The Best Teacher I Ever Did Have
Mrs. Chenelle Saved My Life
As a student I’ll admit, English class hasn’t been easy for me until I reached high school because my teachers focused more on disciplining us middle schoolers instead of elaborating on lesson plans. I was always taught to follow the rules such as a paragraph has to be eight to ten sentences to be a complete thought, and an essay has to be five paragraphs long to fully get your point across. We never got much information on classroom assignments, homework, or class projects, so moving on to high school level English classes had me feeling uneasy. I always thought that if I don’t follow the rules of writing correctly, I’ll never succeed in English class. However, freshmen year I was put into College Prep English, and I aced the class easily, with simple writing assignments focusing on grammar and punctuation and tedious little book reports that were based on an eighth grade reading level.
Moving onto sophomore year, more and more A’s were coming my way. Wow, turns out I actually was good in English class. Three or four weeks into sophomore year my teacher suggested I switch into the Honors English course, so I thought, “I’m actually really smart, damn, this is amazing.” Then, for the rest of sophomore year my teacher was on maternity leave, so I aced the rest of the year because I was able to use past assignments from my original English class in my Honors course and still managed to get A’s, even though they were from a lower level class. Plus, there was never any homework. I then made my way to the Honors English course for my junior year. Naturally, I was excited for another easy year of not doing much of anything besides following the rules of basic grammar lessons, reading, and writing. Boy was I wrong, now the story begins.
At the end of my sophomore year, the junior year English teacher, Mrs. Chenelle, came in to talk to us, and scare us about heading into junior year. She tried to make it seem like she was the cruelest teacher you could possibly have by telling us how much homework she would assign, but mid-speech she burst into laughter breaking her stern facade. Mrs. Chenelle was an interesting person to say the least; her teaching methods were like nothing I have encountered before, she was more creative than most teachers. She had a way of making the classroom feel like a safe haven, where the rules didn’t apply (even when it came to learning). I felt free because I was told I could write as much as I need to, not only eight to ten sentences or only five paragraphs.
Mrs. Chenelle also connected with her students and shared a special bond with each and everyone of them; she would let students stay after school just to talk about their personal lives or just to hangout with her. As a teacher, she didn’t let anyone fall behind in class; she cared about every student’s grade and tried to help them succeed in any way she could. To me, she was such a positive person.
Her laughter was contagious, and it was hard to ever be in a bad mood while in her class. And, if you were in a bad mood, she noticed and offered advice and guidance if it was ever needed. Along with being an all around great person, she was an even better teacher.
Not only did Mrs. Chenelle help us understand the material, she engraved it into our minds. She opened up new ways of learning to her students, which I can’t thank her enough for today. When it came to the basic materials like learning new vocabulary, I distinctly remember her pouncing out of her chair, acting out the words to try and get us to remember their meanings. As classroom assignments she had us write out, repeat out loud, draw a picture to display the meaning, and act out the meanings to help us build our vocabulary. Not only that, but she tested us almost weekly on the words to ensure we were truly understanding them. The creativity was always flowing and I loved every minute of class.
The classroom itself even exemplified a fun learning environment. She would hang up student’s work like posters, projects, or artwork to show how much effort each and every one of us put into our work. The artwork made up for the fact that her puny classroom didn’t have any windows (like the rest of the school). In every other class, I felt like I was in prison but in her class I felt so free and unchained. The environment she provided us made it easier to get our work done; I didn’t feel confined to the rules like I normally would in the other bare-walled classrooms of Greater Lowell Tech. Being in her class not only made me feel more creative as a student, but as a writer as well.
Along with a stronger vocabulary, she helped build my writing skills. Until her class junior year, I had no idea a paragraph didn’t have to be confined to eight to ten sentences like every other teacher had taught me. I had always assumed that all authors and great writers followed these rules as well. This was groundbreaking news to me; all these years growing up I thought I was going to have to follow these writing rules forever, or just as long as I was in an English class. I felt so liberated to write whatever I felt, and to make it as long as I felt. Knowing this helped immensely with writing narrative essays and arguments. Having a teacher encourage you to break the rules of writing was amazing. Organizing my thoughts became easier, and I wasn’t nervous about breaking limits. With writing, I learned to take chances because of Mrs. Chenelle. Having her encourage me and push me forward helped me become more confident in my writing. She taught me everything I needed to know to prepare me for college. All thanks to her, I learned MLA format, how to correctly cite quotations, how to write narratives and arguments, and I gained a broader vocabulary to help strengthen my work.
This literacy moment is important to me because it helped me realize that you don’t always need to follow the rules when it comes to writing, and to write about something that compels you to keep going. When you’re passionate about a topic, don’t let limitations stop you from fulfilling your thoughts. Also, a stronger vocabulary can help in a plethora of ways. Understanding broader terms opens up new doors for you and allows you to not only strengthen your papers, but helps better communication in a professional manner. I owe everything important and meaningful that I learned that year to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Chenelle because everything she taught me, I still value to this day. Her lessons of breaking the rules of writing helped me with my application to college which of course led me to where I am today. Not only did it help me get accepted into a University, her style of teaching is helping me continuously throughout my current English class as well. Because of Mrs. Chenelle, I succeeded throughout my senior year English class and am going to continue succeeding in my current English class. I have full confidence in myself and my writing all thanks to Mrs. Chenelle.
