Connections in High School-or how important they still are 30 years later

Wow-has it really been August 9 since I last posted? Time flies when you are having fun, or in my case, when you roldest leaves for college, your youngest starts driving, and you begin your first full year of teaching and SIX CLASSES that are your own, from start to finish. One of them I would like to trade in, but that is for another post.

I was inspired this week by another event--my birthday. What was so unusual--maybe not so anymore--I received only ONE birthday card in the mail and TWO phone calls (my mother and my mother in law); TWO e-cards.....and FIFTY-SEVEN birthday wishes on Facebook! Wow-I've never ever received fifty seven birthday cards. But 57 people stopped to tell me happy birthday on Facebook! Some of them I haven't even seen for 30 years--since high school.

This got me thinking--the relationships we form in high school are so important to us that we are now 30 years later "friending" them on Facebook. So the students sitting in my classroom fliritng with the cute girl acroos from them while I am trying to teach and making them BE QUIET will maybe in 30 years still be communicating with each other--on some sequel to Facebook; probably something implanted in their ears.

At the six week mark this year I decided my students were getting a little TOO comfortable with their seatmates and switched everyone around. Okay teachers--we really know this is so you can move the bad kids right up next to you, but you have to move EVERYONE to make it fair.

Today I did my first group assignment in a while and let them choose a partner or a group of three. Almost without fail, they all went BACK to their original seats and whomever was sitting next to them at the start of school. Hmm. Should I have left them? Evidently they formed a bond.

So I look at my Facebook friend list--specifically the growing group from my high school days. Oh yes--I sat next to him in Geometry. And I sat next to her in English-10th grade. Meistersingers--the singing group I was in 11th and 12th--don't even get me started. I can still tell you who sat on BOTH sides of me, both years. All boys(maybe that is why I remember). Two of them--still my good buddies today (Kelly and Chester)--and my Facebook friends!

So here's to ALL of the people we sit next to in high school, who 30 years later remember to tell us Happy Birthday. Maybe I won't move my kids around so much!