Memorable Experiences in Education
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I have many memorable experiences in education, positive and negative and everything in-between. I've spent a good part of my career in academia as both student and teacher. This one is hilarious, appalling, and pathetic. When I was in a teacher education program in college, one of the instructors started yelling at a student with a disability. He was literally screaming at this student, something to the effect of, the only people who are really disabled are people who don't have arms and legs, now thats a "real" disability. I looked at this student who had what is called an "invisible" disability and watched them shrink in their chair and become discouraged about becoming a teacher. From that point on I clearly recognized discrimination whenever I saw it in the profession of education. I also went on to get my ESE certificate and became a strong advocate for people with disabilities in the profession of education.
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On a more positive note. I had some awesome teachers in my life. People who were dedicated not only to their field but to the welfare and wellbeing of children. I think my first awesome teacher was my first grade teacher Mrs. Heartman. She was one of the kindest, nicest people I had ever met. Her name suited her disposition. She was the beginning of why I would choose a career in education later in life. I think Ive been very lucky to have had close to a dozen really awesome teachers in my life starting in grade school and continuing through college. People who opened my mind, changed my perspective, expanded the course of my life, and helped me through growing up.
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In sixth grade we all spent a weekend at the YMCA and I had an asthma attack because I'm a giant nerd (also allergic to feathers). Lots of other great stuff happened that weekend. Also at the end of the year we had an epic water balloon fight.
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In high school I had a friend who ended up in the same AP English class with me. Again, because I am in fact a giant nerd (as was he) we were always ahead, always acing tests, and so the teacher let us play chess in the back while he did lectures. I suck at chess but I'm ok at them writin' words n readin' them book things.
My family moved around a lot when I was growing up so I went to different schools in various parts of the U.S. At one point we lived in the Southeastern U.S. A student came to school without shoes and was sent home to get his shoes because you were not allowed to attend school without shoes. He said, "I can't go home and get shoes because I don't have any and my parents can't afford to buy me any". The school sent him home anyway. The student returned to school a few months later wearing shoes. When I became a teacher I thought if any child is refused the right to attend school because they can't afford a pair of shoes I will go out and buy them shoes.
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In fourth grade, we were doing a spelling test where the teacher says the word out loud and then uses it in a sentence, and you as the student must write the word correctly. Well she had a habit of making her sentences fun and funny, but for one test I was already in a bit of a giggly mood. As the test went on, I found her sentences more and more humorous and I was also next to a good friend who was sort of poking fun and egging on the behavior which made me laugh even harder. About seven or eight words into the test I had tears streaming down my face because I was laughing so hard while also trying to stay quiet for the test. I ended up on the ground because I couldn't breathe and she stopped in the middle of the test because it turned into a whole big thing. I've never laughed that hard in my entire life. I think I may have actually passed out momentarily or was at least very close to doing so.
In sixth grade I went to school in spite of not feeling well. I was there about an hour and while sitting in my chair I turned to left and threw up on my neighbors chair. Good thing they weren't sitting in it at the time. I love those times where you laugh so hard you can't stop. One time someone made me laugh unexpectedly and I just happened to be eating a pickle and the pickle came out my nose. Totally gross but we just kept on laughing.
I remember looking forward to learning about WWII basically every year from 5 grade on. I loved learning about Anne Frank and Miep Gies was my idol. (Still love her, of course!)
One of my favorite playground memories was me getting my ass kicked by the biggest girl bully in school because I tried to stand up to her. Afterward I got up and she said, "You done?" I said, "Are you?" Then she stopped punching me and pulling my hair and we walked home and somehow became kind of friends. Kind of taught me I can make friends with anyone. But what a strange way to do it.
In 6th grade, we learned sex Ed and watched a video. The teacher prefaced the video by saying, anyone who laughs gets a detention. I didn't find the video funny, but something about just knowing I was forbidden to laugh was hilarious and I couldn't hold it and got in trouble. Some of my favorite memories are of being in school and that hysterical desperation of trying to stifle a laugh in class.
I miss being challenged and exercising my brain. I miss writing essays for philosophy and literary criticisms.
One of my favorite playground memories was me getting my ass kicked by the biggest girl bully in school because I tried to stand up to her. Afterward I got up and she said, "You done?" I said, "Are you?" Then she stopped punching me and pulling my hair and we walked home and somehow became kind of friends. Kind of taught me I can make friends with anyone. But what a strange way to do it.
