Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Teachers

It's pouring where I live and I keep thinking of a poem I learned in third grade;
"The rain, they say, is a mouse-gray horse
That is shod with a silver shoe.
The sound of his hoofs can be heard on the roofs
As he gallops the whole night through."
(I think the poem was written by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The amazing thing is that I still remember something I learned nearly 50 years ago, and that's only one of hundreds of memories from grade school. The teacher who taught us the rain poem was an excellent one, as were several others I had. Some of my teachers were just okay, most were pretty good, and one was terrible, but all of them influenced my life in ways that have lasted.
Teachers often make a difference that continues as long as their students live and, as a result, those students go on to influence other people, who influence still others in turn. And the teachers never know what a difference they have made.
But teachers aren't the only ones. All of us are changing the future in small ways that may eventually cause big changes. Even a passing comment to someone we see in the checkout line at a grocery store can lead to things we'll never be aware of.
None of us know when something we do or say will be used to help change the world.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Liked your post Janet. What you said is so true.

Dixie Phillips said...

Jan,
Loved your post....... Makes me want to write a letter to some of my favorite teachers.

Janet Ann Collins said...

Thanks, Susanne and Dixie.

Anonymous said...

Jan...I had so many wonderful teachers and I know of two who really shaped my life. They deserve a lot of credit and thank you for posting your wonderful comments!

Cheryl said...

I was fortunate to have many excellent teachers growing up. Some of the toughest ones, taught the best life lessons.

Nice post, Jan.

Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Jan,
I wish I knew how to contact my 3rd grade teacher. My age is showing-that was 30 years ago EEK! When I was in college I let my professors know when they had an impact on me, but I never told Mrs. Atherton what her class meant to me. I'm going to look for her and some other teachers.
Happy New Year,
J. Aday Kennedy
The Differently-Abled Children's Author
www.jadaykennedy.com

Janet Ann Collins said...

Contacting teachers is a good idea. Next week I'll let you know what happened once when I tried that.

Unknown said...

Thank you for this beautiful post, Jan. As a retired teacher myself, it's so good to be reminded that we may have changed lives in a positive way. That's why I started to write. My hope is to reach even more kids through my writing.

Anonymous said...

Hi Janet, My son's music book has this song "The Rain" in it. I was doing a search online with the first two verses and found your blog. Rowena B. Bennett is credited as the author of this poem. Just thought I would share this info with you.

Janet Ann Collins said...

Thank you, whoever you are.