Playing Up In Class

who	what	when	where	Why
Me Johnnie Kolio Mrs Mansfield	distraction talk dis/respect	today afternoon lunch time	school room 8	dis/respect naughty

“Giovanni, put your name on the board!”  Mrs Mansfield exclaimed as she sets timer on her watch awaiting our silence.  I stand out of my desk and walk down the class to the board trying not to notice the faces staring at me.

It felt shameful putting my name on the board. It was like writing my name on a list of criminals. I had done writing my name and Mrs Mansfield was staring at me. It was that “I expected more” kind of look. She walked over to me and spoke in an angry expression saying that I could earn my name off the board if I model good behavior. I sat down with those words engraved in my mind and pulled out my math book.

Trying my hardest not to create distractions towards my classmates, I put the date down. Little did I know that it was time for Spelling. As I gazed up waiting for further instructions everyone else had their spelling book out. My jaw dropped fast. I had to put it back on my desk before I get in trouble for not listening. Before I could throw my math book back in my desk, I was caught. Mrs Mansfield tilted her head, placed her hands on her hips and said to stay in at lunch break.

I stopped breathing for a while. I was pretty devastated. I couldn't stay in, I've waited long for basketball  and now I have to stay in. But I wasn't the only one facing the same fate. Kolio and Johnnie also had to stay in for similar reasons.

It seemed like forever doing work in class until the bell rang. It wasn't a huge excitement for me than it was for the others. It was more of  a scary moment wondering what I’d be doing at lunch. Prayer had just finished. Usually Mrs dismisses us first, but in this case she told Johnnie, Kolio and I that we have to stay in. And so it started.

After everyone left,  Mrs grabbed three sheets of paper and handed it to us. On the sheet of paper were three paragraphs defining the meaning of Respect. At this point I was confused. Reading something wasn't the type of consequence I expected. Unsurprisingly I was right. We not only had to read it but copy it on another piece of paper and in our best handwriting.

It sounded easy but I was really tired. My brain wasn't functioning well, I felt amazingly weak. I knew the handwriting I’d produce would be sloppy but I had to try. So without permission to start, My pencil landed on the paper and I began to write. It took me more minutes to finish then I thought. I made so many errors but I finally finished.

Kolio and I both handed our work to miss Mansfield with our fingers crossed. She looked closely at our work, then at us. She gave us a long stare. It was like she had more work for us. Luckily she didn't. After complementing our work and giving a little speech, she kindly let us go.

We walked out of class proud to have finished and thankful to have learnt about a deeper meaning of Respect and enjoyed our 10 minute lunch.