Matthew Eicheldinger

“ago, I had a student who wouldn’t speak. And when I say “wouldn’t speak,” I mean, not at all. Not one word. I have never felt so ill-equipped as a teacher. I had no tools for this situation. So, as a way to help connect with her, I just drew a cartoon or wrote a little message on a sticky note and placed it on her desk every single day. It went on like this for the rest of the year. We had parent meetings, counselor meetings, psychologist meetings, and we kept trying to talk to her, but she didn’t speak all year. Two years go by, and I get an envelope in the mail. What’s inside? A single sticky note. On it, it said, “I saved all your sticky notes. Thank you so much, you helped me more than you know.” And that’s what is hard about life. Most of the time, you never get to know your impact. But I guarantee you, whatever you are doing even the small things like a sticky note have probably made a huge difference.”
― Matthew Eicheldinger, Sticky Notes: Memorable Lessons from Ordinary Moments