What is the best compliment you've ever gotten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my next life, I want to come back as your dog.

that one's a bit creepy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be a high school art teacher. I started teaching very young (23) and was definitely overwhelmed my first year teaching at an inner city high school in a large city. It was rough, but even so, I’ve had a number of notes and compliments from students over the years. The one that stands out the most is from one student who was an absolute terror. He was an angry, angry young man, and I had to send him to the office on more than one occasion for being violent in class. Well, 10+ years later, he found me on FB and sent me a message apologizing for being so awful, and thanking me for always being kind, even when he didn’t deserve it. He told me that my class was what helped him get through the death of his mother, and lead him to his love for art.

So for those of you out there who feel like specials like art and music are a waste of time, all I can say is art saves lives.

Thank you for what you do. Yes, specials teachers can often have the most impact on students.

I have twin boys who are just about to start middle school. One twin is extremely bright and in full GT (gifted and talented, which is what our school district calls the accelerated track) across the board. The other is bright, but not as advanced. He's only in some accelerated courses but is a good student in the classes he is assigned. He's often felt slighted and lesser than his brother because he wasn't selected for GT tracking as often as his brother and he sometimes struggles to learn his material. His brother learns almost like breathing and he can tell the difference.

However, the bright twin is gifted in art. In 3rd grade, he was assigned to a new art teacher (who he then had for the 4th and 5th). This art teacher was really amazing at inspiring my son to develop his art, selected his work twice over three years for displays outside of school and really encouraged him. Prior to this teacher, my son was starting to get more introverted, was more sensitive about comparisons (mostly in his own mind) with his twin and was feeling more and more insecure. We got him into counseling to help him. But the art teacher changed his outlook and brought back our more healthy-minded son far more than the counseling did. Being encouraged and not compared to his brother (and also finding a skill inside him where he was objectively better than his twin) truly helped him and helped curb his anxieties.

So, at the end of last school year, we sent a gift card to the art teacher, but I made sure to mention how much his teaching and guidance had helped my son and how much we, as a family, appreciated him. He sent me a personal email that day and said how much he appreciated the comments, how great my kids were and how he appreciated getting the chance to work with them.

You reminded me how grateful I am for wonderful arts teachers.