Reblogged from A Teacher’s Reflections:

When I was a new teacher I stumbled across this wonderful story.  I still have my well-worn hard copy, which I read from time to time.  It never gets old, it fills me up. I’ve read that it may not be completely true, but that doesn’t matter.  The point is, you never know when you may touch the life of someone else.  If you don’t know this story, you are in for a treat.  Stay till the end.  We all need a positive, feel-good story.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth.  Like most teachers, she looked at her students 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 Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath.  In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant.  It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big fat “F” at the top of his papers.

Continue reading at A Teacher’s Reflections