Keeping to the ‘treasures’ theme, I thought that I’d write about a report card I’d found from grade 4. The timeframe is a little short of the 70’s but close enough.
The report card has all the usual suspects – doesn’t always pay attention, short attention span, issues with math and doing his homework – blah blah blah!
But wait – one comment really caught my eye –
“Mike has the ability to read with exceptional speed and with a very high level of retention”.
Wow something I was really good at in elementary school. I had a moment of pure bliss.
Praise on a report card – epic!
Then came the buzz kill moment – a memory of being accused of cheating on a reading contest popped to the surface.
Memory sure is a funny thing. Here I am at 60, great family, successful career, never killed anyone (yet), happily retired with a full pension and I still remember this?
Oh well at least it provides content for another very short vignette.
So what does this have to do with the one positive comment on the report card?
Read on.
The Contest
The concept was that students would sign out books and record the start and finish date. Whoever read the most books won a prize. Simple enough right?
I do remember being really into the contest. I blazed through a lot of books – it must have been a really cool prize.
Thing is – I can’t for the life of me remember what the prize was. I guess it’s not that surprising – it was after all 50 or so years ago.
The Conflict
Cue the music! The epic battle begins – or not…
The abridged version is that the teacher couldn’t believe the number of books I was reading – after all I wasn’t exactly honor roll material. He decided something was amiss and decided to challenge me on a few of the books I’d read.
Passed that test gaining an apology and the positive note on the report card.
I don’t think I even won the contest though. Another student with a bit more focus and dedication beat me out. Remember – short attention span.
I know, a bit of a let down right. Nothing even worthy of crappy reality TV.
Dads not so secret weapon.
Little did I know than that my reading prowess would end up being a real hardship for my boys.
Why? Well both my children were prone to more than a bit of procrastination – sounds familiar, maybe genetics?
One in particular loved to hide assignments until the last minute and then miraculously complete them in record time. A particular favorite of his was book reports.
That’s when Dads skills came in handy. I would blow through the book in 20 minutes or less, review what he wrote, and then more often than not question if he had even read the book in the first place.
My wife June and I still remember my youngest stomping down the stairs muttering under his breath as he went to re read the book and answer the questions properly.
Fun times.