The Compliment
A friend and former colleague of mine, Jim, recently paid me a wonderful compliment. Connected via Facebook, he has been reading my blog posts (I share each post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn). In a recent message, Jim told me about a time when someone told him that he was "always thinking about something." Jim, a retired math teacher, considered that a great compliment and wanted to send the same compliment my way.
I had never considered "always thinking about something" as a compliment before. Maybe my habit of reflecting on my art and sharing my ideas with others has caused me to take my own practice for granted. Never the less, I have a great deal of respect for Jim and will gladly accept his gracious compliment.
Thinking about compliments, here are a few questions upon which you can reflect.
- Considering the work you do, what one statement would be the best compliment a student could give to you?
- Same question as number 1, but this time replace student with parent.
- Same question as number 2, but replace parent with colleague.
- When was the last time you paid a compliment to a student of her effort?
- When was the last time you paid a compliment to a parent for partnering with you?
- When was the last time you paid a compliment to a colleague for helping you out?
In this season of giving, maybe the best gift from you is a well deserved compliment.
