One day, in Kindergarten, the teacher said it was play time. All the other kids ran off to various spots around the room. I was the last one still standing by the tables we had been sitting at. I looked around at the various play stations. There were already kids playing with the blocks, and then toy kitchen, and the puzzles. Everywhere seemed full. But then past everything else was the bookcase. So I walked over and took out a book and started reading. I think it was that story about a guy and a construction truck of some kind digging a hole.
A minute later, the teacher comes over and says, "It's not reading time, it's playing time."
I say, "Reading is playing."
She says, "Anyway, Kindergarteners can't read."
So I looked down at the page and read a sentence aloud, and then looked back up at her.
She guffawed at me, and then walked away, at least leaving me to read in peace.
After a few minutes, another kid came over and asked me to read to her. I started back at the beginning of the book. I did different voices for the characters. Soon, half the class was gathered around, and I was turning the book so everyone could see the pictures after I read each sentence.
Then the teacher comes over again, her hands balled into fists, looming over us with a glare. She says again, "It's not reading time, it's playing time." All the other kids scatter back to their previous stations. Then I look at the teacher like "seriously?" and she says "go play", so I put the book back on the shelf and flop over to the area where kids are playing with those little wooden puzzles where you just have to fill in the frame with like 12 pieces. Someone puts a piece in the wrong place, so I move it to the right place. He starts arguing with me about where it goes, and I try to explain how you have to look at the picture to see how the shapes match up, but he won't listen, so I give up and go back to reading. The least I can say for that teacher is that she didn't try to stop me from reading again after that. But what damage did she do to the other kids?
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
unfairly punished for not being early enough
We moved to VA when I was in the middle of 4th grade. We moved into our new apartment on 1-14-97. I don't specifically remember, but it was probably the next day when my mom took me to the nearest school to register. It was about 10am.
Some administrator led us through the gigantic school to my new classroom, and the teacher, who I think was maybe named Shears? I don't remember., came to the door and talked nicely to us, but then she said that the class was half white half black and I was throwing off the balance, and they arranged the desks in 6 groups of 4, and now there would have to be one group of 5, and I felt like she was blaming me for showing up and changing things. But it could have just been jokes. She told my mom "we start at 8:30" and I don't remember if I said anything, but I was thinking that we already knew that because the admin from the office already told us.
My mom brought me the next day at 8:25. I saw a "journal assignment" on the board and took out some paper to start doing it, but before I'd written anything, the teacher said, "Chelsea, you'll have to stay in at recess to do the journal assignment since you were late."
I said like, what, i'm not late, it's not even 8:30 yet. I had thought I was getting an early start on an assignment.
She said like, no, we start at 8:15. And when I told her that she even said 8:30 yesterday, she just kept saying "we start at 8:15".
I told my mom about it and she brought me to school again the next day and talked to the teacher about it. She kept saying "all my kids get here at 8:15, so we start at 8:15". My mom and I both pointed out that I wasn't there, so no, all her kids did not get there at 8:15, but she just kept repeating that same sentence. So then my mom said "OK!" in her "you're a stupid piece of shit but I give up" voice, and she told me that she would just bring me at 8:15 from then on.
Some administrator led us through the gigantic school to my new classroom, and the teacher, who I think was maybe named Shears? I don't remember., came to the door and talked nicely to us, but then she said that the class was half white half black and I was throwing off the balance, and they arranged the desks in 6 groups of 4, and now there would have to be one group of 5, and I felt like she was blaming me for showing up and changing things. But it could have just been jokes. She told my mom "we start at 8:30" and I don't remember if I said anything, but I was thinking that we already knew that because the admin from the office already told us.
My mom brought me the next day at 8:25. I saw a "journal assignment" on the board and took out some paper to start doing it, but before I'd written anything, the teacher said, "Chelsea, you'll have to stay in at recess to do the journal assignment since you were late."
I said like, what, i'm not late, it's not even 8:30 yet. I had thought I was getting an early start on an assignment.
She said like, no, we start at 8:15. And when I told her that she even said 8:30 yesterday, she just kept saying "we start at 8:15".
I told my mom about it and she brought me to school again the next day and talked to the teacher about it. She kept saying "all my kids get here at 8:15, so we start at 8:15". My mom and I both pointed out that I wasn't there, so no, all her kids did not get there at 8:15, but she just kept repeating that same sentence. So then my mom said "OK!" in her "you're a stupid piece of shit but I give up" voice, and she told me that she would just bring me at 8:15 from then on.
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