There are VERY few students that I remember from their grade 7 visits to King George. Do YOU even remember coming to my classroom that year? I probably made a few awful jokes and acted pretty goofy (just like I did when you were actually IN my class).
But I remember grade 7 Joey VERY clearly. I can even remember where she SAT during that grade 7 visit (pretty well exactly where she sits in Calculus this year!!). I did the usual welcome to the grade 7's and then I decided to give them some sort of logic puzzle. It was a type of puzzle I had given my grade 8, 9 and 10 classes previously in the year and there were varying levels of difficulty on the page (started easy and then got progressively harder). Very few of my students (particularly in grade 8 and 9) got the hardest puzzles and - perhaps not surprisingly - not many grade 7s got ANY of the puzzles answered. But one bright-eyed, personable girl (JOEY!) got the very HARDEST puzzle. And she solved it FAST (you guys got whipped from class to class on those visits).
I was SOOOOO impressed. I actually stuck her solution on the board and referred to her as "Joey the Genius grade 7" to all my classes (I believe they all thought I was weird). I was legitimately hoping that Joey would be in my grade 8 class and.... she wasn't. :(
DISAPPOINTING!! But then something wonderful happened! Joey moved to PreCalculus 10 the following year (who needs Math 9?!) and I have had the true pleasure of teaching her Math in all of the past four years! And despite my sky-high expectations, Joey STILL managed to surpass them all.
As I deduced from her grade 7 visit, she is an extremely intelligent, focused, determined student. But she is also a fantastic person. Joey is always so cheerful, so friendly, so warm-hearted. What a wonderful person to be around!
When I help Joey with her Math, she thanks me... EVERY single time. When she arrives to class, she greets me happily... EVERY single time. When I chat with her about non-Math stuff, she never seems impatient, uncomfortable, or bored.
Thank you Joey for being such a memorable student. I admire you so much for your generosity, your sense of humour, and your laid-back nature (plus your incredible start-of-class-puzzle skills!!). I KNOW that great things await you in the future (and you deserve them all!). May you never lose your sunny disposition and your warm smile. Love you, Joey!