Re: - Keyboarding and School was Re: Medic Alert Bands - TJ and Others and School statistics - Jill

February 29, 2004

Geeze, you didn't go to school in Hermosa Beach, CA, and have Mr. Vorheese at

Valley Vista Elementary, did you?

All he seemed to care about was our penmanship. Oh, and our multiplication

tables.

He even had lines drawn on every desk that we had to line our paper up with, and

we had to sit properly. Girls HAD to sit with their legs together. If you

didn't, he'd yell " Sit like a lady! " .

I could go on and on about this teacher, but I won't. He was so good at

humilitaion. And, since I couldn't write well, or sit properly, he pretty much

hated me. And, if he were still teaching today, I'm sure he'd be brought up on

charges for child molestation. He was a creap and a freak.

But, that's another story altogether.

Anyway -

Hopefully, 's dr will write something so we can get her the accomidations

she needs. We'll find out on Monday. If he doesn't, then will be

switching to my dr, which did this week. Our pediatrician is old

fasioned, and doesn't seem to really listen. My plan is to get tough with him,

if he doesn't tomorrow!

I'm gonna check out the laptops. Don't really have enough money right now to

buy all the kids one, especially the really light ones.

I think might get one when her money from the accident comes in.

So, hopefully the school will be able to get her one. I remember now, you were

the one who told me about it. Also, 's counsellor said something about

it.

If I only knew back in elementary school that I had EDS. My hands would

actually get " stuck " when I wrote. It was an awful struggle.

I'll let you know what her dr says tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

I don't know what Dr Byers sent to her Ped. yet. I think he was concentrating

more on me during the visit.

Mon

February 29, 2004

Thanks.

is often saying " I try so hard, but my writing is so sloppy compared to

the other girls " .

And, of course, she gets comments from teachers about it.

She does so much better when she can do things on the computer. She recently

got an A+ on a report. The highest grade in the class. The teacher even

recognized her - told the whole class how well she did. That was amazing. Her

grades aren't too great. I think it's mostly because of not being able to write

properly without pain, and taking notes is a major chore. When she can do stuff

on the computer, she does excellent work.

She does get pain after too much typing, me too. But, she can type much longer

than she can write.

Mon

February 29, 2004

> Geeze, you didn't go to school in Hermosa Beach, CA,

Christian Life School, Concord, CA. I transferred out of public school

because the other kids were beating me up and the school administration

wouldn't do anything to stop it. One kid, threw me down the stairs,

injuring my knee. I told the teacher, and she said, " it's over with now,

what do you want me to do about it? "

I also had trouble in public school because of math and my slow fingers. In

2nd grade, I tested into the gifted program. They took me out of my math

class 3 days a week and put me into the gifted class, where we did artsy

stuff and played games. The gifted program actually did NOTHING to

stimulate gifted children. In the 4th grade, I started failing timed

multiplication tests. I thought it was because I was missing my math class.

One day, my teacher told me I was too stupid to be in her class, handed me a

note in a sealed envelope, and told me to take it to the special ed class

" where all the retards go. " I spent the next hour wandering down the hall,

crying my eyes out. When I finally managed to get my courage up, I went to

the special ed classroom and handed over my note. They gave me a math test

and sent me back to my class.

The next day, I was in my regular class, but at math time, the teacher told

me to go to the special ed class where I belonged. So, once again, I

wandered the halls, crying. When I finally got my nerve up and went in the

room, the special ed teacher said, " oh there you are, I was wondering when

you'd come. You don't belong here. You got 100% on the math test. " She

gave me a note to give my teacher and sent me on my way. I don't know what

the note said (though I tried real hard to read it by holding the envelope

up to the light). Whatever it said, it made my regular teacher angry. She

slammed her first on the table, " fine, sit down and shut up. "

I continued to have problems passing timed math tests until I was diagnosed

and got accommodations in college. Before that, I failed the math placement

exam for college and took 3 remedial math classes that I didn't need. I am

GOOD at math, I just can't write fast enough, but from 4th grade until I was

in my early 20s, I honestly believed that I was slow and stupid and didn't

understand math. Now I have a B.A. in accounting and am currently taking

linear programming and have 100% score so far after the midterm. Amazing

what a bad teacher can make us believe, isn't it?

So, as you can see, my experience with public school was pretty bad. I

started hiding under the bed to make mom think I had left for school in the

morning. I would fake being sick as often as I could. I would do ANYTHING

to get out of going to school. That's why I started private school.

I ran into that teacher again 4 years later at the mall. She tried to be

sticky sweet and nice to me and act like I was her favorite student. I

wanted to scream at her, but instead I just walked away.

It was the private school that was so stuck on penmanship. The public

school didn't care.

> Girls HAD to sit with their legs together. If you didn't, he'd yell " Sit

like a lady! " .

That sounds familiar too. We had to wear dresses once a week for chapel and

I was occasionally in trouble for tucking my feet under me. Most of the

time, though, the dresses were long enough to hide what position my feet

were in.

> I'm gonna check out the laptops. Don't really have enough money right now

to buy all the kids one, especially the really light ones.

The school should pay for it, so fight them for it.

> If I only knew back in elementary school that I had EDS. My hands would

actually get " stuck " when I wrote. It was an awful struggle.

Me too!

-Barb

February 29, 2004

> Her grades aren't too great. I think it's mostly because of not being

able to write properly without pain, and taking notes is a major chore.

When she can do stuff on the computer, she does excellent work.

I could never keep up in class with taking notes. Before I could finish

copying the board, the teacher was erasing it. I was so worried about

writing the notes, that I couldn't pay attention to the lecture. As a

result, I was constantly lost. When I got a note taker in college, I went

from Ds to As because I could just listen and absorb the concepts and let

someone else do all the writing. I always transcribe my notes onto the

computer so I would make sure to review the notes in depth and add to them

from my reading.

-Barb

March 1, 2004

Oh my god! I am so sorry.

I can't beleive what teachers put us through. I talk occaisonally with old

friends about it. We were ALL adversly affected by at least one of them.

I had NO teachers who liked me. The very first one who even saw a bit of talent

in me was a brand new science teacher in the 7th grade. He thought I was smart,

and talented, and told me. I ended up in a huge fight with him, and wish to

this day I could apologize. I don't know why that happened.

So, I spent my years in school being the kid who was ignored, or taunted by my

teachers. It's really a shame, because in the few college courses I've taken,

I've gotten all A's. I even had a history teacher read my essay about the CIvil

War to the class, and he said in all his years of teaching (he was retired, and

just teaching some night courses) he had never read a finer essay. Then, he

asked me after class what I was going to do with my education. It was amazing.

I have a little quote taped to my refrigerator by Mark Twain - " I have never

let my schooling interfer with my education " . I remind my kids of that all the

time. I know they are intelligent, and have a lot to offer. They just need to

plug through, and eventually, they will meet someone who beleives in them, and

will let them know.

March 1, 2004