When I Was A Teacher, XII
When I was a teacher, whenever any guest visited the classroom or whenever we went on a class trip, my students always had to write thank you notes. If you didn't write an acceptable thank you note, you weren't permitted to participate in the next special event.
No exceptions.
The thank you note rule served several purposes. On the most basic level, it taught the students how to write a basic letter -- inside address, salutation, organization, etc. It also taught them how to address an envelope. That is an assumed skill, and it shouldn't be. It's amazing to me how many students don't know how (and where) to write their return address, how to abbreviate street or avenue, or know to place a comma between the city and state.
I can assure, when a student left my class, they knew all that (whether they retained it is a topic for a whole other blog).
Of course, after Dave Matthews visited my classroom, every student wrote him a thank you note, and the amount of diligence and care they took in that assignment certainly paid off.
Each month, his management company would send me dozens of CD samplers and promotional material for my students. That was something that went on for years.
When I went to his concert later that year at the Jones Beach Amphitheater, I met him before the show. I swear, I was treated like royalty. He introduced me to everyone (except for Stefan who was too busy skateboarding backstage), and everyone I met already knew of me, my students, and the amazing letters that they had written.
A couple years ago, when the Dave Matthews Band had their Save the Music concert in Central Park, I called up his management company and asked for tickets for a few students.
They were "only" able to send me twenty-five. And they also had a request:
Please make sure the kids sent thank you notes. There were a lot of new people working in the management office, and they hadn't ever seen the first thank you notes.
Talk about your no-brainers.
Classroom Intoxication.
No exceptions.
The thank you note rule served several purposes. On the most basic level, it taught the students how to write a basic letter -- inside address, salutation, organization, etc. It also taught them how to address an envelope. That is an assumed skill, and it shouldn't be. It's amazing to me how many students don't know how (and where) to write their return address, how to abbreviate street or avenue, or know to place a comma between the city and state.
I can assure, when a student left my class, they knew all that (whether they retained it is a topic for a whole other blog).
Of course, after Dave Matthews visited my classroom, every student wrote him a thank you note, and the amount of diligence and care they took in that assignment certainly paid off.
Each month, his management company would send me dozens of CD samplers and promotional material for my students. That was something that went on for years.
When I went to his concert later that year at the Jones Beach Amphitheater, I met him before the show. I swear, I was treated like royalty. He introduced me to everyone (except for Stefan who was too busy skateboarding backstage), and everyone I met already knew of me, my students, and the amazing letters that they had written.
A couple years ago, when the Dave Matthews Band had their Save the Music concert in Central Park, I called up his management company and asked for tickets for a few students.
They were "only" able to send me twenty-five. And they also had a request:
Please make sure the kids sent thank you notes. There were a lot of new people working in the management office, and they hadn't ever seen the first thank you notes.
Talk about your no-brainers.
Classroom Intoxication.