The Teacher

Wendy Ghiora – Posting #54 – June 26, 2010

I am so sad, angry and disappointed when I hear of anyone who has engaged in any type of mis-conduct with a child. This is especially true when it involves a teacher.

Therefore, I would like to give some equal time to those teachers who not only “do the right thing,” but also go beyond what is called for and really make a difference in kids’ lives. I want to share this one with you. I hope each of you has a really nice memory of a teacher that did something special that you will always remember . . .

The Teacher
This story was passed along to me on the Internet. I believe that it has been circulating for a while and I think that the full story may be in the original Chicken Soup for the Soul. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired!

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much." were most of the comments.No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose.The students were happy with themselves and one another.That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed! with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.
Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes."
Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket.
"They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around.
Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."
Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.
"I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary."
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times, " Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.Remember, you reap what you sow, what you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
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And so my friends, in teaching and in life, even if you can make just one or two people feel good about themselves, it will make a big difference, for you and for them!