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"Buffalo
Bob" |
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Fifth Grade Class As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed
that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes
were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy
could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would
actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen,
making bold X's
and then putting a big 'F'
at the top of his papers. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper
that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in
the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to
laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones
missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she
stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the
bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her
wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to
say, 'Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.' As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her 'teacher's pets.' A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that
while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck
with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of
honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and
favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that
bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made
sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother
wearing on their last Christmas together. Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She
said, 'Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me
that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met
you.'
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