Photo Credit: Jeff Widener, Associated Press
Years ago, my sister taught a Sunday School class of 5-year old boys. At 11 p.m. one Saturday she suddenly remembered that she had a schedule conflict and needed me to teach her class. I got up early the next morning to study the lesson and to cut out and color smiley faces. As the time for church neared, I gathered all my materials and headed for the door. I suddenly remembered that my sister had told me to take them a snack, but a quick glance at the clock told me I was out of time. If I did not leave then, I would be late for church.
About halfway through the hour-long lesson Daniel suddenly became concerned. He looked and sounded like a little man dressed in his navy-blue business suit with white shirt and tie, “Do you have a snack for us?”
“No, Daniel, I ran out of time while preparing the lesson. I am sorry. There will not be a snack today.”
Daniel folded his arms and crossed one leg over the other. He gave me a look of stern disapproval and in an even, authoritarian tone stated, “Our teacher ALWAYS has a snack for us.”
“Daniel, I am sorry, but I do not have a snack. I did not have time.”
Daniel looked at me like a boss who was not going to accept excuses. “You are not a very good teacher.” Another little boy sounding very much like “a little boy” said, “Yeah, you’re not a very good teacher.”
And in that moment, I knew that Daniel had taught me a very important lesson.[i] I thought to be a good teacher I needed to know my lesson and color and cut out smiley faces, but Daniel knew that the most important key to being a good teacher was to bring snacks, and if Daniel was my boss, and I did not bring snacks, I was not going to get a good performance review. Read Full Article.
