Teacher Appreciation: Letters from First Graders

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Teacher Appreciation: Letters from First Graders

June 6th, 2011 · 23 comments

I happen to have a lot of friends who are teachers, and it kills me when they say things like, “Oh, I confiscated the funniest passive-aggressive note today from a kid in my class. I wish I could give it to you, but I don’t want to lose my job.” (Of course, given the state of education funding in Texas, that’s not mere paranoia talking.)

Luckily, there are enough self-aware parents out there like Carmen (a.k.a. “drunk mommy”) to fill the kids say the dardnest fuckin’ shit category of notes that some of you love and some of you can’t stand.

One of those parents is Sheila in Indiana. Her first grader, Andrew, “has had a rough year,” Sheila says, “and is in trouble for talking too much every single day.” When she gave him a card to sign for Teacher Appreciation Day, this is what he wrote.

Meanwhile, Jessie in Utah says that for teacher appreciation day at her first grader’s school, the kids were all asked to write something they appreciated about their teacher on paper butterflies displayed on the door and wall outside the classroom. The anonymous nature of the project seems to have yielded mixed results.

To wrap things up, I just had to pull out this first grader’s letter from the archives. (And no, like many notes on this site, it isn’t passive-aggressive — or even mean-spirited — just adorably bizarre.)

related: (Not) so nice, (Not) so smart

FILED UNDER: kids · most popular notes of 2011 · schools & teachers

23 responses so far ↓

#1 Kathleen

The first note is adorable. It would be hilarious (tragic?), however, if the teacher had been handed that on the first day of school.

Jun 6, 2011 at 1:30 pm rating: 30

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#2 cuffed

More of the same at a blog called Broken Chalk. Not updated very often, but it makes me smile. http://brokenchalk.blogspot.com/

Jun 6, 2011 at 1:51 pm rating: 3

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#3 SweetPea

Dear Teacher,

Thank you for yelling at us. Our other teacher just sends us passive aggressive notes.

Student

Jun 6, 2011 at 1:58 pm rating: 27

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- #3.1 Canthz_B
  
  Dear Teacher,
  
  Thank you for yelling at us. Damn, how we wish our parents would instill some discipline in us like you have, but they just indulge us and let us have our way, so we’re going to grow up to be self-important little prigs despite all of your efforts.
  
  Student
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 12:31 am rating: 16
- #3.2 TickleMyBambo
  
  Dear Teacher,
  
  Thank you for yelling at us! Nothing makes my day more than having the weeks lessons yelled out to us by someone whose voice resembles the likes of Gilbert Gottfried. Sometimes I find it kind of hard to keep a straight face when you’re yelling at us in all seriousness with that voice. Not only do I take my knowledge of the lessons you have taught me onwards into second grade, but you also have found a place in my heart that makes you my favorite teacher for unintentionally making me laugh every day. Thanks for the memories! : )”
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 4:17 am rating: 8
- #3.3 doctorvee
  
  When the neighborhood kids get together and decide to play “school”, it usually consists of little more than the teacher-designate kid screaming “Shut up and sit down!” at the other kids. (Reason #87 why we homeschool
  
  Jun 9, 2011 at 11:13 pm rating: 3
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#4 Nina

Haha, I chuckled at the last one. At least she made the right choice

Jun 6, 2011 at 2:10 pm rating: 7

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#5 clever name

Wow that last one means something. As a kid with a special tree, I get it. I would let many a ho get cut for that tree when I was a kid!

Jun 6, 2011 at 3:25 pm rating: 15

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- #5.1 Janellionaire
  
  I had several favorite trees as a kid. They were always getting cut down, I think because whenever I knew that a tree was going to be cut down, I decided then that it had always been my favorite, and I mourned passionately. I was a special child.
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 2:45 am rating: 20
- #5.2 Nunavut Guy
  
  Jerry’s kids are special too.
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 12:31 pm rating: 3
- #5.3 Tatterdemalion
  
  Totally.
  
