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Seventh grade turned-out better for me, except for math class. All
other classes had a mix favoring test results over pages of
handwritten homework. Math class was with a teacher who came to
loath me over time.
For 'Math', it was much like the first quarter of sixth grade math
where every homework question in the book must be done before the
test could be taken. The only differences to sixth grade was that
there was no let up on that requirement over time and this teacher
wanted to teach the class while having it self study. In
order to teach the class, she would have a lecture overview about
once every two weeks for the chapter she expected us to be on, for
the first week that worked out fine as we all started on the first
chapter. For the second chapter a couple kids had already started it
by the time she gave her lecture. For the rest of the days it was
self study and she would go around the classroom giving personalized
help to those having problems with the concepts...
And then there was me,
plugging along without need of help with the concepts, just the
endurance to first copy all of the homework problems out of the
chapter, then work through them on paper step by step, not because I
needed to, but because she wanted to see it. I had tried to just
copy each problem then put down the steps I needed to do on paper
before I got the answer, this meant I was doing most of the steps in
my head. Wrong! Once marked wrong due to the
lack of steps for her to see, not because the answer was wrong, this
meant recopying the questions. Recopying just the questions marked
wrong and doing each step in detail for the answer was wrong
as well since she wanted all the questions to be on the same sheet of
paper. So it was recopying everything, including the questions I had
previously gotten deemed to be 'right' onto a fresh piece of paper,
showing all of the steps so she could feel good that I understood
them, then ending with the answer.
She would ask me what I found confusing about the concepts as I was
taking so long on the pages of homework problems. I told her:
“Nothing.” She told me she knew I wasn't telling the truth
otherwise I wouldn't be taking so long on the problems. I assured
her I was telling the truth. When I tried to explain to her my
problem writing by hand, it was labeled 'whining'. Normally I would
try to save the majority of my handwritten work for home where I
could frequently flex my hand to help relieve the pain or use my two
hand method. But she demanded I spend every spare second in math
class on the homework, so I would have to flex and stretch my hand in
class. At first I would hold my hand under the table for this so the
other students wouldn't see, but then I was accused by the teacher of
being 'up to something' with my hand out of view. So I ended-up
having my hand visibly in view as I would flex it between working on
problems, that was noted as a 'delaying tactic'. So I would do the
problems without any break to rest & steady my hand and the
quality of my writing deteriorated from the resulting tremors. This
was found to be 'too messy' and I was to do the whole pages again
from the start. Finally, I abandoned any pride I had and did the
trick I had figured out in fifth grade of using the fingers of my
other hand to steady the trembling finger tips of my writing hand in
view of the students. I was ordered to 'stop putting on a show'.
Frustrated, I asked what I was supposed to do then? In return I was
given weekly detention pretty much for the rest of the year from her.
Given that I lived so far away, detention could only be once a week
when the late bus was available to take me home. Unlike sixth grade
detention where we were to sit for an hour at a desk and stare at the
front, seventh grade detention was like a directed study hall
where you were to do classwork while a monitor walked up and down the
rows of desks to make sure you were, in fact, working. I suspect the
math teacher thought I was so behind in my math work because I wasn't
spending time at home on it and thus these detention days would
ensure I did spend after class time on it, but all it did was change
the place of where I did the math work, not the total amount of time
I spent on it. I had four other core classes with homework needs as
well and I wasn't about to sacrifice any of them just to bring my 'D'
grade in 'Math' class to a 'D+'.
During the first quarter, she had delayed when she would do the class
lecture on the next chapters as she waited for me to catch-up. For
the rest of the school year, she gave up on that and gave the class
lecture for the rest of the class despite what chapter I was on.
This again was a problem for her as I would be spending the time of
her lecture working on the previous chapters' work. Thus I was
ordered to 'look at her' while she lectured and effectively it became
wasted time. After a couple times of this, I realized she couldn't
assign me any additional detention than she already was, so I just
went back to doing the math problems of the previous chapters and she
decided to no longer tell me otherwise in class because, I guess in
her eyes, my not following her commands anymore in class made her
look weak in front of the other students.
'Social Studies' went without any hitch that I remember.
There was no longer a reading class with seventh grade as we were
expected to keep on reading for pleasure on our own. Needing one
less time period per day meant that it divided nicely at the hour and
there was no period that got stuck with an extra few minutes that we
would have to rotate the classes for.
Homeroom was in the science room, and in 'Science' class this year I
really excelled. I remember early on when the teacher taught us
about the classification of species and gave us a worksheet of
mythological creatures that we were supposed to classify into a
consistent breakdown of Kingdom, Phylum, Class and Order. Being at
the front of the class, I got the sheet first and glanced it over
then marked it up and handed it back to him as he was walking back
once he finished handing it out to the rest of the students. This
surprised him and he explained that it was pretty tricky and we were
going to do it in class with him. But then he looked at my answers
and smiled. Then he seemed to have a moment of fear, perhaps that
the stuttering kid of a dubious racial background had stolen
the answer sheet from his desk. So he went directly to his desk and
found the answer sheet was still there and looked over each and every
answer. I'd gotten them correct and he was very impressed. Any
doubt he may have had about how I figured out the answers was soon
dispelled as I continued to do very well on subsequent class work and
tests. Very little handwritten reports were required, so I didn't
have to make any compromises on which bits I'd do and which bits I'd
have to abandon from the outset.
Seventh grade 'English' class was now another self study class. We
just got a book at the start of the year, worked through the chapters
at our own pace, and only had to do pre-made worksheets for each
chapter as homework. Seeing English as an art form to learn about,
rather than a chore of lecture, note taking, and handwriting
endurance, really made me warm up to it and I have to say it was my
second favorite English class ever. I even forgot to return the
book at the end of the school year, instead keeping it as a
reference book and keepsake.
Yes, I'm a
thief!
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