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Personal Narrative: A Class Divided

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When I walked into Mr. Clayton’s class last year on the first day of school I laughed when he said, “I’m going to teach you how to read.” Little did I know he wasn’t kidding. I was a little intimidated taking his class because in my previous freshman year I was in non-honors English 1. All my life I’ve had trouble interpreting and really understanding beyond the general storyline. The first thing Mr. Clayton talked to us about was learning the deeper meaning behind things and I started to get genuinely worried because I knew this wasn’t my strong suit. English was never my good side; I’ve always been a math and science type of person. I began to ask myself, “why did I decide to take honors?” When I look back on the beginning of that year to the end, my confidence in inferring and just being able to get more out of a story skyrocketed. Without really telling me, Mr. Clayton taught me, in the simplest terms, not to give up. This inability to understand was almost like a learning disability for me and he really made me realize I could overcome anything. His class and him as a person has made me a better reader and I can see it through things that happen in my daily life. Whether I’m doing my homework, taking a test, or just listening to music on the radio Mr. Clayton has completely …show more content…

The reason I didn’t do to well on elementary school reading tests wasn’t simply because I was lousy at reading comprehension, I could never understand what the question was asking. I dreaded reading tests. Low 70’s on tests in my house were awful and cry worthy. After taking Mr. Clayton’s class, I’ve definitely improved. I can tell what the question wants me to pick and which answer is the most correct. When I took my ACT’s, I wasn’t clueless like I thought I was going to be and actually was able to go pretty quickly through all the english sections. Test taking is a whole new experience thanks to Mr.

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