Grammar school memories

[Olympicnut]

Just pondering things from my grammar school days.

Those SRE reading comprehension cards that we were told to go through when we were all done with our regular classwork. I hated those things. It always seemed to take me forever to get through one set of colored cards before I was allowed to move onto the next set of colors. All I wanted to do was to get to aqua!

That 20 minute mid morning recess break. It was just enough time to eat a banana or a few cookies and shoot 3 baskets into the basketball net before we were called back into class. In reality it was the perfect amount of time for the teachers to ditch the kids and smoke a couple cigarettes in the teachers lounge.

Half days. Those rocked! You’d get to school and either have six 25 minute classes and go home at 12:15, or have four regular length classes and miss the 2 afternoon classes. Then there were those high heat days, usually in September, where we’d be sent home early because we had no air conditioned classes back then. Or the days where you’d be at school all day, but because the smog was so thick we weren’t allowed to play outside, just allowed to go get some water from the fountain and go back inside. I remember thinking if you were outside too long you’d drop dead of smog inhalation.

7th and 8th grade science projects (I went to Catholic school so 7th and 8th grade were a part of the whole grammar school thing). 7th was an animal that we had to do a whole report/presentation on; 8th was an astronomical topic. My planet was Saturn and my animal….the beaver. Ironic don’t ya think?

Being put into those reading and/or math groups basically dependant on whether you were smart, average, or lets face it, dumb – lol. Guess which one I was in? And they always had names like “the butterflies” or “the owls”. Talk about instilling segregation early! “I’m not playing with you you’re a butterfly!”

Free dress day. Since we had to wear uniforms every single day, free dress days rocked and were few and far between that’s for sure. Picture day stands out as one of the few, and the last day of school. If a grade “won” a fundraising event, winning a free dress day where your own grade got to wear whatever they wanted and the rest of the school had to still wear their uniforms was awesome!

Reading time. Usually this was in 1st or 2nd grade where the teacher would read a story. We’d have carpet samples donated to the school that we’d use as placemats to sit on on the floor. It was always a scramble to get the best color and fluffiest sample (remember this was the early 70’s, shag carpet ruled!).

Kids that barf in class. They were instantly and forever labeled as “the kid that barfed in English class”. Then the janitor would bring in the sawdust, then later clean it all up. To this day I cant smell sawdust without thinking of a kid that has barfed in class.

Ditto machines. Those were the best! And the paper was always cool and smelled like glue or something when dittos were fresh off the machine.


Anyway, these are a few of my memories. What are yours??

[Disneyland Daddy]

My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Buchman.
Milk and graham crackers.
Recess
Jump Rope
Bullies
PE
My first girlfriend - fellow first grader Shelly Amezcua - it lasted from Morning Recess until afternoon recess. We held hands all day and I kissed her forehead.

In Kindergarten I met a girl - Fall 1976. We were 5. She and I are still friends to this day -almost like brother and sister. In fact, we just got a package from her in the mail - a gift for my wife for her baby-shower this Saturday. We've been friends for 30 years. Wild to think about that - that I, who will be 35 later this year have had a friend for 30 years.

Wild.......

[OogieBoogie]

Getting 'married' in 2nd grade to the ministers daughter (I went to a Lutheran school. The experiences I saw there quickly soured me from organized religions).

In 3rd grade being taught in a school of 4 other kids, and having to sit at a table for 4 hours because I refused to eat the tomato the teacher gave to me.

4th grade being stuck at the top of a Victorian house that was converted into a school. We had a earthquake and it shifted the building enough that the door jammed.

5th grade, playing dodge ball and raiding the leftovers that the school had after lunch was served. Twords the end of the school year I got into a fight with my social studies teacher because I knew more about history than she did. Being woken up by my science teacher (he had a nasally voice and droned) in his science class. Being kicked out because of my uncles' antics.

6th grade.. my first time in public school. It was quite a shock to go from 5-10 kids per grade to 300+ per grade.

I guess that's kinda why I'm against private or home schooling. While I got a better education, I lacked the social interaction that comes with public schools. It took me a few years to catch up, but even then I was still made fun of for acting immature until after high school.

