@Saltssaltgirl I was in a very serious wreck in 1st grade. The school wanted me to repeat 1st grade because I had missed a good deal of time being in the hospital and then at home in a hospital bed, and I would need to miss more time moving forward from there due to doctor visits and therapy.
My teacher refused to sign that form and declared that she would come to my house after school and tutor me personally so I would not lose ground.
When I was getting my degree, she let me work in her classroom for some of my assignments and practicums. She was an honored guest at my wedding.
Now as a teacher myself, I look to her example for advice - what would she do or say? how would she approach a student in this situation or that?
Bonnie was an amazing teacher. It is a shame in some ways that she is retired now. Those kids are missing out.
@Saltssaltgirl I was smart, but I struggled with spelling. This was in the mid-1970s in a small rural school. Maybe today I'd be diagnoses with some disorder, but I was just a bad speller then. In 5th grade (+/-) our regular teacher was sick and the substitute, who lived in town and was known to us kids, took me aside one day and said, "you can learn how to spell these words we're studying, I'm sure of it," or words to that effect. I could and I did. I still remember her confidence in me.