Tutoring in the Seventies

I was a federal park ranger for five years before I became a public school teacher in a rural high school.  I was notified of a drowning at a city lake.  When I arrived at the scene a wrecker was pulling a car from the lake.  Later I found out that a woman had committed suicide by driving into the lake.  A couple of years later I was teaching Becky, the daughter of the drowning victim.  She didn’t put a lot of effort into her work and soon fell behind.  The Superintendent told me that a trust fund had been set up for Becky, and they would like to pay me to tutor her.  Becky had decided that she wanted to join the military and needed to pass her math class.  I hope that my relationship with her was an encouragement.  At the time, I had a daughter of my own and felt very sorry for her.

Discipline in the Late Seventies

I spent 2 years teaching in a rural school with a graduating class of 20 seniors.  I taught Senior English, Algebra I & II, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry I, Journalism and Spanish I.  I had 3 years to get certified.  I chose to get my teacher certification in Math, Biology and English.  These 2 years were difficult for me because I had to figure out how to discipline students so I could teach.  I thought you had to yell to get their attention.  When I got laryngitis I figured out that there must be a better way.  I learned how to be firm, fair and consistent in my discipline and you don’t have to yell.

I sent Rusty to the office one day because he had written the “B” word on the board right behind my desk and pointed an arrow at me.  I wanted to kick him out of my class, but the Superintendent talked to me after I cooled off.  Since there wasn’t another class to put him in and he wanted to go into the military after graduation, I was asked to reconsider my decision.  Rusty promised me that he wouldn’t cause any more trouble if I allowed him to return to class.  I let him come back, and he was a perfect student.  I hope he had a successful career in the military.