In 6th grade, we learned sex Ed and watched a video. The teacher prefaced the video by saying, anyone who laughs gets a detention. I didn't find the video funny, but something about just knowing I was forbidden to laugh was hilarious and I couldn't hold it and got in trouble. Some of my favorite memories are of being in school and that hysterical desperation of trying to stifle a laugh in class.
I miss being challenged and exercising my brain. I miss writing essays for philosophy and literary criticisms.
I was fortunate enough while in grade school to have been taken on class field trips to NYC. We went to the World Trade Center, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim Museum of Art. It was so cool. I loved it. It planted the first seeds for my love of museums, which I still have today. I taught a lot of kids who had never been to a museum. That used to make me so sad. I wanted so much to give them those experiences.
Most of my experiences about school years have been very unfortunate and just plain horrible but there have been few cool things too as visiting a chocolate factory and an ice cream factory (and yes, we could eat as much candy & ice cream as we wanted 
). The best memorable experience was a few days class trip to countryside to another side of the country in elementary school. We heard cows moo-ing from the adorable old wooden building where we were sleeping & eating etc., a nice campfire in the evenings, went fishing to the small island with a boat, swimming in the sea, just generally being in the farm area. It was fun, haha.
). The best memorable experience was a few days class trip to countryside to another side of the country in elementary school. We heard cows moo-ing from the adorable old wooden building where we were sleeping & eating etc., a nice campfire in the evenings, went fishing to the small island with a boat, swimming in the sea, just generally being in the farm area. It was fun, haha. I remember standing in line for something in the schoolyard and getting really nervous because once you got to the front of the line an adult asked you what county you lived in. I had no idea what county I lived in. No one ever asked me that before. So I just listened to what all the other kids were saying before me and tried to learn and practice how to pronounce the words they were using. When my turn came I blurted out something that I guess made sense to the adult but I had no clue what I had just said or what it meant. I walked away completely bewildered. My folks explained it to me later that day.
I remember the end of segregation in schools. Very shitty memories of that whole period in U.S. history. In fifth grade I was a kindergarten line monitor along with another fifth grader. We both really liked being around younger kids and had the best time playing with the kindergarteners while they waited in line to get in their classroom.
We were just kids ourselves responsible for about 20 five year olds waiting in line. Have any idea how hard it is for two eleven year olds to keep twenty five year olds standing in line? You get the picture. We developed this game of picking up any kindergartener who stepped out of the line. Now you know the kindergarteners loved this game and we did too. They would step out of line, we would pick them up and carry them back to the line, and this is how we would pass the time. We were all having a great time and laughing and everyone was safe.
Well, apparently some creep saw what we were doing and reported it to the principal of the school. My fellow fifth grader was fired from the job. I didn't know he was fired until I came to my job one day and he wasn't there and had been replaced by another fifth grader.
Later on I saw my former fifth grade coworker and he told me he was fired for putting his hands on the kindergarteners. I said why wasn't I fired too, I was doing the same thing. What he told me stayed with me for the rest of my life. He said he was fired and I wasn't because he was black and I was white.
I went to the principals office and complained. I said I should be fired too because I was doing the same thing. The principal told me I didn't need to worry about things like that and I should just go to class. After school a group of kids were screaming nigger at my fellow fifth grade former coworker. I was so upset about what was happening I quit the job and refused to work for the school again because even in my fifth grade mind, I knew everything that was happening was wrong. I went home and cried because I knew it was wrong, I felt helpless to do anything about it, and there was so much misdirected hatred that I didn't understand. What a shitty experience.
I didn't realize it at the time but that was one of my first experiences in advocating for the rights of others. I later became and still am an advocate for others. I think that is the worst experience I have had in education. Discrimination doesn't just hurt the people it's aimed at. It hurts everyone involved.
We were just kids ourselves responsible for about 20 five year olds waiting in line. Have any idea how hard it is for two eleven year olds to keep twenty five year olds standing in line? You get the picture. We developed this game of picking up any kindergartener who stepped out of the line. Now you know the kindergarteners loved this game and we did too. They would step out of line, we would pick them up and carry them back to the line, and this is how we would pass the time. We were all having a great time and laughing and everyone was safe.
Well, apparently some creep saw what we were doing and reported it to the principal of the school. My fellow fifth grader was fired from the job. I didn't know he was fired until I came to my job one day and he wasn't there and had been replaced by another fifth grader.
Later on I saw my former fifth grade coworker and he told me he was fired for putting his hands on the kindergarteners. I said why wasn't I fired too, I was doing the same thing. What he told me stayed with me for the rest of my life. He said he was fired and I wasn't because he was black and I was white.
