Reaction Paper: “The Best Teacher I Ever Had”

Thank you first for this interesting story; in fact, there are no enough words to explain how this story affected me. This maybe because of being a little bit sentimental; I was about to cry for pain towards Teddy; unless of being afraid, to feel shame by the presence of my colleagues. But, regardless to the dramatic feeling, I found that there are some beneficial lessons to pull out from this story, that could be resumed in the following points: 1. The fact that Mrs. Thompson decided to look out on the past records of her students, is on my belief , the main fact of Teddy’s delivery, and I think that such enterprise should be systematic for every teacher after recording suspicious student’s behavior (if such files exist in the Philippines). 2. To be patient and attentive on the social context of each student. 3. Don’t let the children laugh from each others because it would create a kind of complex. 4. Consider and treat the students as human beings.

5. To focus the maximum of attention and efforts, on the students that present some difficulties and weaknesses. 6. As this story proved at the end, “we all can make the difference by the choice we make”.

We all have a special teacher in all of us. A teacher who have inspired us every other way. Whether it be something they said, how they helped you or made you feel special and understood. The part in the story where I am most touched is when Teddy gave his gifts to Mrs Thompson–the half full bottle of perfume and the bracelet with incomplete stones on it. It was the turning point of the whole story. It was the part where Mrs. Thompson realized that she was being insensitive to what Teddy really needs. I think when you believe in someone’s capacities, you will give them courage and even a new life to start again from nothing. Hence, you will simply become their hero. So they will never forget you and will consider you as an engine for their continuation.

Some days I feel like Mrs. Thompson–unknowingly making my own favorites when I do my reports in classes, ignoring the quiet people on the corner of the room and making favorites on the “ACTIVE” students in class. Hearing the story made me realize that we need to be sensitive to how our students might be feeling. Sometimes there is a story behind a child’s failure in class. It’s up to us to look at this issues and be sensitive to their needs. We will all be teachers. In a matter of time, we’ll graduate and practice our profession. We will all be in schools teaching the subjects we once hated, giving assignments to our students and putting X marks on papers now and then. We’ll learn to hate and love our students in every other way. As a future educator, I want to be like Mrs. Thompson and make an impact to my future students not only academically but also in their lives. I want to be able to inspire them, to make them realize that they need to make the best out of their lives.