Reply #82: Love your post....

[madfloridian]

Being nice to those who are not used to having much niceness in their lives works well.

I had 4th and 6th graders, when I taught those grades who would come up to me on the sidewalk saying where's our hug? One of the toughest kids would walk beside me everywhere with his hand on my shoulder. He was one I remember so well, a class clown, a neighborhood terror, but he was a good kid if he trusted a teacher. We gave him responsibilities and notes home with a smiley sticker.

One day one of the asst principals came by after school to my classroom. There were 4 former students back from middle school who had come to visit. He said well you guys are not really supposed to be on campus, they said please she will walk us to the street, and he said ok. He asked if he could visit, and they said yes. He told me later he was amazed at the levels of conversations we had on many subjects.

I miss times like that, but Jeb's new school rules were taking their toll when I retired.

You can NOT fool kids. They know honest and sincere when they see it, and they know which teachers care about them.

It was tough teaching there, but it had it's rewards.