Personal Narrative
Okay, so after reading everyone else's posts in my group this week I missed the assignment! Which isn't surprising with how much trouble I found I had with internet/blackboard/? last class... So here I go again, for a quick personal narrative about elementary school.
My parents divorced half-way through my kindergarten year and I switched schools, due to custody ruling changes and moving from my mom's to my dad's. I guess you could say the adjustment wasn't easy for me... As I struggled to get to know other students through kindergarten, but my teacher was pretty great. She was a kind and effective teacher from what I can remember. I remember not liking nap time, and being in class with my babysitter's son.
First grade, my teacher was a little rough... not my favorite, although I loved the smell of her perfume. I started to get in trouble a lot for talking in first grade. Hmmm... My teacher had a very strict rule about not interrupting her while she was talking to other teachers or adults... Unfortunately one such instance was when we were in the middle of a spelling test I think.. maybe a math quiz? Hmm...? Well, anyway I had to use the bathroom really bad, but didn't want to go in the middle of class, especially not during our test. Well, during our quiz/test, I finally worked up the courage to get up and go ask her to go, or things were going to get serious pretty soon... we're talking "emergency" here. And well in walks another teacher... Ugh. They proceeded to chit chat while I stood beside her desk.. at one point I began to interrupt and she cut me off and told me to wait... so I did, until finally I experienced a sudden loss of sensation and then warmth.... and then wet. Upon realizing what was happening, I shouted out. "MRS.. B*****, (not the word you're thinking of, her last name) I PEED MY PANTS." In a very strong declarative statement. She stopped talking at once and ran over to me, and picked me up under the armpits and toddled me off to the nurse's office to wear a pair of sweatpants for the rest of the day... Hmph. Ha.
Second grade, I was still having a hard time. I had not quit got the hang of reading and so started going to another class for brief periods of time during the day to work on it, and math. Fun. I knew enough to know that it wasn't a positive thing for me.
My teacher was one of my favorites that year. She was the "best" second grade teacher out of my three options I knew of, and I loved almost every minute in her class. We students got special privileges and/or jobs during class and one was the "pink pad" ... I just remember the phrase carried a level of great importance - I think it was writing people's names down who weren't working for "recess time" or time lost at recess "sitting out." My favorite job, when I wasn't preoccupied thinking about the "pink pad" was watering and cleaning up her plants. These plants took up the entire back half of the classroom, and made our room more like a greenhouse than anything. I loved it back there... and I was known to go back to the back of the room several times a day and just start cleaning up and taking care of the plants.. to the point I had to be told to go back to my seat on more than one occasion. Well, on the last day of class as we were lining up as a class to leave, Ms. R******** (by the way us kids had an ongoing debate about weather her hair was really real or a wig mind you... it was exactly the same up-do every day... but this didn't take away from her many merits as a teacher) came over to me and gave me a tiny spider plant to take home with me for the summer. Ya-HOOoo! Best day every!
Third grade, Mrs. H***, taught me multiplication using "car races" on the bulletin board, in which we each got to design our own paper car. Fun, albeit hard, but fun times. I can't say enough good things about her as a teacher! Still going to "special" reading and math time...
Fourth grade, Ms. ? Can't remember her name now, uh oh, but provided us the incredible "lit set" material I shared about in my earlier post, and I think we did a really cool social studies project in her class that year too! Oh! AND got to incubate and watch baby chicks hatch in class in a neighbor classroom for science!
Fifth grade, not a great teacher again that year, worse than first grade. And a new boy moved to town. A cute new boy! Band, love/d band... cute boy played the drums. Our (home-room), yes we starting rotating rooms more this year, some last year) teacher, the one I mentioned wasn't my favorite, ate a lot of sweets in front of us in class, like candy-bars... made it hard for me to concentrate. And we memorized the presidents names in social studies this year to the tune of a song... Oh and had the mighty social studies STATES AND CAPITALS TEST... or was that 6th grade...?
My parents divorced half-way through my kindergarten year and I switched schools, due to custody ruling changes and moving from my mom's to my dad's. I guess you could say the adjustment wasn't easy for me... As I struggled to get to know other students through kindergarten, but my teacher was pretty great. She was a kind and effective teacher from what I can remember. I remember not liking nap time, and being in class with my babysitter's son.
First grade, my teacher was a little rough... not my favorite, although I loved the smell of her perfume. I started to get in trouble a lot for talking in first grade. Hmmm... My teacher had a very strict rule about not interrupting her while she was talking to other teachers or adults... Unfortunately one such instance was when we were in the middle of a spelling test I think.. maybe a math quiz? Hmm...? Well, anyway I had to use the bathroom really bad, but didn't want to go in the middle of class, especially not during our test. Well, during our quiz/test, I finally worked up the courage to get up and go ask her to go, or things were going to get serious pretty soon... we're talking "emergency" here. And well in walks another teacher... Ugh. They proceeded to chit chat while I stood beside her desk.. at one point I began to interrupt and she cut me off and told me to wait... so I did, until finally I experienced a sudden loss of sensation and then warmth.... and then wet. Upon realizing what was happening, I shouted out. "MRS.. B*****, (not the word you're thinking of, her last name) I PEED MY PANTS." In a very strong declarative statement. She stopped talking at once and ran over to me, and picked me up under the armpits and toddled me off to the nurse's office to wear a pair of sweatpants for the rest of the day... Hmph. Ha.