[Hyperbole]

Onud, I think you mean SRA reading cards.... they still use them in private schools! https://www.sraonline.com/

Here's a memory from kindergarten (100% true story):

We were painting pumpkins for Halloween, and the little girl next to me was busily painting ROUND green stems on her pumpkins. I told her how wrong she was and told her that pumpkin stems were rectangular and that her pumpkins looked like orange and green snowmen.

She got mad and said that square stems were stupid. To which I replied, "no, you're stupid, they're rectangular, not square." I then proceeded to try and take her brush away so I could "fix" her round pumpkin stems.

Yeah, I had no recess that day.

I was a pain in the a$$ even at 5.

[Disneykat]

Kindergarten: the luau that we did. i was so cute they put me on the front page of the Anaheim bulletin!!!!

1st-3rd grade- i was one of the best readers in class. I read at a 3rd grade level at the beginning of 2nd grade. me and this one asian kid.......just the two of us in our reading group. and when we breezed through the book, we breezed through SRA and they had no clue what to do with us. SRA ruled and my best friend was jealous of me because I was so good at reading and spelling and she SUCKED.

5th grade- not much...i was a trouble maker. Called my teacher a *****. i was a bad kid. I regret saying that to him.

6th grADE- My teacher looked like Kenny Loggins and we thought he was having an affair with the teacher in the class next door. But they did snow day, bubble day, Pee Wee Herman Day, etc.....oh and we got to spend the night at the school and wake up at the butt crack of dawn to look for Haley's Comet. THAT rocked.

[Hakuna Makarla]

First grade..... remembering what my mother taught me.... never use any bathrooms besides the one at home. little did I know she meant bathrooms at stores or other public places..... I held my bodely functions all day and barely made it home every day. until one day I about blew my bloomers out and the teacher said.... why do you not go to the restroom here" because my mom said they were germ infested and never use public restrooms" she calls mom and mom gives me the ok to use the school potty.

Second grade I got a real fancy pair of boots , and we were very poor so these boots were like the best treasure ! Ok I peed in them the first week I got them because I did not make it to the bathroom on time, and yep I wore those boots for 6 as we were to poor to get new ones. Man them boots smelled so bad my class mates and teacher begged me to keep them on. my nick name piss n boots.

Third grade..... awwwww yes, I had a teacher who did not understand me, and would dig her nails into my shoulder every time I moved. I was ADHD and in them days no one knew it was that, it was thought to be bad parenting So I was so out there and moved and talked that she practically dug my should off me.

Fourth grade, awwwww yes, the wonder grade. this is where I had perfected my class clown technique and became what was known as bait.
Yep, every time my teacher talked I repeated her words, I baited her all day, and landed into the principals office at least 3 times a day.

Fifth grade, omg the first time I got the paddle and dragged by my desk to the office where I was told to bend over and got 4 wacks.
My mom was called, and when she heard some man beat my butt she was there in five minutes and litlerally grabed him by the throat and preceeded to tell him she was going to kick his *** if he ever laid his hand on me again. and she shoved him to the wall ( that was the day I was known as" the kid whos mom beat up the man"

Sixth grade, my first boy friend ( a bad boy from the bad part of town) lots of kissing ..... and the first fight I had with the new girl in class.
I was the queen of the room, and yes, she showed up and tried to take over my turf, little did she know I was going to take her down! we met up the street at the ice cream parlor, we fought, pulled hair, kicked, and scuffed and decided "we would both be queens of the room!

OMG, 7th grade at a catholic school.... now those were the best times muwuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!

[alphabassetgrrl]

First grade my teacher had amazing long black hair. She'd read to us while we played with her hair. I had a friend who lived around the corner. There was a tree in the yard that was perfect for climbing.

Then we moved. Now I'm the outcast. I learned to find solace in books. Fourth grade, I'm the smart kid who's not afraid to show it, and everybody hated me. A boy told me he "liked" me and I literally had zero clue what that might mean.

My fifth grade teacher went away for a while. He came back and we were so glad to have him, we wrote welcome messages on the white board. He walked in, looked at the board, and disappeared again. We heard later he had a nervous breakdown.

[stinkerbell]

It took me a few years to catch up, but even then I was still made fun of for acting immature until after high school.

I must have missed that slight moment when you acting mature, Oogie! Or did you mean they waited until after high school to make fun of you. Cause that might make more sense.

Onut, grammar school? Really? Are you that old? Cause I went to elementary schools. My parents, though, went to grammar school.

