Grades 1-3 were fine, but now we're heading into big kid territory. This is when you no longer needed a bathroom buddy, we got lockers, and we changed classrooms for Math or English. So grown-up! I had a great Homeroom teacher who also happened to be our everything teacher, except for math. The other 4th grade class got taught everything by their homeroom teacher but english. For those two we switched teachers. Ok so now that is out of the way......
The school was teaching us some independence, and I learned it. I thought it was very independant of me to choose to not do my homework. I am a firm believer to this day, students should not be required to do homework if they know the material, otherwise it is just busy work. I have always been a math brain, and though I admit a bit rusty, I can learn math with no problem. English, however, not so, like you couldn't tell! Math homework was stupid, I knew had to subtract and multiply and divide and add for crying out loud, why do I have to do 100 problems to prove that! (I am still a bit bitter. As a side note, I would have gotten an A+ in Pre-Calculus in College, but I didn't do my homework, so he gave me B.) Now I had also chose to not do English homework as well, I hated English, still do in fact! (and when it came time to the SAT tutor in High School, the English tutor asked if English was my first language and/or if I was a special needs kid. No Joke, the only reason I got a good score on the English section is because I saw the movie Joy Luck Club which the novel was on the section of read a page and answer questions based on the reading section. See movies save people from academic failure.) I am getting used to English a bit more since I started reading and writing this blog, although an English aficionado would have a field day with my conjugation and word usage!
back to the story....
I learned that not doing homework had consequences, such as notes home from the teacher. This is where my parents story and mine don't mix. I had forged signatures on those notes for awhile before I got caught. I used the carbon copy trick from my Dad's checks. After I learned the motion of his hand, I was able to sign, and still can, without any help from an old check. My mom's signature was the hardest because it was close to perfect cursive, and by then I had not learned how to do that very well. So after a couple months of these stupid notes, I finally got caught, not necessarily because of the signature, but more so, when the teachers asked what my parents said to me, I would say "I don't know" and I would shrug my shoulders. My ambiguity tipped off the teacher, and my parents were sent in the next day. By this time, I also had learned this great technique of zoning out, so I can't remember what was all said, but I am sure it wasn't good. Now here's where my parents have a different version, a few months after this they get sent in again. Same reasons, not doing homework, forging signatures, yadda yadda yadda. They get mad again, and ask me why did I do it again, I got caught the first time already, why tempt fate again! And my response to this day is still, you caught me twice, and I forged more than 20 signatures that year. 2 out 20 not bad, that's a B. The only problem was, that my grade in school was not a B. So this where my parents set me up with a tutor to catch me back up, who was a wonderful lady. She helped me out a lot.
Oh and I forgot to mention, but somewhere in between the two times my parents went into class to talk to my teacher (excluding parent/teacher night) they sent me to the school Psychologist. They wanted to find out why I was doing the things I was doing. What moron has to ask a 4th grader why he has to forge signatures on bad notes from school, clearly the answer is; I didn't want my parents to get mad at me. As I am writing this story, I wonder if my parents knew something was wrong. This is around the same time that I was in the situation that I am not comfortable talking about yet. Perhaps...... That story is not going to unravel yet. It is going to have to be later. Sorry for that, but you'll understand.
So all and all, I passed 4th grade. I am sure not with flying colors, but by a thin hair and a lot of personality. :) Let's face it, my teachers loved me. I got out of many situations because of this. This was also the year when we were asked by our homeroom teacher what we wanted to be when we grow up. I remember because I actually got laughed at. By this time all the boys wanted to be firefighters or police, or something of that nature, but me. I wanted to be a chef. The funny thing is, I can actually say that that has happened, not professionally, but neither was Martha Stewart. I love to cook and almost wanted to go to school a few years ago to master in it, but tuition is expensive and I am not sure if I want to do it as a hobby, or to make money, we'll see.
until next time.......
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