Saturday, June 30, 2007

Feeling Unloved

Every year, on the last day of school, I give students their report card envelope. In the envelope is the report card, of course, and a final letter to them and their families. Included in the letter is my home address and my email address. I tell them that if they write to me, I will write back to them. Some years I get as much as half of my class writing to me at least once. Some years only two or three kids write. This year, almost two weeks out, I haven't heard from one kid. This class had a higher percentage of kids with email addresses than any group I've ever had before. And still, none of them have even sent me an email. Was I that unimportant in their lives? Or are they just that lazy?

1 comment:

organized chaos said...

I'm experiencing the same thing. I think it is because with email so common now the luster of writing to your teacher is gone. For the first time the kids just didn't seem amazed when I said I'd write them back. Of course I would, email is easy, it's there, and everyone uses it, even first graders. In the past I've had email relationships with kids that are still going on, but you're right, this year no one has bit.