My Teachers: Part 1

Sometimes in the mornings when I’m working through school books with Emry and Ethan I am reminded of my days in school. Having been in a public school from Kindergarten through 3^rdgrade and a private school in 4^thgrade, my earlier education looked different than my children’s as they plow through their daily work in Emry’s bedroom while Ellyson sees how much she can get into in the first three hours of her day. But there are other things that are not very different. After all, the alphabet hasn’t changed, and nor have the sounds of the letters. Numbers are the same no matter what you call “borrowing” when it comes to subtraction. And even though the world wants you to think so, pronouns haven’t changed either. They’ve just become much more vitally important than they were when I was memorizing them in 4^thgrade. But like myself, Emry doesn’t struggle with pronouns. We flew through those lessons!

 

Sometimes I think of my old teachers. Or of my old classrooms. Or of the kids I recall going to school with, because some were very memorable. I wasn’t the kid who got in trouble (although in 1^stgrade…well, Mrs. Steely didn’t let anything slip and I had disobeyed…), and nor did I find school especially exciting. I can’t say I found it boring, either, although I had teachers I preferred over others. Sometimes it’s hard to remember those days – it was over 35 years ago! – but other times I have very clear memories of some things. And they often make me laugh. Maybe because some of them are so very me…even though I hardly knew it when I was five.

 

Memories are things I often want to write down. I don’t know if my kids will care one way or the other one day (although Emry always loves to hear stories from when I was a girl), but I like to think they’ll find my memories interesting…albeit very old. So, I’m going to do a brief blogging series on my old teachers and classrooms. Those are pivotal days in one’s life, whether you care to acknowledge that fact or not. Especially 1^stgrade. First grade changed my life!