I remember a few stories from when I was in early elementary school. I suspect these are real memories and not just stories I was told. I would've been about as big as I was in the picture below:
I remember a few things from my Kindergarten year. I believe my teacher's name was Mrs. Cooper, but that memory is probably reinforced by the fact my little sister had the same teacher several years (and two moves) later. Since we did lots of cutting and pasting in Kindergarten, the trash cans got full rather quickly. I remember Mrs. Cooper stepping into the trash cans to get everything packed down so that they weren't overflowing by the end of the day. I also remember her telling us that she didn't like leftovers. She didn't want leftover food for lunch the next day and she definitely didn't want leftover students to be staying in Kindergarten for another year. We all passed to first grade.
I also remember a particular math class when I was in first grade. We had mastered beginning addition and were learning about carrying. The teacher told us to "always carry the one." For instance, when adding seven and eight in the ones column, the answer was fifteen and the rules was write down the five and carry the one. Always carry the one. I guess I instinctively understood place value and the fact that we were carrying a certain number of tens. I asked what would happen if it wasn't a one, and the teacher responded that it would always be a one that we would carry. I puzzled about it for a second and then realized that we were only adding two numbers at a time. Therefore the highest sum we could have was eighteen and would still need to carry a one. When I've taught my children carrying (or regrouping as we now call it), I think back to that math lesson and realize how little math we were expected to understand. We went through the motions, but often didn't really understand.
Isn't it funny how random our early memories can be. I'm sure I learned quite a bit in Kindergarten (and First Grade), but only a few crazy moments stand out in my memory.
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Great memory! Mine is Kindergarten as well...my teacher's name was Mrs. Lillian Smith. On the plaque on her desk, it said, "Mrs. L. Smith." I had taught myself to read when I was four, so on the first day of Kindy, I could already read her name. My mom asked me who my new teacher was (knowing her name already, but wanting to ask the "right" questions), and I said, "Merzzle Smith." It took my mom three days -- until she was in the classroom to speak to the teacher and saw the name bar -- to realize that I hadn't taught myself punctuation or initials, and had run it all together.
ReplyDelete"Merzzle!" That is funny, Meg, It sounds a little like the Disney princess on Enchanted.
DeleteSchool memories! I remember art lessons in 2nd and 3rd grade. My mom still has a painting of flowers in a vase from second grade. In 3rd grade, my teacher taught us how to draw a bunny by first making an oval in the air and then on the paper. I still remember how to do those ears, and it reminds me of muscle memory tasks for writing letters that work so well.
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