Post 1476. Monday March 13
This week we are writing to our favourite teacher.
Dear Mr Jones
I hated school. I had no interest in learning, which is why I left with no qualifications.
You tried so hard to persuade me how richer life is when you lose yourself in good books. Mind you, I’m not sure that studying Richard the Second by the immortal bard was ever going to get me reading a good crime novel! I failed English Lit miserably.
You tried even harder to teach me grammar. I failed that too. The only grammar I was interested in my Grannie!
Forty years after leaving school I read my first book. I liked it. Then I read another and another. I thought I’d have a go at writing, and found myself more articulate than ever I thought before (Sorry, that sentence is a bit clumsy!)
I’m in my eleventh year of blogging now and I've received a quarter of a million hits. I’ve written around fourteen hundred short stories and poems, and self-published a couple of paperbacks.
What I am trying to say is that something must have got lodged in my brain during the five long years you tried teaching me. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thankyou.
.
Wonderful! Some of us found classroom studies very confining, but some of that tutoring must have soaked in, because we turned out to be smart and educated enough to get buy just fine. I think the greatest gift a teacher (and/or a parent) can give a child is a true love of reading and books, and that happens by letting them choose what they find interesting to read!
ReplyDeleteJust for once, this is not fiction! I seemed to have managed reasonably well despite leaving school with nothing to show for it - except that is for a copper ashtray I made in metalwork!
DeleteIsn't it funny how life turns out! I loved this one. It felt.....real.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
- Lisa
It was - almost!
DeleteHi Keith - certainly I was a 'dumbskull' at school ... and never realised what had sunk in over the years - now ...life takes on another head of blogging steam and has taught me loads - mind you I usually add in things I don't know ... so that's learning ... but I love meeting other bloggers, who expand their viewpoints and way of life ... live and learn too ...
ReplyDeleteCertainly dear Mr Jones would be bemused by your achievements to date ... congratulations on rising above - cheers Hilary
I am with you 100%! Live and learn, learn to live. Thanks Hilary.
DeleteThat's awesome! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Darla
DeleteAwesome letter! Teachers are so important. My English teacher goes to the gym I work at, so I was actually able to tell him in person about my published books. (And then I realised that it's a little sad to still be living in the town I grew up in - it's a small town, too!)
ReplyDeleteThat must have been very gratifying for him. Thanks Annalisa
Deletesuch a sweet dedication to your teacher
ReplyDelete