A Report Card For The Teacher

A Report Card For The Teacher

Future Reflections Spring/ Summer1987, Vol. 6 No. 2
(back) (contents) (next)
REPORT CARD FOR THE TEACHER
by Mary Ellen Reihing
(Editor's Note: Miss Reihing has
contributed several fine articles to
Future Reflections over the years. She
is blind, grew up as a blind child, and
is currently employed as the Assistent
Director of Job Opportunities for the
Blind, JOB.)
After all these years one of my cherished
childhood dreams is coming true.
I remember all those times at the end of
every quarter when I waited nervously
for that manila card with the letters on
it that would determine my future. It's
my turn now. So just for you Mrs.
Brown, here is a report card for the
teacher.
Language Arts
Thank you for calling yourself a
"Braille teacher," not a "vision teacher."
Your terminology emphasized a
skill I could learn, not a sense I would
always lack. A+
Thank you for teaching me to use a
slate and stylus in first grade, even
though I grumbled at the time. You
should probably have hidden that Perkins
Brailler until I was older, but your
performance was still above average. A
Thank you for telling me that you read
Braille slowly because you tried to use
your eyes to do it --not because Braille
was slow or inferior. It was neat to
think that I could become better at
reading than my teacher.
You did such a good job of protecting
me from the stereotypes about Braille
that I was in college before anyone told
me I would never be able to read faster
than sixty words a minute. Since I
already read at more than three times
that rate, it seemed a little late to
slow down. A+
I wish you had found a term other than
"going to 'out class'" to describe the
time we spent in class with sighted
students. "Out class" sometimes felt a
little like "outcast." C
I wish you had told me that the library
for the blind had Braille books
and not just talking books. I wish you
would have helped me learn how to order
the books I wanted. It was fun being
surprised by what the library sent, but
I was in college before I knew that I
could make my own requests. D
Thank you for making me learn to type
and for not being fooled when I tried to
waste the time alotted to my typing
lesson. At least, you weren't fooled
most of the time.
(I wish I could blame you for the fact
that I still hate to type, but I can't,
if I could, you'd get an F.) A-
Independent Travel
Thank you for forbidding me to shuffle
my feet and hold back when someone was
leading me. B+
Thank you for insisting that I walk
around the school independently. A
Thank you for making me learn to run
when I was scared. A
I wish someone had told you about cane
travel for children and you had found a
way to see that I had learned it when I
was younger. Maybe then I would not
have smacked into a wall and broken a
front tooth while playing tag. Maybe I
could have done things after school with
my friends on the spur of the moment and
taken the bus home alone afterwards. I
did a lot of things with my friends in
school, but I always had to plan them in
advance. C
Attitudes
About Blindness
Thank you for trying to protect us
from the pettiness of the principal who
didn't want us in her school. We still
found out that she didn't care for us,
but it didn't matter as much because we
knew you did. A
I wish you had helped me meet blind
adults. I was afraid that if I couldn't
find a way to stop being blind, I'd have
to go on being a kid forever. D
Thank you for never forgetting that
blind kids always grow up needing to
know more from life than pats on the
head from indulgent adults. Thanks for
loving us enough to insist that we respect
ourselves and to earn the respect
of others. A+
That's your report card Mrs. Brown.
You passed. You should be promoted. So
should your common sense ideas.
(back) (contents) (next)