It was fall and I was just starting the fifth grade at Washington School. My teacher’s name was Miss Davidson and I thought she was exceptional. She had been a teacher for a good long time and was older than the other grade school teachers I had in earlier grades. That would have made her at least 40 years old. You know, really ancient. Continue reading
All my friends were getting their ears pierced and I felt like the odd man out. I swear I was the only girl in my school that still had my earlobes intact. I begged and pleaded with Mom to let me get them pierced, but it did no good. She was a rock. It wasn’t happening. Finally, it was Christmas and Mom and Jackie had conspired together to gift each other’s daughter with a coupon for “Two more holes in your head”. Continue reading
I can’t remember very many fun or happy incidents while I was in grade school. But, I do remember hating track metes. First of all, I didn’t like many physical activities. Running was at the top of that list. Continue reading
When you think of teachers and their importance in your life, you want to think of them in a good way. After all, you spend a significant part of your childhood in classrooms with these people. The teachers in my life have made both positive and negative impacts on me. Continue reading
I was taught at an early age that teachers were meant to be respected. All through grade school, I had teachers that I felt positive about. I loved school and identified with each of them. In elementary school, I looked up to our music teacher. She was very positive and taught us to be proud of ourselves and our voices. Continue reading
Teachers have a great impact on your life. Unfortunately, I can remember only some negative incidents with teachers in my past. I feel this was unfortunate. I was shy for the most when I was younger especially while in a group. If a problem came up I never seemed to be able to stand up for myself. Continue reading
As a teacher myself, you would think perhaps that I wanted to be a teacher because I was inspired by all the wonderful teachers I had growing up–not so much.
Well, maybe I was inspired by one very special teacher–nope.
As a matter of fact, I went to the counseling center in college to figure out what to major in. I scored the highest in my affinity to careers in education or as a YWCA/YMCA director. I was maybe not inspired, but at least open to education because of shows like Electric Company, ZOOM, and Hodgepodge Lodge. Learning could be fun…
When I explored the education options more specifically, I thought of teaching elementary education standing at a big chalkboard and kids sitting at desks in rows. Arghhh.
When I was a kid swimming was not of great importance to my family. I did get sent to swimming lessons which were held at the beach on the outskirts of Beaver Dam. We didn’t have a wonderful pool available to us, so this is where we went. I remember there being a lot of rain dates and cold weather. Consequently, I did not learn to swim for whatever reason. This would probably be the first item to accomplish on my bucket list at an early age. Continue reading
In our family, it was a requirement to take swimming lessons as a kid. This involved weekly trips to the local YMCA and moving through the different levels of skill. I don’t remember all of the levels, but you progressed from tadpoles to guppies to minnows, etc. I don’t remember what level I finally got to, but I think I finished right before the lifeguarding level. Continue reading
I always wanted to learn to swim. For some reason, my dad repeatedly intervened and said no. It was very frustrating. Finally, I went to Mom and asked what was up with Dad. She told me the secret. Dad was afraid of water. Continue reading
