TEACHER ATTITUDE

Ever thought how important teacher attitude is? The importance of motivation skills of a teacher are so valuable!

I'm sure we all have had those teachers who weren't exactly careful with their words and might have hurt our feelings in a way that we still remember after many years. And then there are those who encouraged us and saw the good in us those are the teachers we remember with love for the rest of our lives.

The truck driver was enjoying his meal at a local diner and happened to look towards the door when it opened. That was probably the only reason he ever paid attention to the old lady who came in. She was quite ordinary looking, a little bent, wisps of white hair had escaped from under her hat. She had good clean clothes, a bit old fashioned perhaps, but that was sort of expected from an old lady.

He bit into his hamburger and expected the lady to disappear into one of the booths quietly.

But not this old lady.

There was the sound of running steps and the owner and all the waiters hurried from behind the counter to meet the old lady.

Mrs Cosby! They shouted, How pleased we are to meet you!

The old lady smiled and greeted them all.

Susan, Bob, Alyssa, Carmen… Good to see you all. How have you been? Life has been good to you?

Very good, indeed, Mrs Cosby! Bob, the owner said, Now, let me take your coat.

Very carefully he took the old lady's coat. The truck driver watched with interest. He had never seen a diner owner help anyone out of their coat before. And he had been driving across the country for quite a few years to say the least.

And I shall bring you a little soup first. Then you can decide what it is you wish to eat this time, Alyssa smiled and returned to the kitchen.

But at first I shall tidy up your table! Susan said.

This she did she wiped the table clean and out of nowhere appeared a bright white, clean table cloth. Carmen seemed to pull a vase with a yellow rose from her pocket.

Now you sit down and make yourself comfortable, Mrs Cosby! Bob helped her to sit down, There… Now, what would you like to drink? Water with a touch of lemon?

When Bob passed his table, the truck driver could not resist.

Excuse me…

Yes? Would you like more coffee? Bob asked.

No, thank you, maybe later. I was just wondering… What is so special about the old lady over there?

Teacher attitude, Bob smiled.

Teacher attitude? The truck driver did not believe his ears.

I'll explain soon if you wait, Bob said.

And out of sheer curiosity the truck driver waited, watching in awe how the waiters did everything in their power to make the old lady really enjoy her meal. And when she was finished, Bob refused to take any payment from her. He escorted her to the door and stood there, waving as long as it took for her to reach the corner and turn out of sight.

Then he turned, saw the truck driver and walked to him.

Now, a story about teacher attitude and the importance of motivation, he said and sat down.

Was this Mrs Cosby your teacher then?

Yes, the best one. Though we probably did not make it very easy for her at first… You know how every school seems to have a class that everyone thinks will never graduate? Trouble makers, that's what we were.

Bob smiled.

None of our teachers stayed for long. And so, one morning, the door to the class room opened and a new teacher walked in, yet again. Mrs Cosby. We looked at her and gave her maybe a week. She looked too soft to ever handle us. And we sure gave her a hard time. But she never lost her temper, no matter what we did. And then came the last day of the first month she had been our teacher. That was the day she showed the teacher attitude she became so famous for.

Her teacher attitude? What was so special about her teacher attitude?

She opened her briefcase and took out a bunch of papers. We feared the worst a test. But oh no, it was something that totally surprised us.

Well what was it? The truck driver asked.

Mrs Cosby asked each one of us to come to the front of the class, one by one, and gave us each a paper. In each paper she had written what the student in question had been good at during the last month.

The truck driver looked at Bob,

She showed her teacher attitude by giving you a paper that told you what you were good at? I'm sorry, I don't get it.

If you think about it, you'll get it alright. You see no one had ever believed in us. No one ever liked us. We were constantly told how goodfornothing we were. And we had started to believe it ourselves. The teacher attitude we had met with before didn't encourage us to believe in ourselves.

And here, suddenly, was someone who had been observing us closely for a month. And a month when we made things as difficult for her as we could, mind you. And yet she could find something positive to say about each and every one of us.

Once she had delivered the papers, she continued with her teaching and for the first time we forgot to make her life miserable.

Someone called Bob and, he excused and left to serve a customer. After a while he returned and continued with his story.

Mrs Cosby did this every month from then on. Each month we got a paper that emphasized our strengths, what we had been good at. I thought no one would ever see anything good about me I was lousy at school. But she commented on my courage, how punctual I was, how good to settle arguments if I so wanted. And you know what happens when someone keeps telling you what you are good at?

The truck driver shook his head.

Well, you begin to act as if that was true. You start to learn more to be even better, to prove them right.

And so with her positive teacher attitude transformed our class. We did not want to hurt her feelings anymore. We actually started to study. Other students and teachers could not understand what had happened.

And then came the day of our graduation. Yes, we actually graduated. Mrs Cosby hugged each and every one of us, and told us with tears in her eyes how proud she was of us.

My dear children, she said to us, I knew you could make it. I knew how good you were, but it seems you did not know it yourself. Too long you had listened and believed the words of others who thought you were hopeless. And yet, here you are, and you have proved them wrong. This must be the proudest day of my life!

Then she handed each one of us a book. All the encouraging letter through the years were there, in hard covers.

