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Mrs. Browslowski, my third grade teacher, had us read
silently at our seats. She walked around the room and when she came to my desk brought
her face close to mine and asked how I was doing. I was embarrassed because I
saw words on the page but they did not register. There was feeling of failure,
and that I let my teacher down in not being able to remember what I was
reading. What made it worse was that everyone in the room seemed to understand
what they were reading. My voice quivered as I told her that I saw the words
but that they did not have meaning. She said in her soothing voice that I
should “allow the words to make a picture in my mind.” I struggled with this at
first but found that her advice worked and in time reading was simple. That reassuring
comment set off a process in my brain that changed things. Mrs. Browslowski was
a catalyst to a very important learning phase of my life. In the following
years I would check out unabridged classics and read them: The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, Moby-Dick, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and more. I found that the images
in my mind were vivid and reading was engaging. The more I read the better I could
see the images. Mrs. Browslowski's gentle approach and wisdom were a catalyst
to an activity that would pay dividends for my education and my brain. She was
such a calm and kind person, loved being a teacher, and loved her students. I
liked the way she would spend time with me and help with learning. It made me
feel warm and accepted. The teacher the next semester told us that Mrs.
Browslowski wept when she talked about having to turn our class over to her.
It was a turn-on
When I was seven years old my dad purchased a used Lionel
train set. It was somewhat elaborate but he felt that the $50 was worth it for
his children. The huge board and all the components were dazzling. That was a
huge sum for a family that had a modest income but dad wanted the best for his
children. The gentleman that sold it helped us set it up in our smallest
bedroom. It was an amazing technology for a child and I played with it for
hours. I could take it apart and reassemble it and learned about basic
principles of electricity. I read books about trains and their history and
studied the black and white pictures in the middle section over and over. It
was a turn-on. I loved the smell of the many components: the trains, the smoke
that emanated from the locomotive, the electrical fumes when the tracks
sparked, the fake vegetation, miniature houses, and the wood platform that held
the whole assembly together. I loved touching the parts and even getting an
electrical shock from time to time. I played around with it for hours and was
motivated to learn more by reading and manipulating the many items. I was in
control of the technology. It was a perfect gift and I frequented the Hobby
Horse store at the Capital Court Shopping Center to see their new set ups and
talk with the owner. I wish I had saved up more money to embellish this
treasure in the back bedroom of my house.
Anger & calm
I played trumpet in the Junior High School Band at John
Marshall Junior Senior High School. Every month or so Mr. Yindra would have
sessions for each section to ascertain the order of proficiency so that he
could have the first, second, and third string players in each section. My
cousin Larry played the accordion but saw how I liked the trumpet, so took it up
himself and was in the same band. Mr. Yindra had all the trumpet players come
after school for the seating audition and play a part from a Sousa march.
Though I started playing the trumpet a year earlier I thought my rendition went
quite well. Based on observations of other trumpeters over the semester I felt
I was number one and looked forward to besting everyone to retain first chair.
As we left the room Mr. Yindra announced the order for the trumpet section and
picked Larry first and me second. I am confident that I played those measures
better than him, looked at Yindra with disdain as I walked out of the room
stunned. I had a job at the shopping center a couple blocks from school and
walked over with anguish. When I was alone in the basement stock rooms the
whole thing came to a boil and even shook my fists. It was unfair! In the time
I left that band room until I got to the stock rooms at Capital Court the anger
simmered. I could feel it. I could not believe the injustice, the humiliation,
and perplexing concept that I lost my first chair position, and then to my own
cousin of all people. After the adrenaline rush I settled down a bit and
finished my work, went home, ate, and did my homework. My parents helped
because they saw the big picture and made me realize that Larry was my cousin.
They said I should practice more to improve and be prepared for the next tryout
and not worry about such a minor thing. I came to my senses and then reasoned
as I went to bed: 'I'll practice more and do a better job next month'. I felt a
sense of calm just remembering my parents poised response to my concern. I
wasn't angry but saw the big picture. I was a little humiliated at first the
next time band met as I sat to the right of my dear cousin in the second chair
position. However, I did not let it get the best of me and felt in control after
a while. I practiced more each evening. All that anguish was channeled into effort and
I improved a lot. I won my first chair seat the next month.
Teachers that crafted their subjects well
I took drivers education one summer at Custer High School,
the only place that offered it on Milwaukee's north side. My mother had me also
sign up for Algebra II because that would fill out my morning schedule. I rode
my bike there for six weeks. Miss Berg was the teacher. I may not have
appreciated it then but down the road it was apparent that she made the content
come alive, and all of us became proficient in that subject. Each step in the
process with the functions and logarithms was delivered to perfection. She
planned each class so that we could practice the new problems. There are
building block processes in mathematics instruction and what Miss Berg did was
represent those sequential topics well and made sure we were competent in the
skills. Everything fell in place and by the end of that six-week session I was
very competent in many algebraic concepts and trigonometry. What is peculiar about this is that I did not
excel in math during the seventh and eighth grades but started to be more
proficient in geometry with Mrs. Reinhardt at Marshall. Having teachers that
crafted their subjects well made a difference in my academic career. Their
explanations on the board and the follow up worksheets developed my
understanding fully. They were professional in every sense. I loved doing the
homework because it was similar to the class presentation and the challenging problems
were fun to do, also. It made me a more confident and motivated student
overall. I appreciate my mom's coordinating that class with the phenomenal Miss
Berg because I ended up taking Advanced Placement Calculus as a senior and
getting college credit. I was one out of 30 that took that class out of 650
students in that graduating class.
We encouraged each other
Mrs. Nevers, my senior English teacher at John Marshall had
us select a play that we read during the term and form groups of four. We were
to do a critical reading from that drama before the entire class the following
week. Our group met at Mark Ivy's house and spent hours rehearsing the passage
from The Death of a Salesman. I was
Willy Loman. His parents supplied food and the whole experience was among the
best in my time at Marshall. We were serious in anticipation of getting in
front of our peers in this unusual way, though none of us had theatrical
experience. It was novel because we never worked in a group format in our years
at Marshall but enjoyed the time together outside of the school in the last segment
of our six year tenure at Marshall – two girls and two boys. We laughed as we
clumsily read the verses and tried to be dramatic. We felt awkward but didn't
mind taking the risk to do it well. We practiced until it was flawless. We
encouraged each other, critiquing and praising throughout. I felt good about
our friendship and camaraderie – perhaps one of the most memorable learning
times in high school. It was inspiring to perform for our classmates the next
week and gave us confidence to get in front of an audience and talk. I wish the
teachers at Marshall had done more collaborative activities.
