Dear Diary,
I have never written a diary before, but after my first couple days teaching the rowdy first graders of Maycomb County I decided this would be the only way to keep myself together. I am lonely, lost and I wish I had never left my home in Winston County, North Alabama. The children back home were respectful and well-mannered, but maybe that's how my class will behave once they have had me as their teacher for a while.
Scout, a cute intelligent little girl came into class already able to read very well. Later that day I caught her writing a letter during my lesson. I told her to tell her father not to teach her anymore, that's my job and if every first grader learned those things at home I would have nothing to teach them. I could tell Scout was frustrated and could not understand my reasoning, but she is gonna need to learn to trust my direction. What if someone at home taught her wrong and she became accustom to improper english? Or what if she learned so much that she felt there is no need to go to school at all? I encourage her to learn, but learn at school from a professionally trained educator. This was only the beginning of Scout's miss-behaving.
Walter Cunningham had no lunch and when I offered him a quarter to buy lunch he refused it. Scout told me that I was shaming him and that he didn't have anything to pay me back with, because he's a "Cunningham." This disrespectful comment was the last I could take from that girl. I gave her a few good whippings on the hand, to teach her a lesson. I hope the punishment wasn't too harsh, but at the time it didn't feel like enough. I was becoming impatient with her disrespectful attitude.
Scout turned out to be the least of my worries. The class later discovered that Burris had cooties. I asked him to go home, wash out the cooties and return the next day. Apparently he wouldn't be returning the next day and for that matter any day after that. The children explained to me that he was an Ewell. They only came the first day of every year to get their names on the roll, and then were absent the whole rest of the year. I told him to go home or I would call the principal. Burris responded with anger, called me a slut and said he didn't have to listen to anything I said. That was the last thing I could possibly take, I broke down into tears. The class comforted me and I was great full. Msybe this wont be so hard once I get use to all the ways of Maycomb County.
