School

Back to School Friday Five on Monday from RevGalBlogPals (via Ponderosas):

1. What is your earliest memory of school?
I remember the geoboards at Happy Time (co-op preschool and kindergarten). (If you don't know what a geoboard is, click here!) I still love making the rubber band shapes with the kids.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?
Mr. Fast, 2nd grade at Mary Eyre. We have the same birthday. If he caught you writing a note he would flip your pencil out of your hand. He called me "whip cream" (long story, but I didn't like whipped cream until high school) to differentiate me from the 5 other girls called Jen/Jenny/Jennifer in the class. To retaliate I called him "Mr. Slow". He taught us "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" ... when I didn't have 2 front teeth.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?
Not so many field trips. More assemblies. More music and art. The school had 2 computers. They weren't hooked up to the Internet (or even a BBS). We learned to program LOGO on them. We didn't use calculators for math until high school. Students were grouped by "ability" and there wasn't concern about hurting feeling because, well, the remedial kids needed remedial studies.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.
OF COURSE we memorized everything. My favorite was "Kings Play Cards On Family Grave Stones" (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?
When I was in middle school I slipped on the ice and my foot went down a grate (there was a missing bar). I banged up my knee (and my ego) pretty good but managed not to lose my shoe!