Post 388: Let Student Compliments Make Your Day

Post 368: Let Student Compliments Make Your Day

Are you tired after a long day of grading? Does your back hurt from being hunched over at your computer for long periods of time? Are you hungry because you skipped lunch to get more done?

Well, let the occasional student compliment make your day. When I am tired, I look at the student compliments I have from all my students.

Many teachers keep student mementors. For instance, an elementary art teacher will keep artwork given to her from her art students, or she would keep the rough drafts of student art because that art reflected that students hard efforts in her class.

Some teachers hold on to student gifts given to teachers at Xmas or other holidays as a souvenir of that student.

Or they hold on to a yearbook with their student names and pictures in it. That yearbook is especially precious if the student wrote a compliment about you having been a great teacher that year.

For me, it is those student compliments that keep me going when I am dead tired from grading, or if my eyes glaze over if I have to correct one more grammar error or one more essay structure error.

I keep my student compliments all in one file, so that it is easy to access whenever I am down. Also, student compliments serve to prove to potential employers that you are a hard working teacher who cares about her students.

Just today, I got this student compliment which made my day,  The student wrote, "Thanks for all your help, Prof. Ho, you seem like a delightful and a marvelous professor.

Another student posted, "Prof. Ho, you have gone above and beyond to help me!j Thank you so much!"" 

Now doesn't a comment like that brighten up a long tiring grading day? I know it does for me! And it keeps me motivated to do more class prep so my students can learn more and be successful in my classes.