This story is one of my favorite and close to my heart. After reading this story as a faculty I also have the same feeling, and want to thanks all my students who thought me that I could make a difference :) I have already post this story in this blog.. but one more time this is for all teachers who are not just teacher for their students but a real inspiration, real hero. This post is dedicated to all teachers
A Teacher’s Lesson
There is a story many years ago of an
elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in
front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told
the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and
said that she loved them all the same.
But that was impossible, because there in
the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy
Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed
that he didn’t play well with the other children, that his clothes were
messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be
unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take
delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and
then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught,
she was required to review each child’s past records and she put
Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in
for a surprise.
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He is a joy to be around.”
His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy
is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is
troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must
be a struggle.”
His third grade teacher wrote, “His
mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his
father doesn’t show much interest and his home life will soon affect him
if some steps aren’t taken.”
Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class.”
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the
problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her
students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons
and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present which was clumsily
wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.
Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in
the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh
when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing,
and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the
children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was,
putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.
Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.”
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very
day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead,
she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention
to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The
more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the
year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and,
despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy
became one of her “teacher’s pets.”
A year later, she found a note under her
door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he
ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another
note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third
in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his
whole life.
Four years after that, she got another
letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in
school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with
the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the
best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet
another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his
bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter
explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had.
But now his name was a little longer—the letter was signed, Theodore F.
Stoddard, M.D.
The story doesn’t end there. You see,
there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he’d met this girl
and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a
couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to
sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the
mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She
wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she
made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother
wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear,
“Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for
making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.” Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy,
you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make
a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
Source: A teacher's lesson
