我在明尼苏达州莫里斯的圣玛丽学校教书，他在我教的第一个三年级的班上。全班34个学生每一个都讨我喜欢，但马克·埃克隆却是独一无二的。他外表干干净净，是个乐天派，所以即便是他偶尔的调皮捣蛋，也依然讨人喜欢。

　　Mark often talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day。

　　马克常常说个不停。我不得不一而再、再而三地提醒他，未经允许不能讲话。不过，令我印象深刻的是，每当我不得已指出他的过错的时候，他都非常诚恳地对我说：“谢谢你指出我的问题，修女!”起初，我不知该作何反应，但很快，我便习惯了一天听到这句话好多遍。

　　One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice-teacher's mistake. I looked at him and said, "If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!"

　　一天早上，马克又一次讲个不停，我终于不耐烦了，于是犯了个新老师才会犯的错误。我盯着他说：“再说一个字，我就拿胶带把你的嘴封上!”

　　It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck, another student, blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it。

　　结果不到十秒钟，另一个学生查克就脱口而出：“马克又在讲话了。”我并没有让任何同学帮我盯着马克，不过既然我已经当着全班的面说过他再说话就要罚他，我得说话算话。

　　I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. When I walked back to Mark's desk and removed the tape, his first words were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister."

　　接下来的一幕我至今仍记忆犹新，仿佛就发生在今天早上。我走到讲桌前，不慌不忙拉打开抽屉，拿出一卷胶带，然后一言不发地走到马克桌前，撕下两截胶带，在他嘴上贴了个大大的“X”，然后转身走回教室前面。我瞟了瞟马克看他有什么反应，结果看到他朝我眨了眨眼睛。而当我回到马克桌前给他撕下胶带时，他说的第一句话便是：“谢谢你指出我的问题，修女。”

　　One Friday, I asked the students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the paper。

　　在一个星期五，我让同学们把班上除自己之外其他同学的名字写在两张纸上，名字与名字间留点空隙。然后我让他们想想每位同学最好的地方是什么，并把这也写下来。大家用那堂课剩余的时间完成了这项任务，到下课离开教室的时候他们把各自的两张纸交给了我。