I Love You, Sort Of

This isn't really much of a story, but it is based on a couple of classes I had the opportunity to observe when I was a student aid, many years ago.  What I saw made a difference in how I tried to handle my classes when I later became a teacher myself.

I Love You, Sort of
    by Gale Ashcroft

When Mindy was in 4th grade she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.  The problem was Mrs. Waters, her teacher.  Almost every day Mrs. Waters told her class how much she loved them, and how glad she was that she was their teacher, but sometimes, especially in the afternoon when the kids talked too loudly or when their classroom was a mess, she would yell at them and tell them what a bad class they were.

<sup>Mindy just couldn't understand it.  sometimes she would go home feeling awful, sure that Mrs. Waters didn't like her at all.  Then when she would go to school the next morning, Mrs. Waters would be happy and smiling again.  If the class was paying attention and doing what they were supposed to do she would praise them and tell them how much she loved them.

By Christmas Mindy was feeling really bad about her class. Even when Mrs. Waters was happy Mindy wasn’t comfortable because she was afraid that if she did something wrong Mrs. Waters would yell at her. Mindy’s mom could tell something was bothering her. Finally Mindy told her mom that Mrs. Waters didn’t like her. Her mom was really surprised because she knew Mindy was trying hard to be good in school, so she made an appointment with Mrs. Waters. To her surprise, Mrs. Waters told her that she thought Mindy was a wonderful student and that she was really glad she was in her class. When her mother told Mindy what Mrs. Waters had said Mindy was relieved, but she was still worried. Her mother explained to her that sometimes people yell or get mad when they are upset or frustrated but they still like you. That helped, and Mindy tried hard to help Mrs. Waters every day and do everything she was asked to do, but when Mrs. Waters yelled it still scared Mindy and made her feel bad.</sup>

One day Mr. Richards told the class a story about when he was a little boy and he had lost his temper. He said he got in big trouble, and then his mother taught him an important lesson. She told him when things happened that made him upset he should stop and take a deep breath, count to ten, then think about what he was going to do before he said or did anything. Mindy thought about what Mr. Richard’s mother had taught him all that day. She decided that was why she enjoyed Mr. Richard’s class so much. He never lost his temper. She realized that even though Mr. Richards never told his class that he loved them she still knew that he did because of the way he treated them, and 5th grade soon became her favorite year.