Learning, Teaching

As the second graders entered the room, I stood at the door, a bit afraid of the unknowns for the school year. But the frightened and anticipating eyes of my pupils told me I could teach them. Thus I learned my first lesson of the year.

As my class filed out at the end of the year, I stood by the door handing out report cards and farewells. I did not know how I could bear to release these children from my life. But even as they left my presence I was learning from them. Each one eagerly searched the paper I handed out—not for what was recorded of the past, but for the name of next year’s teacher. My years of motherhood and teaching young children have taught me that the personal progress of others often depends on my willingness to accept the sometimes difficult burden of change. Mildred Barthel, Mt. Vernon, Iowa