I was at Publix today and one of my former students was bagging my groceries. After he greeted me he told the cashier that I had been his 5th grade teacher and I was the meanest teacher he ever had! I laughed and reminded him that I had always told him that one day he would thank me for being so hard on him.
And what did that young man say? "Yeah, I remember and that day is here." He is now a senior in high school, passed all of his graduation tests in his junior year and is planning on becoming an airline pilot. He has been accepted into a program with Delta airlines.
That young man came to me when he was in fifth grade barely able to read. He had been in special education for two years and had the unfortunate luck to have had a teacher who believed her job was to babysit the dummies. So by the time he got into his last year in elementary school he learned, along with 5 other boys, that if he misbehaved and acted out then no one would know he couldn't read.
When those boys came into my class I set high expectations and refused to let them get away with anything! I pushed and pushed and promised them that if they did as they were asked then they would learn how to read and write. I also told them that it was OK not to like me, to be angry with me but one day, in their future, they were going to realize how much I cared and they would want to thank me.
Out of the six boys I had that year, four left elementary school reading on a 4th grade level; up from barely reading at all. I've seen the boys over the years and they've all hugged me and laughed at how hard I pushed them. But this boy was the first to brag on his accomplishments and to let me know that he was grateful that I had the faith in his abilities.
I can't tell you how proud I am of this young man! Maybe I'll get to see him graduate this coming May.
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