Sometimes in class, I ask random students what they will be doing at 3:25 PM when the last bell of the school day rings. The answer is always along the line of play practice or basketball workouts or going home. My reply is always, "You don't know. None of us knows." I then quote James saying we should preface our intended plans with if it's the Lord's will. That's how our day started at WCS. An electric outage yesterday caused an interruption of Internet service for the first three class periods today. Since everything I had planned in my Bible classes-everything- requires being connected online, I had to be flexible. My 8th graders could not prepare for their quiz over Luke 6:1-16 because we use biblegateway.com instead of paper Bibles and that option was taken away. So, I had them write a sequel to Johnny Lingo, the short movie about self esteem we watched last week. But, that still left some time left over so I did something I haven't done for years- I read to my students. I read to them three short stories from the wonderful book shown above by John William Smith, one of my favorite writers and speakers ever. I told the kids about Doris Harris, my best elementary teacher and maybe one of the best two or three teachers I ever had on any level. Mrs. Harris taught fourth grade at Willard School in York, Nebraska and she was amazing. What I recall most was that every day after lunch, she would read to us from The Little House On The Prairie series and that was the very best part of my day. She fostered a love for reading that my folks had kindled- Mrs. Harris set it on fire. I'm eternally grateful for her gift to me that year I was blessed to dwell in her classroom.
By sixth period, we were fully functional again. As you may know, I put a bonus question worth one correct answer on each quiz or memory verse. After explaining the value of Doris Harris to my education, I told the juniors in my Gospels' class that the following was their bonus for the quiz which covered Luke 6:17-36:
In several sentences, tell me who your favorite teacher of all time is AND why.
There were a number of excellent responses but I particularly like Sarah's. Here is what she wrote:
My favorite teacher of all time is Mrs. Warner in first grade. She was a very old widow. She would always tell us to be creative and would always tell us stories. She always would smell like vanilla when I would hug her. She was by far my strictest teacher but I know she loved me the most. She taught me to love poetry and reading. She first introduced me to chapter books and poetry. I miss her a lot.
My guess based on my own experience is that Mrs. Warner was probably not as old as Sarah remembers. I love her memory of her scent and that Mrs. Warner let Sarah hug her. Teaching is so much more than just imparting facts; it's about imparting love. Jesus taught in Luke 6:40 that,
The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
I hope in some small way that I've turned out like Mrs. Harris. And I've no doubt, no matter what career she chooses, that someday, Sarah will be like her beloved Mrs. Warner. That would be a fitting final chapter in the book of learning Mrs. Warner inspired, wrapped up neatly with the lasting fragrance of vanilla.
Applicable quote of the day:
I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.
John Steinbeck
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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