A Fair Trial

A democratic classroom is the best place to ensure students are learning. I remember when I was in the fourth grade and had Mrs. Hawk as a teacher. I really liked Mrs. Hawk. She took the time to listen to all of her students. She showed us she really cared about us by letting us have our say during her class time.

Mrs. Hawk always had the most entertaining lesson plans. When we studied ancient Greece and ancient Rome, we dressed up as Greeks and Romans and had an ancient fair where we got to sing and dance and 'do as the Romans do.'

Mrs. Hawk would give us weekly conduct evaluations to take home to our parents, and I always had good marks. It was important to me to see the happy faces on the days of the week when other kids had sad faces.

Well, one week, Mrs. Hawk marked my weekly conduct review with a sad face and noted that I was sitting in the back of the class cutting out shapes while she was giving a lesson.

I wasn't.

But the student teacher confused another girl with me, and told Mrs. Hawk it was me. I tried to tell her it wasn't, but she believed the student teacher (who didn't even know all of our names) over me. I had no fair trial.

I couldn't believe this injustice, so I threw a tantrum. Mrs. Hawk met with my parents about it, and still insisted I was sitting in the back of the class cutting shapes.

My parents believed me, but they didn't argue with Mrs. Hawk about it. They just told me they believed me when we got home.

I never liked Mrs. Hawk anymore after that, and refused to learn anything from her. It's a shame because she was a really good teacher.

To this day I feel like an injustice was done me, and I'm sure she has long forgotten me and the whole incident.

It's important to have democracy in the classroom so everyone gets a fair trial.