Elementary School Memory Challenge

How many of you remember elementary school? I would like to challenge everyone to write one or two memories from each year you were there.

I teach Kindergarten and first grade. Sometimes I want to say to myself, "These kids aren't going to remember this anyway." But that's not true. I still remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Durhaps, and when we churned butter. If someone were to play her in a movie, it would be Sally Field.

I remember my first day of first grade, when we practiced writing capital "M." Once, I was almost spanked. I remember being in line in the hall to get spanked. I can't imagine what I had done; I was perfect. LOL One kid would go in the room, get spanked, cry, and then the line would move. Next kid would go in. For some unknown reason, when it came to my turn, the teacher did not spank me, and I never asked why, and I was never in the spanking line again. Also, in first grade, I was given whale meat to eat. It was served on a paper towel. Came in a can, like tuna. Some of it got on my desk, and I swore to my mother all year that my desk still smelled of whale meat. Sometimes even today, I can still smell it. Also, in first grade, I was in the slow reading group, until they found out that I needed glasses, and, wow, then I could read fast! If someone were to play Mrs. Armbrister, it would be a heavy Estelle Getty.

Second grade - Sitting under a tree, listening to Mrs. Reagan read "Charlotte's Web", which I happen to be reading to my class right now. Man, she was old even back then, and she lived a lot longer. There is no actress alive who could play her, she was that old. Also, she was a World Book Encyclopedia salesperson, and I remember being horrified when she showed up at my house and sold my parents a set of encyclopedias. I have to thank her, though. We used those encyclopedias for years and years. They were a great investment back then.

Third grade - there was a boy in my class who was a dead ringer for John F. Kennedy, Jr. That year was an absolute joke. I got sent to the principal's office (me and the boy) because there was a dog on school property. The girls tried to put it into the girls' bathroom because they thought it was a girl ( I know, how naive); the boys were tugging at it, trying to get it into the boys' bathroom because they said it was a boy. Somehow in all the tug-of-war between lots of girls and boys, a girl's head hit a post, and he and I were blamed. Just the two of us were sent to the principal, and when we got there, she told us to march back to class, that our teacher shouldn't be sending us there for something like that. If someone would play her, Mrs. Mayfield, it would be Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker. She was a dingbat.

Fourth grade - moved to a new house and school. It was rough. The first "C" I ever made in my life, in science. Man, was I ever in big trouble with my dad. Supposedly, I was accelerated, so my teacher let me go to a third grade class downstairs and read to the kids. I think she was just trying to give my self-esteem a boost, because let me tell you, that was the year that I started feeling really bad about myself. Also, that year, I had to write 100 times, "I will not play on the pile of sand while my teacher is away."

Fifth grade - that was the year we started "switching classes" for math, social studies, and reading, so I actually had four teachers. Our school received a microscope that would project on the wall, and one of my teachers was in charge of that machine. I got really tired of looking at amoebas and parameciums (sp?). Also, that year we studied the Tasaday cave people in the Phillipines. I was obsessed with them. National Geographic did a HUGE campaign about them. Now, I am sad to say, the Tasaday were a total hoax. Google them if you want to learn more about it. Very interesting. If someone were to play my homeroom teacher, it would have to be someone classy; she always wore business suits and heels.

And, finally, sixth grade - Mr. Jones. Hmmm, he thought that me and this girl named Shelly were the smartest in the class and made us enter the spelling bee. Instead of playing outside, we had to study every day. Shelly was a Jehovah's Witness and would not pledge to the flag. She was teased a lot for that. I was her only friend. It was also in this class that I started my cycle. How embarrassing, to start your period in a man's class; but teaching sixth grade, I guess he was used to that. LOL If someone were to play him, it would be Morgan Freeman.

So I really can remember my elementary years, and I think a lot of my students will, too. I try to make each day of school fun and worth getting up for. Who would play me in a movie? Haha. Don't tell me; I don't want to know.