Melimaril Fernandez

Edc 20 Section

Professor Hellmann

18 March 2013

                               Recollection of an Early Schooling Experience

            My new elementary school was smaller than my previous one but I still liked the welcoming feeling it gave off. It was a public school but everyone knew each other and treated and cared for each other like family. I think it was my second day in Brooklyn, and everything was so different. I was so used to being miles away from school and taking the yellow bus to and from school. But this school, this new one, was just one avenue up away from my new home. The security guard greeted me with a welcoming smile and helped me with directions to my new classroom. I remember walking in to about 25 pairs of eyes staring at me as if I was some foreign creature. Everyone but the teacher was from six to eight years old. I was seven.

The room was very big and had about five table setups. Each table had its own color. I remember being assigned to the red table, my favorite color. The walls were filled with the other children’s work. I yearned to see some of my work up there very soon. I felt out of place yet right at home at the same time. There was a computer center which I found extremely cool because at my old school, we didn’t have any. The school I used to attend was P.S. 22 in Flushing, Queens.   

Mrs. Varela was speaking to her assistant as I walked in. I remember that on the board was a math lesson about money. I knew I was supposed to have a different respect for the adults but I felt a certain way about my new teacher. It was like she was family. I think it was because her first words to me were “Hola Melimaril, como estas?” (Hello Melimaril, how are you?) She thought I didn’t speak English. It was funny to hear her speak her broken Spanish.

I remember Mrs. Varela telling me that as a new student I had to introduce myself to the entire class. I had to stand in front of the classroom and say my name, age, favorite color and favorite activity. I was extremely shy as a child and when I was up there I almost cried. When I was done she called the children by table and each was to shake my hand and tell me their name. To this day I have never experienced anything like this. I wanted to crawl under a rock. I thought her form of introducing everyone was very peculiar. I didn’t think I would meet everyone in one day, just eventually.

The reason I remember this day so well was because it is marked down in my biography as my most embarrassing moment-ever. Aside from this incident, my teacher made me feel very comfortable for the rest of the school year. Learning everyone’s name that day gave me a jump start into the social part of the school year. I’m very good with names so three days later I had a face to every name.

Overall my teacher was a great teacher. But that first day of mine, she made feel right at home and I loved it. I could see myself doing this exercise for a new student to introduce him/herself to the others. The majority of a child’s school experience has a plenty to do with who they are surrounded with. If the child does not get along with his/her peers then well, school will not be the best place to be. Children spend most of their lifetime IN school. It’s like a home away from home. We-as teachers-should see to it that the child is comfortable in every way.