Final Word - Thank you!

I want (and need) to say, "Thank you."

This year is coming to a close in just a few short days.  You may know colleagues who are retiring, moving to another site, or leaving for personal reasons.  Some of us owe a huge debt of gratitude to these fellow colleagues - I am one of them.

It has been my privilege to work alongside a relatively new teacher for the past three years.  She came to our site with a couple of years of experience teaching in Los Angeles.  The first year she spent her time understanding the math curriculum and getting some exposure to Project Based Learning.  The second year she continued to extend her understanding of the math curriculum, making stronger connections with students, collaborating on common assessments, and she started to do a project for each unit of study throughout the year.  

Those first couple years she demonstrated a gift for being creative in designing documents, asking questions for how to improve student achievement, taking risks for trying new ideas so that students make connections with the curriculum, being open-minded, and most importantly willing to push her students to believe each and every one of them can be successful.  She wanted her students to be successful with the math content and at the same time successful with skills, they will need later on in life - like technology use and presentation skills (both verbally and visually).

During this third year, she pushed me to grow myself, without her ever realizing it.  She was coming up with new ideas of how to take our unit projects in new directions that would help students and she had this excitement about her that made me want to contribute with what I could.  Her creativity and ability to tap into students' interests is what pushed me this year further than I imagined.

I have started to ask myself, "What more can I do for my students that will have a lasting effect?"

So, to my fellow Math 8 teacher across the way in Room 37 - Ms. Keeton - thank you for enriching my life in just these three short years.  I can not say thank you enough!  There is so much more to acknowledge but I hope you realize that everything left unsaid is actually said inside of me.

I wish you only the very best in your next adventures knowing full well that anyone who takes the time to get to know you will be changed forever - you deserve only the best.

PRIDE and Growth Mindset - two areas I will continue to pursue with my students.


To everyone else, thank you for letting me express my gratitude to a fellow teacher who has impacted my teaching,

Enjoy your summer break to its fullest - and I look forward to next year and what it will bring,

Still teaching and loving it,

       Kevin Stott