Okay, I'm putting this one in because it moved me. It's long...

This letter was given to me by one of my graduating English students. In 19 years of teaching, I've been given some beautiful gifts but nothing beats this kind of letter. It's even better when it comes from a painfully shy person. The media is full of horror stories about rebellious youth and atrocious teachers, I want to balance out that perception here.

This boy speaks English as a second language. He struggled a lot with the course. His average mark last year was about 5 out of 20. This year it was about 12 or 13, a phenomenal achievement. I won't use his name.

I wrote this note to you for the many thankyous I must give to you. I wanted to say this to you at our last English lesson but my shyness was too overwhelming. I would just like to say that you have been a brilliant teacher in the past two years You have guided me from a low-educated student, to one that now knows some kind of understanding of English. In the beginning, I wasn't a very good English student and that affected the way I approached the subject. From the moment you told the class that you don't have to be the world's best student, you just have to try your best and good things will come out of it, and I took those words with both hands. Since then I have tried my best in all the units in the subject, even when I felt low, you've always believed in me. Through this, English is the subject I am doing the best in and is one of my favourite subjects. Just two years ago I wouldn't have believed I could reach as far as I am right now.......
There are only a few teachers I respect, and one of them is you. To me, I don't just consider you as a teacher but as a friend that has given her time to help not just me but others as well, to fulfill life at its greatest :cry: ......
I want to give you a quote that I've made up that links to the experiences I have had in English,
"When day turns into night
When everything seems isolated and alone,
Try your best and give it everything you've got
'Cos, at the end of it all
It's only you that can make the difference."
Well, thanks for making my final stages of my school life enjoyable.


It speaks for itself.