Title – Goodbye

By – Colleen Daly

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 5-8

Every year, near the end of the year, I have the kids write a letter to the kid who will be sitting in his/her desk next year. I leave it up to the kids to say which teachers are mean or nice or strict or lenient; I don’t limit them. (You can edit later if you so choose: I don’t choose to.) Each year, at the beginning, I pass out the letters to each new student, and have each student read the letters aloud.

The only real rules I place on this assignment is that there is to be no profanity, and that they tell the truth as they interpret it.

Comparing the letters the kids read at the beginning of their year to the ones they write at the end of the year is interesting for the kids, and often helps me. It also makes the kids feel like they have a lasting impact (which they do on me).

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Colleen Daly

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