A Letter to a teacher.
Dear Teacher
Thank you for taking the time to listen to me
And for making the effort to care for the child
Thank you for listening and trying to reach out to him,
Thank you for really paying attention
The child!
My child!
You see he is so precious to us.
From the great joy and the promise of a life that first over
whelmed
To the very first time he moved within my womb.
I loved him.
The child
in your classroom might just be a child to you.
Someone to teach and help and occasionally scold, perhaps
even yell at.
But, you see, that child, is my child.
He is precious to us!
He was wanted and loved from the first
And when he arrived he brought great joy
And change and hope and fun
And much, much more.
With him came the passing of time
His life became a new measure
The yards stick of my life.
His life represents all that longing
The hope we had for life
For our lives, together.
The child in your class might shift, and move
He might giggle and jump
He probably does all this and more.
His work might be untidy
Despite trying his best
He just cant seem to get it right.
Perhaps he
He talks a lot, too much; cries and is afraid;
And the measure used for children now days
Glows all so brightly
“He should be able to do this by now”
Sometimes he gets lost and
Often feels afraid
He forgets his book or bag
And wears the wrong top
All this might make him really, really anxious
Because he does not like being in trouble,
He really does not do it on purpose.
He is still a child after all
He is a little of this and a lot of that
He might sometimes meet the goal and yet sometimes not.
Being pulled and pushed and molded by life
Molded at school
By you……
The teacher,
his teacher.
You see, I know when he is sad
I can read when he is
happy
You might not know this
He likes you, you see, he really does.
He might not say so, but I know.
The boy who might look funny to you,
Perhaps he is messy, noisy, distracted, and slow
Or fast, just a little to fast.
Perhaps he is not that bright and slow to understand
He might be sharp as a sward and know more than you do
The child could grate on all your nerves
He might even smell
You could write a list of all the thoughts you have about
who he is
What he does and what he might accomplish.
You praise and reward
You encourage and with one word build up
Or break down.
The child!
That child…..
That child is my child
The child I love with all my heart.
So, I want to say thank you for loving him
Because you see he is precious to us
This brought tears to my eyes, Caren! So tender and vulnerable and true. A hear a plea in the letter too: please keep loving my child! Praise Him for teachers who care and love our children too.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this in response to a couple of great teacher / parent discussions and some very real kindness shown to one of our brood. :) But I guess it is also a plea . a teacher can be such a blessing and similarly be so damaging. A friend shared her grade 2 report from years gone by. Wow!! I was shocked at the thoughtlessness written down. Things have shifted in general, for the better, for some of us. :) If that makes any sense at all!!!
DeleteI do understand! Wonderful teachers are worth their weight in gold. Even if all teachers were wonderful they'd still be worth their weight in gold because of their immense influence over our children. I remember some things said to me as a child by thoughtless teachers and I wasn't particularly sensitive. Yet even those had an impact. How much more for the more sensitive child? Thanks again for sharing. :-)
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