One of my Legends of the Fall with his trophiesThe finest gift I ever received from a student (back when I was teaching) was a shadowbox made by the student and the student's grandmother. Inside, there were five leaves of various fall colors arranged pretty much like you see above in the photo, a few feathers from moulting birds of various kinds, a drawing of a meteor streaking through the constellation Leo, and this inscription:
To my fourth grade teacher, thank you for teaching me much more than math and reading and science and history as you were charged to do. Thank you for also teaching me how to catch leaves falling from trees in windy weather, what to do to attract birds to our classroom feeder, where to look to see meteors during the Leonid shower, and why certain groups of stars have names and telling us the stories attached to them. You have inspired a lifetime of learning.
Well, you can imagine how that made me feel. Years later, one of the lessons I learned from those fourth-grade students still motivates me:
Create Legends of the Fall (or any other season) by encouraging others to dream big, think big, feel big, learn big and most of all believe in something bigger than yourself - and do it all in the spirit of having the most fun you can have.
Another illustration: When my own son Christopher was only four, he asked me if he would ever have a trophy of his own in his room. He must have seen one in a cartoon and it caught not only his eye but his imagination.
Since we had this ongoing game where we used ever-increasing superlatives to tell each other how much we loved each other, I knew immediately what kind of trophy he would get.
"I love you more than all the raindrops in a thunderstorm," I would say to start the game. "Well I love YOU more than all the leaves in the forest !" he would shoot back, and the game was on, as we each tried to out-do the other in the choice of our superlative.
To signal the end of the game, I would always finish with "You are the best boy in the whole world !"
So a few days later, I brought home his trophy of Atlas holding the earth on his shoulders with this inscription:
To my fourth grade teacher, thank you for teaching me much more than math and reading and science and history as you were charged to do. Thank you for also teaching me how to catch leaves falling from trees in windy weather, what to do to attract birds to our classroom feeder, where to look to see meteors during the Leonid shower, and why certain groups of stars have names and telling us the stories attached to them. You have inspired a lifetime of learning.
Well, you can imagine how that made me feel. Years later, one of the lessons I learned from those fourth-grade students still motivates me:
Create Legends of the Fall (or any other season) by encouraging others to dream big, think big, feel big, learn big and most of all believe in something bigger than yourself - and do it all in the spirit of having the most fun you can have.
Another illustration: When my own son Christopher was only four, he asked me if he would ever have a trophy of his own in his room. He must have seen one in a cartoon and it caught not only his eye but his imagination.
Since we had this ongoing game where we used ever-increasing superlatives to tell each other how much we loved each other, I knew immediately what kind of trophy he would get.
"I love you more than all the raindrops in a thunderstorm," I would say to start the game. "Well I love YOU more than all the leaves in the forest !" he would shoot back, and the game was on, as we each tried to out-do the other in the choice of our superlative.
To signal the end of the game, I would always finish with "You are the best boy in the whole world !"
So a few days later, I brought home his trophy of Atlas holding the earth on his shoulders with this inscription:
Christopher
Best Boy
Whole World
Best Boy
Whole World
He loved it. He's earned many trophies since then (he's 11 now), but that's still his favorite, earning center placement on his top shelf, with the other ones flanking it to either side.
With all the mass communication of TV, movies, video games, and who knows what else bombarding us with their images of who is a legend or a hero, it's more important than ever to create our own Legends and Heroes from the events of everyday life.
That young man at the top was recognized as "World's Greatest Leaf Catcher" that day, and he was, for there was no greater catcher of leaves on that certain day, at that certain time, in that certain place, in that certain school yard, than was he.
The title made him beam (as you can clearly see above), and you know what ? It didn't matter to him one bit that he might not be the World's Greatest Leaf Catcher the next day, because he just might be the World's Greatest Bug Catcher by then !
Bestow a fun, superlative title on someone you love today.
With all the mass communication of TV, movies, video games, and who knows what else bombarding us with their images of who is a legend or a hero, it's more important than ever to create our own Legends and Heroes from the events of everyday life.
That young man at the top was recognized as "World's Greatest Leaf Catcher" that day, and he was, for there was no greater catcher of leaves on that certain day, at that certain time, in that certain place, in that certain school yard, than was he.
The title made him beam (as you can clearly see above), and you know what ? It didn't matter to him one bit that he might not be the World's Greatest Leaf Catcher the next day, because he just might be the World's Greatest Bug Catcher by then !
Bestow a fun, superlative title on someone you love today.
