Pen Pals

Ok, you know how sometimes you have a really good idea, and then you put it into action, and it's GREAT?

So then, because it's so great, you keep going?

And it keeps growing?

And it's still GREAT, but now it's also kind of taking over?

 That is the exact story of my entire life (and specifically, my teaching career).

I have ten thirteen sixteen** a large number of pen pals, all of them current or former students-- and I'm always up for more*.

With two of them (kids who are now in high school), I exchange actual letters, sent through the US postal service. This is super fun, because we all get Real Mail.

With the others, the kids and I pass blank journals back and forth. I always start them, and the first entry always reads something like this:

Dear Name,

I'm so excited that we're going to be pen pals! I'm really looking forward to reading your thoughts and opinions. It's totally up to you, what this notebook is. We can write about totally silly things, very serious things, or anything in between or any combination of the two. All I can promise is that I won't negatively judge anything you say. 

Everything you write will be kept private, unless:
1. I'm worried you'll hurt yourself or someone else.
2. I suspect abuse or neglect
3. A court requires me to share

In those cases, I'm legally (and, for the first two, morally) obligated to reach out to get you additional support. Of course, if any of those situations apply to you, I hope you'll let me or someone else know so you can get help.

Ok, over to you. Feel free to write about anything you want (What's on your mind these days?), or you can answer all/one/some/none of the following questions.

1. What's the best compliment you've ever received?
2. What's a great memory you have?
3. What's something you're looking forward to? Something you're dreading?

<3, LM
(Wherein the "<3" is actually just a heart, and the LM are my initials)

After that, it's totally up to the kid. Some kids bring me the journals nearly daily, and others I don't see for weeks at a time. Some kids write about stuff they're struggling with, and others tend to enjoy the lighter conversation starters. With a couple of kids, each entry is only a paragraph or so of us talking about the most recent conversation starter ("Where would you travel just for the food?" for example). I have another where I gave the journal the kid on a Wednesday, and got it back on Friday with pages of her thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it's a mix, sometimes it's not.

In all of them, the kids' voices are so clear; they write exactly like they talk. I keep thinking of examples to share with you, but then immediately deleting them-- it feels too wrong, like an invasion to share what they write, even to share these little snippets. I think you'll just have to establish your own pen pals.

I'll joyfully be pen pals with anyone who wants a pen pal, but it's interesting to see how the idea arises. I don't particularly advertise it, nor do I keep it particularly secret. Sometimes I'll ask a kid if they want a pen pal, and sometimes they ask me.

Regardless of how it starts, and regardless of where it goes, I love getting this additional glimpse into kids' lives. It's a pretty spectacular honor. I'm interested to see how the project-- and the participants!-- will grow and change.

It is all evolving naturally, and that's my favorite way these things can go.

*I stand by this-- while this has gotten to be bigger than I expected, I'm still very, very happy with the development

**I'm working on this entry over a period of days, and the number of pen pals keeps increasing. I give up on including a number. As of 12/17, it's 14 journals (shared with 15 kids), and 2 kids with whom I exchange letters.