Mrs. King:
Hi Jay- Did you happen to read Tuesday's Science Times section in the NYT this week? It was all about puzzles. I thought about you; you were great at solving them.
Jay:
Oh my G-d. As in, Mrs. King, my sixth-grade teacher? Sorry to say, don't actually get any newspaper; can't afford to bring more stuff into the house, as I hardly get to the mandatory things as it is :)
Mrs. King:
Yup! Your 6th grade teacher...I'm so glad you remembered!
ME:
How could he not remember!!??? He lived on smarties for the entire year.
The Smartie: A packet of smarties was awarded to a classmate for winning a Spelling Bee or Math challenge every week on Friday.
I once beat Jay in a Spelling Bee. He won about 90% of all intelligence-related challenges. Fridays were torturous yet stimulating for me and that jar of Smarties tormented me for an entire year.
Then, during Science one day, a miracle occurred. We were reading an informative table filled with data- my basic nightmare because still now, I never understand graphs, tables and the like- when Mrs. King asked a question. She asked a question, answered it herself and said, "Right everyone!! Do you all agree?" My classmates all nodded their heads, but something did not seem right in what she was saying, I saw a different answer and shook my head. I definitely did not have the courage to contradict my teacher, mine was a spontaneous reaction.
Mrs. King looked at me and said, "Jodi, why did you shake your head?"
*Cold sweat*
She had to insist, until I whispered, "Because the year wasn't 1976, it was 1971."
*Silence*
Mrs. King beamed a smile, walked right over to that Smarties jar and handed me...A SMARTIE!!!!!
She turned to the class and said, "You need to learn to trust your own judgement. There will be people who you respect, who insist in knowing an answer. But everyone can make mistakes. You need to trust yourselves and learn to use your voice."
Your basic life-changing moment.
2 comments:
And that is exactly what I say to parents at every one of my talks. :) The "professionals" don't always have all the right answers, do you own research and make your own decisions. After all, who is going to have to live with them?
You need to be writing a lifestyle column for a newspaper. Each and everyone one of your blog posts is so on target and well-written. Keep 'em coming!!!
Hello dudes, I'm Justin from Italy I'm fond of Languages and Cartoons. I work for a video game translation company. Life's good here!
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