Second grade, I was still having a hard time. I had not quit got the hang of reading and so started going to another class for brief periods of time during the day to work on it, and math. Fun. I knew enough to know that it wasn't a positive thing for me.
My teacher was one of my favorites that year. She was the "best" second grade teacher out of my three options I knew of, and I loved almost every minute in her class. We students got special privileges and/or jobs during class and one was the "pink pad" ... I just remember the phrase carried a level of great importance - I think it was writing people's names down who weren't working for "recess time" or time lost at recess "sitting out." My favorite job, when I wasn't preoccupied thinking about the "pink pad" was watering and cleaning up her plants. These plants took up the entire back half of the classroom, and made our room more like a greenhouse than anything. I loved it back there... and I was known to go back to the back of the room several times a day and just start cleaning up and taking care of the plants.. to the point I had to be told to go back to my seat on more than one occasion. Well, on the last day of class as we were lining up as a class to leave, Ms. R******** (by the way us kids had an ongoing debate about weather her hair was really real or a wig mind you... it was exactly the same up-do every day... but this didn't take away from her many merits as a teacher) came over to me and gave me a tiny spider plant to take home with me for the summer. Ya-HOOoo! Best day every!
Third grade, Mrs. H***, taught me multiplication using "car races" on the bulletin board, in which we each got to design our own paper car. Fun, albeit hard, but fun times. I can't say enough good things about her as a teacher! Still going to "special" reading and math time...
Fourth grade, Ms. ? Can't remember her name now, uh oh, but provided us the incredible "lit set" material I shared about in my earlier post, and I think we did a really cool social studies project in her class that year too! Oh! AND got to incubate and watch baby chicks hatch in class in a neighbor classroom for science!
Fifth grade, not a great teacher again that year, worse than first grade. And a new boy moved to town. A cute new boy! Band, love/d band... cute boy played the drums. Our (home-room), yes we starting rotating rooms more this year, some last year) teacher, the one I mentioned wasn't my favorite, ate a lot of sweets in front of us in class, like candy-bars... made it hard for me to concentrate. And we memorized the presidents names in social studies this year to the tune of a song... Oh and had the mighty social studies STATES AND CAPITALS TEST... or was that 6th grade...?
Hi Danielle, I can relate to a lot of what you wrote about elementary school. My first grade teacher was probably the worst teacher I had while in school. When you are 6 years old, you don't really know what anxiety is. You just know that your tummy hurts and you would rather be at home with your mom. Everyday I felt awful and would tell her my tummy hurt and she would let me sit on the beanbag in the corner of the room for a while then ask me to return to my seat. I didn't want to but I did. Finally, one morning I guess she had had enough of my tummy aches and took me out into the hall and shook me hard. She told me there was nothing wrong with me and to stop acting like there was. I was mortified and the next day I refused to go to school. When my mom asked me why, I told her what happened and she was furious! She had a talk with the principal and my teacher was more understanding after that.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, yeah, I'm surprised there weren't more serious consequences for that teacher, yikes. And sorry. Hope your tummy aches got better after that!
DeleteMy favorite part about your post is when your 2nd grade teacher gave you a spider plant on the last day of school. That lets me know that she was paying attention to your interest in plants and supported you by getting you your own plant to nurture. That was so sweet of her. The other thing that stood out to me was your memory of peeing your pants because your teacher was talking. I think the teacher's behavior was pathetic. I understand not being interrupted, but she should have acknowledged you sooner. A kid in my class pooped his pants because our teacher would not acknowledge him and he simply couldn't hold it any longer. From that point forward he was bullied about that and was constantly referred to as "poopy pants". It was sad.
ReplyDeleteAw, poor little guy. That stinks! Oops, no pun intended! Haha, just kidding! But seriously I think I learned an important lesson from that experience, that hopefully I can apply to my own students and classroom. Thanks :)
DeleteHi Danielle, I enjoyed reading your post reminiscing about elementary school. I only had one teacher that I didn't like and that was my kindergarten teacher. It's too bad your first grade teacher didn't have a way for students to use sign language to let her know you need the restroom. I have seen many teachers now a days use the sign language for the letter R and students just raise their hand with the symbol and the teachers nod and they go never disrupting the class.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea Carman, I like that. It's definitely a little different today then it was then, but yeah that would have been nice, haha. I wonder about how I'm going to deal with that with my students... Because after working in early childhood for so long, and having restrooms in the classroom; now being in an elementary school and watching students leave the classroom on their own to go to the restroom gives me a little bit more anxiety ;)
DeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! I am so sorry to hear about your parents divorcing while you were so young, it is rough on children when you get moved from one parent to the other and then school changes. I did everything I could to avoid my son being put in the middle of things when his dad and I split, again I am so sorry you were put in that situation!
Michelle P
Danielle, I only had one teacher who loved plants like that and it was my 5th grade teacher. She even had a flower bed outside the school that we helped maintain, it was so much fun! I'm so glad she noticed your love for plants and gave you something as a memory, how sweet. I had a kindergarten teacher who we put up chairs for every year until I went to 6th grade (different school). When I graduated 5th grade, she got me a little heart silver jewelry holder with my monogram engraved. I will keep it forever and remember her forever!
ReplyDelete