Oh! I loved the SRA books. My whole goal in life was just to kick their butts all the way through them. I hated being told just to do one page at a time. Stupid rules!!

Elementary School Memories:

Kindergarten: My sister was born in November and I had a double ear drum rupture and spend a lot of time in pain and at the doctor. My dad snuck me off to get my ears pierced as a treat.

That winter, my little boyfriend in my class, Jacob, drowned.

1st grade: I pretended all year to know Spanish in order to speak to the one kid who didn't speak English.

2nd grade: Timed addition tests. I lived for them.

3rd grade: I was on vacation when school started, so I missed the first week or two, when the kids were tested and put into reading groups. The groups were Eagles, Tigers and Bears. I tested high, so the teacher made the announcement, "Claire....you're a Bear!" And the whole class laughed....I was forevermore Claire Bear. I still am to my best friend who was in that class.

4th grade: My teacher gave me Bridge to Terabithia as a gift, and it's still one of my all-time favorite books. My eight year old just finished it the other day and we had a good cry together.

Also, a girl name Kelli threw up all over the place on the first day of school, and a boy named Bruce backed his bootie into a window and it BROKE.

I was also tested and put into the Gifted program that year and it changed my life. Got to work at my own pace finally, and had a ton of enrichment classes.

5th grade: I found out I had two boyfriends. Apparently someone wrote a note to me asking me to go with him, and it was intercepted and answered without my knowledge. We had a full-on relationship for weeks that I knew nothing about, so imagine my confusion when I actually DID receive a note from someone else and became his girlfriend and suddenly there were people mad at me for having two boyfriends. Mature relationships, those were.

Also, in fifth grade, my teacher died of lung cancer. She was diagnosed mid-year and left in the spring. She died May 2, 1984. I really loved her. I still do. It was a sad year, no child should ever have their teacher die, it was SO awful.

Sixth grade: First year of switching classes. My friends in both classes all devised code names and we left each other notes every SINGLE day, a dozen notes, hidden in each other's lunchboxes under our desks.

[Xharryb]

Well I'm a little fuzzier and not quite as organized as most of you with my memories, but I'll share a few..

My kidergarten teacher hated me. I always got in trouble, often for no good reason. The theory to this day is that it was because I was so smart. She didn't have much to teach me and therefore didn't know what to do with me. So I got in trouble. I hated her.

I remember when our school adopted Manatees. My classes Manatee was named Howie. I bought a stuffed Manatee and named him Howie also. There was some guy that came to school and did a parady version of a Simon and Garfunkle song based on saving the Manatees.

I remember getting to go outside on clear days to watch space shuttle launches. I also remember being on a field trip the day of the Challenger disaster. It upset me because I was really into the space thing at that time.

I remember going to the library to watch films (the big scary projector type) of Curious George and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Hobbit. Good times.

I remember getting in trouble. This usually meant a spanking with the principals big wooden paddle (when that still legal) followed of course by another spanking from mom when I got home. Mom tried to spank me in the bathroom once, I moved, she almost broke her hand on the toilet.

Fourth grade I wanted to be in class taught by my friend's mom. She was everyone's favorite teacher. Instead I was put in a mixed 3rd/4th grade class with a crappy teacher who spent more time with the 3rd graders than with us. I transfered out to the school where my mother worked for the second half of the year. To this day, people there recognize me and I have no idea who they are. Creeps me out.

5th grade i was finally considered old enough to walk/bike ride to the school closest to home. I didn't fit in very well there because most of the kids were snotty and came from families with money. It was the beginning of a crush that lasted all the way through high school though. Nothing ever came of it.

[FrumiousBoojum]

I
Kindergarten: My sister was born in November and I had a double ear drum rupture and spend a lot of time in pain and at the doctor. My dad snuck me off to get my ears pierced as a treat.

Your ears were in pain, so your father treated you to some more ear pain?

Kindergaten: Mrs. McFarland. We had only half day classes for kindergarten at that point. My favorite days were when we did stuff with the Letter People. Mrs. McFarland was about 358 years old. Somehow, she became the richest kindergarten teacher in history. Every year, she took a trip to some place in the world. I remember her trips to Africa quite well -- mostly because somebody asked what that thing was hanging down from the zebra.

I still don't know how she did it on the teacher's salary.

