Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Humbled By His Letter

The pearls of teaching far outweigh everything else. One of my incredible students wrote a wonderful letter for a scholarship and someone kindly left it on my windshield. God uses all of us to be angels in the lives of others. I am grateful that someone shared this letter with me. Ben's words humble me.

I remember walking into the very first day of first grade at Mountain and wanting to burst into tears. Several of the other kids had Magic Tree House books on their desks. Others had easier books to read than that, but the problem was I COULD NOT READ at all! My parents had religiously read to me every night and had tried to teach me the alphabet, but the letters and words were like little black spots on paper. I thought I was dumb, and had a low self-esteem when it came to school, especially reading. I was terrified that the teacher would make me read out loud and I would sound like a fool. My teacher, Ms. Griffith, recognized that I had a learning difficulty and encouraged my parents to "have me tested downtown."  I was diagnosed as having a Phonemic Awareness Disability, which is a reading disability. Finally, an answer to what was wrong with me!


There were many great teachers at Mountain School. The one teacher that influenced me the most was Ms. Barbara Barber. She worked with me everyday on my reading skills, and was a very encouraging and positive role model. She taught me to never give up, and told me that if I worked hard I could succeed at anything. Ms. Barber met with my mom and showed her many tips and tricks to help me learn to read, and gave her recommendations and ideas on how to improve my skills. I felt very comfortable and secure with Ms. Barber, and my self-esteem gradually improved. I am truly grateful for all of the time Ms. Barber spent with me, teaching me how to read.


Through years of hard work and perseverance, I am now a good student and am no longer shy about reading out loud. I am very thankful for the nurturing environment that the staff at Mountain School provided, and especially want to thank Ms. Barbara Barber.

Ben is a senior and will soon be graduating. His words are one of my most precious rewards of teaching. My students are more than students they are my heart kids.

In Him,
Joyful
5-1-12

5 comments:

  1. God has the most amazingly perfect timing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh precious words and you might want to frame that letter to preserve it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. God is amazing, pure love .....creating all that is necessary for us to "see" that it is always His Love reaching down providing for us, his creatures

    ReplyDelete
  4. God is awesome His timing is right on. Barb you r a wonderful teacher

    ReplyDelete
  5. God is awesome His timing is right on. Barb you r a wonderful teacher

    ReplyDelete