Today was the last teaching day for my college algebra class for the trimester. I’ve had to clear a lot of hurdles this year, both personally and professionally. Yet I’m prouder than ever at what these young people have accomplished in the last 12 weeks, and so today, I read them a letter of gratitude:

I’ve only cried in front of a class once, and that was first hour, the day after the 2016 election. So I’m going to try to not do it again today, but I make no promises.
This trimester, my college algebra classes have done some amazing, special, and unique things. When I started teaching this course, I was told to lecture from bell to bell, the kids need to memorize the formulas, odd answers are in the back so assign the evens. Every trimester, I’ve tried to make some improvements on that model and, although not anywhere near perfect, I’m really proud of where this class is now. That has less to do with what I do to modify the course and more to do with how you wonderful young people engage in it. The marble slides activity on Wednesday was a defining moment for me with this course. Lecturing from bell to bell wouldn’t have made students as successful with that activity as you were. Not even close. The creativity and curiosity you bring to school with you every day is such a treat to get to experience for me as an educator. It has been my absolute privilege to get to learn from you this trimester. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for not only letting me experience you grow as mathematicians, but for the energy you brought to collaborate and push each other to engage in making sense of the mathematics we have sworn to you is important for your future. You’re going to encounter math that will be more difficult than the math you encountered here and that’s ok. What you’ve done here is shown me that what is asked of you in math class should make sense, and by working together to provide one another with your ideas and your thinking,you’ve built a foundation for understanding the math you’ll encounter down the road. I believe in you as you go out there and make the world a better place.