My Best Teaching Experience

Tyler was only in my senior class for a semester. He had been suspended (使停学) many times in previous years because of his anger issues. When he entered my class, I thought the worst.

Tyler sat in the back row. Every time I talked to the class, I would ask students questions, calling them by name. Unfortunately, every time I called on Tyler, he would respond with a joke. If he got an answer wrong, he would become angry.

About a month into the year, I was still trying to connect with Tyler. I can usually get students involved in class discussions or at least have them sit quietly and attentively (专心地). By contrast, Tyler was often loud and sometimes rude.

He had been in so much trouble over the years. He expected his teachers to know about his past; about how many times he had been sent to the office or suspended from school. I had found that these sorts of referrals (移交) were not very effective and that students would return from the office behaving worse than before.

One day, Tyler was talking over me while I was teaching. I stopped my lesson and said, “Tyler, why don’t you join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?” With that, he got up from his chair, pushed it over and yelled something. I can’t remember what he said other than that he included some impolite words. I sent Tyler straight to the office, and he received a week’s suspension.

To this point, this was one of my worst teaching experiences. Tyler’s anger was almost too much for me. The week Tyler was suspended from school was a wonderful time, and we got a lot accomplished as a class. However, the suspension week would soon come to an end, and I was fearful of his return.

On the day of Tyler’s return, I stood at the door awaiting him.

A spark of surprise flashed across his face.

Steve, a twelve-year-old boy with alcoholic parents, was failing. Surprisingly, he could read, yet, in spite of his reading skills, Steve had been failing since the first grade. Steve was a big boy, yet, he went unnoticed until Miss White came.

Miss White was a smiling, beautiful, young lady. For the first time in his young life, Steve couldn’t take his eyes off his teacher; yet, still he failed. In the middle of the first term, the entire seventh grade was tested for basic skills. Steve hurried through his tests, and continued to dream of other things, as the day passed slowly. One day, Miss White’s impatient voice broke into his daydreams. “Steve!” Startled(吓了一跳), he turned to look at her. “Pay attention!” She began to go over the test results. “You all did pretty well,” she told the class, “except for one boy, and it breaks my heart to tell you this, but...” She hesitated, pinning Steve to his seat with a sharp stare. “The smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class!”

After that, Steve still couldn’t do his homework. “Just try it,” Miss White said one day. “Steve! Please! I care about you!” Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it! Someone cared about him? Someone, so beautiful and perfect, cared about him?! Steve went home from school, thoughtful that afternoon and decided to work hard.

The following Monday, Steve arrived at school earlier than usual because Miss White would give a quiz on the weekend homework.

After Miss White checked Steve’s test paper, she was in total shock!

When I was 13, I climbed my first mountain — a 3, 900-foot peak (山峰) near where I live in Surrey, British Columbia, I was overweight at the time and out of breath when I reached the top. But I loved to challenge something bigger than myself. Soon I’d climbed nearly 100 peaks. My parents were happy I’d finally found a hobby.

I often go climbing with my friend Mel Olsen, whom I’d met on the Internet. Two years ago, on 30 December when I was 16, she and I drove to Oregon to climb 11, 240-foot Mount Hood.

It’s safer to start winter climbs at night when there’s less danger of the sun melting the snowpack. That day, we started at 3 am, following the path alongside the ski runs. The temperature was about — 10℃. Along the way, we met two other climbers, and the four of us continued together.

After about five hours, we reached Devil’s Kitchen, a plateau (高原) at about 10,000 feet, just before the final push to the top. By this point, the wind conditions were terrible. My skin felt as though it were burning. The other climbers decided to turn back, but Mel and I went ahead. We checked our equipment and were prepared for the climb.

The way we followed grew narrower and steeper (更陡的), At around 9 am, we reached an ice step. It was about three or four feet tall. I volunteered to go first. I placed my left foot on the ice step. It felt good, Confidently, I thought I was safe. I put my full weight on it. Suddenly, I heard a crack (爆裂声), and a whole piece of ice broke off the step, right under my foot.

A thin young boy loved football with all his heart. Practice after practice, he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the other boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played. This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though his son was always on the bench, the father was always in the stands cheering.

He never missed a game. This young boy was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. His father continued to encourage him but made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to. But the young boy loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he would play when he became a senior.

When the young boy went to college, he decided to try out for the football team. Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him in the team because he always put his heart and soul into every practice, and at the same time, provided the other team members with the spirit they badly needed. The news thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game.

It was the end of the football season, and as he ran to the practice field shortly before a big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram (电报). The young boy read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Crying hard, he said, “My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?” The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son. And don’t even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.”

Saturday arrived, and the game wasn’t going well.

Before long, everyone couldn’t believe their eyes.

A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved running, so I was really happy when I found out I lived next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go for a run before I went to work.

Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park, so usually I didn’t take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning, my wife gave me a S 10 bill and asked me to buy some bread on the way.

It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging (慢跑) around. While I was running through the park, another jogger knocked into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, when I noticed the wide path where I was running, I thought was kind of strange. The warning of robbers in the park occurred to me. ”It could have been a robber!” I suddenly became alarmed, so I checked my pocket and found that the money was missing. Without thinking twice, I ran after that jogger. I finally caught up and held him by the arm. I shouted, “Give me the $10 bill! Now!” I am not usually a hot-headed (性急的) person, but I got really angry this time. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.

I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife my story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started with pride. She immediately stopped me, “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

Looking at the money on the table, I stood there, shocked.