As I approached the 6th grade, I had the same rotten attitude as I did in the past five years. I hated going to school. I would have much rather stayed home and shot my BB gun! I grew up on a farm and had tons of space to just be out doing things like building huts, shooting my gun, and riding a four-wheeler. some days my mum would actually have to take me right up to the doors as I kicked and screamed. I am quite embarrassed about how I acted, but that's really what I felt like. I just didn't do well in school, and I felt dumb around the other kids a lot of the time. Spelling and English were, and still are, by far my worse subjects. I would always do terrible on my tests and because we graded each others tests, people would see what I got. I got teased a bit and that kinda sucked. I cant say my dislike for school was just because of that, but it played a role.
In the sixth grade my teacher was Mrs Shaw. I remember her being the nicest lady ever, but when I heard her say, "get out a piece of paper. We are going to have a spelling test first thing." I quickly remembered the past and got a bad taste in my mouth, if you will. I was stressing through the whole test and knew that I wasn't going to do very well. I was waiting for her to say "pass them to the person on your left to grade them." but she never did. She came around and picked each one of them up personally. She then stated that this was just for here to see where everyone was in the class so she would know how to teach. I quickly felt a relief come over me. Mrs. Shaw was so good to all of us in the class and worked extra hard to make sure everyone was learning. What I liked about it is that she kept it confidential. No one picked on anyone else because we only knew how WE were doing and no one else. As she taught us I found myself liking school and enjoying going. I mean I didn't love it but I liked it.
Mrs. Shaw gave me a better understanding of what school was all about and helped me prepare for my future classes in middle and high school. I remember getting several hundred percents on my tests that year. It was a great sense of accomplishment. I am grateful for this teacher who took the time and helped me gain a positive attitude about what school was and is. It turned my life around for sure.
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It's interesting how something like having other students grade papers can have such an impact on the attitude and interest of some individuals. I wonder if teachers and instructors even realize things like this are influential in the learning, or in some instances the lack of learning, in their classrooms. Good reminder.
ReplyDeleteI remember when we had other kids grade our tests, I hated it. It was the worst thing ever. That is cool you had a teacher who was able to help you out and make you want to learn, and that you took advantage of that opportunity.
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