I want you each to keep this book and if ever during your life you feel unworthy, open this and read how good you are. You can be anything you want to be as long as you believe in yourself. Promise me you'll remember that!

Bob sighed.

And we did. She turned a bunch of misfits into people who could achieve great things because now we believed in ourselves. We went on to fulfil our dreams. Mine was to own a diner and here I am, instead of ruining my life with alcohol and drugs and I was already going that way when Mrs Cosby appeared. So maybe now you understand why that old lady deserves all the respect we can give her.

The truck driver nodded. Then he asked for his bill.

Bob went to get it and when he returned he saw the truck driver talking to his cell phone. Not wanting to disturb he stood at some distance.

Honey? Hi, yes, it is me. You know I thought I would drive home tonight. Yes, I know, it is a long way, but I can make it. You think you might make that special lasagna of yours for me? Yes, I'd really like to have some. You know you should sell that lasagna, it is so good, better than anyone else's! What? Why do I say so? Well because I think so. Just wanted to let you know you are the best lasagna cook I have ever met! You will? Great, see you in the evening! Love you too!

Alyssa saw Bob smiling when he returned.

Let me guess another one for Mrs Cosby?

Yep, Bob laughed.

Alyssa smiled and gave Bob a little kiss on the cheek on her way to pour more coffee to a customer.

You tell about Mrs Cosby to everyone on purpose, I am sure.

Absolutely! That kind of teacher attitude deserves to be spread! And it works, every time. This truck driver just made his wife very happy by telling her what she was good at making lasagna! Definitely one more point for Mrs Cosby!

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PUZZLE PIECES

I heard this story of puzzle pieces and creative problem solving from a business consultant. The idea was so good, I´ll put it here for you to read. I only remember the core idea of the story, so I´ll write it here as a short story in my own words.

A small boy had been waiting for the whole day for his father to come home. Christmas was coming and like all little boys he was full of energy just from waiting for it to finally arrive.

His mother was too busy to play. How boring it must be to cook and clean and pay bills, the little boy thought. No time to play? The little boy thought he never wanted to grow up if he had not time to play. So he sat by the window, waiting for his dad to come and play with him.

When his father finally opened the door the boy ran to meet him.

Daddy! You´re home! Now we can play!

He hugged his father. Father was tired and sighed. He hugged his son, took off his coat and shoes and walked into the living room. He lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Daddy! Come and play! The boy grabbed his arm and pulled.

Daddy is tired, the father said, Too tired to play.

This seemed like the oddest thing anyone could say. The little boy just stood and stared at his father.

Daddy! His voice was demanding.

The father felt a sting in his heart but was too tired to get up. He reached his arm and took a magazine from the table.

But the little boy would not give in. He stood there, asking his father to play with him, while he tried to read the magazine. To make the boy stop his pleading the father tore a page from the magazine. There was a map of a country on that page. He then took the page and tore it into small bits and gave those to his son.

Here, put this puzzle back together. I´ll play with you after you´ve finished.

He was certain he could now rest for quite a while and closed his eyes. The map was so big and detailed it would take hours for a little boy to get it back together again. The boy took the pieces eagerly and ran off.

After what seemed like a minute the father felt the familiar tugging in his arm.

Daddy! I put the puzzle pieces together! Now come and play!

Father opened his eyes. The little boy was holding the page, the pieces carefully taped together.

How on earth did you manage to do that so fast? he asked and got up.

He looked at the map. It was perfect, no mistakes.

There was a picture of Santa Claus on the other side, the boy pointed.

The father turned the page. True enough jolly old Father Christmas was on the other side.

I turned the puzzle pieces around. I did the Santa Claus puzzle instead and when I turned the page, the map was there too!

Father looked at his son who stood there beaming at the accomplishment. He couldn´t help but smile and got up.

Ok. What do you want to play?

The little boy sure was thinking out of the box with the puzzle pieces! All he did was to take the problem, look at it from another angle, and he suceeded.

We are often stuck in our traditional ways of thinking when we could really use some 6yearold thinking. So how about the next time you are faced with a dilemma, you thought about what would you do if you were a child still? What would be the funniest way to solve it? The oddest way? What if you did nothing, what would happen then? Think outside the box, twist the idea in your mind and it just might be your subconscious suddenly gives you a brand new idea you could use successfully!

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THE 99 CLUB

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy. The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?" The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies." The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of "The 99 Club."

"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... So many gold coins! He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, "What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection. From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked. Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club." He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life." We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires. That's what joining "The 99 Club is all about.”

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YOU ARE UNIQUE

Once upon a time, a Chinese student was sitting with his master under an old crooked tree in the forest.

The student broke the silence and said to his master, "Master, this tree is very old and ugly. It is of no use. It can't be used for lumbering or to build a house or for any other purpose. It is useless – why don't we chop it down and plant a useful tree instead?

"The wise Chinese master smiled and said to his student, "Son, look around the forest. Do you see a tree of better shadow to protect people from the hot, sunny days, than this old tree?" The student looked around, and with great surprise he said, "No, this tree does provide the best shadow."

The Chinese master smiled and said, "That is why this tree is here. You see it as useless only because you want to make something different out of it. Son, everything in this universe is here for a reason, and it is through that reason that its brilliance is fully expressed." Here is an undisputed fact: Like that wonderful shade tree, you are unique.

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