Jump to content
Home
Forum
Articles
About Us
Tapestry
This is the EYFS Staging Site ×

A Thought For The Future


AnonyMouse_13453

Recommended Posts

Thought I'd share this with you

 

One day a teacher asked the children to list the names of the other children in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the lesson to finish and as the children left the room, each one handed in the papers.

 

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each child on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each child his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The children were happy with themselves and one another.

 

Several years later, one of the pupils was killed in Iraq and his teacher attended the funeral. The church was packed with his friends.

After the service one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.' After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

 

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.' Opening the wallet, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. 'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

 

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.' Brian's wife said, 'Brian asked me to put his in our wedding album.' 'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary' Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her bag, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' she said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

 

 

We have started adding comments like this onto a page in each child's Learning Journey, for them to keep for later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Cait for sharing.

 

I have a list too, from fellow PLA tutors following a tutor training weekend from back in the 80's, this has reminded me of the warmth I have felt in my heart when I'v often re- read others opinions of me. I think what is most significant with this story and others similar experiences is that the comments are from peers, there is no ulterior motive or materialistic gain for making the comments, they come from mind and heart and they are honest and positive.

Also the act of making positive comments is also uplifting too, maybe we should all try to do it more often as the 'norm' and not wait for another person to suggest we do it.

 

Peggy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. (Privacy Policy)