Rebellious Students

A fellow teacher related to me his agony in marking students' test papers.

He seemed very depressed. The exam papers had given him much headache and heartache.

I had known him for many years.

He was a very hardworking and inspiring teacher.

He was a high achiever, producing excellent result every year.

He was very experienced, and could always pinpoint the students' mistakes and correct them in time.

But this year he had a hard time with a particular class of students.

The didn't listen to him most of the time.

Some of them even escaped his class.

Some of them loved to make fun about his teaching and guidance.

Many of them didn't treasure his effort, desire, and persistence in helping them.

Then came the outcome of the exam.

He saw the same errors committed all over again by most of the students in the class.

He was brought to tears.

His heart was rent.

He was sighing deeply.

And he had a hard time relating his grievances.

It was not easy to behold the same mistakes over and again.

No one should commit the same mistakes twice.

I sympathized with him.

But I pitied those students more... for they didn't know they had a very good teacher.