This Is About As Far Back As I Can Go

Thirty years ago? (This meme has been fun, by the way. You can also read about 10 years ago or 20 Years Ago if you like.)

Thirty years ago I was in first grade. My teacher's name was Miss Manuel and she had braces on her teeth. I remember her being nice. I went to Mrs. Fuller's class for reading and language arts. Our elementary school was all trendy back then and "open concept." I remember liking that as a child, but I don't think it was all that cool for the teachers. I went back to my elementary school my senior year of high school for an observation day. (I was in the future teacher's club and we could go observe one day in lieu of school.) I didn't even recognize the place because they had put walls up everywhere.

Our library was called the I.M.C. I believe that stood for "Instructional Media Center." I LOVED LOVED LOVED library day. We had whistle chairs we could sit in and I remember feeling so cramped that I could only check out one book. Later, when I was a teacher our students weren't even allowed to take books home! I remember catching a girl slipping her book in her backpack one day at dismissal time. Her eyes got huge when she knew I had seen her but I just winked. How can you say, "You may not read at home." Especially knowing that most of my students didn't really have books at their houses?

Anyway...the one thing I really, really remember about first grade was we made a 3-D map of our neighborhood for open house. Everyone saved their milk carton and covered it with constuction paper to make their house. Mine was yellow. Then we had to go over to the map on the floor and find our street to place the house in the right spot. Our school was made out of a shoebox. I totally did that activity with my 3rd graders. We invited the mayor of the little town I taught in to come see our work and he informed us we had city hall in the wrong place. Oops.

I had two big sisters, learned to roller skate that year, and loved school. But, first grade is not what it once was! The things I did in first grade my daughter pretty well covered in preschool and kindergarten. Also, every day on the playground was "boys chase girls day." I hated that!

Well, I have found it frightening that I can recall anything from 30 years ago--because that sounds like a really long time ago. My next posts will have to be more uplifting and youthful because now I feel just a bit old.