I didn’t like English until I was in high school. My favorite English teacher I had was in my Junior year, her name was Mrs.Poteat. Mrs.Poteat was also my homeroom teacher. It wasn’t until I had her as a teacher that I began to enjoy reading and writing. Mrs.Poteat was an unusual teacher from the other teachers. She was special. Mrs.Poteat would dress like back in the eighty’s. Meaning she would have them high waisted jeans and turtleneck shirts. Mrs.Poteat wore glasses, she would always have her hair up. I don’t remember her having it down. She also had a good sense of humor.
One day in class Mrs.Poteat presented us with an assignment that we had to as a group. Mrs.Poteat talked about what she expected from the assignment. In her words she said “this assignment will be presented in class”. I’m not much of a talker. I’ve never liked to talk in front of the class nor did I like reading out loud. Mrs. Poteat knew this about me. After class I went to her desk, I asked her if I could turn in my assignment and not present in front of the class, but no was my answer. She said “No Mariana, everyone will have to present because it is part of your grade”. I said “ that’s fine, I will present my assignment, but it won’t be so good”. I left the classroom but in my mind I knew I wasn’t going to be able to talk in front of the class. There was just no way. I thought to myself what if I just don’t come that day? What if I just tell her and the group that the reason I didn’t come that day was because I got sick. It’s crazy to think I had all these thoughts.
The day of the assignment came, I was so nervous. I got up that morning, brushed my teeth, put on my makeup, and fixed my hair. I wore a nice outfit and some brand new shoes I had bought the week before. I was looking good. I went to school. My first class I had was English. I walked in the classroom. There she was, “Good Morning” I said to Mrs.Poteat, she smiled and said good morning back to me. I sat in my seat, which was in front of the class. Mrs.Poteat got up from her chair and came to the front of the class. “Good morning class, today we will be presenting the assignments. I will call out a random name and you shall get up with your group to present.” The first name she called out was Kylie. I don’t remember what our project was about, but I know we had to read a book. Each group had different books. I believe there were about six groups that day. I was the fifth group she called up. The funny part was out of all the names there were in my group, she calls out mine. We get up ready to present. I was so nervous I just knew that if I spoke I would say the wrong thing. One of my group members started talking. There were five people in my group. I was the last to speak; I talked about the conclusion of the book and that I recommend them to read the book. When I was speaking I messed up a few times, I would say words I shouldn’t have but it was okay because nobody knew but me. After this day I promised myself to never be scared of presenting projects in front of the class. At the end of the day it was my classroom. They were there with me every single day of school so why should I be afraid of speaking?
I believe part of the reason I was like this is because in my household we don’t read books. We don’t talk about English. We don’t read books. We don’t even speak English at home. I am bilingual; I speak both English and Spanish. In my household we wouldn’t talk about a subject we’ve learned about. My parents would only ask “cómo estuvo la escuela?” and that was it. I believe this was part of the reason why I was so close and not open with my classmates in class. I no longer have a problem with reading or presenting in front of the class.
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