After graduating from Ontario College of Teachers, I became a teacher at a one-room country school in Aldborough Township.
That first day of school as a 19-year-old female teacher was a frightening experience. It was one thing to have graduated as a successful student; it was another thing to face a classroom of little faces that were waiting for the “new teacher.” I had a classroom of 21 children of different shapes and sizes. The youngest was five going on six and the eldest was 16.
There were two doors for entrance in my school, one for the girls, one for the boys and just inside each door was a chemical toilet — no outdoor facilities for us! The heat in the building was a wood-burning furnace (火炉) down in the basement. Tending the furnace was one of my responsibilities. Luckily, I knew a bit about starting a fire, so the school didn’t burn down.
What I found most difficult was that a parent might take a child out of school for any reason. I had one Dutch family, whose father would keep the children out of school to help with the farm work. Finally, I got tired of this and sent an education officer to solve the problem. Needless to say, I was very unpopular with that father from then on, but the children came to school much more regularly!
In the classroom, the older students helped the younger ones with learning, as well as with putting on coats and hats. If someone’s lunch was forgotten, everyone shared a bit of their food. We were a family. We had good times and bad times, but we kept learning. Far beyond maths, social studies, reading, grammar and writing, we learned how to get along with each other.
I loved teaching at this small school and knew I was teaching the children about life as much as about subjects. I’d like to believe some students will have an influence on the world that will last long after I am gone.
【小题1】Why did the author feel her first day as a teacher frightening?| A．So many students were in class. | B．The situations were quite different. |
| C．No outdoor facilities were provided. | D．The students were curious about her. |
| A．It was poorly equipped. | B．The playground was large. |
| C．It was once damaged by a fire. | D．The students were of similar age. |
| A．A Dutch family hated her. |
| B．The students preferred farm work. |
| C．The education officer offered little help. |
| D．Some parents ignored children’s education. |
| A．They cared about each other. | B．They had an influence on the world. |
| C．They laughed away bad times. | D．They did well in almost every subject. |
