It’s always a high point when we share letters we get from students. Here is one that I got today that makes me rejoice. Please – when you get these – send them to me so that we can all celebrate with you. It’s not as if we don’t need such validation of our efforts, what with the way things are in schools right now:
Bonjour Mr. Slavic,
It’s Jamil – I was a student of yours at Denver East High School between 2009 – 2011.
I just wanted to reach out to express my gratitude for your teaching. In the years since I took your class, I still rant and rave about your teaching style, and why you truly ignited my once-dormant love for languages. Honestly, every month or so, I find myself telling friends, colleagues or family about your teaching style, and why it was so helpful for me, especially compared to traditional methods of language teaching.
I attribute my ability to speak any French at all to your class. When I began studying Arabic in college, I had a professor who was lovely, but she taught the language the “standard” way (vocab sheets, quizzes, conjugation charts, etc.).
Still, I stuck with the major, because after taking your class, I knew which bits of information were helpful for my learning style and which ones to ignore. Today I can say that I am at least conversational in both French and Arabic.
For the past two months, I had been involved in the Denver teachers strike – going to bargaining meetings, and eventually coordinating food drives and picket support with other friends. The whole experience just reminded me of how grateful to the public school teachers who helped make me who I am, and who work so tirelessly to improve the lives of children.
You were one of three teachers who really had a profound impact on my life, and you deserve more thanks than this simple email can convey. Anyways, I hope you are flourishing in life and that all is going well! If you’re still around Denver, I’d love to buy you lunch or coffee.
Sincerely,
Jamil Elfahdi