It was Mr Morgan’s first day as a teacher. As a young teacher, Mr Morgan was determined to establish himself as strict but fair.

As he launched into the lecture, the classroom door suddenly opened. A boy walked in. “You’re 20 minutes late. Could you introduce yourself?” Mr Morgan said.

“I’m Archie,“ replied the boy with tired eyes. Archie looked very untidy, as though he hadn’t slept well. “I’m sorry. I overslept. I didn’t mean to come in late. I was just tired.”

As Mr Morgan saw Archie’s notebook, his expression grew uneasy.“You didn’t do your homework.” He scolded (责骂) the boy in front of the whole class. “This is unacceptable. I want to meet your parents tomorrow.”

But Archie never showed up in class the following day and Mr Morgan started to worry. As he prepared to leave after class, he noticed an older woman waiting outside the classroom.

“I’m Archie’s grandmother,” the woman told Mr Morgan. “My grandson was a little sick, so I told him not to go to school...Archie told me you wanted to meet his parents. I’m worried about his recent behavior in class. ”She explained Archie’s father was killed in a motorcycle crash some years ago. His mother has been dealing with some issues since then.

That same evening, Mr Morgan drove to Archie’s address. “I was just passing by and thought I’d meet Archie. Can I see him?” Archie’s grandmother stammered(结结巴巴地说)，“Archie has gone to get medicine. Besides, I should start cleaning, so if you don’t mind...”Mr Morgan understood talking to the grandmother would be useless, so he left the house. As he headed back, he ran into Archie. The boy was dirty and exhausted. Archie looked up at Mr Morgan, his eyes wide with fear and embarrassment. “Mr Morgan,... please don’t come here again..I’m tired, and I have to wash up.”

“You didn’t come to school today, and your grandmother told me you were sick,” said Mr Morgan.

Mr Morgan knew Archie was hiding something and asked him to speak it out.

Mr Morgan wanted to do something to solve Archie’s problem.

Belinda, like many of my students, had grown up "street smart", with very little use for schools and books. On the first day of school, she called Rory a very bad word, so I kept her in at break. I made her wash all the desks and pick up all the garbage lying around. "That'll teach her," I thought. Belinda, though, was smarter than me. "I like cleaning. Mr. Brassell," she said. "Can I do this every day?"

On the third day, I caught Belinda fighting with Jose. I walked over to their table and asked what the problem was. "She keeps calling me a bad word," Jose said. Belinda wrote standards after school while I gave her another lecture on behavior. The next day, I caught her fighting with Jose again. I shouted angrily across the room to ask why they were fighting. Again, Jose accused Belinda of calling him a bad word. Belinda had finally earned a home visit. I told her that I would walk her home after school and talk to her mother in person.

And for the first time all the week, Belinda became silent. For the rest of the day, she sat still in her chair, even with kids teasing her. "It's not going to work, young lady," I told her. "You already earned a walk home, and behaving now isn't going to change that."

When the final bell sounded, I took Belinda by the hand, and we began the two-block walk to her house. Belinda took me through the gate to her yard and she went inside to get her mother while I waited outside.

Where have you been, girl?" a voice screamed. Babies cried loudly inside.

"My teacher's here," Belinda said softly, and I still couldn't see inside through the front door.

"Hello," a deep voice barked. Then the door opened, and a rather skinny, short woman walked out.

"Uh, I'm Mr. Brassell, Belinda's teacher."

"What'd she done this time?"

I suddenly decided to try a different approach.

The next day at school, Belinda gave my knees a big hug.