What a difference a teacher can make!

Here's an email that I sent to Austin's teacher from last year:

Hi Judy!

I hope you've had a wonderful (and relaxing) Spring Break.

I wanted to tell you that Austin has frequently lamented that he wishes you taught second grade--I do, too. While we were snuggling this morning, Austin just said out of the blue that he would be so happy if you could be his teacher for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grades and then college!! :)

This year is not going well ... to the point that Austin has developed stress-related chronic stomach pain. He tells me just about every morning that he doesn't want to go to school. It's not good. (He always enjoyed school last year--and in Kindergarten.)

I know that Austin is immature and has issues with focusing, paying attention and impulsive behavior. I understand that he's not the easiest student to have in class, but I always felt like you saw him for the sweet kid he is, who needs to work on those issues--and you wanted to help him develop strategies so he could succeed. You were always proactive and kept me informed. I felt like we really worked together to get the best results for Austin. You (we) tried a variety of strategies to find which ones were most successful for Austin--it never seemed that we were putting you out to try something new ... you were willing to do whatever you thought would be helpful. When I would get phone calls or emails from you about what was going on, I felt like you were addressing a problem behavior, not a problem kid. I appreciated that so much ... even more now.

Thank you (again) for all that you did with and for Austin last year. We are so grateful.

:) Jennifer

Here is her response:

Hi!

Thank you for making me feel so special!

I am sorry Austin has had such a difficult year. I wish I could help make the rest of the year a little easier. If you can think of anything, let me know. Maybe we can make a deal with him. If he finishes his work he can come visit me once a week and eat lunch with me. Even if he doesn’t finish his work he is still welcome to come and eat his lunch with me. Maybe that would help him feel a little better about coming to school. Please let me know what you think. If you have any other idea let me know.

You are right. I love Austin and I know that he is a great boy!

Thanks again for all the nice thoughts you sent my way.

Judy

**Austin started eating lunch with her last Friday ... he is already looking forward to Friday of this week--and it's only Tuesday! I cannot say enough good things about Judy--the first grade teacher. I struggle to find anything good to say about Becky--the second grade teacher. More on that later ...