Which of These Three?

As the school year is about to commence, many new teachers will enter their classrooms. You might be nervous. You might be scared of making mistakes. But being a teacher doesn't depend on being perfect. There's another quality that is even more important when it comes to being a success. Can you find it?

Please note, there is nothing wrong with enjoying social life or being organized. Some teachers really do seem to do it all. ;)  

And so it was that at the beginning of a new school year, three teachers pulled into the teacherage yard and begin a new adventure together. Miss Right was there to teach 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th. Miss Social had agreed to teach 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th, and Miss Imperfect nearly bounced up and down in her excitement to meet the 1^st and 2^nd graders.

The first thing all three did, of course, was speed to school and begin unloading their respective cars.
 
Miss Right had possibly a hundred posters explaining the parts of speech, how to place your hands on a keyboard, and the series of steps needed for all types of complicated equations. Her art supplies for the year and science projects were carefully organized and labeled in coordinated boxes. All extra activity pages and History worksheets were filed alphabetically and chronologically, and her students’ desks were placed in rigid rows with a neatly typed handbook containing lists of dos and don’ts and classroom procedures displayed prominently atop each.
 
Miss Social’s boxes and bags were not quite so neatly arranged, but her color schemes were natural and neutral and modern-looking. She possessed cute beanbags and an exquisite job chart. Her incentive plans were on full display, and her bulletin boards were minimalist. Her classroom was set up as quickly as humanly possible, because her cousin had invited her to go out for coffee with a group of youth. It didn’t much matter that the border corners didn’t meet up or that she hadn’t completely studied her lessons. She knew how to divide, right? And she could still find a subject and verb in a sentence. So surely that was good enough. She would not be a slave to the studies.
 
Miss Imperfect was struggling. Her method of organization was something down the lines of “Bless her heart, she tried.”

No matter how she attempted, she couldn’t get the bulletin board she was working on to look right. She finally gave up and sat down at her desk. School hadn’t been easy for her, but someone had told her once that the best teachers were those who had struggled to learn, so she took solace in that thought. She had been shown at teacher prep how to set up her gradebook and lesson plans, but now they lay before her like foreign objects. And so she watched from her window, discouraged, as Miss Right left her perfectly ordered classroom and went home to make a three-course meal. She felt a small despair begin to fill her spirit as Miss Social bounded energetically out the door to jump into a pickup with four other youth. And finally, all alone, overwhelmed, and dismayed, she bowed her head and prayed, “Dear God, I don’t know where to start! Please just show me the first thing to do!”
 
As the first week of school came to an end, the schoolboard chairman and his wife showed up to ask how things had been going.
 
Miss Right was the first to speak. Her class had doubled lessons three days the first week. She’d sent homework home with them because she believed in working them hard. Their first art projects were displayed neatly on the wall. She’d handed out three sets of sentences for students to write and had made 2 of the boys run laps. Nothing was going to get by on her watch! And by the way, would one of the men be available to help on the math unit about measures? She wanted to have her class build a doghouse as they worked with linear systems.
 
Miss Social yawned while she waited to speak. Her class was just buzzing along. They thought the story hour book was hilarious. They’d had a lot of fun playing White Lightening at recess. And art had been wild—three children got paint on their clothes—but everything was going great. She wondered how much they could check in class. It seemed like she spent so much time grading after the dismissal bell rang. She hopped off the counter where she had been idly swinging her legs, and went to fill her Stanley cup with water. She was trying to get in the required amount each day. Plus, she had challenged her students to see who could walk or run a mile each day without missing, so she really needed to go do that before she left for supper plans.
 
Poor Miss Imperfect was trembling. Dean wasn’t catching on to vowels. Kimberly hadn’t understood a single syllable about naming words. And Cody had fallen out of his chair three times in five minutes. The last time he had said he was pretending to fish like an Indian. It never crossed Miss Imperfect’s mind to mention to Mr. Chairman about how she had hugged Kimberly while she cried about her kitten that had been mauled by a dog. She never thought to explain how she’d had a serious talk with Cody about the difference between pretending and truth. And it never crossed her mind to mention the special prayer her class had had that morning for the missionaries after Dean told a story about his uncle in Guatemala. She wished she had everything under control like Miss Right and Miss Social. Every morning, her drive to school was peppered with “Dear God, please give me wisdom,” prayers.
 
Reports of school begin making their way home to the parents.
 
Miss Right’s class complained about all the work they had to do. They grumbled that their teacher never listened to their side of the story. They were pretty sure she didn’t like them. And she never smiled.
 
Miss Social’s students talked about the crazy things that happened in their classroom. Jefferson and Tianna had a prank war going on. And everyone talked when Miss Social went out of the room to send a voice message.
 
Miss Imperfect’s first and second graders talked about the funny pictures she drew to go with their spelling words. They groaned about putting their heads down on their desks. And they colored countless pictures for Miss Imperfect, because they knew each one would be hung proudly—albeit lopsidedly—on the wall behind her desk.
 
At last the school year came to a close. Miss Right had signed her contract for another year after asking for a pay raise. Miss Social had declined to sign, and everyone knew there was a wedding in the future. Miss Imperfect had signed her contract for the next year as well. She had had a rough start with running her classroom, but she’d grown a lot as a teacher after seeking out and acting on advice from trusted sources.
 
Miss Right watched her graduating class walk across the stage with a quiet sense of pride. At least 3 out of the 5 were straight A students. And they better be. She had certainly put enough work into them.
 
Miss Social made sure everyone saw her hugging her children goodbye at the play day. She really did like them a lot. Although James could be a pest.
 
Miss Imperfect watched her class load into the school van on the last day with a smile on her face. “God, help them to grow in a way that pleases You,” she whispered. “I want them to be strong and true.” And then she waved goodbye.
 
Which of these three will you be?

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. (Proverbs 31:29)