will never pass a student on thinking that they just are not smart enough. I hope that I will boost my students’ self-esteem, not destroy it. Mrs. Russell is a very hard act to follow as a teacher, but is a wonderful role model. I’ll never forget the day I entered into my old elementary school for Mrs. Russell’s retirement party. I had never stepped foot in the building since I left. I had kept in touch with Mrs. Russell. When I had graduated from high school, she and her husband sent me a graduation present. When I had a short stint as a radio talk show host for a Christian radio station, Mrs. Russell was my biggest fan. Walking into that school brought a flood of emotions upon me. I remember looking at the door that led to the janitor’s closet where I had spent a lot of the fourth grade. I remember seeing classrooms and feeling the torment that went along with those rooms. But then there was Mrs. Russell, the woman whom I had come to say thank you. Even now as I write, I still have huge tears that swell in my eyes as I think about her generosity and loving spirit. I gave her a small teddy bear (the school’s mascot) with a huge bouquet of balloons from my family. (My dad had wanted to build a monument in her honor, but that would have been going a little over board, right?) I also gave her a copy of a paper I had written in college dealing with an event or person that changed your life. It often amazes me at how God knows when we need someone the most and miraculously places him or her in our lives at those times. Without Mrs. Russell in my life, who knows where I would have gone and what I would have done? When I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I dedicated my undergraduate thesis (just like I will for my master’s thesis and my doctoral dissertation) to “Mrs. Russell – With out you this never would have happened.” Reprinted with Permission from the Author Wrench, J. S. (2000). To Mrs. Russell. In D. James (Ed.) Teens Can Bounce Back: Stories for the Waves of Life, (pp. 85-92). Camp Hill, PA: Horizon Books.
Conclusion We sincerely hope after reading this textbook, that you can be Mrs. Russell for all of your students. Mrs. Russell was a teacher who was like you. She did her job and built affect in her classroom. Building affect in the classroom is unbelievably important. This story could have been about you.
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