A Message For Each Student In Mr. Ursi’s Grade 5 Class, Beckett Farm PS, 2015–2016

Dear friend,

You are amazing and awesome. You are beautiful and brilliant. You are kind and caring. #alliteration

You are smart, in your own way.
You are curious about the world.
You care.
You smile. You laugh. You let loose. 
You rock. 
#freeverse

***

We are lucky. We get two months of summer to before we come back and do this school thing again. Not many people get two months of vacation! Take advantage…

Don’t waste the opportunity to learn on your own terms. 
Read what you want. 
Write what you want. 
Listen to what you want.
Just make sure you’re paying attention. 
Be active. 
Be nice to everyone, especially your family. 
#teachersgonnatellyouwhattodo #sorry

***
You made it easy and fun for me to come to school every day. Here are 8 lessons I hope you have learned:

1. Treat other people with respect and kindness. #benice
2. You, like every other person, are a person with your own strengths and your own weaknesses. Know them. Improve on them.
3. Life is interesting #humanbody #billnye 
4. The world we live in is interesting #firstnations #justintrudeau #solidliquidgas #elections #history 
5. Math is interesting #math
6. Reading is actually fun #litcircles #silentreading #readalouds
7. The environment is precious #lorax #caribou
8. Beckett Farm is an amazing school. You are lucky to be part of it.

***

Keep your Writer’s Notebook until you are old, like me. You won’t regret it.

• **

Now that you have been in my class, there are some rules you must follow for the rest of your Beckett Farm career:

1. When you see me, you have to say “hi” (preferably, “good morning” or “good afternoon” cuz I’m formal like dat)
2. If I ask you how your life is, you have to give me more than a one word answer
3. If you’re being bad, I can “yell at you”
4. If you have a problem, you can come and talk to me

I will miss you. It’s been my pleasure to teach you.

Love,

Mr. Ursi