Mrs. Wagher's Door

My classes of high school students had been identified as having a physical, emotional, or learning disability of some kind. 
In addition, most of them usually had significant problems with reading. 

This didn’t mean that they weren’t smart, though. 
Many were very bright. Some even truly gifted.  Mechanics, art, people skills, and athletics were only some of their strengths.  
One young man was an absolute genius with engines. "Million dollar genius" I often told him. Students and teachers came by my classroom looking for his help every week.

But reading was a sore spot for almost all of them. This alone made succeeding in school a big problem. 
Try passing history, government, English or science classes when you can’t read the textbook. It’s a challenge I can tell you.

Many of these students became my heroes for not giving up. They knew their future would be better if they had a high school diploma so they refused to drop out.
They usually hated school with a passion but they hung in there anyway.

I remember one wonderful kid, a big, strong football tackle, the kind of young man who put his body on the line for his team every week without fear. After struggling with a biology text all period long he put his head in his hands and said in near desperation……“Mrs. Wagher……I just can’t do it anymore! There’s too many words!”
Words on a piece of paper were a far bigger challenge for him than any hulking football opponent.  He stuck with it, though, and graduated with his class.

Other students kept at it long after less determined souls would have given up. I remember a sweet young woman who finally earned all her credits for graduation. She walked proudly up on stage to get her diploma just before her 21st birthday.
Her whole family stood up and cheered.
So did I.

So reading was a big issue.
One thing I did to encourage them to read and process printed language was to post a quote on the outside of my classroom door every day. 
I gathered these from all over and listed the author when I knew it. The thoughts were in large print….in color…...with a border…… at eye level. They usually were about something we were learning in class. 
The kids had to see them as they opened the door and they read them because they knew we’d be having a discussion as soon as the bell rang. Often the door handle would turn and then I'd hear someone reading out loud in the hall.

Well, despite the "best laid lesson plans of one woman,"  some of the most important teaching moments of the school year came from those “Great Thoughts."
I remember a few that caused some interesting comments.

*Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only love can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can do that,

             M.L. King
               (Many of my students were well acquainted with gangs. Hatred can not                      drive out hatred was a hot topic for several days.)


* If You Have to Swallow a Frog It’s Best Not to Stare At Him Too Long First.

              Mark Twain
              (I asked a student some months after this one why he hadn’t turned in his                  English paper yet. He said he’d been busy staring at frogs.)

*No Success Can Compensate For Failure In the Home.
  (This was big because it coincided with a sports star's public scandal.)

* We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us.

*They Say That Money Can’t Buy Happiness. 
  But to be happy buy one dollar less than you make. To be miserable buy one           dollar more.
 * Work is love made visible.

* First we shape our homes and then our homes shape    us.

* Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our                      opportunity to choose. In the choice lies our destiny.


* Kindness Is Never a Mistake. Cruelty Always Is.


*No man is an island. 
  Each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. 
  Every man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. 
  Therefore never send to  know for whom the bell tolls.....it tolls for thee.
   (Several months after this one a student answered the phone, handed it to me and     said, "It tolls for thee, Mz Dub.")


*The Best Way To Get Rid Of An Enemy Is To Make Him A Frien

* Hold the door for everyone you meet. All are carrying a heavy load whether you can see it or not.



Once I posted this two pager after a 16 year old, unmarried student became a father……again.
On the top sheet it said….

*Sex is one of the most powerful forces known to mankind. 
When done properly sex can bring the most complete joy that life has to offer. When done improperly sex may bring pain, misery and death. 
Not only to you but to innocent people around you.

Lift This Paper To See What Can Happen When Sex Is Done Properly

 (Under the first paper was a picture of 10 of my grandchildren gathered together at a family celebration. 
 At the bottom it said, 
“Your children and grandchildren will come into your life because of this                 powerful force. Are you ready to love and take care of them now?
  If not……….it  might be better to wait.”

I’m telling you about my door because of the great discussions it started. 
Do you suppose it might do the same at a dinner table with your teenagers or in the car on the way to practice?

I came to know what was in the hearts of many of my students because of their responses to those thoughts. I was often very surprised. 

Is there someone you’d like to know better? 
Ask them what they think about a great thought.