Do you know how many “no name” papers I had students turn in as a teacher?
Too too many to count.
Sixth graders forget to write their names on everything from casual homework to formal tests!
The assignments I would get without a name on them would go in my “no name” folder, and zeros would go in the grade book.
When students realized their overall class grade was tanking from a missing assignment, they’d usually rush to the “no name” folder, find their nameless work, write their name on it, and turn it back in.
And their grade would go right back up.
No matter how many times they turned in late no-name work, their grade would go right back up.
Psalm 136 is pretty cool because every single verse ends with the same phrase:
“For his mercy endureth for ever.”
“O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 136:26)
Forever.
Always extending mercy.
Every time we realize we forgot something important.
Every time we realize our spiritual progression has been halted.
Every time we know something is wrong.
He will extend His mercy. He will forgive.
Over and over and over.
We never have to worry that we’ve run out of opportunities.
We don’t have to worry that we’ve taken too many chances.
That grade can always go right back up.
All semester long. And next semester. And the next.
Because His mercy endures forever!
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
I have been a recipient of that tender Mercy from our Heavenly Father many times and forever grateful when my grade goes back up thanks ????
<3
I wish my son would have had a merciful teacher like you back when he was in sixth grade. Every so often he forgot his lunch, and he forgot to put his name on the top of his papers (he and one other student), and that teacher would grade it with a zero. How did she know it was his to give him a zero?
At a parent’s night, right after my son was diagnosed with A.D.D., I inquired about the zeros for perfect papers that my son received. One parent said, “If you forget to sign your check to the electric company, they turn off your electric.” I said, “No, they don’t. They send the unsigned check back and tell you that you forgot to sign the check.” At that parents night, I argued with the teacher (and other parents) that if she knew to give my son a zero, then she knew whose paper it was. What she did wasn’t logical. She should have given him a warning, or just let him write his name on it, or skip recess. But don’t give my son a zero on a perfect math paper and bring his grade down.
That’s not how society works. If you have a meeting, your secretary will put it on your calendar and remind you. If you forget your lunch, your mom will take it to the school office. If my son would forget his lunch, his teacher would not let him call me. She said he should suffer without lunch. I was furious when I heard that. Most of the time I saw his lunch on the counter and would run it over (less than a mile away), but I worked part-time and sometimes didn’t see it. I would have gladly run over with lunch money for him if I knew. She let my son go without lunch!
I went to Catholic school in the 1960s and what she did reminded me of what the nuns back then would do. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. I had hoped my children in the 1990s would have received better treatment from their teachers.
Every year I would write a complaint to be put in that teacher’s file because I heard they expunge complaints every year. So, until my son graduated from high school, his sixth grade teacher received a complaint for her file from me. I also would not allow any of my children that followed to have her as a teacher.
I agree with mercy and judgment. But don’t wield improper “power over” our children, or over anyone. This is a form of abuse.
I’m so sorry your son had that experience with his teacher!