A Letter to My 3rd Grade Self

As this school year begins, I'm working in two 3rd grade classrooms. It's gotten me thinking about my own 3rd grade year, which was my favorite year in elementary school. The kids were asked to write a letter to current 2nd graders, offering advice. I thought I'd do the same, but to myself in 3rd grade.

Dear 8-Year-Old Aaron,

Greetings from 25 years in the future! Before you ask, no, there are no flying cars and you do not have your own jetpack. Disappointing, I know. You do have a car, though. And it gets great gas mileage, something you'll appreciate when you're older.

You're getting ready to start 3rd grade. I know you're nervous about it. You've heard the rumor that your teacher will be Mrs. Caldwell. You know she had been teaching 4th grade and it's been said that she's a hard teacher. Hearing those kinds of things would probably make anyone a little apprehensive about starting the new year. However, those rumors are untrue.

I mean, yes, she did teach the 4th grade and now she's teaching 3rd. But the part about her being too tough on her students, not true.

Mrs. Caldwell will go down in history as one of your favorite teachers of all time. Every 9 weeks, she's gonna host a classroom spelling bee. The winner will get to go to the teachers' lounge, get a soda from the vending machine, then drink the soda in front of the other kids. And guess what... You're going to be the big winner at the end of the third 9 week period! So get to studying those spelling words.

Excited yet? There's more.

Every week, Mrs. Caldwell will introduce new vocabulary words. To help you learn definitions, she'll have the class play Concentration. It's a lot like Memory. You pick a number on one board, which has the word, and try to find its matching definition under a number on the second board. Mrs. Caldwell will split the class into teams of boys vs. girls. The winners get to eat popcorn the next day.

This is also the year when you join the Roanoke Valley Boys Choir. You know Justin? He'll be in the choir too. And you're both in Mrs. Caldwell's class. You guys haven't hit BFF status yet, but this year you kind of will. Sorry, you don't know what BFF means. It's short for "Best Friends Forever." It's something that will become popular in 15 or 20 years. Start using it early. Kids will think you're super cool.

Oh, and here's a fun event to look forward to... You know how there's a PTA fundraiser where you try to sell wrapping paper each year? Your friend Chad is gonna sell the most. He usually does. Anyway, he's gonna pick you and Justin to go with him to Showbiz Pizza to share in his first place prize. You'll get to ride there in a limo. Yeah, wrap your brain around that!

And I almost forgot one more thing that Mrs. Caldwell will do for the class that will make you love her just a little more. She shows movies periodically throughout the school year. She'll show E.T. at some point, which you've seen before. You'll also get to see The Princess Bride for the first time ever. Trust me when I say that movie will change your life for the better. Enjoy it. There are few things more satisfying than seeing a great movie for the first time. You can watch it a hundred times over, but you can never recapture that first viewing.

So don't be nervous. Third grade's gonna be awesome!

Sincerely,
33-Year-Old Aaron

PS - Give Dad a hug for me. You'll understand why in about 18 years.