Finished!

Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
~ Plato

I spent the evening reading over a bag full of thank you letters from my students. The letters are more precious than I know how to describe. They touched my heart deeply, because they let me know how deeply I touched their hearts.

One of the most precious letters is from a boy with an IEP. He doesn’t appear to be interested in lessons. Lots of days he sleeps through class; other days he sometimes appears to listen. Mostly, I considered him one of my failures, someone that I might one day learn how to reach, but someone this year that I failed.

To my great surprise, he wrote a thank you note, to tell me how much fun I made class. That he learned a lot from me. And he touched my heart in a very special way.

I think what I need most to carry away from this experience is to never give up on one single student; that I will never know what kind of effect I am having on a student. To keep trying to get through, even when it seems hopeless, because as a teacher, I should never give up on a student. I am touched more profoundly by this simple, misspelled note than by any glowing and well-written missive in my bag full of notes.

I’ve also learned that I need to not listen to opinions about students from other teachers. I’ve learned that teachers can get jaded after a while, and I can’t, or won’t, let myself become that way. If I do, then it will obviously be time to leave the teaching profession and fine another career. I hope it will be obvious to me, if I ever reach that point.

Every child has some genius in her or him. I must never forget that.

The job of an educator is to teach students to see vitality in themselves.
~ Joseph Campbell