Eagle Ridge Academy School of Grammar Blog: Best Version of You!

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

I read a book in 1^st grade last week called Why Am I Here?. It was given to me by a parent and I love the message it imparts, that we are all in this world to “Be the Best Version of Ourselves.” As you can guess it repeats this message over and over and the students really latch onto the words. They are excited to say them with me as I read the book. For a first grader becoming the “best version of him/herself” is simple, but not always easy. It is making good choices with their actions and words. Choosing to take turns, doing homework instead of playing, cleaning up instead of leaving a mess. First graders begin to learn that making those good choices makes them feel good inside. The book also lets children realize they are not perfect and they don’t always make those good choices, but they should try each day to get better and better.

The more I think about the book, the more I realize it is that simple for all of us (but not always easy). We should always try to be the “best version of ourselves” because the “best version of ourselves” makes things better for everyone (not just ourselves). We are never too old to strive to be better in our interactions with each other and the choices we make. Expecting perfection from each other is an impossible standard to uphold and to hold others to each day. Becoming a superior self is always possible and as Ernest Hemingway said, certainly something noble to reach for in our lives. I'm going to try to think about it in my everyday choices and hope you do, too.

Second grade students have been studying synonyms. The teachers created a fun project to go with their study. Try saying this one several times quickly (or in my case one time slowly) correctly…Synonym Cinnamon Rolls! While the creation of them didn’t fill our hallways with that yummy cinnamon roll smell, the students created lovely projects that showed their understanding of synonyms. Here are a few pictures of those finished projects.