On this page, you will find quotes from my students and my step-son. They are telling, heartbreaking, hilarious, ridiculous, and often many other things. Enjoy!
Jaquan (12th grader): “Mrs. Ennis? You need to just go ahead and decide to go to prom with me.”
When asked what types of students she would like to teach if given the choice, one of my dual-credit English 101 students said:
I would like to teach students who are: curious, respectful, open-minded, positive, and active listeners.
I would like to teach students with these qualities because these are all qualities that I value in children. I have thought a lot about being a teacher, and I decided I would like to teach younger kids because they more often have these qualities than older kids. Curiosity is an admirable quality for students to have in general because it is a person’s thirst for knowledge. In order to learn effectively, one needs to WANT to learn. Being positive, open-minded and respectful creates a safe atmosphere for students (and teachers) to share their opinions and creative ideas! That is an important part of learning. Why would anyone want to share their thoughts in a room where they feel like people are only judging them, or in a room where they feel like no one wants to listen? Why SHOULD they?
One of my seniors drew this for me after reading the other day.
“I have been told I am compassionate.
I thought about it a lot, and I am, or at least, I try to be.
There are a lot of things I am still learning about, compassion definitely being one of them. When I was younger I asked my mother about her childhood, I was just curious. I asked her about her friends, I asked her about her family. She told me she didn’t have many friends. She told me she was alone a lot. She told me the only person she could trust was her twin. She told me how angry her mother was back then. She told me how her teachers ignored the bruises all over her body. She told me how every day a new group of kids wanted to fight her. She told me how when she got into these fights, the only person beside her to fight with her was her brother. She told me these kids wanted to beat her up because she was weird, because she smelled bad, because she was quiet, because she was always in the back of the class squinting to see the chalkboard. I asked her why anyone would ever beat someone up for dumb reasons like those. I also asked her why they thought she smelled bad, she told me her mother never bought her deodorant or perfume or any of that stuff. Her mother didn’t have the money, the time, the care, to teach her about personal hygiene. When we were done talking I went to my room and I laid in my bed and thought. I thought about that weird kid on my bus that stared at me sometimes but would never talk, I thought about when this boy named Isaiah mugged me in the forehead because I accidentally bumped into him, I thought about the girl in the back of my class with the greasy hair and the arm pit stains. I thought about how I always heard people talk about kids like them, and how I sometimes contributed to the talk. I decided that I will never know what a person is going through at home, or if they even have a home, or if they feel like they belong in their home. I decided that before I judge someone for superficial reasons like my peers do, I would get to know them. I decided that I never wanted to be the reason why someone would lay in their bed at night and cry, I never wanted to be the reason why someone would feel deeply and utterly alone, and I never wanted to be the reason for someone harboring hatred in their heart. I still slip up a lot, and I mean a lot a lot. I lose sight of this compassion sometimes, but never for very long. I am constantly reminded of it, by my mother, by my neighbors, by my teachers, and by my friends.” ~12th grade AP Literature/Dual-Credit student
“Black people and zombies just don’t go together!” ~Mackenzie, 12th grade
“I just wish boys could express themselves freely without judgment. I mean if boys want to wear lipstick, they ought to wear lipstick!” ~Keke White, 11th grade
“You know what really made me love adjectives? School House Rock.” ~Nathan Richards, 10th grade
“Oh My Wow!” ~Elijah Ennis, 3rd grade (as he was reading National Geographic’s Weird But True Facts)
“This article is basically college hacks for high school kids.” ~JoJo, 12th grade
After getting yet another standardized test result that was well below benchmark, “I just give up. I am so done with this.” ~Lamiya, 12th grader with 13 weeks of school left, maybe forever (broke my heart!)
Same student came in after stepping out to take a phone call, on which she learned that she had been offered a job at Subway, “I feel like I am going to cry! I can do anything today!”
