed getting to know you and seeing your hard work and determination each week. When we first met, I knew you were a little nervous about what we were going to be doing for the rest of the year, as was I! I wanted to make sure that your time in the Clinic was wonderful for you. Each week, it was amazing to see you grow as a reader. Each week, the fluency practice became easier and easier for you. And the decoding as well…I hope you are still using this strategy in school! You continued to amaze me with your writing ability as well. I was always impressed with the perspective you would have after reading the texts. It was always so different from what I was thinking, so I enjoyed learning from you. This semester, you have shown your true talent as a writer, especially a poet. I hope you continue to write poetry and share it with the world. Whether it’s through your music or in written form, you have a way with words! I wish you all the best and I hope that you continue to reach for your dreams.
I have enjoyed working with you this school year. You have changed so much in this short amount of time. Your reading and writing have developed and I have seen you become more focused. You have done a remarkable job using the strategies you learned when reading and writing.
My hopes are that you will continue using what you have learned and apply it whenever you are reading and writing. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your learning journey. Enjoy the rest of your school year!
It's been a crazy 9 months! I've had a lot of fun working with you and seeing you grow as both a reader and a writer. When I first met you, I was really worried! I had already started working with a student who then disappeared! I didn't know what you'd be like, or how you'd work, or whether I'd even be able to finish my clinical requirements! I'm super thankful that you came through and let me work with you. I can't begin to tell you just how proud I am of seeing you improve both your reading and your writing. I know you've gone through the clinic a couple of times already, but it was really cool seeing you get better and better at things like decoding, reading fluently, and writing (add more details!). Better yet, I learned a lot from you as a teacher. I got to try out new techniques and strategies teaching you, and I've become more patient. Any teacher would be lucky to have you! You've got an amazing, creative mind, and I hope that you'll open that mind up even more in the future! Keep reading. Keep writing. I'm expecting to see you do some big things as you get older! Sincerely, Mike Orosa
Zadye- As told through the Passover Seder I was fortunate enough to know my great-grandfather. In fact, not only did I know my great-grandfather, he lived with us for several years. To me, he was Zadye. Before he lived with us he would bring us bagels, donuts, and cookies every Sunday morning…like a Jewish Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. I would go to sleep on Saturday night and wake up on Sunday morning with our kitchen counter filled with bagels, cookies (with sprinkles!), and donuts…the treats being the only trace of his presence. Zadye was also in charge of toting my younger brother and me to Hebrew school every Tuesday and Thursday. He would pick us up from school in his small light brown car and made sure that we were buckled in safely before driving away. In his trunk he would keep snacks for us because he knew that we would get hungry between school and Hebrew school. Do you remember those variety packs of chips that your parents or maybe school would buy from Sam’s Club? That’s what Zadye kept for us in his trunk. Not just one variety pack, but at least three packs at a time. He also would buy full size candy bar variety packs for us! Full size! And of course he always had our favorites. Rummaging through his trunk on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons was like digging through the treasure chest at your dentist’s office, but WAY better. I still can’t believe that my mom let us get away with that. One of my fondest memories of my Zadye was when my whole family got together every year to celebrate Passover. During the later years of his life, Passover was held at our house because, well, that’s where he lived and so everyone had to travel to us. Passover is a Jewish holiday that is usually celebrated in April. The dates of the holiday vary every year depending on how the Hebrew calendar matches up with the Gregorian calendar. In the year 2016, Passover is celebrated from April 23rd to the 29th. Passover lasts for eight days and it celebrates the emancipation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. There are several important readings, songs, and rituals that take place during the Passover Seder (dinner). Tradition states that families hold Seders on the first and last days of Passover. My family usually just celebrates on a convenient weekend night during Passover. Zadye was the “leader” of our family’s Seder. During the Seder we read from a Haggadah which is similar to a prayer book. It follows a certain sequence with prayers and rituals following each other in a certain order. Zadye’s job was to make sure that we were on track and to choose family members to read different parts. Our family Haggadah is written mostly in English; Zadye was really the only one in our family that had a good grasp on reading Hebrew.
