One Way to Make "A's" in English
(There are certain advantages to sitting on the front row)
Screen 1 of 3In the fall of 1924 I was enrolled in a freshman English class taught at Bowling Green High School by Miss Elizabeth Thomas--a very intelligent and well-intentioned woman but entirely too nervous and impatient to teach English to high school freshmen. She knew all about correct grammatical construction, as well as clarity and coherence in speech and writing; and it was obvious she was well read. She was not able, however, to interest her teenage students in such things, nor to help them improve their skills in the use of English.
But as our assigned teacher she had to put up with us, a task no less pleasant, I'm sure, than our having to put up with her. Such misfits between teachers and students seem to occur all too frequently, even though they certainly must not be planned that way.
Apparently, Miss Thomas was aware of her inability to teach effectively, and the resulting frustration, anger, and confusion she displayed so often just made the situation worse. She must have had "lesson plans" and specific objectives for her classes, but they were never evident to my classmates or me. Rather than initiating, guiding and leading classroom activities, she spent the majority of her time in reacting to things the students said or did. Most of the days in that class were unhappy ones--even chaotic at times--for us all, both students and teacher.
I remember her customary classroom behavior quite well, despite the more than fifty years since I was a high school freshman. Nearly every day she would carry in her folded arms several books and a class roll book, as she walked about the room during the entire class period. I could never understand why she did this, because she rarely ever opened any of the books--one of them the English textbook--while carrying on the lesson. But Miss Thomas kept the roll book open all the time. It rested on top of the pack; and with all our names listed in alphabetical order, it apparently provided a security she needed. Most of the time, she was writing in it, recording her evaluations of our recitations and behavior.
When someone in the class would misbehave--such as throwing an eraser or piece of chalk across the room--she would invariably respond by saying in a loud voice, ''I'II give you a zero for that:" Then while holding all the books on her left arm and still walking-- sometimes almost trotting--she would enter a small zero (0) by the person's name in the open roll book.
I must admit that occasionally some of the zeros were entered by my name--justly or unjustly, but I was not alone. Many others in the class received similar attention. For example, Tommy Stevens and James Weldy were not overlooked.
"Tommy Stevens!" Miss Thomas yelled one day, "I'm giving you a zero for throwing that eraser. I saw you do it"
And at another time she frantically told James Weldy, "I'll give you a zero for today if you get out of your seat and go to that window just one more time during this period." Of course, that threat was no more than a challenging invitation for James to go to the window. And he did forthwith. Whereupon, she gave him the promised zero.
I remember also that several girls in the class were singled out and punished for various kinds of misconduct--nothing serious but obviously aggravating to Miss Thomas. The names of Grace Richeson, Marie Coley and Lorraine Hayes come quickly to my mind. But others were sometimes involved: Marjorie Meredith, Elizabeth Spillman and perhaps Eulalia Puckett. I have forgotten what they did, but there was no doubt that the teacher did not approve.
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