Teaching English independently full time now. In middle school I was super mediocre because the social environment was shit. In high school I became more responsible and in college I half-assed many subjects because I didn’t like the field I got into.
Now, I mostly aim to make my classes as different as possible. If I didmnt like school I won’t mimic that for my students. So far everyone loves it and if they seem invested that makes me want to keep it that way 🙂
I was a pretty bad student. Didn’t care about school or put in any effort. I was more concerned with making others in the class laugh and maybe seeing how far I could push the teacher before getting in trouble.
Looking back, I understand that now I just wanted to be seen – because I was neither a high-achiever (largely because I never applied myself) nor one of the potentially-violent kids.
That’s part of the reason I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. I try to make sure all of my students feel seen and heard, and that they know somebody cares that they exist. Can be quite a challenge, though!
I was a good student but I could have worked harder
I was a great student in classes I cared about and a crap student in those I didn’t. It actually didn’t depend on the teacher at all. I had the same teacher in high school for Government, History and Psych and I failed the first two and aced the last. She was a fantastic teacher, I just didn’t care about the other two subjects. I get it.
I made good grades in high school, but was a HORRENDOUS procrastinator…. College honestly dropped my grades more because I was working too much and had so many commitments, and still procrastinating. Finished with a 3.4 GPA though so I guess it could’ve been worse?