1 1973, and I got a job! It was in a place called Plymouth, New Hampshire. I was going to be
a high school English teacher! Someone told me one of the reasons I was hired is that I brought
a different background to the classroom. I didn’t go to local schools; I hadn’t
been graduated from the local college; I had traveled the world; I had a wide
range of experiences that I could draw on to help expand students' horizons.
On one of my first teachers’ in-service
days, class schedules were handed out. A couple of the old-timers (long-time
veterans of the classroom) were standing in the office and asked if they could see my class lists - which
students I had. As they looked down the lists of students, they frequently offered
advice such as, “This kid is trouble,” or “You’ll love him/her; what a nice
family,” and the like. Of course, I would decide for myself as I got to know
the students, but I thanked them. As it turns out, several of the proclaimed ‘trouble-makers’ are still my friends today.
***
During my early years, I arranged to bring a Scholastic Book Fair to the school. Throughout the day, different classes would be taken to the book fair, browse the books, and buy whatever looked interesting.
The day after the book fair, a student sauntered into my classroom and tossed a Garfield cartoon book on my desk. He said, "I thought you might like this." I thanked him and said I had already read it. He said, "No, you don't understand. I stole the book from the book fair, but when I heard you were behind it, I thought I should return it."
That moment stunned me and has stayed with me to this day! That moment told me I was doing something right (and that some of the troublemakers maybe weren't).
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