school

I used to believe…

When I was in Kindergarten, I used to believe that classrooms had special air that changed when children talked, because the teachers kept saying over and over again, "There can't be any talking in this room".

I used to believe…

Back in primary school, whenever I used to hear about the Head Prefect, I used to think that she was the one who was responsible for checking to see which pupils had nits and lice in their hair.

I used to substitute teach for first graders while I was in college. One day (back in the days when we were allowed to do these things) right after opening prayer we began reciting the Pledge of Alliegance. I listened carefully to the young man next to me. I knew it wasn't correct so I called him to the side and asked if he could teach me the words. He immediately stood up, very proud, shoulders back, hand over heart, and said, "I led the pigeons to the flag, at the United Station America.... it was everything I could do to resist embarrassing that child. I had to leave the room and get some air before I passed out. But think about it. Logic has it that you see pigeons sitting on top of flag poles all the time. HEY! Wait! maybe we have it wrong. HA HA HA

I went to "private" catholic school as a kid, but I had friends that went to "public" schools, so when I saw signs that said "not open to the public" or "private", I figured I was allowed in there. Unfortunately for hilarity's sake, I never tested my theory.

I used to believe…

In the early years of elementary school everyone sat in the same class and sometimes the whole class would move to the gymnasium or to the library. In the higher grades segments of the class would go to Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver where I live. In reality they weren't getting on a bus to go to Richmond, they were going to enrichment classes... and I wonder why I was never invited to go. :)

I used to believe…

When I was in kindergarten, my elementary school had 3 swing sets, each with 3 swings on it (9 total). I used to believe that, if I swung on the swing set in the middle, I'd be in the middle school, and if I swung on the set on the right, I'd be in high school. The same applied to how high I swung...If I swung really high, I thought I would be in high school. :)

I remember thinking that school NEVER ends. I thought when my parents "went to work" it was just like they were in 40th grade or something. One day my mom told me to get ready to go to our neighbors graduation. I asked what "Graduation" was and when she told me I was like "SCHOOL ENDS?????!!!" I was SO excited!

I used to believe…

Every morning in school (1950s), we sang "My country, tis a bee, sweet land of liberty, of DIC..." Although I didn't know what DIC meant, the rest made sense...after all, didn't we learn that this was a land of milk and honey? I had no idea I had the words wrong until about the 4th or 5th grade when I finally saw the words in print.

Another special memory of school in the 50s was air raid drills. The school's alarms would ring and we would file out of class, down to the basement, and sit cross-legged on the floor facing the lockers with one forearm over our eyes and the other over the back of our neck...or take the same position under our desks...

I used to believe that when the compresor on the water fountain kicked in that it was taking my picture and charging me for the water so I always tried to finish before this happened.

I used to believe…

When I was in grade school I believed that my Dad would be home with Mom and us kids during the whole summer too! I was so upset to find out that my Daddy didn't get any time off~he was really my hero then!!!

I often beachcombed as a child for agates with my great-aunt. She would say that some stones I found were not quite ready and should be put back to finish turning into agates. I accepted this version until age 18 when I was publically caught out in a geology classroom.

I used to believe…

When I was in second grade my teacher didn't want us leaning back in our chairs and told us "keep all four feet on the ground". I had no idea she meant the chairs, I thought she meant our real feet and didn't know why she said "four" when we all had two.

I used to believe…

Back in kindergarten, my best friend was asked to skip first grade and go right to second grade. For my entire life, up to about age 18, I thought that the school had asked me to skip too, but my parents and I had decided against it. Right. Never happened! I must have convinced myself of this to make myself feel better!!

I used to believe…

A primary school teacher once told me that if you looked behind the ears of new born babies you�d find a small curving relic scar. It�s where our gills used to be and has been passed down through the generations from when the first fish-like creatures flapped onto the land. I�m still tempted to check even now, though I�ve never found those scars�

I used to believe…

In 4th grade, my teacher told us we only had 2 minutes to go to the bathroom...so what did I do? Got in trouble in the hallway for running to the bathroom!

I used to believe…

You know how some kids get expelled and they have to change schools? Well, I thought that that meant the kid wasn't allowed at ANY school in the state. Therefore, the kid and his/her family would have to move to a new state just so the kid could go to school. The Really confusing thing to me was: what if the kid is so bad there are no states left?