I’m relaying this true story through a ghost-writer (Mrs. Gunter, 5th grade teacher), who shared this heartwarming teaching moment with me today:

We never know what a passing comment of encouragement might yield someday.  Perhaps a robotic desk cleaner?  One of our clever fifth graders, Jake, came to demonstrate his growing knowledge of circuitry he’s been perfecting through Mrs. Garippa’s science class this year.  I praised Jake’s talents and told him “I sure would love for you to engineer some domestic help for me:  folding clothes, washing dishes, cleaning off my school desk, etc.”  He replied, “I’ll work on that, Mrs. Gunter!”  Today, less than a week later, I received a working, cleaning, mini-robot as his gift!  Just imagine–I’ve been teaching for 23 years and Jake is the first learner to create a robot for my personal needs!  What a wonderful moment in my teaching history!

Congratulations, Jake, for planning your work, working your plan, and autographing your work with personal engineering excellence!  Congratulations to Mrs. Gunter and Mrs. Garippa for challenging learners to stretch their potential to higher levels daily!  Here’s hoping we all take an opportunity to make a moment in teaching history as we journey through together at LME!