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Teacher's Pet

by Traute Klein, AKA biogardener

The child who thought that I was picking on him was actually my favorite, the teacher's pet, the one who later thanked me with a special poem.

If you love him ...

Michael Cavanagh was my pet in a grade VII German class. He was full of life and could never sit still, just like me. He was smart, and so was everyone else in this class. What a class! I had never had one like it before and have never had one like it since. Yes, Michael was my pet. I could not resist his charm. Nothing he did could ever have made me angry with him. The trouble was that Michael did not know that he was my pet. And I did not know that he did not know. Until the first parent-teacher interview, that is.

... be tough on him!

Michael's parents both came to the school, and they brought Michael along. This looked like serious business. Michael's father did the talking. He explained to me that his son felt picked on in my class. I was dumbfounded. Well, maybe I was harder on him than on some other children. Of course, I was harder on him! I treated him like my own son. I expected more of him than of other children. I had no choice but to lay my cards on the table and explain why I was so hard on him. I actually had to confess that I had a teacher's pet, and Michael was it. That was the end of that problem. I continued being hard on the poor kid, but he did not mind any more, because he knew that I loved him.

The Pet's Thank-you

I taught that class for three years and in grade IX, their final year with me, everyone wrote a German poem. To understand Michael's poem, you must know that this class affectionately called me "Frau." To put my surname after the Frau seemed superfluous to them, and they refused. Here is the poem with my translation on the right:

Fürs Poesiealbum Rosen sind rot, Veilchen sind blau Zucker is süß, und so ist Frau.

Autograph Book Entry Roses are red, Violets are blue Sugar is sweet, And so are you. (with "you" for my name)

The German of the last line is not perfect, but the sentiment is, and I did not dare use my red pencil on this expression of love from the Teacher's Pet.

Conclusion

Most teachers will tell you that they treat all children the same. I would have said the same thing. It took an experience like this one to show me that I was kidding myself. I would never have been that hard on a child unless I considered the effort worthwhile. I hope to hear how some of you feel about being toughest on the children you love the most. Share you experiences in the discussion thread.



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