 I hear it. We have no money in our school. How can we really make a difference? I have no time how can I make a difference? All that nice talk and those big ideas but we have not money or time in our school. How could WE make a difference?
Now Listen Carefully:
I ask you: How many "notches" do you have to be off for the door of a combination safe for it not to open? Out of 60 numbers on the dial, you only have to be off one click on one of the three turns and it will not open. Small things can make big differences. Small things can make MAJOR differences.
My stepfather was a bomber pilot and flew 16 bombing missions over Germany in the 2nd World War and that is saying something, as often only 50% of the bombers would return to base in England. Sometimes out of 30‑50 bombers only 15‑25 would come back! He flew a total of 16 missions and was never shot down — although his plane was hit by flak numerous times. When he could talk about it, he said he watched many of his friends die in balls of fire. He told me that one day he returned and climbed out of the bomber pilot's seat onto the tarmac and the flight crew came out and was looking at all the holes in the plane and a guy said, "Wow, George, look at your pants!" He looked down and the whole back of his pants behind the knee was gone. The flak (chunks of ragged steel) had come through one side of the cockpit wall and out the other tearing out the back of his pant leg but in the heat of battle he had not noticed it. Another inch and he would have lost his leg... and possibly bled out before they could do anything as there was no room in those tight cockpits for anyone to do much first aid and still fly the plane. He said when he saw how close he had come to being killed he passed out right there on the runway.
One inch. One notch.
So, Teacher: One Word. One word CAN make a difference in a kid's life. One caring look. One second of eye contact. One smile. None of which cost a thing. It just takes awareness that you, indeed, have that power and then USE IT to focus on what you want to expand inside that child. Go into the classroom as if it is a treasure hunt... looking for that one opportunity to implant that one thing that will nurture a child, that will encourage them to know they can do it, whatever IT is.
I had to use a lot of words here to make my one point, but you will only have to use one or two or three words at the most. Make a list of all the things you could say to a child that could make the difference. Think when you were a child, what 1‑3 words said by an adult would have really helped you? Just take one minute to think
about it.
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