Awww. Best. Teacher. Ever. If only we all had role models like teacher, Chandni Langford (aka Mrs. Langford). On May 2nd, she wrote personal, inspiring messages on all her fifth grade students’ desks in dry erase marker.
Why? To provide some inspiration for their upcoming PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) testing.
The students attend Evergreen Avenue Elementary School in Woodbury, N.J., and the Common Core-aligned tests are high-pressure and extend for seven days over a two week period.
“A lot of my kids were nervous that if they don’t pass this test with good scores they won’t go to the next grade,” Langford said. “They feel a lot of anxiety about that. I thought this would be a cute thing for them to walk in to.” Awww. We’ll say.
Here’s a closer look at some of the desks and their messages.
And there are donuts, too! So sweet (no pun intended)!
What made Langford think of the idea? Pinterest, she said, from a teacher. Plus, since January, Langford’s been using a “growth mindset” learning strategy in her classroom of 19 kids.
“When I read the message, my fear went away,” student Julissa Gomez said. “I knew I could actually do it.” Another student agreed on how helpful the messages were. “I felt like I could do anything now,” Emily Corrigan said. “Everyone kept on smiling. I think it was really cool that she did everything for us.”
The Facebook post by Woodbury City Public Schools has been shared almost 18,000 times as of this writing. You can check out even more photos there.