I had a Ms. Hand, who would not tolerate tardiness, late homework, or any kind of perceived disrespect. If anyone so much as made a goofy remark, she would give them the "evil eye" and send them to the detention room. She never took a day off
and scoffed at the other teachers when they had a one-day strike. We all sensed that she wasn't being vindictive or hateful; she just valued the importance of
education and strict discipline. We all complained to each other about her, but we all thought she was the best teacher in the school. We had a group of "gang girls" in the school who chose to spend their before-school detentions in her classroom with her; they even called her "Mom." Apparently these girls didn't have much of a relationship with their real parents, and they liked Ms. Hand's toughness because they knew she cared about them deep down. All the girls had an understanding that, whenever we entered the girls' bathroom, we would announce, "It's okay!" so that the smokers would know that the coast was clear and they wouldn't have to quickly toss their ciggies down the toilet. Periodically Ms. Hand (who was just about 5 feet tall) would march her fireplug self into the girls' room and snarl, "It's NOT okay!" Even the girls who got caught this way
admired her method.
We all certainly liked her more than
the "cool teacher" types, the ones who believed they were the students' pals and let them do anything they wanted to in class, including showing up stoned; showing
non-educational movies instead of teaching; and in one case, allowing the students to mark their test scores in his grade book because he wanted to make them feel that they were his equals, and as such, he trusted them and knew they would follow an honor code. Everyone in the class got As, of course.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
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