When I was in 6th grade, I had the same teacher for 6th grade my brother had had the previous year. From the beginning, we knew a little about the teacher, but I didn't let that determine my own personal opinion of her.
I liked her. I kind of had to. I had her all day long. While all my friends switched classes off and on throughout the day, I had the same teacher ALL DAY. What else was I supposed to do but like her?
That doesn't mean she was the best teacher, though. I was a little afraid of her, truth be told. If this teacher did now what she did back in the early 1980s, she'd have been fired so fast, it would have made her head spin. And she would have deserved it, too.
She was not a nice person when she was grumpy. When she was in a good mood--she was THE BEST. When she was in a bad mood--she was THE WORST. When she was good, she was great. When she was bad, she was a demon in disguise.
I can't tell you one single thing I learned from my 6th grade teacher as far as math, science, social studies, English, etc. goes. What I can tell you that I learned for that particular teacher is how NOT to treat students with ADD/ADHD or other learning problems.
There was this boy in my class who just could NOT sit still. He was constantly drumming his fingers on his legs or on the desk or talking or just plain moving around. He would randomly stand up for no apparent reason than just to stand up. He was my friend. We weren't really close, but I liked him and I talked to him whenever I sat near him and we got along quite well.
His antsy-pantsy movements drove my 6th grade teacher CRAZY, though. She made him sit in the far right front of the room, directly in front of her desk. It didn't make a difference. He still wiggled and squirmed and turned around in his seat. She'd make him stand up for the whole length of the class. Whenever she'd turn her back, he'd make funny faces at us.
Yes, I laughed. Of course I did. I liked him. He was definitely more entertaining than my teacher was.
When she couldn't take it anymore, she'd put her hands on him. She'd grab his legs and turn him forcefully around in his seat so he would be facing the front with his body. As soon as she'd step away, he'd immediately--it seemed to me to be a knee-jerk reaction--turn his body sideways. She's step back over to him and turn him again. He'd turn sideways--again--as soon as she stepped away. This cycle would go on a few times before she finally swung her arm back as far as it could go and whacked him on the leg--several times.
As a 12-year old 6th grader, I didn't know that what she was doing was "wrong," but I did know that what she was doing made me very uncomfortable. I always wanted to get up and go over and hug that boy after she'd hit him. I even thought about intervening in some way.
I never did. I was too afraid she'd turn her anger on me. And I sure didn't want to be hit by her.
So what did I learn from my 6th grade teacher??? That students who wiggle and squirm and just can't sit still are people with feelings and that just because someone can't sit still, that doesn't mean that person isn't listening. Some people just have the sqirmies and that's that.
I have always had trouble sitting still in class, but I found that I could "control" that by taking notes. If the teacher stopped talking for too long or I finished a written assignment early, then I'd be in trouble. I'd turn around in my seat and start talking to anyone who would listen. It doesn't mean I wasn't a good student or that I wasn't learning anything. It just means that when I was bored, I would find something to do and that something to do was quite often talking.
I also learned from my 6th grade teacher that a teacher should NEVER touch a student in anger--hitting or otherwise. If a teacher is going to touch a student, it should be as a gesture of tenderness, compassion, understanding--even love.
The best teachers don't let the "rule" of not touching students keep them from putting a hand on a student's shoulder or hand or even hugging a student when a student needs it. Sometimes it's the best way to get a student's attention.
But hitting a student just because he can't sit still?!
Thank you, Mrs. 6th Grade Teacher, for teaching me that Teachers need to show LOVE to students rather than anger and frustration. You taught me well.....
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou
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