Zibanejad: A Short Story

Mr. Zibanejad slowly handed back the English test to his grade 10 students. He was an experienced teacher, so making the students wait in dread for their most important test results of the year amused him. Scott Zibanejad chuckled to himself- he had been teaching for close to twenty years, yet he still didn’t realize why the kids fussed so much about exams. One student, in particular, felt very nervous. His name was Steven Steele. Steven was a bright student and did exceptionally well on his homework. Despite this, he struggled on tests and had a C average. He didn’t like the atmosphere of the classroom. Steven believed that classrooms were hot, claustrophobic, and loud, which in turn, made concentrating difficult. As Mr. Zibanejad handed back

Immediately, he headed out the door to where he usually did his homework, which was on the back porch. Steven lived in the countryside in a small 3-bedroom cottage with his parents. Unlike the classroom, there was no noise here, which made Steven feel at ease. After sitting his small 5’6 frame down, Steven whipped out his homework, and completed it in less than 15 minutes. If he was doing the same amount of work at school, the assignment would have taken him nearly an hour. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, but at the same time a sense of sullenness, Steven contemplated why he did well on his homework, but worse on tests. He pushed these thoughts aside, by simply thinking he wasn’t intelligent enough to score well on exams. With that, Steven went inside for

Zibanejad started handing back Monday’s English tests. One specific student had scored very well. Steven Steele. Steven had been allowed to complete his test outside, on a picnic bench. He had enjoyed writing the test outside in the fresh air. For once, he hadn’t felt confined to a classroom. He finished the 50 questions in less than half an hour. As Mr. Zibanejad handed back the tests, Steven felt unusually confident. When he received his test, he was astonished to see it read 47.5/50. Steven was ecstatic. Now he could write all his tests outside. Across the room, Mr. Zibanejad grinned at him. Steven beamed. Now Steven Steele knew his ideal classroom setting, and more importantly, established a method to be