(Minghui.org) Each of my students listened attentively as I taught. After class, even those who had never bothered to study on their own before came to ask me questions.
Even I was amazed at how peaceful I felt that day. It was as if I'd had a smile on my face the entire class.
I had taken over this group of students less than three months before, when no other teacher wanted them. They were infamous as the most troublesome in the school. Their previous teacher had quit because of them.
The principal approached me to take over as their new math teacher. She knew that I used to be quick-tempered and often lost patience with students, but also that I had become more considerate of others after I began to practice Falun Dafa.
I thought that, as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I should do my best to help those unruly students rather than avoid them. So I agreed to give it a try.
I worked hard teaching my new students, but I almost lost it about two months later. I was upset that no one was listening in class or doing their assignments.
At the height of my frustration, I remembered what Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, said:
“Some people will lose their temper in disciplining children and yell at them, making quite a scene. You should not be that way in disciplining children, and neither should you, yourselves get really upset. You should educate children with reason so that you can really teach them well. If you cannot even get over a trifle and lose your temper easily, how can you expect to increase your gong?” (Zhuan Falun)
This fit my situation perfectly, and I knew that I had to treat the students with compassion and kindness, instead of blaming them for their poor behavior.
I wrote “forbearance” and “cultivation practice” on my hand to remind myself not to lose my temper. Gradually I became calmer in dealing with them.
Before I knew it, I had that amazing experience in class I described above. I came to see that, when I changed my attitude towards the students and treated them with kindness, they would respond in kind.
They began to enjoy listening to me talk about the principles of Falun Dafa, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” the same principles that had helped me become a better teacher. As they learned how to be better students, there was less chaos and fewer disciplinary problems.
As the kids trusted me more and more, they began to enjoy math and quickly caught up academically.
When I first took over this class, their average math grades were 60 on a 100-point scale, about 15 points lower than their peers.
By the time they graduated from elementary school, their math grades on the city-level standardized test topped all the elementary schools in our city!
When I first began to teach the class, I also had my hands full at home. My own child was preparing for the college entrance exam, and my only brother was involved in a serious car accident.
Cultivation in Falun Dafa enabled me to maintain my calm and keep a positive attitude amidst the chaos, and helped me to fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher, a mother, and a sister.
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Category: Improving Oneself
