Wishes for the Future

As we come to a close on our winter break, I’m filled with excitement and wonder as to what changes I’ll find in my Jumpstart classroom. Sure, there will be students who I could have sworn were shorter and changes in interests that seemed as though they’d last forever, but the subtler changes that I will see thrill me on a whole other level. New vocabulary, new conversations, and new ideas on the meaning of sharing are just beyond the reach of those school doors. With these feelings in mind, I’ve thought of wishes for the future for my students.

For my students, I first wish for the idea of sharing that I saw being planted during the previous semester sprout and grow fruitful in the duration of this semester. Their emotional well-being is dependent on their ever changing relationships with their peers. If they make good progress on developing the idea of “sharing” at this stage in their lives, it will only become easier and easier for them to cooperate and establish a well-balanced relationship with others.

Secondly, I wish that I can continue to provide an energetic session for my students in order to engage them to the best of my ability. That means making my Jumpstart materials with the amount of energy that I want my students to have during session. That means leaving my stresses at the door of my room in order to not let my students’ experiences be hindered because of my personal life. They deserve my full attention, and I owe it to them to provide them with this.

Lastly, I wish that my students will be captured with this love of learning. I hope to continue to see students pull books off the shelves and practice reading by themselves. I hope to see even more engagement during Circle Time as we figure out rhyming words and sing our silly songs. I hope to hear how they connect their own lives to the lives of the characters in our stories. If, as a team, my peers and I can help our students come to want a life full of endless learning, I would be able to live my life knowing that this was one of the best experiences that I will ever have.

So as I make materials and think of ways to better my students’ Jumpstart experience, these are the wishes and hopes that I keep in mind. Together, my team and I will do our best to see these hopes realized, and these dreams achieved. I can’t wait to go back.