As a classroom teacher, I worked in a fifth grade inclusion setting. I had the opportunity to work with my mentor for several years as she and her students joined us everyday for science.
Over a particular two year stretch, a student named Samuel joined the 5th Grade science classes as both a fourth grade student and again as a fifth grade student.
He took every chance that he could to remind my co-teacher and I when we were repeating something.
“We did this last year,” he would shout aloud to no one in particular.
Dissecting owl pellets as part of our study on food chains.
“We did this last year.”
Designing and building Rube Goldberg machines to learn about simple machines.
“We did this last year.”
Planting seeds and growing flowers as we approached Mother’s Day.
“We did this last year.”
Samuel served as a constant reminder that we couldn’t simply replay the lessons from the previous year.
His voice is stuck in my head. I will never forget him uttering this line.
“We did this last year.”
It still serves as a warning for me and I share his story with the hopes that his message will get stuck in your head too!
Rich (@RACzyz)