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Saying Thanks

7 August 2010 by shartley   

DSP 147: Thank You! 2007-10-11

David Truss (@datruss) has written a blog post called Thank you and no thank you.  I wrote a comment on his post and he DM’d on Twitter a lovely thanks and then suggested in a public tweet that my comment should be a post in itself.  So I’ve reproduced my comment here:

In my first year of teaching it often felt like a thankless job. About half way through the year a new student joined two of my classes and he thanked me at the end of each lesson. It raised my morale incredibly. I worried that the other students would be a bad influence and he would stop thanking me and stop contributing positively to class discussions. In fact, the reverse occurred. This one boy had an incredible influence on the attitude of the class and many began thanking me at the end of each lesson.

Now, 6 years later, as a better teacher and improved culture in my school, most students thank me at the end of each lesson. I was even thanked at the end of a lunch when I kept students in to complete homework not done.

Thanks for your post Dave. It’s nice to think of the positives in the world.

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3 Comments »

  1. That is such a lovely example of the benefits of pay it forward, and also how it doesn’t cost anything to be nice, but can have such a positive impact.

    Thank you.

    • David Truss says:

      What a great idea for a post! 😉

      Paying it forward is important, and yet creating an appreciative culture goes beyond that. I wrote a post a while back called, “Who have you helped today?”, a question I started asking my own children at bedtime over three years ago, (and still ask on occasion). The answer to the question is less important than the question itself as the question implies value in helping others.

      This is a wonderful story and I thank you again for sharing it!
      ~Dave.

  2. Claire Adams says:

    It’s always such a heart-warmer when students thank me – or even better, when I see/hear them thanking someone else. We’re trying to encourage them to be more positive, and me smiling more sure has helped!

    ps. m&ms are always good, but even better when they spell out “thank you” 🙂

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