Stories and Memory

This week of conferences was a time for teachers and families to reflect on our time together over the past there years. Many children were in a reflective mood as well. After running across old class photos and school portraits, Louise mounted them on her wall and reminisced along with teachers, noting how the children had grown and changed over time.

​In another conversation, Joslin shared her theory about memory: “I’ve got a key in my head It’s something in my head that holds my thoughts, that holds my memories forever. There’s a key that locks it it. It’s something that I just imagined, that I thought would be cool. That’s what I ask myself all the time: 'What locks it in?' I ask myself all the time. So that’s why I’m thinking about a key, because a key opens and closes doors. Sometimes when I’m sleeping, my key is resting too. Because things I think in the night, I don’t remember them. My key is resting. It can’t work at night. It needs to rest, like us. There’s a little rope that connects to my mouth, that sends the word that I say over to the key. There are headphones that are attached and the key hears it and says ‘Hmm, maybe I should lock that in, instead of the other thing.’ I say what to lock in and the key says ‘okay’ because I have headphones too, but they’re invisible. I tell it to lock in things that I would like to remember.”

One way to lock in things that we want to remember--as individuals or collectively--is storytelling. In the past two weeks, our conversations have often turned into storytelling sessions. Children have explored oral storytelling and picture books—including books of their own creation. They have  played with different genres, weaving fantastical tales, recounting memories of past experiences, and recalling dreams. They have used illustration, dramatic play, and puppetry to act out dramas. 

As we move into the final month of school, it seems fitting that our attention is turning toward the past and memories as we revisit and celebrate our shared history. The Tucker Room children have always loved dramatic play, and we have watched their imaginative storytelling take many forms over the year, propelling their work in every area of the classroom. 

In this space between our physical time together at St. John’s and the children’s transition into Kindergarten, we also happen to have more time to focus on the people and events that are important to us, who have shaped us. It’s a good time for reflecting, for celebration, and also for imagining a future that will be very different for most of us. These are our inspirations as we delve deeper into portraiture and explore storytelling in the coming weeks.