What Mrs.Hayes Taught Me

Another post for teachers about another influential teacher in my life I’ve never forgotten:

My first performance was in front of my third grade class. Mrs.Hayes asked some of us to read our scary stories – written around Hallowen – to the rest of the class. I was nervous. I hadn’t actually finished writing my scary story so I made up the back half of it on the spot, gripping the page and scanning it with my eyes, pretending to be reading every word I spoke.

Mrs. Hayes knew I was winging it, of course, but let me lie entertain the class with my tale anyway. They laughed and grossed out in all the right places. So did Mrs. Hayes.

When I reached “The End” I handed my paper in to her and she handed it right back. “Now just write all that down,” she whispered, and smiled and winked.

Mrs.Hayes smiled and winked a lot. She asked me to please add artwork to my list of spelling words, and math tables, and poetry and anything else she assigned for homework. I did. And she smiled and winked and called me an artist.

I never knew I was anything but average until Mrs. Hayes told me so. If she said it, then it had to be true. She was a teacher, after all.

And now I tell stories to people for a living. And I still paint a little too. Because I’m an artist. Mrs. Hayes taught me that.

26 comments on “What Mrs.Hayes Taught Me”

Karina says:

Am I allowed to be jealous? I needed a teacher like Mrs. Hayes and instead I had Mrs. Hoffman. I learned on my own how to write my name in cursive and when I turned my paper in Mrs, Hoffman had me stay in after class to tell me that “We don’t learn cursive in this school until 3rd grade.” It’s sad really that that one comment had such a lasting effect on me. I still struggle with being self-motivated.

There’s a lot of responsibility in being a teacher.

Wendy Lee says:

Sweet story.

My husband is a third grade teacher because in thrid grade he had a male teacher that influenced his life.

I have to say, I’m so proud of him. I never see more joy on his face then when he’s motivating a child and teaching them, not just textbook facts, but that they can succeed.

Kimberly Townsend says:

I know Mrs. Hayes. Only her name isn’t Mrs. Hayes, it’s Mrs. Russell. And she wasn’t MY third grade teacher – she was my daughter’s third grade teacher. But their story is the same: a loving educator who saw the potential in EVERY child, made each of her students feel special and loved, and was a glimmer of hope in the bleakness of school life.

I hope Mrs. Hayes has a chance to read this some day (if she’s still around). I bet she very seldom gets acknowledgments of the difference she made in her students’ lives.

Nellie Dee says:

That’s awesome. I know there are those kind of teacher’s out there. You are special. Truly.

jen says:

I am just loving these stories. Used to be a teacher (at a school), and now I am a teacher (at home). It’s such a huge responsibility, and some days (ok, a lot of days) I find it overwhelming. And I’m pretty sure that I do a lot of it incorrectly. Yet, still I find it so encouraging to hear how these teachers encouraged you!

Amber says:

Words are so powerful. I just connected with an old student who was in 6th grade years ago when I taught in the public schools. She is a college student now who loves Jesus and is working on her first CD. She told me that I reminded her after a concert that she really could sing and she should. And she listened. Although I don’t remember that conversation, I thank God that my words were good that day.

Some days my words aren’t so good. I wonder what the lasting effects will reach far beyond me in not-so-good ways.

Thanks for a good reminder, Shaun. Trying to keep my word-legacy encouraging today. Not just to kids but to everyone I come into contact with. I need to rely on Christ’s love that I don’t have in my own strength.