Who is Rachel Sinclair?

My name is Rachel Ann Sinclair. I am the youngest of three daughters born to Dr. Soren Sinclair and Dr. Rebecca Sinclair. My parents are both professors at the state university where I hope to attend after my graduation from high school. I have two sisters who are older than me.

My sister, Amanda, is sixteen and a junior in high school. Amanda is a cheerleader, excellent student, and very popular. I enjoy watching Amanda cheer at sporting events and practice at home. I often mimic Amanda's cheers wondering if I could ever become a cheerleader. Amanda is quite pretty and boys call her all the time.

My other sister is Roslyn. She is fifteen and a sophomore in high school. Like Amanda, Roslyn is cute and very popular with boys calling her nightly. Roslyn is enrolled in every advance placement course offered by the high school. Roslyn said that she intends to participate in the "Running Start Program" that would allow her to complete two years of college in lieu of her high school coursework. I heard Roslyn try to talk Amanda into entering the program, but Amanda said that she enjoyed cheerleading and high school activities and refused to substitute academics for fun.

I am quite average in appearance and intellect. I wear black rimmed glasses and know that I am not academically brilliant, an athlete or a future cheerleader. At ten years old, I am taller than most of my friends and I rarely wear the latest in fashion.

I am comfortable with myself and I would often take up isolation in my bedroom to be alone and think about my future as a school teacher. Becoming a school teacher has been my personal ambition since first grade and I told my parents that I would become one of the best teachers in the world.

I had the privilege to be in Ms. Horn's fifth grade class. Most students didn't like Ms. Horn because she made them think and do their school work. Students often referred to Ms. Horn as a 'hard nose' to just 'mean' or a 'bully'. My classmates often commented that Ms. Horn should be suspended because she was a bully and therefore violated the school 'bulling rules'.

I wasn't one of those students. I admired Ms. Horn and enjoyed being academically challenged. I told my parents that Ms. Horn is one of those teachers that demands excellence from her students and she gets it too. Students wouldn't admit it to their friends, but quietly they expressed their approval of Ms. Horn because she cared more than the other teachers they had in prior grades. Ms. Horn reminded her class daily that her job wasn't to babysit. Her job was to prepare her students for the next step in their careers. Her favorite saying when a student did poorly on a test was, "Study and take it again. You are not going to fail on my watch." I knew that she cared about her students and that was the kind of teacher that I would become one day.

I lived two blocks from my school and I often stayed after class to talk with Ms. Horn. I would express my approval of her teaching and thanked her for caring and keeping high expectations for her class.

Ms. Horn replied, "I ask of my students that which I would ask of myself under similar circumstances. No more, no less. If my students don't learn, then I fail as a teacher and I refuse to fail."

I would ask Ms. Horn questions about college and the requirements needed to become a school teacher. Ms. Horn was always polite and took the time to answer my questions. However on this particular day, Ms. Horn explained to me that she wasn't sure that I would become a good teacher. I became upset and began to cry as I asked Ms. Horn, "Why did you say that?"

Ms. Horn replied, "To become an exceptional teacher, you must do your very best every day. Rachel, you do good work and finish your assignments on time. Your grades are good, but I personally feel that you are only giving your education eighty percent effort. I want to see the other twenty percent effort if you want to become an excellent teacher in the future. I want to see fire in your belly. I want you to ask for more work and more challenges so you don't become adequate or mediocre. Instead, you will become that exceptional student. I see excellence in you, but you must strive for more than you are now giving me."

I asked Ms. Horn, "What can I do to show you that I can reach excellence as a student?

Ms. Horn replied, "You can read more books and turn in book reports. You can work ahead and I promise to grade your advance work as you go. Don't wait for me. As your teacher, I would rather spend my time keeping up with you."

Ms. Horn handed me two books and asked me to read them and report on each. She commented, "I will see that you get extra credit, but the real measure of your work is in how you perceive yourself and your personal effort. To become an exceptional teacher, you must first become an exceptional student."

I asked Ms. Horn for additional work daily and my classmates began referring to me as 'teacher's pet' and 'Ms. brown nose'. I rose above the comments and welcomed the opportunity to prove to Ms. Horn that I would become an exceptional teacher one day.

Fifth grade ended and I thanked Ms. Horn for being such a wonderful teacher. Ms. Horn gave me a list of books that I should read over the summer and she purchased a math workbook for algebra so that I could get a jump start on sixth grade. Ms. Horn let me know that she wasn't going to be very far away and I was always welcome to drop by when I had a question, or just wanted to talk about school and becoming a teacher.

