Thank You, Ms. Doring

Manasvi Chandra, Staff Writer
December 4, 2018

Ms. Doring is an English teacher who teaches freshmen. She also teaches regular and Honors English to sophomores. Although it has only been about three months since I have been a student of hers, her teaching in my English Honors class has had a significant impact on my reading and writing skills. I had been severely out of practice with writing analytical passages at the beginning of the year, so my first few writing assignments were very incomprehensive and messily organized. It was an extremely dire situation, and I knew it. Thankfully, Ms. Doring provided the guidance and tools that I needed, and my writing improved dramatically in only a few weeks. Although there is still much to work on, my compositions now have more structure and a cleaner format.

In contrast to my knowledge of my lack of writing skills, I had always thought I was a good reader. But to the surprise of me and my family, Ms. Doring’s detailed tests and quizzes proved these to be mere disillusions. What I’m really grateful about, though, is that Ms. Doring didn’t just crush my confidence; she was willing to sit down with me and discuss what I could do to get better. She told me that she thought I would benefit more from reading the text once or twice thoroughly rather than quickly reading it several times as I had been doing. I tried her idea and immediately started achieving higher scores on the pop quizzes.

Despite these amazing benefits, the part that I love most about her class is when we have discussions as a class. Ms. Doring encourages students to speak up and share their ideas, which creates a collaborative atmosphere in which various thoughtful interpretations are abundant. She asks questions that guide the students to the most accurate analyses without giving away the answer directly. Not only are these discussions fun and interactive, but they have also changed the way I look at literature and pop culture outside the classroom. Analyzing a passage as a class in this way helps me think about other texts and even movies more critically than I had been doing before.

Ms. Doring’s class is also very special because it’s one of the few classes that I enjoy despite an undesirable grade in it. In most classes in which I’m doing poorly in, I stress so much about the class that I end up hating the teacher and subject. Or, I might convince myself that I’m not good at that subject and give up on it completely, refusing to take any related classes in the future. English Honors is a different case. Of course, I would be happier if my overall grade was a bit higher than what it is right now, but my grade doesn’t affect my feelings and attitude towards the subject or teacher. In fact, it motivates me to work harder, learn more, and develop better study habits.

-Manasvi Chandra, 10, Pow Wow, Staff Writer