Tag Archive | Grade 8

Life-Changing Assessment

When I look back on my years in K-12 education, a number of experiences stand out as significant in terms of my development as a student, an educator, and a person. One such experience was Mr. Bergen’s assessment of work that was not assigned at all.

It was Grade 8. The year was 1992. And I was a very keen student. Even as a middle school boy intent on appearing cool, I enjoyed creative writing. I was equally fascinated by the growing number of software products emerging in the world of personal computers at that time: primitive word processors, spreadsheets, publishers, and games were all tantalizing. In the pre-internet world of computing, and with extremely few games at my disposal, I could amuse myself for hours by learning the features of these programs and creating content.

At some point, I started to play with a now-archaic publishing program called PrintMaster. This program allowed me to create headlines, manipulate columns, insert shapes, manage text, and add all sorts of unique fonts. It caught my imagination and sparked a vision: I was going to single-handedly publish a middle school newspaper.

Thrilled with my idea, I asked Mr. Bergen about it. If I wrote articles for a student newspaper, would he allow me to post it on the bulletin board? Even at 13 years old, I understood that this would be a risk for both of us. WIth just a little hesitation, he said yes.

What followed was magical. I wrote stories about my beloved hockey team, the Winnipeg Jets. I wrote stories about school sports teams, school spirit events, and events in the news. Because the personal computers of 1991 could not access pictures of any resolution, I cut out images from magazines and carefully pasted them into boxes in the columns I had created. I agonized over font styles and sizes, balanced page content carefully, used literary devices, and edited my work. True to his word, Mr. Bergen let me post several editions of my little newspaper on the bulletin board. Thankfully, my work was well-received.

Mr. Bergen could have shut down my little venture. He could have wavered at the prospect of unassigned writing and unpredictable content appearing on his bulletin board, and any messiness that could follow. But instead, he trusted me. He endorsed my creativity. He affirmed my passions. And by doing so, he solidified in me a love of writing and publishing that continues to this day.