An Overdue Thank You Note to Teachers

Sometimes, I wonder what teachers are thinking when they write little encouraging notes on students’ assignments. And what I mean by that is, I wonder if they expect them to make any impact. So many teachers go into the profession hoping to change and shape students’ lives—to lead them to success and teach them to thrive. But, more often than not, they see an entire class fail a test (that the previous class did fine on), a student cheating, a generation whose writing abilities are seemingly growing extinct, or another parent complaining about her child’s grades. Meanwhile, there are those few students that never miss class, always come prepared, obviously study, and consistently do a good job. The teacher puts a small comment on the (probably too long) essay and moves on. The student continues doing what he/she always does. Nothing is said (though the kid who pulled his answer out of thin air has plenty to say about his grade).

Several teachers throughout my schooling career have been faithful commenters. The comments are usually small. Took five seconds of the teacher’s time, max. But they have had lasting influence on me, not that those teachers have ever known that.

She probably never realized that the smiley faces she put on the top of my paper when I did well made my entire day, because I was struggling with the adjustment from homeschooling to “normal school,” I felt behind when it came to math, and her class was the hardest class I had (and she was one of the teachers I admired the most).

There is no way he could have known that it took me three hours to complete that assignment, because I cannot be anything but nauseatingly thorough, even if I try. He could not have known that it was actually done from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., because I had dinner, church, and dorm devotions before I could ever even touch my pile of homework, and, halfway through, I had to take a few minutes to sob, because I was sleep deprived and homesick. All he knew was that I did my best, and he wrote “Your usual excellent work,” not knowing that doing assignments with a headache, minimal sleep, and an accompanying cry-fest was how I usually accomplished that work.

When she wrote “an excellent critique,” she could not have known I downloaded the assignment to Dropbox, thinking “I know my instructor will hate this. I have never done APA, and I had to cut out the majority of what I had to say to make it as short as she wanted. This is terrible work, and this will be the first impression she has of my writing.”

I doubt my teachers know how comments like “Wow!” “Excellent!” and “Great work!” have motivated my academic career.

Because, a lot of the time, it is the “A” students that get the least recognition. We work hard, and nobody expects anything else. “A” is so normal, not many think to congratulate you on it. The attention must be directed to the student who might not pass or the one who does not make use of intrinsic motivation.

Student gets an “A.” You do not congratulate him. He still gets another “A.”

Student gets an “A.” You do congratulate him. He still gets another “A.”

It is hard to see your actions making any difference, but believe me, they do. It was those smiley faces that let me know you were proud of me, and that I was going to be okay. It was the little comments on my discussion forums that motivated me to keep doing my best, even though I knew that people who worked half as long as I did got the same exact grade. I wanted you to know that I would keep working at the top of my game, because you noticed. It was that comment on my first article critique that has kept me from giving up hope on all future writing assignments. It is the little “wow’s” and “excellent’s” on my homework assignments that have made your other homework assignments from being so tedious, because I know you notice and appreciate thorough work.

So, what are you thinking when you write those comments? That they will be overlooked? Fleetingly appreciated, then forgotten? That maybe they are not worth your time?

They are. Please, do not stop. You never know when your “A” student is on the brink of giving up hope—and his/her GPA. And you never know which comment may be the little tug that pulls the kid back and gives him/her the motivation to keep going. Because we respect you. We appreciate  you.

We thank you.