“Forty-one students?  How do you expect me to teach 41?”  complained the first-grade teacher in her students’ hearing. How did this make them feel?  Some children felt unwanted, and many years later related this story, remembering the teacher as being grouchy.  This teacher also commented to a student, …Read More

The most memorable object lesson I heard as a child was told to me by an old preacher with a gray beard. I don’t remember the preacher’s name, but I remember his story. It went something like this: Once, a long time ago, lived a little boy named …Read More

“Teachers have a big impact and people remember their teachers years later.  I had lots of great teachers and they impacted and shaped who I am today.  Whenever I think of my favorite teacher, I think of Miss B because she really cared for you and was willing …Read More

Years after my childhood, I returned to the school I once attended. The rooms of the building were empty and cool, the tiled hallways vacant. A musty smell lingered in closets and in corners of classrooms. My feet sounded loud on the floor. When I was young, small …Read More

Teaching is a stressful job. Teachers must prepare classes, grade student work, plan special activities, and deal with relationship issues. You have so much to do and so much to remember that you inevitably forget something. Forgetting isn’t usually a disaster, but it adds anxiety to an already …Read More