Then there was Charlotte. She asked me to marry her. I said yes because I didn't know better. I didn't know it was acceptable to tell somebody that you barely know "No." However, she stole my cookie, so the wedding was off. Mostly because that was the first of MANY times that her mother pulled her out of school. She's now a butch lesbian.

1st Grade Mrs. Beebee was the teacher, but there was a really old woman that was the assistant. We all hated to be near her. Not only was she a big grouch, she also reeked of menthol cigarettes and minty gum. Like that's going to help.

2nd Grade Uhm... what was her name? I think it was Mrs. Drew. Not totally sure anymore. She was nice. Nothing major happened that year. I got an F in reading that year. For some reason, she thought I couldn't read!

3rd Grade Mrs. Weber was my teacher. My sister had her. She was still there as of at least a couple years ago. But I was in the advanced reading class, so I had to go to another teacher. I can't remember what her name was! It was something like Turtango. Everybody hated her. Her name sounded like Turantula, so we all called her Mrs. Turantula.

4th Grade I had Mrs. Francis. She was a good teacher. She would take the good kids to her home and fix them lunch! Can't do something like that anymore... meanwhile, in another class, Mrs. Calender is fired because she got too fed up with Charlotte and slapped her across the face.

We also had the worst substitute EVER this year. She sent most of the kids home crying, yelled at me because I wasn't doing my work at the speed she wanted! I always had to take home tons of unfinished work in that class... for some reason, nobody ever noticed my mind working slower than everybody else and nobody noticed that I had ADD.

5th Grade Mrs. Francis again. She got turned into a 4th/5th split class. That's a bit difficult for any teacher to do. But she did it. This is about when things started going downhill for me.

[thejoshualee]

I give to you :The Mr. M song

I'm Mr. M
With a munching mouth
I'm Mr. M
With a munching mouth
My mouth goes: munch munch munch
My food goes: crunch crunch crunch
I munch from midnight to morning
Morning to midnight
I'm Mr. M
With a munching mouth
Meatballs, Macaroni
Marmalade I adore
Muffins, matzah, and Margarine
more and more and more and more!!!

(repeat)

[All Aglow]

Hmm, I moved a lot as a kid. And I mean, a lot. So, it's all kind of a blur. I do remember that I was Teacher's Pet in 1st grade.

In Kindergarten, the babysitter's son was in my class and he failed. He also took the bathroom pass one day and went home. Another day, he took the bathroom pass and just went wandering around post - we were in Germany and the housing was right outside of the main gate to the military base - so we were all looking for him for hours. He ended up being found standing in line at the chow hall like he did it every night. Weirdo. I also remember that once someone hit me while we were on our way to another class (music? art?) and I got busted hitting her back, so I'm the one who got in trouble. The teacher took me back to my classroom and left me there the entire period. WHAT was she thinking? The damage I could have done in there alone. Anyway, I didn't do any damage but I did pee my pants because I was too chicken to go to the restroom without permission. Another time, I yanked a chair out from under a girl because the teacher had moved us around and she sat next to my boyfriend in my old spot. BRAT!

First grade, teacher's pet, again. But I do remember us all standing in line to come in from recess and for some reason, we were all kicking each other. I went to kick someone but instead put a hole in the side of his Scooby Doo lunchbox. I got in BIG trouble for that one! We moved after that but years later when we went back to visit someone, my 1st grade teacher just happened to be going by with her husband and she jumped out of her car while it was still moving to come and give me a hug.

2nd grade I don't remember much except that our school in Fort Carson, Colorado had this open thing where each classroom had a door to the outside but also had doors going from each of the classes on the side. But they were just openings, not actual doors, so you could hear all the classes around you all day. You could actually walk anywhere in the school without going into a hallway by passing through each classroom.

3rd grade, back to Germany. There was this girl who was most popular and cute and I remember being happy that she spoke to me the first day but that was the end of that. This is also the year I had to start wearing a bra and got glasses.

4th grade, there was this boy I sat next to that we would talk ALL day. We finally got separated and he came up later and asked if I'd "go with him." First official boyfriend? I remember my babysitter's daughter, who was years older than us, joking with him that I said I didn't like him and he believed her and that was the end of us. What I remember most was that you had to either like Michael Jackson (Thriller album had just come out) or Culture Club. I could never admit that I liked both.

