Little things which mean a lot

[BrianButterfield]

As a secondary teacher, I very very rarely get presents, which doesn't bother me at all, but I did get something today which meant a lot to me. I have a boy in one of my classes who is quite far along the ASD spectrum. He struggles with English as even though he is technically proficient, he finds the whole business of imagining how a character would have felt etc very difficult. We have done three big assessment pieces so far this year and although capable of doing them intellectually, he has found them difficult. I have tried to be patient and understanding, given him help and extra time without making a big deal out of it.

Anyway, today he shyly gave me a Christmas card and in it was written "To Mrs Butterfield. English is good. From x".

Worth a million best teacher mugs, that is!

That's wonderful, you must have really inspired him

That's lovely, OP.

Best present I ever got from a student was a letter from a Spanish girl I'd been teaching. Her English wasn't the best, and she'd clearly used a dictionary to help her and it had taken her a long time to write.

She said "being taught by you has made me realise that growing up and becoming an adult doesn't mean I have to be boring. You make being an adult seem less scary and like I can still have fun."

I cried so much reading that. I wonder where she is now, and I hope she's grown up to be a fun adult. (And I feel sad, because I think I've lost that sense of fun and intrinsic understanding of children that I used to have :( )