Report Cards are not who I am

As I sat down to write report cards for my grace seven class a few weeks back, I got a little emotional. I write my parents a bit of an 'open letter' on Facebook. Needless to say, they got me.

Dear Parents and Guardians of School-Aged Children,
As I sit here writing report cards for my class, I’m overwhelmed with emotion. I need for you to understand something that I can’t quite put into words.
Your children mean so much more to me than this piece of paper and the comments I’ve tried so carefully to write. It’s impossible for me to articulate to you the wonder of your child. I can tell you how well they are going in algebra, their reading level, whether they are ...friendly, polite, engaged, a distraction! But these things are only a tiny part of who your child is.
If I could, I’d write about the joy and exhilaration on their faces when they learn something new in my classroom, or how we all cheered for them when they overcame something terrifying, like speaking in front of a room full of people, because public speaking makes them stay up late into the night worrying about it.
I’d write about how they were an everyday hero and remembered to take the Prep’s lunch down to save our hardworking tuckshop lady the trip. I’d write about how they’ve had to single handily bring together friendships that were falling apart, reminded another (who they didn’t want to get into trouble) to get back on task, or how they finally, finally wrote an epic sentence with all commas in the correct place, because they’d been trying all year. All. Damn. Year.
If I could, I’d express to you how much I love my job, and it’s only because of the people I get to work with – your people. Your funny, sometimes infuriating, but utterly amazing, bright, young people.
So, please, take your child’s report cards with a grain of salt. You already know how wonderful they are.
Love Miss Hayley