I enjoyed your profile of school nurse Zully Brons-Bailey.

Healthy and positive relationships among students and between teachers is an essential component of improved academic performance. When students feel positive and optimistic about themselves and how they relate to others, better academic performance follows.

Educators and our unions must be at the forefront of struggles for democracy and social justice. We are therefore disappointed that the proposal to discuss a resolution for a democratic process to choose our union’s 2020 presidential endorsement was voted down at the December Delegate Assembly.

I cheered when I read “Avoiding flying dictionaries” [New Teacher Diaries, Dec. 12]. How encouraging to learn there is such a wise and sensitive English as a new language teacher in New York City! The strategies the teacher employs to increase students’ understanding of words will go far in increasing their overall success in school and in life. ENL teachers, and all teachers of English, also should inspire their students by reading aloud poetry and excerpts from fictional works that are appropriate for their students’ age and capabilities.

Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy [“Two different worlds,” Dec. 12] says, “people look at the same things differently” because “tastes vary.” He then offers a few examples from the arts to illustrate the trivial point. Why, then, did he write this article?

The effect we have on the students in front of us is often unknown. We can make a difference and consequently change the world. The novice and the veteran teacher need to hear this. Although our role in the culture is often belittled, our influence in the classroom should never be underestimated.

The union has already criticized the validity of a single test for admission to gifted-and-talented programs and specialized high schools. I ask that our union take bold anti-racist leadership in favor of equitable enrichment programs for all students and for school integration.

I would like to inform those who are considering retirement to prepare for this possibility. The loss of my DOE email address was not mentioned during retirement consultations, and I did not find this information elsewhere. I learned from experience.

My compliments to Christina Gavin, the Herbert H. Lehman HS Campus librarian featured in the Sept. 5 “What I Do” column.

In 2018, 10 percent of public-school teachers were threatened with injury by a student and 6 percent nationwide were physically attacked by a student.