During Passover one is not allowed to eat chametz. Chametz is any form of leavened grain. So any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, or oats is prohibited from being consumed. In fact, one is supposed to assume that every item contains chametz unless certified kosher for Passover. Instead one is supposed to eat matzah instead. Matzah is a thin, plan cracker that is supposed to represent the “bread” that our ancestors ate as they fled Egypt; they didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise. I can fondly remember my mom making us matzo bri for breakfast (basically scrambled eggs with pieces of matzah in it) and peanut butter and jelly matzah sandwiches for lunch. In case you were wondering, Zadye’s trunk full of goodies contained a lot of chametz! Another important element of the Passover Seder is the ritual of drinking four cups of wine. Each cup of wine has a special symbolic meaning tied to one of the “four expressions of redemption”. A fifth cup of wine is poured, not consumed, and set out for the prophet Elijah and the door is left open for him to enter at his leisure. Obviously, as children we were not allowed to drink wine; instead we were given kosher for Passover grape juice. The only time that I ever saw Zadye drink was when he drank four cups of wine during Passover. By the fourth cup of wine he would bellow the prayer and the great grandchildren (and grandchildren!) would all giggle. Every year at the Seder we all try to recreate Zadye’s bellowing of the prayer over wine. It still gives us a good laugh and puts a smile on my face. My favorite part of the Passover Seder was when the children were released after dinner (before dessert) to find the afikomen. The afikomen is part of a piece of matzah that broken in half towards the beginning of the Seder. One half of the broken matzah is wrapped and hidden for the children to find. Traditionally, the Passover Seder cannot continue until the afikomen is found. Since Zadye had eleven great-grandchildren he would hide several afikomen wrapped in tinfoil. After the meal was consumed Zadye would release the great-grandchildren to find the hidden afikomen in the living room upstairs. We would climb, jab, and jump over each other to get to the living room first to start our hunt. Once we located those shiny pieces of gold (not really, just matzah wrapped in tin foil!) we would race downstairs to claim our prize. We lined up and waited patiently in line in front of Zadye. We would place our afikomen in the pile in front of us and he would place a fresh, crisp twenty dollar bill in our palms. But before we could carefully fold that bill into our pocket we needed to turn our cheek to receive a big, wet kiss. I am so lucky to have known my Zadye and to have such fond memories of him. I am even luckier to get to relive my memories of him every year during Passover alongside my family.
Dear Regina,
ReplyDeleteEven though we had a late start, I feel like I have learned so much about you. You are such a sweet, polite, and caring young woman.
In our short time together I have seen you blossom as a writer. You are thoughtful and careful with your words. I enjoyed how much attention you gave to your characters’ name and their personalities while writing your children’s story. You were patient and welcoming with my feedback.
I appreciate how quickly you opened up and how you didn’t hesitate to share your interests (and dislikes!) with me.
I know that you will enjoy high school and find much success.
Much love,
Emily
P.S. I’ll tell Miranda that you say hi!
Sabre,
ReplyDeleteIt has been a privilege to discuss, to learn, and to share this journey of writing with you this semester. In every form of writing we have experimented with, you have been charismatic in your choices, experimental with your ideas, and responsive to feedback.
For your children’s story about a winter wonderland adventure, I appreciated how you created funny and interesting characters like Olaf and the Fox. I also appreciated your short stories about your broken leg and your memorable fight in the form of diary entries. You had a sassy tone and memorable internal monologue.
As I have repeatedly told you, you are my Maya Angelou. Your poetry is inspiring, and your voice will always resonate with your readers. I will never forget the lessons you taught me with your passionate poems. I look forward to you publishing more of your original poems in the future and performing your spoken word for others.
