HOW I MISSED OUT WEARING THE DUNCE CAP IN SECOND GRADE

As a young child, I was sick a lot and missed so much school. It made me feel like a new student whenever I came back to class. It felt like I had to fit in anew. In second grade I was back in class after a two week absence. I always tried to look around to see if there were any changes in the room or sitting arrangements. This time I noticed a new stool at the front of the room with a cheerful yellow pointed hat sitting on it.

We were working at our desks on a reading assignment when the teacher asked for our attention. As I looked up from my desk, there was Tommy sitting on the nice stool wearing the colorful cap. I thought that this was surely some honor to be sitting up in the front of the room wearing that pretty cap. Perhaps Tommy was being honored for his reading ability. I thought; “I can read well.” Then she asked if anyone else wanted to sit there and wear the cap. I raised my hand. When she saw me she said; “Oh Anitra! Put down your hand. You don’t want to be sitting there! It‘s the dunces stool!” Then I realized it wasn’t an honor to be there and she wasn’t really asking for volunteers.

I didn’t know what a dunce was until that day. I learned it was a good idea to just keep a low profile after coming back from a long absence. It would also be better to listen and observe before making a comment. I was momentarily embarrassed, but I thought that since I hadn’t been there when the dunce chair/hat was explained, I could forget my awkwardness. No one teased me about my blunder.