I was not the Teacher’s Pet

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Tell us about a teacher who had a real impact on your life,
either for the better or the worse. How is your life different
today because of him or her?

My 2nd grade teacher was stressed out. Apparently, it bothered her that I couldn’t get my work done. The problem was that I went to a different class for reading than most of my classmates. The teacher would assign a math worksheet right before reading class. There was not time for me to finish the work. The other kid that went to reading class with me could get it finished because he excelled at math. However, I did not excel at math so I felt overwhelmed by the assignment and could not finish it in five minutes.
Sometimes she would put a big wooden box on my desk because she thought it would help me focus. I was not a chatty student. I was the quietest kid on the face of the planet.
She kept me inside for recess because she thought it would teach me to get the math done. I think she thought I was like most kids and would miss recess. She was wrong. It wasn’t a punishment. Staying inside was a reward.
She told me she was disappointed in me one time. Even though I was eight years old, I thought she was crazy and maybe a little bit stupid.
The lasting effect was that I have always lacked confidence in my math skills. I had several math tutors over the years. God bless those math tutors! They did their best.

P.S. My parents told me years later that her husband was cheating on her, while she was pregnant. So nobody really won that year. It’s not a good excuse for treating a student like but it puts it in perspective. </p

Photo: http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/My%2BFox_dd1ff1_5002106.jpg