Over my years of teaching ESL to adults, I have received a lot of little gifts. Some sit on the my office window sill and book shelves. The Polish doll came from a long-ago student who was upset after he spent a lot of time on his essay and didn't get the result he hoped for. When I asked him if he thought I'd been unfair, and offered to reread the work, he calmed down. We had a heartfelt conversation about the situation, then chatted and laughed about other things. At the end of the term, he thanked me for my teaching and gave me the doll.Why have I kept it there so long? Perhaps it serves as a reminder to speak from the heart, even when that feels challenging. In my work, the words I must say are not always what others want to hear.
The felt camel came from a friend who was teaching in Quetta, Pakistan. She bought it at a camel market. It reminds me of the words she said to me early in my teaching career when I was feeling insecure. Was I doing it right? Were my teaching methods correct? Judi's frank green eyes looked into mine. "It's all right," she said. "You are enough."
The ceramic figure is a South American musical instrument, an ocarina, and the Afghani doll I bought with my daughter at the annual Hycroft Christmas fair. We liked her eyebrows.
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