On our last day together, I appreciated your excitement to tackle on the juvenile retention system. You are worldly and compassionate, and I am thankful for your willingness to think about connecting with the real world and real problems. Your voice matters!
Thank you for working with me this semester. I will never forget our journey together, and I will always be on the look out for your writing in the future!
Sincerely,
Patti
Dear Kendall,
ReplyDeleteIt has been great getting to know you. I cannot believe time has gone by so fast. It has been almost a year since we have been working together and I have seen you grow so much! I am very proud of you and all of your work.
Not only did we learn skills and strategies for reading and writing but also from one another. I hope you have enjoyed working together as much as I have enjoyed working with you. I hope you have developed a stronger liking for writing and different ways to express yourself. I also hope that you learned new skills and strategies when facing challenging texts!
Thank you for teaching me about diamante and acrostic poems. I can now try them with my students! Your love for gymnastics has made me want to learn more about it and try some of your skills from your informational text!
I hope you take our lessons into your future academic years. I know you will do great because you are a bright and eager person. I wish you nothing but the best!
Sincerely,
Analí Guzmán
Dear Jada,
ReplyDeleteIt has been a pleasure working with you in the Clinic for the past 9 months. I have enjoyed getting to know you and seeing your hard work and determination each week. When we first met, I knew you were a little nervous about what we were going to be doing for the rest of the year, as was I! I wanted to make sure that your time in the Clinic was wonderful for you. Each week, it was amazing to see you grow as a reader. Each week, the fluency practice became easier and easier for you. And the decoding as well…I hope you are still using this strategy in school! You continued to amaze me with your writing ability as well. I was always impressed with the perspective you would have after reading the texts. It was always so different from what I was thinking, so I enjoyed learning from you. This semester, you have shown your true talent as a writer, especially a poet. I hope you continue to write poetry and share it with the world. Whether it’s through your music or in written form, you have a way with words! I wish you all the best and I hope that you continue to reach for your dreams.
Sincerely,
Ellen Therens
Dear Tayshaun,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed working with you this school year. You have changed so much in this short amount of time. Your reading and writing have developed and I have seen you become more focused. You have done a remarkable job using the strategies you learned when reading and writing.
My hopes are that you will continue using what you have learned and apply it whenever you are reading and writing. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your learning journey. Enjoy the rest of your school year!
Sincerely,
Melissa
Dear Marcos,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a crazy 9 months! I've had a lot of fun working with you and seeing you grow as both a reader and a writer. When I first met you, I was really worried! I had already started working with a student who then disappeared! I didn't know what you'd be like, or how you'd work, or whether I'd even be able to finish my clinical requirements! I'm super thankful that you came through and let me work with you. I can't begin to tell you just how proud I am of seeing you improve both your reading and your writing. I know you've gone through the clinic a couple of times already, but it was really cool seeing you get better and better at things like decoding, reading fluently, and writing (add more details!). Better yet, I learned a lot from you as a teacher. I got to try out new techniques and strategies teaching you, and I've become more patient. Any teacher would be lucky to have you! You've got an amazing, creative mind, and I hope that you'll open that mind up even more in the future! Keep reading. Keep writing. I'm expecting to see you do some big things as you get older!
Sincerely,
Mike Orosa
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteZadye- As told through the Passover Seder
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate enough to know my great-grandfather. In fact, not only did I know my great-grandfather, he lived with us for several years. To me, he was Zadye. Before he lived with us he would bring us bagels, donuts, and cookies every Sunday morning…like a Jewish Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. I would go to sleep on Saturday night and wake up on Sunday morning with our kitchen counter filled with bagels, cookies (with sprinkles!), and donuts…the treats being the only trace of his presence. Zadye was also in charge of toting my younger brother and me to Hebrew school every Tuesday and Thursday. He would pick us up from school in his small light brown car and made sure that we were buckled in safely before driving away. In his trunk he would keep snacks for us because he knew that we would get hungry between school and Hebrew school. Do you remember those variety packs of chips that your parents or maybe school would buy from Sam’s Club? That’s what Zadye kept for us in his trunk. Not just one variety pack, but at least three packs at a time. He also would buy full size candy bar variety packs for us! Full size! And of course he always had our favorites. Rummaging through his trunk on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons was like digging through the treasure chest at your dentist’s office, but WAY better. I still can’t believe that my mom let us get away with that.
