1. What is your earliest memory of school?
Kindergarten. Mrs. O was VERY mean and had no business teaching children. She called me by a shortened version of my name (which NOBODY else used) for most of the year. I was a reserved child around adults and it took me until the spring to get up the courage to correct her. When I walked up to her and said, “Mrs. O, my name is [name],” she responded, “So?”
I slunk back to my seat without a word. On the upside, she did start calling me by my actual name after that.
And despite that being my earliest memory, I actually have liked school my whole life. Amazing.
2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?
Mrs. S taught the gifted class in 4th and 5th grade. She was awesome. She had an endearing nickname for each of the students, made learning fun and all that.
My high-school English teachers were outstanding. It’s no wonder I went on to be an English major in college. Mrs. M was a child of the ’60s who would have parties for us at her house. Mrs. P taught AP English, and I remember in my yearbook she wrote, “It’s rare to teach someone who loves the class as much as I do.” It’s true though–there were stronger students in the class, but I think I was passionate about the stuff we read like nobody else. The following year she voluntarily moved to a neighboring school for at-risk kids, teenage moms, and so on. She was the best.
3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?
One difference is that Christian holidays were celebrated back then as a matter of course. No others. You’re not going to get too much nostalgia from me on that. Christendom is over.
4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.
I learned Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, which led to this incident.
5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?
Most embarrassing moment was second-grade PE when we did a crab-walk race and I was wearing a short dress.
As for trouble, we had a fourth-grade teacher who had some sort of surgery during the year, and when she came back the pain medication made her totally loopy. For a bunch of nine-year-olds it was funny, sad and scary all at the same time.
One time in that class I was passing notes with a friend, in which we were talking about a third friend*, one of Mrs. P’s favorites. Mrs. P caught us and asked me to put the note on her desk, then continued teaching. As we went out to recess, my friend M convinced me to grab the note and throw it away. Later Mrs. P went looking for it and said, “Did you put that note on my desk?” I said, “Yes, I did.” She dropped the subject.
*Fourth grade is tough for girls. I was “in” one week, “out” the next–it was cruel. The pack mentality, turning on other girls–I’m still ashamed to have been a part of that. I was never the ring leader, but that’s no excuse. For my daughters’ sake, let’s hope that grace abounds. Because if it’s a karma-governed universe–we’re in trouble.
10 Responses to “back to school friday five”
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» I have been remiss in posting SBJ’s latest stats: 23 pounds and 27 inches at six months. Yes, I’ve got the big mama biceps.
» Aaaaaand little she-who-is lost another tooth this week!
» SBJ is four months old, 19 pounds 5 ounces, and 26 inches tall. GIGANTOR!
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I was never “in” in 4th grade, and I apparently blocked out most of the year!
Yes, grace, let’s hope.
For 4th grade, I was the new kid–so I was hopelessly “out”, and the teacher’s pet, to boot. That was one miserable year.
I was a new kid in 4th grade, too. With glasses and sensible shoes.
Love what you said about holidays.
If I blogged, I would have a lot of responses to this Friday Five.
The most important would be that none of my teachers liked me (my mom confirms this) until fifth grade, when I had Mrs. Jane Thompson. She was really unusual (esp. for my very conservative neighborhood.) She wore long, flowing caftan-type shirts and told the kids she was a witch! She had about 2 dozen pets and once wrote down the names of all of them for me. I hung that piece of paper in my room probably until I left for college.
Re: grace. I was definitely not “in” in elementary school. One time, a friend of mine told me she’d only invited me to spend the night because no one else could come.
Now I teach at the same elementary school I attended. All of the neighborhood parents want their children to be in my class. (I even have the son of a woman with whom I had a love/hate friendship as a child.) Poetic justice, indeed.
That pack mentality started even earlier for my daughter, third grade. It really didn’t end until she changed schools.
I dealt with it by sticking my nose in a book, but it was MUCH harder for her.
We all that that mean teacher. Being the guppies of the group sucked.
trying to work out how old 4th grade is.
Do you think peer pressure is today’s way of looking at *in* and *out* circles? If so my DD struggles too.
I read the link to #4 on Jabberwocky. I, to this day, love spelling and can spell most any word (well except some of those pesky ones on the famous National Spelling Bee. However, I still can’t remember how to spell broccoli…. or is it brocolli .. one of these days I will figure it out.
Have you ever met someone who says they were always “in” in school? All the people I know felt “out” or on the periphery. I can name who I considered the “in” girls to be all through elem. school. I wonder if they look back and think of themselves as “in” or if they felt “out” sometimes too.
What a good honest post. In or out then you sure are in now. Sorry you had some of the experiences you had then. And you are right about Christendom being over.