A Teacher Musing: So I Read On

I used to teach elementary school. Being out of the classroom for almost two years has me reflecting (and writing) about life in the classroom.

So I Read On is a nonfictional short Teacher Story about a (very) fond memory during a not-so-hot time in my life.

📷credit: Thank you, Mysticsartdesign

So I Read On

It was an at risk-school on the west side of Phoenix, Arizona. I was at the helm of a sixth-grade self-contained classroom and starting my 7th year in education at a brand-new district.

This was a different experience for me in many ways. But it was the first time a majority of students had questioned the idea of education. Why bother with school, Mrs. Stenn? 

They all had plans. A few wanted to go to college or learn a trade, but most planned to join gangs, like their family members. Of course, some of the young women dreamed of becoming famous on the MTV show 16 and Pregnant. But whatever they had planned, most didn’t see the reason for formal education. Life would teach them all they needed to know. 

It was an uphill battle, for sure. I really didn’t know what to do with them, so I read to them. 

Hunger Games by Susan Collins was becoming wildly popular, with a movie to be released soon. I had read it the year before and loved it. It was terrifying and suspenseful in a gritty and raw way.  It was perfect. So I opened the book and read.

They HATED it…rolled their eyes, made paper airplanes, coughed, talked, and even kicked books. I mean, some of them were downright rude and nasty. 

I was beat down. My personal life was a mess. And this job was so f*cking hard. 

BUT a handful of kids showed up every day to learn, and I would be damned if I was going to disappoint them. Plus, it was a good story, and I'd enjoy rereading it. 

So I read on.

To my surprise, it didn’t take long for the story to pique the kids' interest. Soon, the disruptions lessened. Then they stopped altogether. Before long, read-aloud time was utterly silent. Even the once uninterested watched on the edge of their seats, hanging on my every word.  

So I read on. 

Then the trailer to the movie came out. And. That. Was. It. 

They were all 1000% hooked on the story. This was when the greatness happened. Suddenly they were having discussions and debates, theorizing about possible outcomes and rewriting parts they disliked. I had tricked them into learning, and they didn’t even know it. It was amazing. 

At one point, they declared mutiny, and I had no choice but to read on.

Our reading time was for the day. We were nearing the end of the story, and none of us wanted it to be over. It was that terrible time at the end of a book where, as readers, we wanted to keep reading to find out, but we also didn’t want it to end. And obviously, as a teacher making real progress, I wanted to stretch this out as much as possible.  Resigned to devote our afternoon time to numbers, I put the bookmark in and told them to get out their math books. 

A few did as they were told, but then one of the leaders in the room. A tough kid, who was the LAST student to jump on the Hunger Games bandwagon, folded his hands on his desk and smiled before he spoke, “No, Teacher. Let’s keep reading.” 

That was it. Before long, they all (yes, even the good ones) were pounding on their desks, laughing and grinning while they chanted: READ. READ. READ. READ. READ. READ. READ. 

So I read on. 

And one by one, they were transported back into Panem and into another world. We had come a LONG way, but I had done it… inspired them to read. 

This is, perhaps, one of my finest teacher moments. Looking back, I am just as surprised by the outcome as they were. We spent a lot of time with that book that semester and had tremendous fun with the story and the trailers. I met them where they were and made the best of what I had.  

I lost my home that Christmas and had to leave Arizona in the middle of the school year. It was terribly hard to say goodbye, and I kept in touch with them through letters and Facebook for the remainder of the year.

I like to think that Read Aloud was just as meaningful and impactful an experience to them as it was to me.

A huge thank you to Susan Collins and the Hunger Games industry. Literature literally changes lives. Read on. 

The End

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

~Aspen ✌️