I've always believed that it's the little things that make all the difference in this world, and this story is just one more perfect example of this philosophy...

Bloom Where You Are Planted

     It was the last day of school this year, 2017.  I was outside with my class having extra recess when I was surprised by five of my old students who came back to visit me.  This is my absolute favorite type of surprise, and it never, ever gets old.  It means the world to me when my students return to say hi and fill me in on their lives!
     This particular group of kids is now 15 years old, an age where I think it's safe to say that visiting their 4th grade teacher probably isn't on the top of their to-do list.  That made this visit even that much more special to me.  We hugged and laughed, and reminisced about our time together five years ago.  My current students gathered around to hear the stories and share in the laughter.  It was awesome!

     One of my current fourth graders asked the visiting kids what their classroom theme was the year that they were in my class.  Each and every one of these now high schoolers immediately knew our theme- it was the garden year!

The Garden Year

     They remembered every detail about our door and all of the fun crafts and activities we did during the first few days of school: the planters we painted to hold the adorable flower pencils that we made, the flower frames me made to hold our first day of school pictures, and how we worked in groups to plan and create gardens that had a particular area and perimeter.  They even remembered how we all made spiders and turned our garden door  into a haunted garden for Halloween!

Our Haunted Garden

     This is exactly why I continue to create a classroom theme every year- hearing my students recall everything we shared together warmed my heart and this feeling inspires me to continue to dream of new themes, activities and simple games that make all the difference in the world to a 9 year old on his/her first week of school!

Maggie catching butterflies!

      Thank you to Will, Kate, Gemma, Evan and Valerie for taking the time out of your lives to come and brighten my day!  Your visit was incredibly meaningful to me.  You probably never imagined that simply coming by your old elementary school to say hi to your old teacher would have such a profound effect on her, but it did.  
     It truly is the little things in life....