I was going through my inbox today trying to unbury myself from about 150 unread emails and the tasks associated with them, and I came across this email from a former student. I don't often feel thankful for the ridiculous number of emails sitting in my inbox - bold, unread, and mocking me with all the to-do list tasks I can never get out from under. Today, though, I could not have been more thankful to see this one from October pop up in my life. I paste it here, unedited, as a reminder that for every lesson and song and idea we take the time to share with others it is reaching a student and making an impact on their life.

My 4th Grade Teacher
My 4th grade teacher is amazing her name is Ms.Raleigh she has been one of the greatest teachers that I’ve ever had. Ms.Raleigh has taught me so much in one year I can't think of a better person to learn with than her. But there are three things that I’ll never forget and those things are The Important Book, The Halloween costumes, and all the songs we learned.

In the first month of 4th grade we started a project based on the poem book The Important Book. All of the class made their own version of The Important Book. I remember the first time i ever wrote a book and that was in 4th grade. We did so much work in Ms.Raleigh’s 4th grade class. In my eyes The Important Book was the biggest writing piece I’ve ever done. The Important Book had so many steps and I wanted to give up but my 4th grade teacher kept me going. The Important Book was well a pretty Important part of my 4th grade experience.

In 4th grade in the school of KCAA we made these awesome halloween costumes. Since the logo of the school was a dragon we did a dragon. Instead of doing just 1 big costume or 30 small costumes we did a big costume made out of 30 kids in small costumes! In 4th grade we even inspired the principal to be grateful for all the participators and give them all popsicles  even though we didn't win I think we got the biggest prize of all learning to work together.

In 4th grade we learned so many songs we learned  ROYGBIV, Best Friend, Elements we even learned a rap song about Hot Cheetos and Takis to have a sneak attack on Ms. M’s 3rd grade class. I think my favorite part of learning all of those songs, is learning sign language for You’ve Got a Friend. We learned so many songs in Ms.Raleigh’s 4th grade class I hope the new 4th graders will learn that many too.

In Ms.Raleigh’s 4th grade class we had so much fun and laughed so much. It was a great year for me and all the other 29 students in her class. I couldn’t imagine any other 4th grade experience than the one i have had before. But those three things The Important Book, The Halloween Costumes, and finally all those songs we learned together i think that was the best year I’ve ever had in my entire life.