I thanked Ms. Horn and promised that I will become an excellent teacher just like her.

Ms. Horn replied, "Rachel, I have seen you mature in my class. I think you are now using the additional twenty percent of your brain. You should do well in sixth grade and in your future career as a teacher if you keep yourself motivated. I encourage you to rely on yourself and not those around you."

I studied over the summer and read every book recommended by Ms. Horn. I wrote book reports that would never be handed in to a teacher. I studied algebra, and with the help of my parents, I completed the algebra work book that Ms. Horn provided to me for summer exercises. I was satisfied with my summer work and excitedly anticipated sixth grade in the fall. I hoped that my next teacher would care like Ms. Horn cared.

On the first day of sixth grade, Mr. Dole announced to our class that he had the lesson plan laid out for the entire school year. He asked students to come up to his desk one at a time and he showed the students how to read the lesson plan book and identify the day's assignments.

I noticed that each school day had listed subjects from math, reading, writing, spelling, science and history. Underneath each listed subject, Mr. Dole had the assignment listed. For example, under 'math' it would say "Page twelve, problems 2-35." When the students were comfortable with how the lesson plan book worked, he informed our class that we could finish our listed assignments and then use our electronic devices to play games, text or whatever the student chose to do for the remainder of the day.

I listed off my assignments for the day and then sat at my desk and did each assignment. When I finished, I noted that it was only 10:40 a.m. and I had done all of my classwork for that day. I was the first student done and I presented my work to Mr. Dole for review and grading.

Mr. Dole replied, "I am not grading your daily papers. If you want to grade your own papers, I will make available the answer key for each subject. I will keep the answer keys on my desk and you can feel free to check your work as you go."

I asked Mr. Dole, "How will I know if I was doing well if you won't look at my work?"

Mr. Dole replied, "If you correct your papers, you will know if you are having any problems. If you have a question, then you can ask me, but don't bother me with correcting your work. That is your responsibility."

The class had no direct class order. Students could work on any subject throughout the day. The only requirement was that the scheduled work get finished. I noticed my classmates taking the math correction book and writing down the answers instead of doing their work. They did the same for most of the subjects. One of my classmates handed me the math correction book and suggested that I do my work for the rest of the week by copying down the answers. I refused and asked the students how they were going to learn if they didn't do the work?

Michael, one of the boys in my class replied, "Writing down the answers is hard work. I might make a mistake." He then laughed along with his friends and called me a study geek.

I was upset and approached Mr. Dole after school and asked to talk with him about the class and what I saw happening in the assignments.

He replied, "I am not interested and I don't like tattletales." As I stood in shock, Michael walked up to the desk and asked Mr. Dole for the math and science correction books. He planned to work really hard over the weekend and get a lot of assignments done ahead of the due date. Mr. Dole gladly handed Michael the answer books and the only admonition was that Michael return the answers keys on Monday so other students would have access to correct their work. The following Monday, Michael bragged that he had completed the math course work up to the Winter break.

I stopped by and talked with Ms. Horn and mentioned what was going on in Mr. Dole's sixth grade class. Ms. Horn indicated that she was aware of Mr. Dole's teaching method, but the district didn't do anything because teachers like Mr. Dole were under the protection of the teacher's union.

I asked, "So he gets away without teaching his class and his students suffer for his failures?"

Ms. Horn replied, "The students like Mr. Dole, and they let everyone know it. His students fail to learn much in sixth grade and many suffer when they enter junior high the next year." Ms. Horn then asked me if I needed any help with my private studies. She reminded me that to become exceptional, I must demand of myself and not accept what was happening in Mr. Dole's class.

The end of my sixth grade year came quickly. The school announced that the sixth grade achievement test would be mandatory and a pass grade was required or a student wouldn't be promoted to their next grade. The test would be administered in four weeks. I wondered to myself if my classmates would be promoted given their irresponsibility over the past year.

The next class day answered my question. Mr. Dole handed out a copy of the sixth grade achievement test and indicated to his class that we would be studying out of the test for the next month. Every day, Mr. Dole referred to test questions and then the proper multiple choice answers. He rehearsed his students to make sure that we had the answers committed to memory. He told his class that we couldn't tell anyone about the test preparation because it wouldn't be considered fair to the other classes. He received a general consensus of secrecy.

