About nine years ago, I have read a letter in ‘Bangkok Post Student Weekly,’ in Thailand when I was a Buddhist monk. The BPSW copied that letter from ‘Dear Abby’ column of the Bangkok Post newspaper. The letter was written by a retired teacher from Minnesota, the United States, about one of her remarkable and historical experiences in her teaching life. I gave a presentation about this letter in my class on last Tuesday, which was the last day of our ‘Library Work Place Skills’ class. Some of my classmates asked to send about the letter to them and they wanted to share this with their children in their family. I rewrite or modify about the letter hereby as much as I remember.
As a young teacher, sometimes she got ‘laughs, noises’ and sometimes, bored behaviors from her students, under high pressures. One day, she decided to do something for fun with the students. She asked the students to take two or three papers out from their notebooks. And let them write every classmate’s name of the class on papers, and to leave a space about two or three lines underneath of each name.
After students wrote all names, she said to write the best things of each classmate in the blank lines under each name. Students thought, smiled and wrote the best things of all classmates on papers. As soon as students finished their writings, she collected all papers and brought them to home. On that weekend, the teacher was busy with cutting papers and making list. She cut every note of each name and make a list, which was a collection of the best things those other classmates said about someone in the class.
On Monday, she distributed all papers to each student. It was often a noisy class but on that moment, the class was extremely quiet because everybody in the classroom was interestingly and excitingly reading about his or her best things those other classmates wrote. About five minutes later, someone broke the silence with a surprise sound, ‘Really?’ Another one exclaimed, ‘Oh my god!’ Another one – ‘Wow!’ Another one – ‘Am I, really?’
The teacher created it to be just for fun in the class but what the impact of that little funny event was unbelievable. You know what? The class became a quiet class. All students’ behaviors have drastically changed. Everybody was nice, quiet, listening to the teacher, smiled, helped each other, love each other. Even she did not need to manage the class too much. It was totally unbelievable. What was the answer for that change, do you know? They all tried to maintain the best qualities those other classmates wrote, thought or believe. Do you see the better consequences of goodness on the others?
The story was not finished yet. Many years later, the teacher retired from teaching. All those students from her class were grown up. Some were high officers; some were professors; some were successful businessmen; some were CEOs, already. One day, she have received an invitation letter to attend to a funeral of one of her those students who was a captain in the United States Army, and died in the Vietnam war. At the funeral, she met all of her former students who were former classmates of the captain. They all were happy with sadness.
After the funeral occasion, parents of the captain invited the teacher and former classmates of their beloved son, to have a dinner altogether in their house, as the captain could wish. Parents, teacher and former classmates of the captain were in the dinner of large and long table. During the dinnertime, father of the captain gave special thanks to his son’s teacher and classmates and he said about his son’s story. They noticed that his son’s behaviors were changed after he graduated from high school. They thought it was his maturity as times went by. But he said that after he found something from his son’s body, he realized about the thing that make change his son’s life and behavior. It was a couple of papers with little handwritings, which was expressed the best things those his classmates wrote about him. The captain carried it everywhere he went, which means he treasured that note more than any other thing of his possessions. Other officers found it from his wallet when he died in the front line.
All classmates of captain cried. While all people in dinner were looking at the papers from the hand of captain’s father, one of them said that ‘I have it in our wedding album.’ And then, one after another said that they all kept those papers in their very important places and they read often, as well. Finally, the teacher, of cause, she cried and cried. Something she did with her senior students just for fun, created the better lives of them. Most of them became such successful and better citizens.
Better consequences always come from giving goodness on the others, and vice versa!
Picture: http://www.drjoyceglasser.com/images/sun.jpg
As a young teacher, sometimes she got ‘laughs, noises’ and sometimes, bored behaviors from her students, under high pressures. One day, she decided to do something for fun with the students. She asked the students to take two or three papers out from their notebooks. And let them write every classmate’s name of the class on papers, and to leave a space about two or three lines underneath of each name.
After students wrote all names, she said to write the best things of each classmate in the blank lines under each name. Students thought, smiled and wrote the best things of all classmates on papers. As soon as students finished their writings, she collected all papers and brought them to home. On that weekend, the teacher was busy with cutting papers and making list. She cut every note of each name and make a list, which was a collection of the best things those other classmates said about someone in the class.
On Monday, she distributed all papers to each student. It was often a noisy class but on that moment, the class was extremely quiet because everybody in the classroom was interestingly and excitingly reading about his or her best things those other classmates wrote. About five minutes later, someone broke the silence with a surprise sound, ‘Really?’ Another one exclaimed, ‘Oh my god!’ Another one – ‘Wow!’ Another one – ‘Am I, really?’
The teacher created it to be just for fun in the class but what the impact of that little funny event was unbelievable. You know what? The class became a quiet class. All students’ behaviors have drastically changed. Everybody was nice, quiet, listening to the teacher, smiled, helped each other, love each other. Even she did not need to manage the class too much. It was totally unbelievable. What was the answer for that change, do you know? They all tried to maintain the best qualities those other classmates wrote, thought or believe. Do you see the better consequences of goodness on the others?
The story was not finished yet. Many years later, the teacher retired from teaching. All those students from her class were grown up. Some were high officers; some were professors; some were successful businessmen; some were CEOs, already. One day, she have received an invitation letter to attend to a funeral of one of her those students who was a captain in the United States Army, and died in the Vietnam war. At the funeral, she met all of her former students who were former classmates of the captain. They all were happy with sadness.
After the funeral occasion, parents of the captain invited the teacher and former classmates of their beloved son, to have a dinner altogether in their house, as the captain could wish. Parents, teacher and former classmates of the captain were in the dinner of large and long table. During the dinnertime, father of the captain gave special thanks to his son’s teacher and classmates and he said about his son’s story. They noticed that his son’s behaviors were changed after he graduated from high school. They thought it was his maturity as times went by. But he said that after he found something from his son’s body, he realized about the thing that make change his son’s life and behavior. It was a couple of papers with little handwritings, which was expressed the best things those his classmates wrote about him. The captain carried it everywhere he went, which means he treasured that note more than any other thing of his possessions. Other officers found it from his wallet when he died in the front line.
All classmates of captain cried. While all people in dinner were looking at the papers from the hand of captain’s father, one of them said that ‘I have it in our wedding album.’ And then, one after another said that they all kept those papers in their very important places and they read often, as well. Finally, the teacher, of cause, she cried and cried. Something she did with her senior students just for fun, created the better lives of them. Most of them became such successful and better citizens.
Better consequences always come from giving goodness on the others, and vice versa!
Picture: http://www.drjoyceglasser.com/images/sun.jpg
1 comment:
really a nice story.
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