This morning students will be entering the building with anticipation and perhaps a little reluctance. I really can't remember my first day of school. I don't remember if I was scared, or even if there was any great "a-ha" moment when I began to read.
I do remember that I took a bus to school. My cousin Bob and I had to walk a long way after the bus dropped us off - a mile or so. One day he talked me into taking a "short cut" through a wooded swampy area. When I got home I had very muddy feet and an angry Mom. Dad had been driving up and down the road looking for me because he was going to take me with him when he got his haircut and they had no idea where we were.
I do remember that I had a silver and green lunchbox with a thermos and Mom made me baloney sandwiches and Campbell's Alphabet Soup everyday. One day she fixed something else and I was upset!
I do remember being able to go to the office to buy a big fat red or blue crayon for three cents each.
I do remember in the classroom there was a very cool puzzle that I loved. It was wooden, with bright colored shapes that could be put together in many beautiful patterns. I loved it so much that the teacher (whose name I can't recall) told me I had to share. I was embarrassed to have to be talked to that way and I never played with the puzzle again.
I do remember that we moved across the Puget Sound in the beginning of May and so I only had one month of school with Mrs Mayors, a teacher that I adored.
I do remember my mom telling me many years later that she had written my Great Aunt Kit telling her she didn't know how she was going to get school clothes together for me. My aunt sent a box of fabric and this is when Mom began her annual August sewing sessions.
I do remember that the dress I was wearing for my first grade school picture was pink with keystone cops running around.
I do remember that I had a silver and green lunchbox with a thermos and Mom made me baloney sandwiches and Campbell's Alphabet Soup everyday. One day she fixed something else and I was upset!
I do remember being able to go to the office to buy a big fat red or blue crayon for three cents each.
I do remember in the classroom there was a very cool puzzle that I loved. It was wooden, with bright colored shapes that could be put together in many beautiful patterns. I loved it so much that the teacher (whose name I can't recall) told me I had to share. I was embarrassed to have to be talked to that way and I never played with the puzzle again.
I do remember that we moved across the Puget Sound in the beginning of May and so I only had one month of school with Mrs Mayors, a teacher that I adored.
I do remember my mom telling me many years later that she had written my Great Aunt Kit telling her she didn't know how she was going to get school clothes together for me. My aunt sent a box of fabric and this is when Mom began her annual August sewing sessions.
I do remember that the dress I was wearing for my first grade school picture was pink with keystone cops running around.
We often impact a child's life without even knowing, positively or negatively.
I hope that I can be a Mrs. Mayors to my students this year.
I know this is going to sound crazy, but your post almost made me tear up. I truly try to remember the things that impacted me as a child (both positive and negative) and use those lessons to now impact me as an educator.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your new school year!
I hope that those students know that they are lucky to have you! Even if they don't, you have three daughters who know they were lucky to have you as a mother and a mentor!
ReplyDelete