-
Three Letters from Teddy
As
she stood
in
front
of
her
5
grade class
on
the
first
day
of school, she
told
the children
an
untruth.
Like
most teachers, she looked at her students and said
that she loved them all the same.
However, that was impossible, because
there in the front row, slumped in his seat was a
little boy
named Teddy Stallard.
Miss Thompson had watched Teddy the
year before and noticed that he
didn
’
t play well with other
children, that his clothes were messy,
and that he constantly needed a bath.
And, Teddy could be unpleasant.
It got to the point where Miss Thompson
would actually take delight in marking his papers
with a
broad red pen, making bold
X
’
s and then putting a big
“
F
”
at
the top of his papers.
At the school
where Miss Thompson taught, she was required to
review each child
’
s past
records,
and she put
Teddy
’
s off until the last.
However, when she reviewed his file,
she was in for a surprise.
Teddy
’
s first
grade teacher wrote:
“
Teddy
is a bright child with a ready laugh.
He does his work
neatly and
has good manners. He is such a joy to be
around.
”
His
second grade teacher wrote:
“
Teddy is an excellent
student, well
liked by his classmates,
but
he is troubled because his mother
has a terminal illness, and life at home must be a
struggle.
”
His
third grade teacher wrote:
“
His
mother
’
s death has been hard
on him.
He tries to do his best,
but
his
father
doesn
’
t
show
much
interest,
and
his
home
life
will
soon
affect
him
if
some steps
aren
’
t
taken.
”
Teddy
’
s
fourth
grade
teacher
wrote:
“
Teddy
is
withdrawn
and
doesn
’
t
show
much
interest
in
school. He
doesn
’
t have many friends
and he sometimes sleeps in
class.
”
By now,
Miss Thompson realized the problem and she was
ashamed of herself.
She
felt
even
worse
when
her
students
brought
her
Christmas
presents,
wrapped
in
beautiful
ribbons and bright
paper, except for Teddy
’
s.
His present was clumsily wrapped in the
heavy brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.
Miss Thompson took pains to open it in
the middle of the other presents.
Some
of
the
students
started
to
laugh
when
she
found
a rhinestone
bracelet
with
some
of
the
stones missing and a
bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.
But she stifled the
children
’
s laughter when she
exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it
on, and dabbing some of the perfume on
her wrist.
Teddy Stallard stayed after
school that day just long enough to say,
“
Miss Thompson, today you
smell just like my Mom used to.
After the children left she cried for
at least an hour.
On that very
day
, she quit teaching reading, writing
and arithmetic.
Instead, she began to
teach children.
Miss Thompson paid
particular attention to Teddy.
As she
worked with him, his mind began to come alive.
The more she encouraged him, the faster
he responded.
By the end of the year,
Teddy had become one of the smartest children in
the class, and despite her
lie that she
would love all the children the same, Teddy became
one of her
“
teacher
’
s pets.
”
A
year later, she found a
note under her door from Teddy, telling her that
she was the best teacher
he
’
d ever had in
his whole life!
th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
上一篇：冀教版九年级英语全一册 Unit 9 单元教案
下一篇：3月高考英语天津卷