My Best Teaching Experience

Tyler was only in my senior class for a semester. He had been suspended (使停学) many times in previous years because of his anger issues. When he entered my class, I thought the worst.

Tyler sat in the back row. Every time I talked to the class, I would ask students questions, calling them by name. Unfortunately, every time I called on Tyler, he would respond with a joke. If he got an answer wrong, he would become angry.

About a month into the year, I was still trying to connect with Tyler. I can usually get students involved in class discussions or at least have them sit quietly and attentively (专心地). By contrast, Tyler was often loud and sometimes rude.

He had been in so much trouble over the years. He expected his teachers to know about his past; about how many times he had been sent to the office or suspended from school. I had found that these sorts of referrals (移交) were not very effective and that students would return from the office behaving worse than before.

One day, Tyler was talking over me while I was teaching. I stopped my lesson and said, “Tyler, why don’t you join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?” With that, he got up from his chair, pushed it over and yelled something. I can’t remember what he said other than that he included some impolite words. I sent Tyler straight to the office, and he received a week’s suspension.

To this point, this was one of my worst teaching experiences. Tyler’s anger was almost too much for me. The week Tyler was suspended from school was a wonderful time, and we got a lot accomplished as a class. However, the suspension week would soon come to an end, and I was fearful of his return.

On the day of Tyler’s return, I stood at the door awaiting him.

A spark of surprise flashed across his face.

She was seventeen years old and always wore a bright smile. This may not seem that unusual except that Tina suffered from cerebral palsy, a condition that left her muscles stiff and, for the most part, unmanageable. Because she had trouble speaking, it was this bright smile that reflected her true personality: A great kid. She used a walker most of the time to navigate through the crowded school hallways. A lot of times people didn’t speak to her. Why? Who knows? Maybe it was because she looked different and the rest of the students didn’t know how to approach her. Tina usually broke the ice with people she met in the halls (especially boys) with a big “Hi”.

The assignment was to memorize three stanzas of the poem Don’t Quit. I only made the assignment worth ten points since I figured most of my students wouldn’t do it anyway. When I was in school and a teacher assigned ten-point homework, I would probably have blown it off. So I wasn’t expecting much from today’s teenagers either. Tina was in the class, and I noticed a look on her face that was different from the normal bright smile. The look was one of worry. “Don’t worry, Tina,” I thought to myself, “it’s only ten points.”

The day the assignment came due, I went through my roster and my expectations were met, as one by one each student failed to recite the poem. “Sorry, Mr. Krause,” was the standard reply. “It’s only worth ten points anyway... right?” Finally, in frustration and half kidding, I proclaimed that the next person who didn’t recite the poem perfectly had to drop to the floor and give me ten push-ups. This was a leftover discipline technique from my days as a physical education teacher.

My first year of high school felt awkward. After I left junior high as a straight-A student, it felt strange starting over as a freshman. And to make matters worse, my closest friend went to a different high school. I felt very isolated.

I missed my old teachers so much that I would go back and visit them. They would encourage me to get involved in school activities so that I could meet new people. They told me that in time I would adjust and probably end up loving my new school more than I had loved my old one.

One Sunday afternoon not long after I had started high school. I was sitting at home doing homework. It was a cold and windy fall day, and we had a fire going in our fireplace. My mother kept stoking the fire to keep the house nice and warm. Suddenly. I smelled something strange, and then I noticed smoke pouring in through the seams (接缝处) of the ceiling. The smoke began to fill the room so quickly that we could barely see anything. Feeling about our way to the front door. we managed to get into the front yard. By the time we made our way outside. the whole roof was engulfed (吞没) in flames and it was spreading quickly. I ran to the neighbors to call the fire department.

Five hours later. the fire was finally out. Our house was almost completely burned down. Everything was gone in the smoke. The firemen wouldn’t let us go back into the house that night. It was still too dangerous. We piled into the car with just the clothes on our backs, and made our way to my grandparents’ house to spend the night.

On Monday. I went to school. When the fire broke out. I was wearing pajamas (睡衣), and I had no shoes! I had kicked them off when I was doing my homework. “Why I have to be here!” I cried inside, head hung low.

There are many things in senior middle school that I still remember clearly. I studied three years in a country school, which is faraway. However, it has a good environment and strict but kind teachers, so I loved the school and all my teachers very much.

One Friday, just as we began to read books in reading class at our desks, our teacher, Mrs. Hill, said that she needed to be out of the classroom for a few minutes. She asked the class to read in silence while she was gone. And she said that those who didn’t read books in silence would have to be punished when she returned. It was well-known that Mrs. Hill was strict. So we had to be on our best behaviour.

