Remembering - Creating Memories

Stacey at Two Writing Teachers has made me think again. (That's the whole idea, right?)

At the end of each quarter we try to take some time to reflect on the accomplishments and set some goals for each student. I think this ties in perfectly with Stacey's thoughts.

I found a couple of sites that I think might help us to "remember" first quarter. Beth Lewis has an example of an "I Remember" poem at About.com: Elementary Education. I like how this guides the students to think about their first impressions, a field trip, a math activity, etc.... I also found another sample and an online version that will print the created poem.

Here is my poem.

Instant I Remember Poem

I remember popping into a new school year.
I remember meeting 28 students and their families.
I remember teaching about how to choose "just right" books
and how to build reading stamina.

I remember exploring a nature trail.
I remember shaking cream to make butter.
I remember making an accordion book about the planets
even reading word wall words by flashlight.

I remember writing a story about the Mysterious Squeak.
But my favorite memory’s yet to come!

I love the final line: But my favorite memory’s yet to come. Some memory-gathering at the end of the semester will set us up to write some goals when we return in January!

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com