Holiday Gift

A friend shared this letter with me today.  It is beautiful.  It is the best gift a teacher could every get or want. This teacher was especially touched because her former supervisor was always putting her down, telling her what an awful teacher she was and how the kids did not like her.  We all need validation.  I was so happy she got hers I promised to share it here.

Ms. X,
I don’t know why it occurred to me to look for you on online now.
I have been thinking of you time to time but never imagined I could find you on world wide web.
I remembered your first name but have forgotten your last name so I couldn’t look for you until yesterday when I looked into my high school year book.
I was your student in late 80s and you knew me as Syo Lee
I’m not sure you will remember me by my name since you probably met many Korean students with similar names.
I was a shy student and spoke very little English.
You were my favorite teacher because you were gentle and kind.
You gave me a cookie once and I think it was Hamentashen now that I think of it.
You helped me to believe in me and not be afraid to show others what I am capable of.
Your gentle encouragement to come up and solve a problem felt that I was welcomed.
Your smile, gosh I still remember your big eyes and beautiful smile, made me feel like you believed I could do it.
Math wasn’t just a subject.
It was a language that let me talk to the world where people spoke different languages.
My peers respected me and interested to get to know me because I was good at Math.
That led me to enjoy my high school years in a foreign world that I just arrived.
You have done many mitzvoth. Thank you.
Looks like you are teaching in college now. Wonderful.
I am glad they have you as their math teacher.
I have become a hospital chaplain.
I recently moved from NYC to Dallas.
I used to serve as a director at a hospital in Manhattan.
I wish I thought of this back then.  I would have enjoyed seeing you once again.
It would be nice for us to reconnect.
I look forward to hear from you.
Shalom,

He Lost A Good One

 

A former Packemin colleague just sent me this e-mail she received from a student.  Mr. AP never thought much of her teaching and made her life so uncomfortable she took early retirement.  Luckily, the college didn't share his opinion of her teaching methods and hired her.  While the students at Packemin lost a great teacher, some college students gained one.  Congrats Prof XXX.  This is the kind of stuff that makes it all worth while.


Hi Prof. XXX


  Just wanted to say thank you so much for helping me pass math X. Your teaching
style is unbelievable.  I hated math all my life and wasn't good at it.  You
made me enjoy learning and now I feel confident when doing it.  Hopefully, the
Prof for math XX this summer can keep me interested in learning more advanced
math.  It was a pleasure meeting you and being your student.  I hope we meet
again some day. Thank you again for being by far the BEST prof I've ever had....

Teacher Value

 



Letters, like the ones below are what keep me in the classroom.  This teacher, gets lots of these letters too.  Too bad her administration doesn't value her half as much as her students do.

Hey professor, its  John Smit again. I just wanted to write to you to say
thank you. Thank you for being so understanding during my time of hardship and
being so supportive. You are a truly caring and kind hearted person, that I'm
very thankful for. I feel that your positive attitude and faith in me was what
helped me improve in your class and bring my grades up. So I just wanted to
really say thank you and it was my pleasure to be a student of yours.




How are you Professor.POd I really appreciate your time and effort you give
to your students. Giving opportunities to everyone in class is a memory that won't
be forgotten. Thank you very much for telling me where I am and how well I have
to do on the final, I am going to work harder than I did before.



Hi Professor,

I just wanted to say thank you for everything, I had a great time in your class. Every class that we had together was very interesting. I learned a lot. Just wanted to ask you something if you can pull up my grades for this term up until now, just so i can calculate and confirm my transfer application. Thank you professor once again. I also would like to apologize for skipping some parts of the class, as i had wrote on my last test that we took yesterday, i regret leaving. You are a great professor and i really respect you, and because of that i would like to apologize. The relation between a teacher and a student is like no other relation. Please accept my apology, and keep the grudges away from your heart about me. I would say you were the best out of all my classes this semester. Hope we can keep in touch. Thank you again, and hope you have a great vacation and hope you and your family have great success and all the best for the future. My prayers will always be with you. Take Care