There’s something about this time of year – the end of the school year – that brings back so many memories. Right now I’m thinking of my teacher friends and how they are packing up their classrooms. I think back on all my kiddos that I have taught over the years and remember how far they had come and how proud I was of them! As a teacher I always really enjoyed reflecting on the year with my students and secretly sort of wished we weren’t quite done yet. But, that wasn’t always the case for me.
When I think back on my end of year days during my elementary school years as a child I was…happy! Happy that the school year was over with! No more homework, no more failing grades, no more tutoring, no more feeling so behind, no more feeling like I was at the bottom of the barrel of kids in my class…just no more! In case my past sentiments are not clear – I HATED school! Well, I didn’t hate all of school – I had a ton of friends and there were some subjects I really liked such as art, music, and P.E. What I hated was the feeling of treading water in my educational ocean trying to keep my head above the pounding waves. I was nearly drowning…another words nearly failing, but hanging on by the skin of my teeth. So, on I went to the next grade and the cycle would begin again.
I had some great teachers and then some really horrible teachers who even after I practically begged them to re-explain something refused to help me. My parents spent hours doing homework with me, I went to tutoring several days a week, but it didn’t help much.
Now, another fun fact: I am a June baby – another words I was always the youngest in the class (it’s June 5th by the way, in case you feel like sending me a birthday shout out ;). Emotionally I was not immature, but it seemed I just wasn’t quite ready when it came to learning. It wasn’t until right after sixth grade, as I barely met the requirements to enter the seventh grade that I had had enough!
I could write a novel about my education experience especially since my schooling took place abroad and I started my schooling in the German system before switching to a British International school – but that would be a different post entirely. But when my teachers told my parents that they felt I wasn’t “college material” I had a sassy mental finger waggling “Oh no you didn’t” moment and decided that barely passing wasn’t for me.
Two weeks into seventh grade I was able to switch schools and decided that I wanted to repeat the sixth grade. After all, nobody knew me, so what was the difference, right? Sure, I felt a little awkward at first, especially since I went from being the youngest to being one of the oldest in my grade. Did I get a few questions from my fellow classmates? Yes, but it wasn’t an issue and I came to find out that I wasn’t the only one. After about a week I was just another sixth grader. It was a LIFE changing decision for me. I suddenly started “getting it”! I was processing the information and able to really learn and absorb it. Before I was a D student and all of a sudden I was an A student!
I don’t think there are enough words to describe what that did to my self-esteem and confidence. I didn’t care that I had to repeat a grade because I was finally successful. Do you know what that does to a person? It changes the way you look at your life and what you envision doing with it. I went from hating school to loving it and developing a passion for learning. Before I felt like I was at the bottom of the barrel, struggling to get by and I was embarrassed because I felt like all the other kids knew. Suddenly I was at the top of my game. I was no longer treading water but swimming full force. I graduated from High School with enough credits to enter college as a sophomore and graduated from my university with honors. Who knew that holding myself back a year would actually propel me forward? It has played a HUGE role as to why I am so passionate about education and learning, and hence went into teaching.
So, why am I sharing this über personal story with all of you? Well, like I said the end of the school year brings back many memories, it’s the completion of one grade and for most it’s on to the next – but maybe you know of someone that is not moving on, or someone who is on the cusp like I was for so long. I just wanted to share my story and how my decision to repeat a grade affected me. Every child is different and parents – you know your kids best. Repeating a grade wasn’t the end of the world for me, in fact it opened up a brand new one 🙂
