Now, your turn. Write a letter addressed to your teachers (current, past, or present)
containing 10 things you’ve been meaning to us (or me). Or, if you’d rather, simply
respond to what I said. No one will read what you wrote except for me!
This letter is an assignment, given by a teacher, who wants to hear my voice, my writing. So that is
what I will give. That is what this letter is, a “to my teacher,” but maybe really is “for my teacher” if you will.
This letter is for my teachers, past, present, and future.
1. Behavior and work are two VERY separate things. One involves comprehension and stimulation, the
other more ethics, social skills, (and not interrupting). Sometimes work can be a million times easier
for me that staying in my chair, or keeping quiet when I have something to chime in.
2. I love music. There is nothing I love more, and I won’t let anyone, or anything come between that.
Music gives me a reason to stay in class, to get up in the morning, and is the only thing keeping me
from randomly screaming in the middle of class.
3. Storytelling is my way of communicating, (other than talking, which I tend to do a bit much).
Whether it’s writing songs, stories, or poems, telling stories is my preferred way of doing work. For
example, one year, I had an assignment to write an essay on the book “Animal Farm” and how
certain characters represent certain historical figures. Instead of writing the essay, I wrote an
allegory for the civil rights movement, showing my knowledge of the concept in a more creative
way.
4. I am around 8th graders a lot, seeing as I am one, so you should know that we see more than we let
on. We have a weird sixth sense for when people are feeling highly emotional. If you're not feeling
awesome, we notice, and we can try and help.
5. I am the opposite of a procrastinator, if you give me an assignment, I feel the need to finish it as fast
as possible, sometimes that spur of the moment mindset can spin out amazing work, sometimes not
so much.
6. Us as students know what you want in terms of questions. You may deny it, but we know what you
want us to answer if you ask, “what is the theme of this book?” We should answer with something
like, “The theme of this text is that when you lie about something, you can’t keep that lie in forever.
For example… exc.” Right?
7. I like to see the beauty in things, I’ll always respect you in my mind, even if it doesn’t seem like it
sometimes.
8. There is a reality where I could tell you what I want to be when I grow up, but we do not live in that
reality. I could be a musician, writer, teacher, architect, or even a producer.
9. I want to have fun. I want to do something with work other than just give you the straight answers,
but the more work you give, the harder it is to do that.
10. All of us have walls, walls we build up around us to protect our fragile hearts from the storm. There
are doors that lead to tunnels, that lead to chambers, that lead to another door that can get you in, it
will take a while, but there is a way to bypass the security and get into our trust. Once you are then,
only then, can you begin working to slowly but surely take down the walls.
From the inside of my walls,
xx