One day, he had the class divide up into pairs and quiz each other on the proper answers. By the time the test was to be administered, the class had memorized the test and Mr. Dole's class once again scored higher than the other two sixth grade classes. He wanted to avoid inquiries and asked each student to miss at least two questions from each subject in the test.

I brought the test preparation up to Ms. Horn. She replied that she was sorry that I had been in his class, but sadly there was nothing she could do about his tactics. He always looks good to the district because his classes score so well.

Ms. Horn's reply was unacceptable to me. I personally confronted Mr. Dole in the hallway and said, "I am not going to let you get away with your style of teaching. I am going to be a teacher someday and I never want to become a teacher like you."

I discussed the issue with my parents that night and my father wrote the school board about the test preparation and classroom instruction issues.

The school board replied that Mr. Dole had an excellent reputation and I was probably a disgruntled student since I was failing most of my subjects in his class.

My father wrote back and demanded a meeting before the entire school board. He explained that I was not failing courses. He offered a letter of support from Ms. Horn about my academic abilities.

The school board granted a hearing and permitted Mr. Dole to respond to the allegations under the direction of his union representative. When I spoke to the Board, Mr. Dole interrupted me and called me an incompetent and disgruntled student. The school board heard both sides and then dismissed the allegations against Mr. Dole. Before the hearing adjourned, Kathleen, one of the girls in my class arrived and wanted to testify before the school board. She learned what was going on and she wanted to give her statement in support of me.

When Kathleen was finished, the school board rescinded their prior dismissal and decided that the best way to resolve the issue was to administer a second sixth grade achievement test that couldn't be pretested. Although Mr. Dole said, "That's fine with me", I had looked at him for nearly nine months and I knew that he was worried.

Mr. Dole asked when he would administer the new test. Before he could reply, my father suggested that an independent proctor be appointed to administer the test. That was approved by the school board, but Mr. Dole was more than agitated as he talked with his union representative.

The union representative demanded that Mr. Dole be allowed to administer the test to his class and grade it too. It was Mr. Dole's right as a tenured teacher.

The president of the school board replied, "Not this time. We will use a separate proctor." The selected proctor was Ms. Gish, one of the sixth grade teachers at my school.

The sixth grade re-examination was given to Mr. Dole's class and eleven out of twenty-six students passed the exam. The school board then met with Mr. Dole's class and learned about the teaching issues over the past year. At a special meeting of the school board, Mr. Dole's teaching contract was terminated over the objection of his union representative.

Mr. Dole appealed the termination decision and the case moved from a local hearing until it reached a national board. The various teacher associations supported Mr. Dole and his tenure as a teacher. On appeal, Mr. Dole was reinstated without reservation and his tenure as a professional teacher was reaffirmed.

I commented to my parents that I would never be a teacher like Mr. Dole. He hurt a lot of students and caused them to attend summer school if they wanted to move into seventh grade in the fall. As I prepared to enter junior high, I had acquired an excellent understanding of what made a good and bad teacher and I would be a good one when it was my time.

Preparing to Become a Teacher

I entered junior high and enrolled in every advanced course that the school offered. I excelled in algebra and completed advanced algebra and geometry by the time I was promoted to high school. I read every book assigned along with seventy-two additional books that would be assigned in high school English. I excelled in every class and left junior high with honors. The junior high didn't use letter grades or grade points. Instead, the school had adopted a pass or fail system. My honor designation arose from my teacher's comments given with my pass grades.

Over my three years in junior high, I was exposed to many teachers and teaching styles. I came to recognize that there were three types of teachers. On one end was the teacher that demanded excellence like Ms. Horn did in fifth grade. The second type were those teachers that seemed to care, but did the minimum to complete the course requirements. The second type of teacher expected the assigned work to be timely completed, but had no greater expectations beyond the course curriculum. The third type of teacher was like Mr. Dole. These teachers seemed to never be prepared for class; failed to timely grade assignments and often had excuses of why something wasn't done. The third type did enough to justify their job, but nothing more.

In high school, I began to personally blossom. I focused a little more on my appearance and exchanged my glasses for contacts. I dressed in more stylish clothes selected by my sisters, and for the first time in my life, I became the object of boy's attention. My sisters told me, "Now, you are cute."

I was neither an athlete, nor was I a cheerleader. Instead, I was a dedicated student. I took the risk and ran for student government and was elected as the class president over a very popular cheerleader and the school's football hero. I began to realize that the average member of the student body wanted more than glitz in student government.