But that Friday, Mrs. Hill hadn’t been gone for ten seconds before some students in the classroom started to talk. From one corner of the room I heard Josh ask Nick, “Can I trade my candies for your toy?” At the other end of the room I heard Samantha tell Kayla, “Let’s sit together on the bus for the museum field trip tomorrow.” And so it went all around me, until about half of the students communicated with each other.

After a while, I, too, forgot about Mrs. Hill’s instructions. I turned back and asked my friend Liza, “Can I borrow your storybook and keep it for a day?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Mrs. Hill walked into the classroom. The whole class returned to silence immediately. And we were full of fear.

Mrs. Hill slowly looked around the classroom and said, “If you were talking while I was gone, then please stand up.” The guilt (内疚) suddenly weighed heavily on me. “I shouldn’t have talked while she was not in the classroom. And now I should be honest and admit my mistake bravely. This is what my parents have always told me.” I thought. Then, I summoned up (鼓起) my courage to stand up, worried about the punishment that waited for me. Then I looked around.

To my surprise, no one followed me and I was the only one in the classroom standing.

With Mrs. Hill’s encouragement, another student stood up.

“You’re going to miss the school bus,” mum urged. “One more second, mum. Where’s my maths book?” Once again I dreamed myself back to teens, rushing about, hurrying ready for school. This constant dream has been around me for many years.

Deep inside I knew where the dream came from. It was about some unfinished business in my life. As a kid, I loved everything about school. I loved books, teachers, tests and homework. Most of all I longed to someday march down the aisle(通道) to receive my diploma. That seemed more appealing even than getting married.

But at 15, I had to drop out because my parents couldn’t afford tuition(学费). My hope of getting a diploma was dead, or so I thought. Pretty soon, I married and had three children, and I thought: “There goes my diploma.”

Even so, I wanted my children to be educated. But Linda, our youngest child, had juvenile arthritis(幼年型关节炎) in her hands and knees, which made it impossible for her to function in a normal classroom. I felt really sorry for her and I didn’t want her to live her life with regret. I didn’t give up hope of her being back to school in some way.

One day, I saw an ad in the newspaper for evening courses. “That’s the answer,” I said to myself. Linda always feels better in the evening, so I’ll just sign her up for night school.

Linda was busy filling out enrollment(入学) forms when the secretary said: “Mrs. Schantz, why don’t you come back to school?”

I laughed: “There’s no way! I’m 55!” But he persisted, and before I knew what I had done, I was enrolled for classes in English and crafts. “This is only an experiment,” I warned him, but he just smiled. So, I told myself to try for just a semester and to see if it would work. Anyway, my dream was still there in my heart.

It was exciting to go to school again but it was no game.

Linda and I accompanied each other all the way.

It was Emily’s turn to tell her class where she went this summer. She stood up proudly.

“This summer I went to Bradley,” Emily announced. “It has a big market there. My mom bought a painting and I got a second-hand skateboard. What an impressive trip it was!”

“That’s not a trip,” Frank shouted loudly to his partner. “It’s only half an hour from here. My dad and I often go to Bradley to buy tools for his repair workshop.”

“Frank, no interrupting,” said Miss Clare, their teacher. “And Bradley has a fine market. I’m glad that Emily shared her experience with us. Go ahead, Emily,” Miss Clare smiled warmly at her, encouraging her to continue.

But not feeling proud of her family’s trip to Bradley any more, Emily just felt embarrassed and dropped her head, saying in a low voice that it was finished. In the hope of not being noticed, the little girl hurriedly back to her desk with a red face.

She listened as Peter talked about his cruise to Greece and Mary’s trip across the Atlantic to Ireland. She also heard about John’s horseback ride through the Great Canyon. It seemed as if everyone but her had taken a big trip over the summer. “I never get to anywhere,” Emily thought to herself. A sense of loss clouded her the whole day.

After school, things went worse. One of the wheels on Emily’s skateboard came loose. Now she couldn’t even skate. Sitting on the sidewalk, Emily tried to fix her wheel but in vain, during which Miss Clare happened to pass by.

She walked up with a smile, asking, “Why are you sitting here?” Emily lowered her head, tears welling up inside her eyes. “Want to talk about it?” Emily nodded, trying to avoid Miss Clare’ eyes. Bending down, Miss Clare said gently, “You know, Emily, we don’t always have to travel far to learn anything.”

At this moment, Frank was walking by and saw them.

“I can fix it,” Frank said with confidence.