While serving as a building principal, I had many opportunities to read student assignments. One particular 5th grade writing assignment was to identify and write about a family member who was their role model. In my review of some student work I noticed that one African-American student had written about her aunt. The teacher wrote the following comments in red pen on the student's work; "What? This doesn't make sense!" As I read the essay I realized why it didn't make sense to the teacher. The student wrote about her "TeeTee" who would always talk to her and be there for her. "This student was scared because her aunt 'got the sugar.'"
This student had revealed an important part of herself to the teacher through her writing. This teacher had difficulty finding meaning in it. As a result, the student's worked was judged as unsatisfactory. A conversation with the student might have added clarity to these thoughts. A cultural informant might certainly provide a translation. TeeTee (the student's aunt) had been diagnosed with "the sugar" (sugar diabetes). This student's grandmother had recently died from complications of the same disease.
