In the library, I found my way into the “Children's Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

       There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked identical（相同的） to my dog. I ran my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. Unknowingly, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together.

       My mother's call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.

       I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般地) experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words has held.

    When I was in my fourth year of teaching, I was also (and am still) a high school track and field coach(田径教练). One year, I had a student, John, who entered my class when he was a junior. John changed to our school from Greece, and seemed to be interested in sports, so I encouraged him to join our track team. I explained to him that even though he had never taken part in it before, I did believe that he could do well in any event, and I would be willing to coach him at whichever ones interested him. He accepted the offer, and began to work hard at every practice.

    About a month later, I had found out from other sources that John was a first-class tennis player, winning various junior awards in his home country. I went to him asking, "John, I really appreciate that you came out for the track team, but why didn't you play tennis instead? It seems that would interest you a lot more, since you're so good at it." John answered, "Well, I like tennis, but you told me that you believed in me, and that you thought I could do well in track, so I wanted to try it for that reason."

    From then on, I often remember my student's reply. I told it to a friend and she suggested I write it down to share somewhere with more teachers. No matter how critical (不满的) students can be of them-selves, I've found that a simple "I trust that you can do it!" can go a long way!

    Having friends may well keep you healthier and help you deal with stress better. Some studies show that people with close friends have a greater ability to fight disease than people who are alone.

    Place friendship in the first place. Find the time to be with friends even if it means letting the lawn go unmoved or the dishes unwashed for a while. When you can't get together, use the phone to keep in touch.

    Open up to close friends. Keeping a deep friendship requires a level of “heartfelt” intimacy (亲密). Don't be afraid to express your inner fears and disappointments. Listen to your friends when they have problems, but offer advice only when it's wanted. Help raise friends' self-esteem when they are sad about a job loss, or other such events.

    Have different friends for different activities, such as going to the movies, singing in a choir, and joining in a bowling league.

    Don't wait for a friend to ask for helps. When a friend has the flu, offer to go to the store or drive his or her children to their after-school activities.

    Never take a friendship for granted. Like a good marriage, friendship needs care and patience. Become a joiner. Find a group that matches your interests.

    Talk to strangers. Conversations started in museums, laundry rooms, or bookstores can lead to firm friendship.

    Enroll in an adult-education course. A classroom is an ideal place to meet others with similar interests.

    It is widely acknowledged that it is by no means an easy task to bring up a child well. And our ancestors already understood it well. As an old proverb says, “It takes an entire village to raise a child.” That is being quoted more and more often these days. And I'm pleased about that.

    Parents need to be involved in their children's education in many ways. Helping children with homework and studying, going on a field trip, teaching a craft or coaching a child's sports team are all great ways to be involved with your child's education. And don't forget to communicate with teachers—they need and respect your input. Studies show that children learn more and schools function better when parents and schools work together.

    Communities can help children create and achieve new goals. There are other ways such as helping with homework. reading to a child, coaching a children's team, providing emotional support, helping solve problems and building self-esteem（自尊）. Kids need role models and advisers can be role models by sharing their experiences and wisdom.

    Businesses can also help shape our children's future—invite a class from your local school to visit your workplace. You may be providing a glimpse that opens a new world of possibilities. Show students what goes on during a typical day. Give a mini course for students: how products are made; how machinery works. You may have a developing electrician, a teacher, a nurse, or even a newspaper reporter on your hands.

    It really does lake an entire village to raise a child. So share the responsibility－and the joy—of bringing a child to his or her full potential.

    Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's. In the same way, children learn to do all the other things without being taught to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle…They compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes and correct them for himself. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake. If it is a matter in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time in such routine(日常的) work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can't find the way to get the right answer. Let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what he does not know.

    Many of us just laugh it away when they are told incredible (难以置信的) stories about other people, but I have a deep interest in these stories and I prefer to believe they are true. Here's one I collected from a total stranger.

    "Well, I was 11 when my family arrived at Fern Lake overlooking Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was so beautiful to look miles across the Rockies and thousands of feet below into the valley. My parents were busy getting lunch out of the trunk so I climbed over the wooden fence to get closer to the cliff edge in the hope that I wouldn't miss any beautiful sight down there.

    I started down a little hill but soon started sliding on loose pebble rocks(鹅卵石). I fell on my back, but kept going faster and faster to what seemed the edge of the world (a 2,000 foot drop). In seconds I knew I was going to die. My feet and legs went first over the edge at a high speed. Then suddenly I felt two hands push hard on my chest and stopped me dead. My heart was racing and I slowly inched my body back to where I finally could make it back up the hill.

    My father was waiting there and screaming at me for doing such a dangerous stunt (特技). I tried to tell him and my mom about the hands that held me back, but to this day they don't believe me. They thought I was just trying to get out of trouble with a made-up story.”

    We parted ways, but I assured her that I believed every word of her story. I could see a little surprise and happiness on her face.

    That's why I always ask people to share their miracles (奇迹). Each real story makes my days full of hope and gratefulness.