One of the last online assignments I offered to my students was a letter to their future selves. If we must be distant in space, why not consider a distant, or not so distant, future? At least that's what I thought, and so I provided an organizer, a review of friendly letters, and the promise that any student who submitted a final draft would get their letter sealed in an envelope with a reminder of when to open it.
Today was the day that I did the grunt work of printing letters and labels and stuffing and stamping envelopes. I was happy to have received 35 letters, which is a little under 45% of my students. Heidi was an invaluable assistant, stamping and stuffing, as I printed, addressed envelopes, and added the Do Not Open Until... date. As she worked, she was quite charmed by the content of each letter, so much so, that she read every single one of them out loud to me, lending an audible voice to those very earnest writers, and reminding me how funny and wise they are.
It was a wonderful hour or so! And at the end we had a stack of letters and the anticipation that all the writers would not only feel the thrill of getting mail in the next day or two, but also some time in the future, have that sweet experience of revisiting their former selves, and a reminder of who they were and who they hoped to be.
Today was the day that I did the grunt work of printing letters and labels and stuffing and stamping envelopes. I was happy to have received 35 letters, which is a little under 45% of my students. Heidi was an invaluable assistant, stamping and stuffing, as I printed, addressed envelopes, and added the Do Not Open Until... date. As she worked, she was quite charmed by the content of each letter, so much so, that she read every single one of them out loud to me, lending an audible voice to those very earnest writers, and reminding me how funny and wise they are.
It was a wonderful hour or so! And at the end we had a stack of letters and the anticipation that all the writers would not only feel the thrill of getting mail in the next day or two, but also some time in the future, have that sweet experience of revisiting their former selves, and a reminder of who they were and who they hoped to be.
How great to end with a ray of light. That’s an excellent participation rate for these days!
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