Dragons in My Classroom: A Teacher's Memoir

As a young book lover with dyslexia, Barbara found the solution to her reading struggles in Miss Gluding, her first grade teacher, who showed compassion for her student's plight--and knew how to help her. From that time on, Barbara knew what she wanted to be: a teacher, just like Miss Gluding.

Unfortunately, Barbara also had some bad teachers in the years that ensued--including her sixth grade teacher, an exacting woman who called attention to Barbara's learning disabilities in front of classmates. Still wanting to follow in Miss Gluding's footsteps in 1964, Barbara vowed she would be a better one than her sixth grade teacher; instead, however, she became very much like her, with unattainable expectations for her students and herself. After seventeen years in the teaching profession, she realized she had to either change her teaching style or change careers. By providence, right as she stood at this crossroads, she was offered the opportunity to teach overseas at The Dragon School in Oxford, England, for a year--an opportunity she jumped at.

In the year that followed, Barbara would rely on her faith in God to give up a lot of what she knew about teaching and learn to do it differently--ways that wouldn't have room for her perfectionism. In short, she would have to begin again.

Author: Barbara Kennard
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 06/14/2022
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.43w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9781647423650


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001

About the Author
Kennard, Barbara: - Barbara Kennard taught English and performing arts to elementary, middle, and high school students from 1980 to 2015 and has received two teaching awards: The Christa McAuliffe Award for Teaching Excellence and The Barbara Kennard Sixth Grade English Prize, established in her name at The Fessenden School by a Fessenden family. Barbara lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, pianist Brady Millican, and their cat, Piper.