Out of My Mind: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

In her dreams, Melody can do everything she can’t do when awake. She can walk and run, play, and sing. She has friends that she can speak to, and she calls them on the phone. In the morning she’s disappointed to face reality where she can’t walk or talk.

Back in the real world, Melody goes to elementary school and thinks back on all the classroom aides she has had over the years. Normally there’s one male aide to help the boys, and one female aide to help the girls. The aides take the students to the bathroom, help them eat, and wheel them around the school. Melody doesn’t think the aides make a lot of money, especially since they often quit their jobs, but she believes “they should get a million dollars. What they do is really hard.”

Keeping good teachers is hard, too, but in the second-grade Melody had Mrs. Tracy, who noticed Melody liked to read and gave her audiobooks to listen to during class. When Melody tossed books that were too easy on the floor, Mrs. Tracy understood and gave Melody more challenging books. After Melody had listened to something, Mrs. Tracy would quiz her on it, and Melody got every question right.

Melody’s third grade teacher, Mrs. Billups, was not good. Either Mrs. Tracy didn’t communicate the students’ needs to Mrs. Billups, or Mrs. Billups didn’t look at the notes, but she treated her students like babies, although they were seven or eight years old. She seemed to think teaching students with disabilities would be easy, which wasn’t true. She played lullabies and children’s songs every morning, over and over, and went over the alphabet, which Melody—who could read well—clearly already knew.

Eventually, Melody and the other students in H-5 became frustrated with Mrs. Billups treating them like they didn’t know or understand anything. One morning they all revolted; Maria threw crayons, and Melody screeched and cried until she had one of her “tornado explosions.” Mrs. Billups couldn’t control Melody or the class, so she called the principal and then Melody’s mother.

When Melody’s mother arrived she asked Melody what was wrong. Melody pointed to the alphabet mounted on the wall and her mother understood that Melody, and the other students in the room, were bored by the lessons. Melody’s mother confronted Mrs. Billups, and explained that it was frustrating for the students to be taught the same lesson day after day. Mrs. Billiups was defensive at first, but began to understand. Still, she told Melody’s mother that she was being unrealistic about her daughter’s abilities. Melody’s mother acknowledged Melody’s physical limitations, but continued to argue that she was intelligent, which Mrs. Billiups would know had she paid attention. The argument ended when Melody’s mother broke the CD with the children’s songs in half. All the students in H-5 were grateful, especially Melody.