For Christmas I received an awesome gift. FriXon erasable
pens. They are amazing. They are nothing like the erasable markers of the 80s
that would leave terrible eraser marks on the page when you made a mistake.
These pens truly erase with the greatest ease. Additionally, I love the way my
handwriting looks with these pens. I am a pen person. There are very few types
of pens that I use and these are definitely one that I like.
As a Christmas gift, my boys were gifted getting to take one
of their best friends to our beloved Disney World. They were so super excited
to bring a friend and have a different experience in a place we’ve been
countless times. We also had friends who were at Disney and so on many days,
the boys would meet up with their friends and I was on my own. One morning, I
hung out on the balcony of our hotel and people watched while I wrote Christmas
thank you notes. And of course, I used my new FriXon pens. I spend much time
enjoying myself watching families enjoy the walk to the Skyliner as well as
watching some families not enjoy time together (sometimes it isn’t the happiest
place on Earth). I spent so much time that I finished all my thank you notes.
One the day we left, we packed up our car and headed to the
park for one last goodbye to Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful day of 77 in Florida.
Late that night, we finally arrived home and because I had had coffee and diet
coke (with more caffeine than coffee), I started to unpack. I sorted dirty
clothes knowing that would be the next day’s first task, and I started putting
away our Disney items into our Disney tub (yes, I have a tub with stuff we take
to every trip like our magic bands, my park book bag, surge protector, portable
fans, and hotel items). Then I saw them-my thank you notes. I was confused. I
had addressed each envelope, not all with addresses, but all with the name of
the one the note would be delivered. But these envelopes were blank. Blank. I
opened one or two of them and the insides were blank or faded. I couldn’t
understand. Then I did a little research. Those new, super cool erasable pens-
can’t take the heat. The Florida heat inside a hot car made almost all my thank
you notes disappear. Gone.
I was devastated. I had worked so hard. I had actually
completed a task and I was thrilled to check it off my to do list. For
circumstances you all understand I never finished my thank you notes from
Christmas last year. I did my research and tried the tricks to get my hard work
back, but it was gone. All gone. Probably to keep from crying, I laughed at
this very Meredith moment.
I started thinking about this disappearing act and I thought
back to my 6th grade year. My school treated 6th grade
like elementary school. I had one teacher. I was invisible to her. I worked
hard, but I wasn’t a star. I did well, but I didn’t do great. I was nice, but I
wasn’t open about my kindness like other students. My parents were involved,
but not like other parents who were room mom or had an important address. It
was like I was invisible. I can still remember how hurtful she was to me. I
worked so hard to get her to like me and I knew that while she didn’t dislike
me, she certainly didn’t like me. It hurt.
It is my charge to you that you look around your room or building
and look to see if there are any invisible students. No student deserves to feel
that way. No one deserves to crave attention from a teacher. This includes the
high achievers all the way to our most struggling students. Empty is the worst
feeling. Don’t let any of our students leave empty. Make sure they’re not invisible.
Make sure they are colorful and important.
