最好的老師

There is a story from many years ago of a primary school teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of the 5th grade class on the very first day of school， she told the children a lie. Like most teachers， she looked her students and said that she love dthem all the same.

But 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 didnt play well with the other children， his clothes were messy and constantly need a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in making hispapers with a broad red pen， making bold X sand then putting a “F” at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught， she was required to relieve each childs pastrecords and she put Teddys off until last.

However， when she relieved his file， shewas in a surprise， Teddys first grade teacherwrote， “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has goodmanners… he is 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 mothers death has been hard on him， He tried to do his best but his father doesnt show much interest in him， and his home life will soon affect him if some steps arent taken.”

Teddys fourth grade teacher wrote， “Teddyis with drawn and doesnt show much interest in school. He doesnt have many friends andsometimes sleeps in class.”

By now， Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents， wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with pretty ribbons， except for Teddys. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy， brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.

Mrs. Thompson opened it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a thine stone brace let with some of the stones missing， and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the childrens laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bra let was， puttingit c， and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say， “Mrs. Thompson， today you smelled just like my mom used to.”

After the children left she cried for at leastan hour. On the very day， she quit teach ingreading， and writing， and arithmetic. Instead she began to teach children how to be a man.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him， his mind seemed 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.

A year later， she found a note under herdoor， from Teddy， telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years later went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school， third in his class， and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that， she got another letter， saying that he would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. Then four more years past and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelors degree， he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer—the letter was signed， Theodore F. Stoddard， MD.

The story doesnt end there. You see， there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said hed met his girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course Mrs. Thompson did.

At the wedding ceremony， they hugged each other， and Dr. Stoddard whispered In Mrs. Thompsons ear， “Thank you Mrs. Thomoson for believing in me， thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs. Thompson， with tears in her eyes， whispered back. She said， “Teddy， you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didnt know how to teach until I met you.”

這個(gè)故事說的是多年前一位叫湯普森夫人的小學(xué)老師，在開學(xué)第一天的時(shí)候，她站在五年級全班學(xué)生面前，對孩子們?nèi)隽艘粋€(gè)謊。像大多數(shù)老師一樣，她看著同學(xué)們，說她會一視同仁地愛他們每一個(gè)人。

但這是不可能的，因?yàn)榍芭抛簧暇妥鴤€(gè)萎靡不振的小男孩，他叫特迪·斯托達(dá)德。

湯普森夫人去年就開始留意特迪，發(fā)覺他不大和其他孩子一起玩耍，衣衫不整，身上總是很臟，而且，特迪還不討人喜歡。

湯普森夫人甚至喜歡上用粗紅筆在特迪的考卷上打上些大大的叉，并在卷子上方寫個(gè)大大的“F”。湯普森夫人執(zhí)教的學(xué)校要求老師閱覽每個(gè)孩子的檔案，她把特迪的放在最后才看。

可是，她翻閱特迪的檔案時(shí)，不禁大吃一驚。特迪一年級老師的評語是： “特迪是一個(gè)聰明的孩子，笑口常開，作業(yè)工整，禮貌待人……與他在一起很開心?！?/p>

二年級老師的評語是： “特迪是個(gè)優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生，同學(xué)們都很喜歡他。但是，他母親得了絕癥，他很苦惱，家里生活肯定也很艱難?！?/p>

他三年級老師的評語是： “他母親去世對他打擊很大。盡管他試圖努力表現(xiàn)，但他父親不大理會，如不采取措施，家庭問題將影響他?！?/p>

他四年級老師的評語是： “特迪性格孤僻，有厭學(xué)情緒。他朋友不多，有時(shí)候上課睡覺?！?/p>

看到這里，湯普森夫人明白了問題所在，她為自己感到羞愧。當(dāng)同學(xué)們送給她圣誕禮物時(shí)，她更無地自容了。那些禮物都用漂亮的包裝紙包著，扎著美麗的彩帶，惟有特迪的例外。他的禮物是用雜貨袋上弄下來的厚厚的棕色紙粗陋地包著的。

在一堆禮物中間，湯普森夫人拆開了特迪送的禮物。當(dāng)她看到里面放的是一串少了珠子的萊茵石手串，還有1/4瓶香水的時(shí)候，有些孩子開始笑出聲來。湯普森夫人制止了孩子們的嘲笑，并大聲贊嘆手鐲是多么漂亮。她戴上手鐲，還在手腕處噴了點(diǎn)兒香水。那天放學(xué)以后，特迪·斯托達(dá)德留下來對湯普森夫人說： “湯普森夫人，您今天身上的味道像我媽媽?！?/p>

孩子們走后，她哭了至少一個(gè)小時(shí)。也從那天起，她不再單純教閱讀、寫作和算術(shù)，而是開始教孩子們?nèi)绾巫鋈恕?/p>

湯普森夫人特別關(guān)注特迪。在她的悉心教導(dǎo)下，他的思維似乎變得敏捷起來。她越鼓勵(lì)他，他的反應(yīng)就越快。到了年底，特迪已在全班名列前茅。

一年后，湯普森夫人發(fā)現(xiàn)門下有張?zhí)氐蠈憗淼谋銞l，說她仍然是他碰到的最好的老師。

又過了六年，她又收到了特迪的短箋，說他以全班第三名的成績高中畢業(yè)，而她仍然是他遇見的最好的老師。

又過了四年，她又收到特迪的來信，說他很快就要以優(yōu)異的成績大學(xué)畢業(yè)。又過了四年，又來了一封信。這次他解釋到，拿到學(xué)士學(xué)位后，他繼續(xù)深造去了。他在這封信中說明，她依然是他一生中最好、最喜歡的老師。不過，這次他的署名長了一點(diǎn)，信的落款是：西奧多·F.斯托達(dá)德醫(yī)學(xué)博士。

故事并沒有就此結(jié)束。你瞧，那年春天，又來了一封信。特迪在信上說，他交了女友，倆人就要結(jié)婚了。他解釋說，他爸爸幾年前就去世了，所以他想知道在他們的婚禮上，湯普森夫人是否愿意坐在他母親的位子上。湯普森夫人當(dāng)然愿意了。

婚禮上，他們互相擁抱，斯托達(dá)德博士對湯普森夫人耳語道：“湯普森夫人，謝謝您對我的信任，非常感謝您對我的重視，是您讓我明白了自己的價(jià)值?！?/p>

湯普森夫人熱淚盈眶，低聲答道：“特迪，你搞錯(cuò)了。是你讓我明白自己可以有所作為。在遇到你以后，我才知道怎樣教育孩子?！?/p>