  In elementary school for a while I sat by the same tree every day at lunch (it had a mysterious hole in the roots, and was a very pretty tree) rather than sitting with other children, who generally plagued me.
  
  This exchange took place, with a group of kids (who’d treated me poorly when I tried to sit with them) all egging on.
  
  Them: “Don’t you have any friends to sit with?”
  Me: “This tree is my friend. It’s quiet and doesn’t bother me.”
  Them: “Do you love it then?”
  Me: “Sure.”
  Them: “If you love it, will you hug it?”
  “Yeah! Will you kiss it?”
  Me: “Sure.” *hugs and kisses the tree*
  
  They were appropriately impressed and went off and left me alone after figuring out that ragging on me for kissing a tree would have no effect whatsoever. That part wasn’t so weird. What was definitely odd was that my sister, six years my junior, was *still* hearing about it when she went to school there. Apparently, life in the interim was sufficiently boring that the story of the kid who kissed a tree was passed on through five grades and kindergarten.
  
  Jun 8, 2011 at 3:16 am rating: 22
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#6 Quite Contrary

I am sorry about the school year. Please email me an explanation.

Andrew

Jun 6, 2011 at 4:31 pm rating: 21

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#7 sol

love how the first grader on the last note writes much better than many adults on previous posts…

Jun 6, 2011 at 5:06 pm rating: 18

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- #7.1 JetJackson
  
  Agreed! That is very well written!
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 12:21 am rating: 0
- #7.2 The Elf
  
  Not a “plese” or “thx” to be seen! I don’t even see textspeak shortcuts like “U” or “2″! I’m sure that won’t last.
  
  Jun 7, 2011 at 6:05 am rating: 2
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#8 berge

I LOVE the subtle “blah blah blah” in the second one.

Jun 6, 2011 at 5:47 pm rating: 19

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#9 Michelle

One of my first graders called me a “jerk” and his mom made him write me an apology letter. The next day he comes in with this beautiful picture that must have taken him a very long time to make. Written across the top it says, “I am very sorry that I called you a jerk.” It made me laugh so hard.

Jun 6, 2011 at 9:35 pm rating: 21

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- #9.1 unsatisfied
  
  we’re going to need photographic evidence of this, Michelle.
  
  Jun 6, 2011 at 9:59 pm rating: 5
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#10 TickleMyBambo

The first note resonates a small hint of both melancholy and sarcasm. Coming across like, “Dear Teacher, I’m sorry for being a failure in your eyes this school year. I know I talked a lot in class which got me in trouble, but you can’t expect me to not have a social life. Again, I am sorry!”

Jun 6, 2011 at 11:00 pm rating: 9

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#11 Canthz_B

The first one is a grammar school Dear John letter:

Dearest Teacher,

I’m sorry about how our school year together worked out, but I’ve met another…my second grade teacher, with whom I expect a long and lasting relationship.
You’ll always have a place in my heart, please keep your head down next school year and get home safely from each day at the battlefront.

Jun 7, 2011 at 9:45 am rating: 3

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#12 Meg

hah! I’ve had a few of my preschoolers tell me that I ‘yell really good!’

They still love me though, so I guess I’m doing something right!

Jun 7, 2011 at 7:08 pm rating: 2

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#13 kaycee

I taught junior high, and after I finished reprimanding a seventh grade class for their behaviour, a girl came up and told me that I was “on the rags”. When the Vice Principal made her write an apology note, she wrote, “Dear Mrs, I’m sorry I called you a bitch, but you were pissing me off”.
Where do they find them, and why do they send them to me?

Jun 11, 2011 at 9:16 am rating: 4

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#14 cathy

One of my students kept calling me her third best teacher. I taught her in second grade.

I’ll never forget the boy who was showing a birthday card he got from his great-grandfather. When I asked how old the great-grandfather was the boy said, ” Oh, he’s old Mrs. S., he’s even older than you!”

Jul 7, 2011 at 7:58 am rating: 3

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