You know...

you think you know your students until you see them

inside their homes

interacting with their parents and their siblings

on the couch or wrapped up in their favorite blanket

or showing you their pet they always talked about but you never actually saw

I can quite literally be a fly on the wall of the homes in which they live

and you learn so much more from the surroundings your students experience every day

and their relationships

and the laughter you hear in the background

or when a mom makes her child an egg sandwich for breakfast and slides it under their nose during instruction

every family is different

but my students have beautiful families and they are loved

each and every one of them

and that is a blessing..

this morning as I was teaching another student I got a drop-in virtual hangout call from another student

who wanted me to say hi to her grandfather who was facetiming with her

and this is the grandfather who has appeared in ALL of her stories during morning meeting

his name is brought up more times than I can count

in fact I think the whole class feels like they know her grandfather

and that surprise call today talking to her loved one because

she wanted me so badly to talk to her grandfather

just hit me very hard

that through all of this

we will hopefully come out of this realizing the importance of family

and love

and lifting one another up 

and the importance of beautiful relationships

and sharing parts of ourselves and our families we are..

so very proud to share

what an unforgettable year it has been

truly a five year unimaginable milestone in my teaching career

I will undoubtedly never forget

and rest assured

neither will you