Sunday, January 15, 2017

A Pencil... a Phone Call... and a Mom's Tears

It was a phone call that I will not soon forget.

This year I set a goal of making 100 positive phone calls home by the 100th day of school. I asked my teachers to let me know when they had a student they wanted to brag on. Last week, a teacher emailed me about a student she was proud of. This particular student was always coming to class unprepared. The teacher and student had a "heart to heart" conversation, and since then, the student has been bringing her pencil to class everyday.  I know that coming to class prepared is a big deal, and it can certainly be aggravating to a teacher always to be loaning pencils. Our students after all, need to be responsible. But I'll admit, I was a bit reluctant to call mom about something as petty as bringing a pencil to class.

I called the student down to my office to give her a high five, and despite my misgivings, I called mom. I told her how proud her daughter's teacher was of her for bringing a pencil every day.  The mom started crying. Through her tears, she said, "My daughter struggles in school. Thank you so much for telling me this." I had to end the conversation quickly because I didn't want to start crying in front of our sixth grader.  I hung up the phone, and the student's eyes were wet too. I could tell she was proud.

So this pencil was not petty; it was huge.

This phone call reinforced two important lessons for me:

First, teachers have tremendous power to brighten a student's day.  And through a quick phone call to a parent, they can bring some sunshine into their life as well.  Do not leave compliments left unsaid. When we're proud of our kids, we should tell them. When they're making progress, we should encourage them.  They will remember our kind words longer than they will remember our lesson.  We are not just offering our students an education; we are offering them hope.

And second, when we struggle with students, there is a good chance that parents experience those same struggles. There are parents who are nervous every time they put their kids on the bus; they experience a little bit of anxiety every time they drop their students off at school. They are wondering... 

"Will he get in trouble again today?"

"Will anyone sit with her at lunch?"

"Will the kids mess with him in the hallway?

"Will she forget her pencil again?"

There are some students for whom school is not a good experience, and parents share in that struggle with their child. They experience it through the silence in the car, through the constant "stomach aches" in the morning, and sometimes through the very real tears.  These students need our attention, they need our patience, and they need our love.  Educators make a difference for students every day, and as it turns out... they make a difference for parents too.

46 comments:

  1. Danny, what a wonderful story. I'm so glad you made that phone call, and did not give in to your initial reservations. One positive message can really turn things around for a student, and a parent as well, as this post shows. Thanks for writing this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind comments... and for taking the time to read this!

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. Nice post! Little things in life accumulate to big moments. Even though a call may seem simple/silly, it did and will continue to pay off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Shane! The positive phone calls have a been a big deal!

      Delete
  3. This is a great post. Little things to us mean the world to someone else

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No doubt! Thanks for reading and sharing, Derek!

      Delete
  4. The manufacturing industry in the United States continues to be part of the economic backbone of the country. CAD-CAM software and CNC Manufacturing Automation Technology play a critical roll in the future of manufacturing education, moving forward to ensure that young adults are armed with the skills they need in order to keep America competitive in global manufacturing as they graduate and enter the workforce.http://www.assignmentsynonym.eu/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Additionally alluded to as call occupy, this innovation enables you to reconstruct your phone or portable number with the goal that each call you get is diverted to another number. cost of 0800 numbers

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh! I remember those times in school! It was a sh*tty time I must confess. You depend on teachers, parents, classmates. You are always bothered the thoughts 'what will they say'. Bad times.http://paper-due-now.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Verizon offers the free toll free calling in there plans? i tried to contact their support but no one answered.free phonecalls

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many locales that component articles are presently posting and setting up articles on the occasions. Compose an article on "Thanksgiving". You can do it, proceed. I thought and thought. For Momz

    ReplyDelete
  9. If it still doesn't work, take off the area code and replace it with the city name or state, if you know which is it bestmobilenumbertracker.com/dnd-check

    ReplyDelete
  10. While it is almost impossible to do this in the past considering the fact that there are no mobile phone directories that contain a comprehensive list of cell phone numbers and their owner's personal information, it is definitely possible now through the use of such reverse cell phone lookup service.have a peek here

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is really nice to hear. thank you for the update and good luck. review oneplus 5T

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great post, and great website. Thanks for the information! Whocall

    ReplyDelete
  13. This should effectively be possible rapidly and effortlessly finished the web. free-lookup.net

    ReplyDelete
  14. While staying at home and taking care of the house and your family, it is a great thing to be able to make some extra income. christian dating and marriage advice

    ReplyDelete
  15. "They will remember our kind words longer than they will remember our lesson." You wrote the above. I think the kind words ARE the lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for sharing the info, keep up the good work going.... I really enjoyed exploring your site. good resource... iPhone repair ipswich

