You mean I have to remember what I read?

My fifth grade teacher (who is now a retired elementary school principal) once told my parents that I was an exasperating child. I was the first child she had ever had to discourage from reading. I was not even allowed to bring a free reading book into class unless it was free reading time and I wasn't allowed to have my Lit book unless it was Lit time or my History book unless it was history time. Looking back as a teacher myself, I can't imagine how frustrating and frankly annoying I must have been to my teachers. Mostly, once I learned something in class and mastered it to my own satisfaction I was no longer concerned about whether or not anyone else knew I had mastered the concept/ability.

My Mom's therapist (yes I drove my parents insane too) asked her why anyone would choose to create such an inwardly directed child like me as our lives tend to be very difficult. When my mother told me that I decided her therapist was a mean old quack. Now I teach kids and I see the problem.

Back then, I learned what I wanted to, when I wanted to, to the level I wanted to and then I read the rest of the time. Books were my best friends. If I started a book I had to finish it, even if I didn't care for it. I consumed them, none of this chapter a night stuff for me, no sir! My parents couldn't even send me to my room as punishment, I would just go and read. So at 10 I had time outs where I had to sit in a chair with (OMG!) No Book!

Now my students are like that. They learn what they want to learn, when they want to learn it to the level they figure they need it and then they tune me out. They just don't happen to be interested in reading afterwards.

The point of all this is

1) There is a teacher's curse version of The Parent's curse, "Someday I hope you teach students just like you!"

2) We just spent 30 minutes doing a reading lesson (9th grade English) and I asked a student (who was sitting at his seat drawing as he had completed reading) what he had just read and he gave me the most exasperated sigh and said,

"You mean I have to remember what I read? You only said I had to read the story, not remember!"

Mrs. Blackshear, please accept my most humble apology for my behavior in 5th grade.