Teacher Confessions: "Chillin" In The Barn

"Ms. Scelzo, why you always tell us to write about this stuff? It’s so hard. I don’t have no special place." Tyriq scowled. Ms. Scelzo, feeling like a failure once again, is frustrated when her students struggle to write about the topic she assigns. Why can’t these kids use their imaginations? Must be all those video games and too much T.V., she thinks to herself. In an attempt to help her students with their writing assignment, she tells them of a place where she spent so much time as a child. The big, old barn was her special place to get away and just "chill". She describes a much simpler time when life was more carefree, and time seemed to pass much slower. Ms. Scelzo realizes how lucky she was to have had this childhood and the reason her students struggle with some of the topics she assigns is not from lack of imagination, but because of a much different existence.