Thing #3

I love using pictures in my classroom. Quite a few times last year I used personal photos and pictures found online as journal prompts. Also, because of the EOC test, visual images are used to help students think about certain subjects and topics. Like I have mentioned in a previous "Thing" I always respond with my students to the journal prompt for the day. The following is an example of a prompt with my response, in both written and pictorial form. 

Whether it is somebody famous or a best friend, we all have

somebody that we can relate to. There is somebody who goes through

similar situations as ourselves and who we can talk to. 

Describe the one person you relate to best in your life.  What makes

that person different than everybody else?  When have you used them

as a listener?

The night before his wedding, I read my brother, Bradley, a letter I had written. Sitting in Room 122 of the Hampton Inn in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, a letter that should have taken 5 minutes to read, took nearly 15 because of the many pauses it took for me to choke down sobs. Looking around, my mom, dad, and brother were experiencing similar emotional reactions. You see, Bradley is my best friend. There is no one else in this world that I feel completely and totally myself around. Around him, all masks are shoved to the side, all pretenses forgotten, and only the true Sarah remains. I realized in college that Bradley was the only person that had experienced the same upbringing, the same rules, and the same expectations as me. We lived our childhood together regardless of the different choices we made. I realized when he was in college that I didn’t feel like a big sister. His decisions were more rational, more goal-driven and when I figured out that we were equals and the sibling rivalry was meaningless, I realized that I’d had a true best friend beside me my entire life.

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