Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.
My third grade teacher taught this to her students. I’m not sure if she repetitiously implanted this into the minds of all her students through the years, but I certainly remember her drilling this into our little 7 and 8 year old brains. She was insistent that we repeat it until we knew it by heart.
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.
And then she wanted us to act like we knew it. Sista-girl leaned on us, pressed us to produce our best work.
And if we didn’t, she leaned more.
When running down the roster of beloved teachers during class reunions, she’s up there at the top. She’s also on that list of folks who “don’t play.” Then and now. That means you’re not slipping anything past her, getting over on her, getting away with anything. Her tone was (still is) loving, but firm. But if you found her wrath via disobedience or laziness, it was as if the world were ending. Five minutes later, you’d vow never to revisit that backside apocalypse again.
“If you miss more than three on any homework assignment or test, you’re going to get it.”
It was our first week of school. Yes, she said that to us. My almond-shaped eyes went round for 2 seconds after that pronouncement. If I were outdoors, I probably would have caught a fly in my mouth. And she let our parents know.
Yes, teachers could still paddle their students back then, and we did our darnedest to make sure that tape-wrapped walloper didn’t find our little asses. So we tried. Hard. To get it right. That type of discipline may seem harsh by today’s standards, but it was what it was back then. Careful, deliberate, meticulous work was the key to a comfy heinie.
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.
If I was the unlucky recipient of said swats more than one time, I really don’t recall. Maybe that’s one of those painful memories folks exhume with therapy, but I don’t think it was more than a couple of times, if even that many.
However, years later, this saying is still stashed in my mental mantra chest.
Good..okay… that’s fine, but get better. Do your best. Keep pushing until your good becomes better and your better becomes your best.
And I still see things that way. One thing I appreciate about this instructor: I don’t recall her sparking competition between her students, but she did push us toward excellence. Even if some of us had to push through learning curves. The goal was still the same:
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.
This is my Day 21 post for the 30 Day Writing Challenge in the Speak Write Now Community