Author: Ninmah (Page 6 of 8)

One experience that I remember, was when I was a junior in high school. I was accused of staring at a student with malicious intent, having bad influence on my friends, and being controlling. Due to that accusation, my spot in the National Honor Society was being threatened.

In that moment, I was so annoyed and tired. I knew that student was always going to spread lies about me, but to tell my NHS advisor was a new level of disrespect that I couldn’t allow to go unchecked. My character was being questioned by a teacher that I actually respected and the fact that she believed her favorite student, didn’t help my case at all.

I understand that favoring a student over another happens, but if it’s clouding your judgement, you shouldn’t have “favorites” at all. If you have a close relationship towards a student, you should be able to discern what the truth is, especially if you haven’t even directly talked to the student their accusing, and you shouldn’t be enabling their toxic behavior.

This situation changed my views on the teacher, and I lost my respect for her. As an adult, you should have a neutral stance when dealing with situations that have no concrete evidence on the accusers side.

It was the middle of the first semester of junior year. A cold and windy day. There was no college now classes, so I was excited to leave school earlier than usual. Unfortunately, I had to stay regardless because, I had a meeting with a teacher, who was also my National Honor Society advisor. The reason I had to sit down with this teacher was because my ex-friend told her (her and this teacher had a close relationship) that I was staring at her with malicious intent.

I was sitting in front of her desk, staring out the window, watching kids walk to their bus stops. I really wished I could’ve done the same instead of sitting through a meeting for something that I hadn’t done.

The teacher gave me a chance to explain my side. I told her, “My face naturally has a “cold” demeanor; if she felt that I was staring at her, which I wasn’t, that’s her problem. I’m not going to change my natural expression for someone who clearly doesn’t like me.” But she responded to me as if it was my problem. “As a National Honor Society student, you shouldn’t be getting into altercations; if she is causing you trouble, you need to ignore her.”

This response left me puzzled, because I knew that I just told her that I don’t stare at her, which also means that I ignore her. Did she not listen to anything I just said? She kept talking and talking, and everything that she was saying went through one ear and out the other, until I heard false accusations like: I influenced my friends to do things that they didn’t want to do and I was controlling. This was completely false, and I hated that my character was being questioned. Then again I wasn’t surprised because this teacher was showing clear favoritism towards her student. As a teacher, she had to investigate to see if it was true, but either way, her faith was in her student.

“Do you have anything to say about this?” Her voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts. At the time, I didn’t care for explaining myself, I just wanted to go home, “She’s spreading rumours.”

“Do you want to explain why?” She asks me. I shook my head, “No not today, I really have to get home.”

She nods her head and allows me to leave. I gathered my belongings and left the classroom. Waiting outside was my ex-friend and her group of friends. As I walked by her, I knew she felt like she had achieved something. I couldn’t help but to feel angry.

During the weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. I was annoyed and frustrated. I hated the fact that there was unnecessary drama because of stupid rumors. I wanted to do something about it, I needed to do something about it.

I went on my phone and emailed my teacher,

“Hello. I was thinking about the meeting we had and at the end you asked if I had anything else to say. I said I didn’t, but after discovering things that could potentially risk my spot in the National Honor Society, I want to have another meeting with you. I made a presentation to clear up any misunderstandings. This is my way of ending this situation once and for all. My character is constantly being questioned- I am being portrayed to be something I am not. I would like to have my friends present at this meeting, mainly because they play a huge role in this. If this is ok with you, please let me know.”

She responds to me and tells me that she has no problem with scheduling another day to have a meeting.

After sorting out the details, the day finally arrived. The powerpoint was displayed on the smartboard and it was time to explain my “case”. The presentation included everything from freshman to junior year. It had every screenshot that we could find where she harassed us and lied to us. I also included  consented recordings of other students who she spread those rumors to. It was petty on my part but, it felt pretty good to release everything that I’ve been holding in.

After seeing all the overwhelming amount of evidence, the teacher finally believed me. She hated the fact that her favorite student lied with ease and that she was targeting me due to jealousy and hate. She apologized to me and said that she would talk to her as soon as possible. “I never want another situation like this to happen again.”

I wrote this to show that having favorites when teaching students is unacceptable. When a problem arises, situations like the one I typed about, can happen. The teacher is looking at you with distaste and is assuming your a “bad” person because of a rumor that hasn’t been proven. I wanted to evoke feelings of anger and frustration from you all when typing this because, that is exactly how I felt when it happened to me.

I think I did pretty well on explaining the situation in detail but, I need to work on using descriptive language when writing narratives. I find that I’m repetitive.

Is there anything that you had trouble understanding? Were there any “plot holes”? Is there any way I can make this sound more cohesive?

I believe, in order to form a education narrative, it needs to benefit the readers. If someone were to read that narrative, they should not leave with thoughts like, “Well that did not help me”, but thoughts like, “I think I can apply this in real life.” The readers should not equate the education narrative to an actual educational space, but it should be lax enough. It should be straight to the point, and easy to understand.

In the article, “Maybe I Could Save Myself Writing”, Olivarez stated, “I didn’t want to write poems that moralized the issues of young people. I wanted to write poems that confronted the questions I felt as a teen.” Using experiences from your life can help readers to relate and create connections. It allows them to immerse themselves in that situation and remain interested.  In addition, he says, “I would take my poems and ask young people for their feedback and advice.” Using other people to critique your work is helpful because, you can find out what they prefer reading and the type of style that helps them comprehend it. It can also reveal things you shouldn’t do when writing  or mistakes that you might not know that you make.

If I were to write an education narrative, how would I be able to create an atmosphere that isn’t too formal. I would want to be able to be casual so that readers can feel a sense of familiarity when reading it but, I don’t want it too “inappropriate”.