One of my fondest memories of my Zadye was when my whole family got together every year to celebrate Passover. During the later years of his life, Passover was held at our house because, well, that’s where he lived and so everyone had to travel to us. Passover is a Jewish holiday that is usually celebrated in April. The dates of the holiday vary every year depending on how the Hebrew calendar matches up with the Gregorian calendar. In the year 2016, Passover is celebrated from April 23rd to the 29th. Passover lasts for eight days and it celebrates the emancipation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. There are several important readings, songs, and rituals that take place during the Passover Seder (dinner). Tradition states that families hold Seders on the first and last days of Passover. My family usually just celebrates on a convenient weekend night during Passover. Zadye was the “leader” of our family’s Seder. During the Seder we read from a Haggadah which is similar to a prayer book. It follows a certain sequence with prayers and rituals following each other in a certain order. Zadye’s job was to make sure that we were on track and to choose family members to read different parts. Our family Haggadah is written mostly in English; Zadye was really the only one in our family that had a good grasp on reading Hebrew.
During Passover one is not allowed to eat chametz. Chametz is any form of leavened grain. So any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, or oats is prohibited from being consumed. In fact, one is supposed to assume that every item contains chametz unless certified kosher for Passover. Instead one is supposed to eat matzah instead. Matzah is a thin, plan cracker that is supposed to represent the “bread” that our ancestors ate as they fled Egypt; they didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise. I can fondly remember my mom making us matzo bri for breakfast (basically scrambled eggs with pieces of matzah in it) and peanut butter and jelly matzah sandwiches for lunch. In case you were wondering, Zadye’s trunk full of goodies contained a lot of chametz!
DeleteAnother important element of the Passover Seder is the ritual of drinking four cups of wine. Each cup of wine has a special symbolic meaning tied to one of the “four expressions of redemption”. A fifth cup of wine is poured, not consumed, and set out for the prophet Elijah and the door is left open for him to enter at his leisure. Obviously, as children we were not allowed to drink wine; instead we were given kosher for Passover grape juice. The only time that I ever saw Zadye drink was when he drank four cups of wine during Passover. By the fourth cup of wine he would bellow the prayer and the great grandchildren (and grandchildren!) would all giggle. Every year at the Seder we all try to recreate Zadye’s bellowing of the prayer over wine. It still gives us a good laugh and puts a smile on my face.
My favorite part of the Passover Seder was when the children were released after dinner (before dessert) to find the afikomen. The afikomen is part of a piece of matzah that broken in half towards the beginning of the Seder. One half of the broken matzah is wrapped and hidden for the children to find. Traditionally, the Passover Seder cannot continue until the afikomen is found. Since Zadye had eleven great-grandchildren he would hide several afikomen wrapped in tinfoil. After the meal was consumed Zadye would release the great-grandchildren to find the hidden afikomen in the living room upstairs. We would climb, jab, and jump over each other to get to the living room first to start our hunt. Once we located those shiny pieces of gold (not really, just matzah wrapped in tin foil!) we would race downstairs to claim our prize. We lined up and waited patiently in line in front of Zadye. We would place our afikomen in the pile in front of us and he would place a fresh, crisp twenty dollar bill in our palms. But before we could carefully fold that bill into our pocket we needed to turn our cheek to receive a big, wet kiss.
I am so lucky to have known my Zadye and to have such fond memories of him. I am even luckier to get to relive my memories of him every year during Passover alongside my family.