It might sound a bit cliché, and you might have heard this a thousand times, but the truth is, that real teachers should not educate our kids just about the subjects that they excel at. They should also prepare them for the things that are coming up. And, motivation and inspiration are what separates good from incredible teachers.
We cannot mention Mrs. Clarkson when you’re talking about amazing teachers. Her feelings towards kids are the main reason why she decided to start a career as a teacher. And, unlike some teachers, she educates, inspires, and motivates her students, providing them with lots of skills and knowledge. She focuses on the unique traits that each and every one of her students has. And, most important of all, she knows that SATs don’t have the ability to test children for every skill that they might have. Yes, SATs might prove how certain kids are doing in regular subjects like Math, English, and Science, but they don’t show how loving, kind, and helpful every kid is.
One of Mrs. Clarkson’s students is Ben Twist. Ben is suffering from autism and that’s why he didn’t have big chances of scoring high scores on the SATs. But, even despite this, Mr. Clarkson could notice that Ben was trying hard to score high on the SATs. The day when the results were published Ben noticed that he had failed every subject, and he was clearly depressed by his results.
After Mrs. Clarkson noticed that Ben was down, she decided to do something that would change the way that Ben looks at SATs. She decided to send Ben and his mother a letter – A letter, that once they were done reading they were both in tears.
She started the letter by telling Ben and his mother that just finishing the SATs in itself was a success for Ben. In the letter, she explained that the SATs are not that important because of the fact that they only measure a selected part of the abilities of kids. Ben Twist, she continued, is much better at other skills and has many other traits, that haven’t gone unnoticed here at Lansbury Bridge.
But, that was not the end of the letter. She continued by reminding Ben and his mother why he is a great student and what are his traits. From his artistic talents to his ability to do teamwork, through the independence that he’s gaining and all the way to his athletic skills and many more were mentioned in the letter.
She signed the letter and finished it by saying thanks to Ben and that they are proud of him.
These words would keep on ringing in Ben’s head, and he will never forget them, I am sure of that. Mrs Clarkson has spun his life around, and the way that he sees things. She motivated him and inspired him to get better and better at the skills that he already had.
But, Mrs. Clarkson did not expect her kind words to get to the eyes of many other people. Ben’s mother decided to post this kind letter upon her twitter profile and it immediately started gaining traction. The tweet has gained over 12 000 likes, 600 comments and more than 5500 retweets.
People loved her kind words and kept on commenting amazing things on the letter.
It doesn’t take a lot to be an amazing teacher. All you need to do is to trust in your students and find the things that they love doing and they are good at. If every teacher was a bit more like Mrs. Clarkson, kids would love to spend their time at school!
