Manifesto

My students wrote their own manifestos this year, after I showed them the Holstee Manifesto:

They wrote such beautiful, insightful words. There is wisdom in thirteen year olds. Trust me. If you are disillusioned by youth these days, spend a bit of time with me. I'll tell you some stories that will change your mind.

I always make my students a gift for the end of the year to celebrate the amazing learning that has taken place. This year, I decided to frame their Manifestos. I just printed them in colour on a colour printer. I got these inexpensive frames and Ikea, and they happened to be two-sided, so I added my own manifesto on the back - words of advice for them to keep in mind. 

In my Manifesto: Always read. Read often. Read what you love. Read to know.

Their spelling isn't perfect. But they made all the decisions in their Manifesto: what words to choose, how to lay them out on the page, and what (if any) their background would look like. And that's an authentic writing assignment, if you ask me!

I'll give them to my students tomorrow, on their last day of school. I hope they keep these words somewhere where they can see them, so they can always remind themselves what they believe to be true and what they think is important. What more could a teacher ask?!

P.S. Seed bombs were last year's gift!