    ReplyDelete
  17. They go into detail concerning the VOIP technology. It's an excessive amount of info for me. If you're something like me you simply wish the uncomplicated, English term means of what it will do, what the cost associated with it, and how straightforward it is to hook up. http://www.padisoft.org

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is the thing that we call alleviating. Can't show signs of improvement than that.
    best cell phone lookup

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cheating spouses and undesired prank 800 are some of the most annoying things that can now be solved with reverse phone searches. Some years back in the past, people were forced to bear these kinds of issues since there were no tools that could help resolve a prank call or trace a phone call from the spouse's cellular.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Fastidious blog you’ve got here. I’ve ever been seeing you just about many blogs recently.
    cell phone spy

    ReplyDelete
  21. There are additionally some that are considered as cross-stage applications, as they can be downloaded and utilized by any smartphone of any make. localiser telephone android

    ReplyDelete
  22. Good article , I am going to spend more time researching this topic https://24hourwristbands.com/custom-pens

    ReplyDelete
  23. They have to deliver proper solutions and services to the callers while maintaining the quality parameters and various other call parameters set by their managers. The work becomes excessively hectic during the peak calling hours. QuickBooks Technical Support

    ReplyDelete
  24. You can easily avoid annoying phone calls by using free phone number lookup. It is true that reverse phone number lookup helps tracking the complete details and geographical location of a phone number. For more info find out this here about telephone number search

    ReplyDelete
  25. Many thanks for the information. This phone reinforced two important lessons for me. QuickBooks Payroll Technical Support

    ReplyDelete
  26. Is it accurate to say that you are bugged with unknown calls? There are answers for this issue. The most well-known cure is to introduce a Caller ID in your telephone and got the guilty party out and out. caller name announcer Techpally

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is a good post. This post gives truly quality information. I’m definitely going to look into it. Really very useful tips are provided here. Thank you so much. Keep up the good works. www.whocall.biz

    ReplyDelete
  28. This generally will lessen the family's expense, since not all relatives utilize a similar measure of information. xiaomi mi 9t prcie

    ReplyDelete
  29. Useful Information, your blog is sharing unique information....
    Thanks for sharing!!!

    QuickBooks Error code 1935

    QuickBooks Install Error Code 1601

    ReplyDelete
  30. I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business. telefon dla dziecka

    ReplyDelete
  31. Very nice and well-explained article. Thanks for sharing! We will help you with services like Web Design | Web Development | SEO & Digital Marketing | WordPress Development

    ReplyDelete
  32. On the basis of application, the Underwater Drones Market is segregated into defense & security, scientific research, commercial exploration and others. The defense & security segment accounted for over 45% market share in 2019, owing to surge in demand in developing countries such as India and Brazil. Moreover, the underwater drones are increasingly used by police and fire departments for ocean rescue and port security.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I read your article it's very nice and I am very happy to see your article.I Want to read your blog every time when i open this and your information is truely good.

    QuickBooks Error 15311
    QuickBooks Error 3371 Status Code 11118
    quickbooks error code 80070057
    quickbooks unrecoverable error
    Download Quickbooks 2016
    Download Quickbooks 2014

    ReplyDelete
  34. QuickBooks error 1328 occurs due to unsuccessful and corrupt installation of QuickBooks. In the linked article, we have mentioned troubleshooting solutions to fix the issue. You can also consult the certified QuickBooks expert’s team by dialing our helpline number +1-800-579-9430.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Nice Blog.
    Quickbook error 6123, 0 this error was a multi-user error but now days it was resolved but if you also faced this error in your system or computer so you will click on the error name to resolved it step by step as we mention on that page. if you really like this page come back and comment here thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Great post,Thanks for the information. Here are more interesting topic, without wasting much time, let us check my blog on quickbooks error code 6123

    ReplyDelete
  37. Very useful information. I love it.

    I am Scott D Cook, cofounder of Accounting Def

    ReplyDelete
  38. This will cause you to do changes to the transactions even if they are recorded already. For this situation you can easily create a journal entry in QuickBooks desktop to adjust or correct transactions and post entries in an accounting system. Almost all of your journal entries can be created automatically by QuickBooks

    ReplyDelete
  39. After reading your post, I realized that teachers must be connected with kids' parents related to their progress. That simple act of kindness and care had an impact not only on the student but also on his family. It's so important for teachers to remember that they're not just teaching students but also building relationships with families and communities.
    By: Dissertation Writing Services

    ReplyDelete
  40. QuickBooks payroll software is one of the finest software built with loads of features. But the only drawback of this software is the QuickBooks Payroll Error 15311. This is basically a run-time error, that can be seen at the time of installation of the program or software, or when starting or shutting down the process of Windows.

    ReplyDelete