I once asked an administrator at the school where I worked to have a look at my resume and to give me his feedback. He told me that I should make sure to talk about the impact I have made through my work. This gave me some pause because, as a classroom teacher, it is hard to quantify, or even know really, the impact I’ve had on the students who have passed through my classroom. Sure, my students have scored well on their standardized tests. Sure, I have been part of teams that have pushed initiatives and made changes at a school-wide level. I was a leader in our school’s adoption of an advisory program, was part of a small team that redesigned the school’s bell schedule. I also designed and implemented a comprehensive gifted and talented program for the school. These are things that I am proud to have done or been a part of, but impact is something that’s hard to pin down. The gifted program I created has been phased out. The bell schedule I helped create is no longer being used. The advisory program I advocated for has since evolved to something quite different from what our original team pushed for. These systemic initiatives that I have invested my time intp are no longer in existence. But they did exist for some time, and in that time, there was surely an impact made. What’s hard is quantifying what exactly that impact was.

I feel the same way about my students. I have had over 1500 students pass through my classroom and its impossible for me to ever know exactly what impact I had on them. That said, I think I can get a sense of how I’ve impacted my students by looking at the appreciation letters they have sent me. Some of these letters were prompted, written by students who were asked to share their appreciation for teachers on teachers day during various school years. Others were written unprompted, by students who simply desired to share their thoughts and feelings with me. I value both the solicited and unsolicited comments, because I think they both convey genuine sentiment. When I review my students letters, I can only conclude that my greatest impacts are bringing laughter to their lives, and in helping them to cope with the stresses of the school day. I’m glad that this is my contribution. I’m sure my students learned a lot in my classes and I’m happy for that. I’m even more proud that they saw me as someone to look up to , as a role model, and a mentor.

The gallery below contains letters my students have written to me, as well as a few letters from colleagues and parents. Some are short and sweet and others are long and deep. All of them make me proud to be a teacher. Names have been redacted for the sake of privacy.