Quite a few years ago I had a conversation at my school (the school where I taught) with two other teachers about our elementary school experiences. So we're talking about school memories from the 1960s and 70s, maybe 80s. All three of us had memories of being bored, so bored, and so we were comparing what we did with our time until dismissal each day.
We each had managed our hours differently. I think that Amy read surreptitiously and Matt looked out the window. I made up stories. Usually about people who I also made up. Sometimes whole families. I would watch the second hand of the clock, each 360 degree turn marking a year in my fictional people's lives. A lot happened in my head - kids had adventures, babies were born, people disappeared and came back years later!
Surprisingly, my grades were not terrible, though not stellar either.
We moved from a very small town in Wisconsin to Connecticut right before I started junior high. It's tough time to start when you're new and have no friends yet, but I loved that new school. I did make friends, but I also had interesting, engaged teachers who made learning appealing and inviting.
I learned a lot, about the subjects being taught, but also about people. I had mostly teachers who really cared about their students and loved their subject matter. I remember interesting assignments in high school - I wrote a song in French for a French assignment and I read Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead for my project after reading Hamlet in my Humanities class. American history was organized by topic rather than being chronological - I remember we began the year looking at U.S. foreign policy, starting with Washington's farewell address. I campaigned for a candidate for a local office in Civics. And of course I played in the band and orchestra and learned music theory, even composing some music.
I still not a stellar student - I graduated in the middle of my class GPA-wise - but I had great experiences and learned a lot.
This really made me remember back to elementary school on boring days … To this day when it is a rainy day all day, I can absolutely remember the feeling of a day going on FOREVER, and just watching the rain drops out the window and most likely daydreaming for hours!
ReplyDeleteYes! recess outside was so important.
DeleteProof that teachers make the class. I attended catholic school for 12 years. Enough said. arjeha
ReplyDeleteThat's so true. The teachers I remember were either excellent and creative, or the opposite. I can't even think of a word to describe them. I think many of them meant well, but that didn't come through in their teaching.
DeleteBecky, this post shows how important the teacher and the class offerings are to a learner’s experience. I had excellent elementary teachers and mostly very good or excellent high school teachers, with a couple of exceptions. Importantly, my high school had a wonderful, progressive curriculum. I had dinner w/ one of my high school English teachers last summer, and we talked about how lucky teachers and students were during those years. She said the district was a fabulous place to teach back then.
ReplyDeleteI envy you getting to visit with your former teacher. I now live half a country away from my high school.
DeleteIn high school I remember creating and writing a menu for Spanish class, along with a love letter.
ReplyDeleteVery cool!
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