Where I lived 5th grade was in the Middle School so I went there for that year. My teacher was in the Army Reserve and was a total witch. She used to make us stand in the hall with our right hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us and we also had to walk like that. Our right arms would be so sore by the end of some days. Once, I skipped German class and hung out in the bathroom with my friend the entire period. SO busted because everyone kept coming in there and told on us.

6th grade, we moved to Kansas and I was back in Elementary school. It was a pretty uneventful year, actually.

[Xharryb]

What I remember most was that you had to either like Michael Jackson (Thriller album had just come out) or Culture Club. I could never admit that I liked both.

I was so proud of my Thriller cassette tape that I carried it with me everywhere. Some kid tried to steal from me, but of course I was the one who got in trouble because I wasn't supposed to have it at school anyway.

[MandaBella]

K: Mrs. K was the teacher and I was in the AM class. And I recall throwing a fit because we had to line up according to height with the tall kids in front and the shortest kids in the back for the class photo. I recall stomping my feet and declaring I was NOT the shortest kid in the class. It didn't work, and I'm still bitter about it. Also since I am a September birthday, I had the first bday party of the year. My mom made these really awesome cupcakes inside of ice cream cones that went over extremely well. No one else had cool birthday cupcakes like mine and every birthday party we had in that year, they asked when the ice cream cone cupcakes were coming.

1: Mrs. Scherer. I recall not liking her and thinking she was strict. However, she actually remembered me when I graduated from high school and sent me a card congratulating me. Amazing after all these years...
Also, I couldn't tell the difference between my right hand and my left hand and ending up using the wrong pair of scissors for weeks becaue the kid next to me was left handed and I wasn't. I picked left cause he did. D'OH! My reading group was: Superman.

2: Mrs. Straw. SHE ROCKED!!! Loved her, she was really sweet and I learned a lot. Every week we'd get happy grams on Fridays to reflect our behavior during the week. Well, I collected these dang things like they were gold. The little smiley face stamps apparently motivated my little behind! LOL This teacher was so good, she was able to have 3 student teachers during the school year one right after another. Reading group: Space Invaders

3: Mrs. Bruce. She died of cancer a year or two after we left. We were her last class. She was nice, but not as nice as Mrs. Straw. I don't recall my reading group, but I do remember have Mr. Police for math. He put the fear of god into you and didn't think about NOT doing your math homework. Eventually, he moved me up to a higher math group to Mrs. Edwards...which is when I stopped doing my mathhomework becaues she didn't scare me like Mr. Police.

4: Mr. Rash: HATED HIM!!! I thought he was so mean and strict. And we had to write all the dang time...irritated the heck out of me. We all assumed his boyfriend was a 5th grade teacher named Mr. Wilson, who was nice. I think this was the first year we had to acutally try out for choir, I got it and stayed there until I graduated from high school.

5: Mr. Ziejewski He was fairly young, late 20s when I had him. He was ill when we were there. We didn't quite know what he had at the time. He was everyone's favorite teacher. He taught social studies and was my homeroom teacher. This was the year we had to start changing teachers for every subject. Anyhow, back to Mr. Z....he took us to DC, which was an awesome filed trip. Like I said, he was ill a lot so we had substitutes more often than any other year. Later on, I learned he had AIDS as well as cancer...he died before I got to high school.

OH!! And this was the year my school caught on fire in November and we had to get re-assigned to other schools. Well 5/6 of my school got assigned to one elementary school with extra space, but guess what...I was in that group and got stuck at another school with the remaining 1/6 of the school. We felt isolated from the rest of the school. We didn't get back to our school until APRIL!! And, we only got 2 fire days. And most of the damage was due to water. I was sooo glad I didn't leave anything of value in my school locker, because most of things were ruined...including our textbooks. My locker mate's violin got destroyed. This was also the year we had Tiny Town. In Tiny Town, we had to make things and sell them and we were to learn about economics. It was fun, but learned I needed to stay away from business.

6th grade was the beginning of middle school for me. Though I wonder....why do some school districts make 6,7,&8 middle school whereas others only include 7 and 8? Anyone know? In my area, it has been done both ways.

[thejoshualee]

I pulled the fire alarm in Kindergarten. Back then all the grades to 12 went to school in the same building complex, so everyone was evacuated.

No one ever found out.