This past week saw my 54 seniors leading their own senior presentations. This is what I wrote on the general invitation for the presentations:

“For the past year, our seniors have been working on a newly revised Senior Portfolio project that culminates with a 30-minute self-reflective presentation including a personal life mission statement and an analysis of a global issue of injustice. This is an opportunity to see the work our SCGA students have been creating throughout their high school careers as well as to engage these students in dialogue about their experiences at Manual Arts and as members of SCGA.”

Of the 17 presentations that I watched (the students were divided into 3 rooms), I have to say I was impressed and honestly moved by the work and thought that went into these. I saw several students talk about not graduating next month because of the CAHSEE. I saw several students understandably break into tears as they recalled personal hardship. I saw a student speak critically about his education and the kinds of “bad” teachers that students must overcome; this student spoke passionately about social change and inequality in Los Angeles and was often inaudible due to police sirens and a circling helicopter. I saw 17 students exhibit the kind of personal resiliency and fortitude that Hollywood will never, ever cover quite right. I am truly proud of the work that these students did and writing about these presentations isn’t going to do them justice so I’m stopping now.

Instead, I wrote letters to each of the 17 students that presented. The two other teachers and I agreed to write a paragraph or two to the students we saw present, acknowledging their efforts. Sounds simple, right? Not so much. I spent much of my weekend writing (and rewriting) letters to these students. Grand total: 6050 words. A little more than a page per student or 24.5 double spaced pages or a third of the inquiry I wrote last year or however else you want to break it up. I really found myself saying much more than I initially planned. Letters ranged in tone from general, sincere praise to questioning of student’s future decisions, to frustration at the results of decisions students made throughout their school careers. I don’t know how students will respond to said letters or if they will even care (do kids get letters nowadays? Or is it only MySpace and text messages? I hope they can interpret the letter without the use of smilies or LOLs). Ultimately, I think these letters were a great way for me to reflect on the presentation process and look at student growth away from the grade book and the test scores and the college admission letters and the exit exam numbers and the school API score etc. I don’t know if I’ll write letters like these again prior to next year’s presentations, but I feel like they’ve helped me grow as a teacher. I’ve heard so many students praise and acknowledge my efforts as a teacher this week. It was truly moving to hear these words come from students I’ve known for two years, but the meaning behind those words didn’t really sink in until I began responding to that praise with letters myself. I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s more to track my thought process about this project for next year. Thanks for tuning in.