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"I found my first dinosaur bone at the age of eight during a fossil-hunting trip with my father...Kindergarten through eighth grade was extremely difficult for me because my progress in reading, writing, and mathematics was excruciatingly slow. I would never stand to read out loud in class, even if the teachers threatened to give me failing grades...Eventually, I managed to graduate high school, but just barely, having received Ds in all required classes, including English, in which my grade was a D minus, minus, minus. The teacher told me that this was essentially an F, but that he never wanted to see me again. That was indeed the last time I saw him, but I did send him a copy of my first book!

There was, however, one area of school besides P.E. in which I excelled: science projects."

"So some teachers got a page that showed that no student selected them?" I asked. "Yes," the storyteller informed me. "We thought every teacher needed to know how they were perceived by the students. We simply gave them the information." At this point each professional staff member was asked to select one student from the list who had indicated no relationship with a teacher. Care was taken to make sure each student was selected by someone. Throughout the year teachers were asked to reach out in special ways to this student. Their efforts included:1. Send three "I noticed…." statements a week.2. Give one eye-hug a day (sustained eye contact ending with a smile).3. Give two physical touches a week (high-five, pat on the back, shoulder squeeze, handshake).4. Use the person's name every day.5. Be in their proximity three times a week (other than in the classroom).6. Ask them for help once a week7. Ask their opinion about something once a week.