For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 15, 2011

OK, I’ll be the first to say it: Awww!

DANG, you beat me to it.

Aww, it’s all smiles, love it!

That is sweet. But how seldom it happens that way. Too often the kid just ends the year feeling defeated and unliked and doesn’t even know why.

Teachers wield a lot of power to build kids up or to destroy their self confidence and self image.

Bless Miss Hardacre for being the kind of teacher that does make all the hurt and confusing feelings go away with her final reassurance of his worth.

Now Michael will have a great “sumer”.

Hardacre became Goodacre.

I was wrong: Michael caved first and hugged Mrs Hardacre.

Funny, my monitor is suddenly a bit cloudy and moist. Must be a passing shower. Sniff. Awwwwwwwwww.

AWWWW too cute!!

Aaron I too am having trouble sniff, cough seeing this comic today. Brings up fond memories of grade 7/8.

That chokes me up (tears in eyes)

So sweet! Mrs. Hardacre truly is a great teacher. She took the time to explain her actions with Michael, which took some effort. It certainly would have been easier to just let him leave and get over it on his own eventually.

I want to go back to teaching – I miss my children…

I’m glad Michael found out at an early age that a “hard” teacher is often a good teacher. It took me years and years to appreciate what a good teacher Miss Higbee was. It wasn’t until I was in high school and realized all the things my classmates didn’t already know because they had an “easy” 5th grade teacher.

Mrs. Hardacre looks a lot like Miss Higbee, except that Miss Higbee always wore black dresses like Miss grumby in the old (1950s & 60s) Archie comics.

Eh. And sometimes the “mean” teacher doesn’t have the best interests of the kids at heart, but is just an abusive psycho who needs to get out of the teaching business (but is protected by the Teacher Union, of course).

I loved it…Makes me miss school. i was one of the weirdo’s who loved school. I am glad that Mrs. Hardacre explained herself. Now Michael might appreciate the hard teachers in the future.

@Sreejay

I am having the same feeling right now. Children have that special way of making your day when you least expect it.

Susan Newman: 19th? Having lived during most of the 20th, I didn’t see much honoring in that hundred either.

Heck! I’da been first with a comment but I was having an argument with myself. An argument that I lost by the way.Love this strip, even the second time around.

As a senior citizen and retired teacher, I well know the importance of letting students know that the easy way is not always the best way. I had a 7th grade World History teacher — Miss Thornell — whose methods were demanding but also presented in a way that made me eager to learn. Many years later I was privileged to tell her how much she had meant to me then and even more now as I love history — though I was a “B” student in her class. This meant a lot to her, and it was she who was touched . Things learned as teenagers come back to enrich our lives later. I’m happy I have been able to express my appreciation to my teachers while they are still alive to know that their work wa fertile seed.

Sweet! :-)

Just sweet!

My favorite teachers were the ones who were the hard ones. They were good teachers, and they were fair. Took a lot of guff from kids making fun of them, I’m sure the teachers knew they were, but those are the teachers I will always remember!

Sweet! “Sumer” will be even better now!!!!! :-)

I was blessed with mostly good teachers who expected me to try to do my best. I remember them very fondly.

That is soooooo cute and funny

AWWW, HOW NICE WITH MISS HIS TEACHER LAST DAY OF SCHOOL :/ MIKE ’LL BE NICE WITH TEACHER ;D

My son had a teacher who gave him a low grade for a semester. Next semester, when he did start working hard, and got papers that had A’s, she tried to flunk him again..because she said that even if he’d started to work hard, and got good grades, she didn’t want him to think that the grade came easy! I reported her to the school council and they made her apologise to him, and give him the grade he earned.

This is how I feel at the end of every year it seems… especially 4th and 5th grades

I still remember the teachers that were hard on me, forced me to do my best just to surive in their classes. And its been 30 years now. Thank you Mrs. Hackman.