(Minghui.org) “You are really a good teacher. You made me understand a lot of things that I didn't understand before. You showed us a good example of how to control our tempers. You are a super teacher. I think you should get A+++…… You often gave us chances to correct ourselves; you never sent naughty students to the principal's office. You are so kind, which made you the best teacher.” This is a thank-you letter from 4th grader Lily to her teacher, Huang Ruying, in Toronto, Canada.
Huang Ruying is a Falun Gong practitioner. She graduated 22 years ago from the education department of a university in Canada, and she continued to study as a master's candidate. Later she became a public school teacher. While sharing her experiences as a teacher, she showed me her students' photos and some of the thank-you letters she received during these years. Her face was lit up with love for her students.
Huang Ruying at the celebration of “20th Anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day” in Fillips Square in Canada
Teaching Children about “Looking Inside”
Ms. Huang told her students that “looking inward” is a magic tool for solving life's problems. She told her students to be a good person who always thinks about others. Once, two 4th graders John and Jack were arguing over a pen. They both wanted the pen, and both cried to Ms. Huang. She told them to calm down first; then she asked what happened. John said, “I got the pen first.” Jack said, “He grabbed it from me.”
Ms. Huang told them, “Regardless of who is correct and who is wrong, someone must have done something inappropriate or said something inappropriate, which made the other one uncomfortable. Let's say 'I'm sorry' to each other, ok?” Hearing this, the two kids calmed down, and they immediately shook hands.
Ms. Huang said, “As a Falun Gong practitioner, looking inward is a magic tool. So I follow it first. There were times when I couldn't control my temper and yelled at the kids or misunderstood the kids. I apologized to them and told them about how I look inward, myself. To colleagues, I tried to be “full of great aspirations while minding minor details.” I never resented doing minor work like cleaning or boiling water. Every year, I accepted whatever the principal directed me to do. I told students to think about others first and taught them to always look inward.
At times some kids still tried to argue; Ms. Huang said, “I listened to them and led them to realize what they did wrong. Why did the other hit me? Was it because my words or attitude hurt the other? Why did I take the other one's things without asking? Wasn't that disrespectful? Gradually, the kids grew accustomed to this way of handling problems. When they had conflicts, they could solve it by themselves. The whole class is getting better and better.” No matter how naughty a kid was in another class, he/she would behave better in Ms. Huang's class. Gradually, many parents wrote to the principal and asked to have their kids placed in Ms. Huang's class.
Passing on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in Her Teaching
Once, a student named Peter told Ms. Huang, “My notebook is gone.” Ms. Huang asked, “Where did you put it?” He replied, “Someone took it.” She said, “Why do you say that without seeing anyone take it? Maybe you lost it?” Peter searched again and found his notebook. He had left it on another's desk. Later he told Ms. Huang, “I found it. Sorry, I shouldn't say someone took it before I looked for it.”
Ms. Huang said about those children who did take another's things, “I would encourage them to admit their wrongdoing. I would not only forgive them, but also reward them because it shows 'truthfulness'.”
Jason is a very kind child. Once he fought with Mark for a toy. Ms. Huang reminded them, “You don't even hit little animals, why do you hit your classmate?” They stopped immediately and realized that they should be kind to others.
As for “Forbearance,” Ms. Huang told the children, “If others hit you, you should not fight back, but you can kindly remind others it was wrong. If you were misunderstood, do not hate, but forgive others.” Gradually some kids who often hit others stopped hitting.
Ms. Huang said, “I put a lot of thought into how to include being a good person in my teaching. For example, I chose many stories about how good receives good and evil receives retribution in the teaching materials. And I teach kids to be kind. I also teach kids to be thankful, to give up, and to focus on giving instead of receiving.”
“Marble” Reward
Ms. Hung has a very beautiful jar on her desk. When anyone does a good thing for someone else or takes the initiative to do a good thing, Ms. Huang will put one marble into the jar. When the jar is full, the whole class will get a reward. One day when students were doing a project, Lili found that the floor was covered with pieces of paper, and she took the initiative to clean it. Every one tried to do good things; even the naughty ones are getting better.
Appreciation from Students and Parents
Ms. Huang said, “Every day during their writing time, I played music composed by Dafa practitioners. They were all quietly doing their writing. One 4th grade student Gao said in the thank-you card: 'I love the music you played when we were writing.' I think that is the best present I received this year.”
There was a very naughty student who was well known throughout the school. He often lost his temper about tiny things, which gave many teachers headaches. Thus no one wanted to accept him as their student. When he was in the 4th grade, he was in Ms. Huang's class. One year after the semester ended, Ms. Huang got a letter from his parents. The letter said:
“Dear Ms. Huang. We appreciate very much the effort you made last year. You helped him become a confident child and be able to play with others peacefully. I can see how much effort you made. When he had a problem, you kindly communicated with us and discussed with us how to help him. You are like a parent to him-- as equally important to him as we are.”
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Category: Improving Oneself
