Tiny NOtes

Dear Mrs. Rodriguez, You are the most encouraging… “ writes a student on a sticky note covered solid in tape on my classroom desk. She wanted it to stay, I’m sure.

“I need to leave a special note on your table,” one student pleaded earlier today, hoping I would hand over my classroom key. I did. Her insistence worked. Writing is special… or, “really special” as my student confirmed today. She insisted on leaving a note, a handwritten tiny note, on my desk. It hurts to read them sometimes. Those love filled notes about how you made them feel, when they tried something that would be hard for most adults. Instead of feeling defeated, you have somehow managed to help them feel inspired. And they write.

They write sticky notes, The tiny notes they leave can force emotions from the deepest places in a teacher’s heart. Their words inspire us. They inspire us the same way the words of other great writers inspire us. The same. I think about the power they already use in their words and often wonder if they are aware of the magic. The magic their words can create beyond the eyes of their audience, and into their heart and soul. Words have power. “You have a voice that matters… What do you have to say to the world?” I plead.

They write. They write with passion.

“Be careful with your words, because words have power,” I tell them. On occasion they write tiny notes to each other or to their teacher. Their notes, their words, hold reserved places in the classroom. They sit like place holders for their voices in the room. When they're gone, they're not really. Their words remain to spark something new in the eyes of another student. Their voices will remain in the classroom.

“MISS Rodriguez, I will MISS you.” another note, writes a student on a sticky note, as she leaves the classroom this afternoon. It will only be one week, but I will miss them and their tiny notes too.