FReeper Canteen ~ Sunday Chapel ~ THE POWER OF A TEACHER ~ 01 May 2016

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

 

 

THE POWER OF A TEACHER

Yesterday, I related the story of a young man who had been labeled as "retarded," yet achieved remarkable success because of one teacher who convinced him that someone else's judgment need not become his reality. The account pointed out the importance of a healthy self-image, and the power of a vision. Today, I want to expand on that thought a bit. What was it that made the teacher in that story so different? Confidence? Experience? Expertise? No, I think it was something far more basic. Let me illustrate with another example.

Eric Butterworth tells the story of a college professor who once sent his sociology class into the Baltimore slums to take case histories on 200 boys. Based on these histories, and their previous studies of sociology, the students then evaluated each boy's likelihood of future success. In every case the prognosis was the same: "This kid doesn't have a chance."

Twenty-five years later, another professor came across that study and had his students follow up. The shocking results contradicted all accepted sociological theory. Twenty of the subjects had died, or had moved away and could not be located. Of the remaining 180, however, all but four had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen! What could account for this remarkable turn of events?

Intrigued, the professor investigated the matter further. Soon a consistent pattern began to emerge. Each of these men had been motivated and encouraged by a teacher. In fact, by the SAME teacher! She was much older now, but still alive and alert, so the learned scholar sought her out. "What magical formula," he asked, "had she had used to pull these boys out of the slums and into successful careers?" Her eyes sparkled as she said with a gentle smile, "It's really very simple; I LOVED those boys."

That's the real key, isn't it? As someone has said, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." I have an acquaintance who wants very much to be a coach. He is knowledgeable of his sport, experienced (as a player) and credentialed as a coach. Yet he has proven to be totally ineffective at teaching and motivating young players. Why? They view him as a "bully" -- arrogant, uncaring and harsh. And the fact that they neither respect nor trust him is reflected in their performance.

Consider, on the other hand, the example of Annie Sullivan, who took on the task of training a child with multiple handicaps. In his book, THERE'S A LOT MORE TO HEALTH AND NOT BEING SICK, Bruce Larson points out that, when Ms. Sullivan began her work, her charge was little more than a "hostile, rebellious, untamed animal." With "tough love", however, Ms. Sullivan fought her way in to the girl's life and released one of the most gifted and inspirational women of all time -- Helen Keller. Larson concludes, "Each of us has the power to perform miracles of that sort, if we can begin to communicate to other people that they are important to us, and of supreme value in the sight of God."

One of the most cherished passages in the Christian scriptures (I Corinthians 13) concludes with the statement that three things -- faith, hope and love -- will last throughout eternity. "But the greatest of these," it advises, "is love." May our lives and our legacies reflect that guiding principle.

CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN

 

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

Lucky you having nice weather.
Warm here but cloudy and a little wet. Not wet enough, though. We need some good rainfall.

Any more “surprises” or have the pooches been good since the other morning? :-)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion...and a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours.

I bet you are really tired of the white stuff. Hope it warms up quickly and you can move on to some green.

So many school now have been completely ruined with PC.

[Soaring Feather]

April weather blows hot and cold- no I have not been outside yet, it will have to warm up a good deal before I try that.

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Glad you got some cleaning out accomplished today.

Ignore the guilt trip! You’ll never get rid of all that stuff if you pay attention to her.
I hope she didn’t throw temper tantrums like Aunt Clara did with us a few years ago. She stomped and hollered like a 2-year-old. LOL

[radu]

Howdy, Conor. *Hugz*

Did you have a nice weekend? Get more pretties planted around the yard?

[radu]

Howdy, feathers!

Reckon y’all are ever going to have Spring up there? It still looks like winter at Sapsucker Pond with all the trees still bare. :-(

[PROCON]

Hello back to you!

Well, a different kind of surprise, sort of...

I've been sleeping in my son's room with the pooches in bed with me, (yeah, they're spoiled), and they usually get up when I get up at 5:30.

Well, this morning they insisted 4:30 would be a BETTER time to get up and wouldn't let me keep sleeping. (I was thinking of getting my gun but thought better of it.)

So anyway we all got up at 4:30 and had a grand old time, sort of...LOL!

Just hanging out tonight and relaxing.

You chillin' too?

[Soaring Feather]

For the newest kitty.

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, RAdu!

*HUGS*

A Blessed Lord's Day to you and yours!

We planted some Ageratum and Vinca in the Front Garden this afternoon. We'll plant the tomatoes and bell peppers in the back tomorrow. We set the Habaneros in pots by the front stoop a few days ago.

__"Dia shábháil ar fad anseo!"

[Soaring Feather]

Yep, even the crows are getting fidgety....LOL

[radu]

Yuck! I think I’d rather step in poop than get up an hour early! ROTFL!
But as long as y’all had a grand time, I guess it was worth it.

Yep, chillin’ and stuffin’ pizza into my mouth. Visited Aunt Clara for a bit this afternoon and maybe Hubby felt sorry for me. He offered to pick up a couple of pizzas if I called the order in and I couldn’t pick up the phone fast enough. :-)

[radu]

LOL! Cooper would probably be too hot. It’s not cold down here like it is up there. I wish it would warm up for your sake. It’s getting ridiculous how long winter is hanging on in some parts.

[radu]

Good! The weather was nice enough to allow you to play in the yard today. Did you plant the large vinca or the small type? Or a little of both, which is pretty together?

Mmm, mmm, mmm. Gonna be some good eating not far down the road. :-)

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! She’s in a wheel chair...no tantrums. And I’m ignoring the guilt trip. AJ just shook his head as he left for the day. But, I am very glad he got to see the problems. Another witness for me in court for parental abuse. LOL!

He’ll be back tomorrow and we will be back in the garage. He’s going to get a truck and make a dump run for lots of the stuff some time during the week.

We are experimenting with the water heater we have. He turned up the heat and I will soak tonight. He thinks that might help. My knees have had a lot of work today. d:o) And I love the progress in the garage.

Oh....the gremlin is back in my computer, but I haven’t had the 404 error so far. Knock on wood.

[radu]

I’ll bet everything and everyone are getting fidgety! We’re a couple of hours away from May! Way too late for all those naked trees.

[PROCON]

I think I’d rather step in poop than get up an hour early!

HA, you night owls really enjoy your bed time!

But, as you can imagine, I'm fading fast; I'll make it up for awhile though.

[PROCON]

Oh yeah, how’s Cooper kitty doing?

[radu]

You honestly think a wheelchair would stop a tantrum? She can still scream and pound on the armrests if she gets riled enough. LOL! Sounds like you’re lucky enough to just get the guilt trip thrown at you. Count your blessings!

Yeah, it’s good for AJ to see what you’re dealing with in person. A whole different ballgame than hearing about it in emails or on the phone.

Is the stuff for the dump run stashed out of your mom’s sight so she can’t “rescue” anything?

Boo-hiss on the gremlin! Go away, gremlin! Leave Kathy’s computer alone!

[ConorMacNessa]

I planted a variety known as "Titan Lilac." It is an upright annual that grows to about a foot or so in my garden.

Brandywine, San Marzano, Rutgers and Better Boy are our tomatoes this year. Also putting in a couple Tomatillos for salsa verde.

__"Dia shábháil ar fad anseo!"