Teacher's Love
When Bill Gates attended Seattle’s View Ridge Elementary, he was a typical nerdy 4th-grade introvert who always did his best to keep to himself. Thanks to a kindly librarian named Blanche Caffiere, he was able to come into his own in a way that would one day change the world forever. Gates sets the stage for this tale on his blog :
"When I first met Mrs. Caffiere, she was the elegant and engaging school librarian at Seattle’s View Ridge Elementary, and I was a timid fourth grader. I was desperately trying to go unnoticed, because I had some big deficits, like atrocious handwriting ... and I was trying to hide the fact that I liked to read—something that was cool for girls but not for boys ... Mrs. Caffiere took me under her wing and helped make it okay for me to be a messy, nerdy boy who was reading lots of books."
He credits Mrs. Caffiere for helping him escape his shell in the true spirit of exceptional teaching. First, she encouraged Gates' passion for reading by helping him explore it through the use of introspective questions, such as what he liked to read and why. Next, she'd go out of her way to source books that were progressively more interesting and challenging for him. Finally, once he’d read them, she would sit down with him and ask him if he liked what he had read, and more importantly, what he'd learned and why. "She genuinely listened to what I had to say," Gates recalled.
In 2006, shortly after reaching her 100th birthday, Blanche Caffiere sadly passed away—but not before Gates was able to thank her personally for the lasting impact her love and curiosity had on his life.
Source:
"When I first met Mrs. Caffiere, she was the elegant and engaging school librarian at Seattle’s View Ridge Elementary, and I was a timid fourth grader. I was desperately trying to go unnoticed, because I had some big deficits, like atrocious handwriting ... and I was trying to hide the fact that I liked to read—something that was cool for girls but not for boys ... Mrs. Caffiere took me under her wing and helped make it okay for me to be a messy, nerdy boy who was reading lots of books."
He credits Mrs. Caffiere for helping him escape his shell in the true spirit of exceptional teaching. First, she encouraged Gates' passion for reading by helping him explore it through the use of introspective questions, such as what he liked to read and why. Next, she'd go out of her way to source books that were progressively more interesting and challenging for him. Finally, once he’d read them, she would sit down with him and ask him if he liked what he had read, and more importantly, what he'd learned and why. "She genuinely listened to what I had to say," Gates recalled.
In 2006, shortly after reaching her 100th birthday, Blanche Caffiere sadly passed away—but not before Gates was able to thank her personally for the lasting impact her love and curiosity had on his life.
Source:
https://www.wabisabilearning.com/blog/4-stories-great-teachers
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