I Knew I Had Failed
© 1999 Don Rogers
This happened to me in my public school teaching. One of the students in my class, for three years, was Brittany, a little girl who never acknowledged me, never looked me in the eye, barely responded in any other way. I wanted every child to know that I loved them and just knew that I had never been able to get that across to Brittany.
Then a month before school would be out and I would not see her any more she brought me this gorgeous card and had written inside, "You are my most favorite teacher of all I ever had." I mentioned my surprise to her mother when we met.
Her mother said, "Brittany thinks the world of you. She tells me everything you do. She says you have the most beautiful smile. She tells me when you hug her."
I had not failed. How wonderful to learn, I had not failed.