I went to the principals office and complained. I said I should be fired too because I was doing the same thing. The principal told me I didn't need to worry about things like that and I should just go to class. After school a group of kids were screaming nigger at my fellow fifth grade former coworker. I was so upset about what was happening I quit the job and refused to work for the school again because even in my fifth grade mind, I knew everything that was happening was wrong. I went home and cried because I knew it was wrong, I felt helpless to do anything about it, and there was so much misdirected hatred that I didn't understand. What a shitty experience.
I didn't realize it at the time but that was one of my first experiences in advocating for the rights of others. I later became and still am an advocate for others. I think that is the worst experience I have had in education. Discrimination doesn't just hurt the people it's aimed at. It hurts everyone involved.
I was one of those people you probably hated in first grade: the girl in the advanced spelling group who got the hardest tests and the three or four syllable words to spell, instead of the dinky two syllable words. Once, when one of the classmates in a less-advanced group tried to figure out what my group was doing, I shut her out by spitting out some haughty remark or another.
The look on my teacher's face is one I'll never forget. My six-year-old self curled into herself because she could feel the disappointment radiating off her teacher, pricking her like thumbtacks.
I've tried from that day on never to be arrogant about my intelligence.
The look on my teacher's face is one I'll never forget. My six-year-old self curled into herself because she could feel the disappointment radiating off her teacher, pricking her like thumbtacks.
I've tried from that day on never to be arrogant about my intelligence.
I used to love passing notes around in class behind the teachers back. In high school we had something called "Skip Day". As many students who wanted to participate would all skip school for the day. Every year the principal would get on the intercom and make an announcement that threatened any student who participates in "Skip Day" would suffer some sort of grave consequence. Each year the consequences became more and more threatening. A group of kids found a way around the threats. They all skipped school on a scheduled date a few weeks after "Skip Day" so the consequences for "Skip Day" wouldn't apply to them - smart asses.
In seventh grade my friends and I would take turns studying for science tests. We would draw straws for who would have to study and then the rest of us would copy from that one persons test. It was working like a charm until the teacher figured out what we were doing and then separated us and made us all sit at different tables.
High school Civics and Economics class: I asked my very Republican teacher what he thought about the prospect of legalizing marijuana. His response, verbatim, was, "As long as your grades don't drop I see no reason to call your parents". How did he know?
I had a string of horrible math teachers, or maybe just math teachers who were horrible people. I had to use the restroom and the teacher told me I couldn't (don't remember why; maybe she thought I was BSing her to get out of class?). I told her she had two options; she could let me go to the restroom or I'd pee in the corner of the room. She let me go to the restroom.
My 8th grade math teacher loved to harass me for some reason. I think it had something to do with not liking my older sister, who was also a student of his at some point. Anyway, he threatened to call my house over something trivial and I just said "sure, go ahead". I was almost daring him because I knew my mom did not like this man. He called during dinner, which was possibly the dumbest thing he could've done. I recall my mom getting pissed off because we were eating, getting up to get the phone, and the conversation going something like this:
"Hello? Yes, this is she. Mhm. Don't ever call here again." *hangs up*
Dad: "Who was that?"
Mom: "JC's creepy math teacher"
The next day he seemed almost proud. He smirked and said "I called your house last night". I laughed, told him I was there for the whole thing and asked him how that worked out for him. The color drained from his face and he proceeded with the lesson.
I have great respect for most teachers and have had many positive experiences with them, but they're just not as fun to recall.
I had a string of horrible math teachers, or maybe just math teachers who were horrible people. I had to use the restroom and the teacher told me I couldn't (don't remember why; maybe she thought I was BSing her to get out of class?). I told her she had two options; she could let me go to the restroom or I'd pee in the corner of the room. She let me go to the restroom.
My 8th grade math teacher loved to harass me for some reason. I think it had something to do with not liking my older sister, who was also a student of his at some point. Anyway, he threatened to call my house over something trivial and I just said "sure, go ahead". I was almost daring him because I knew my mom did not like this man. He called during dinner, which was possibly the dumbest thing he could've done. I recall my mom getting pissed off because we were eating, getting up to get the phone, and the conversation going something like this:
"Hello? Yes, this is she. Mhm. Don't ever call here again." *hangs up*
Dad: "Who was that?"
Mom: "JC's creepy math teacher"
The next day he seemed almost proud. He smirked and said "I called your house last night". I laughed, told him I was there for the whole thing and asked him how that worked out for him. The color drained from his face and he proceeded with the lesson.
I have great respect for most teachers and have had many positive experiences with them, but they're just not as fun to recall.
Tin Man
"a respectable amount of screaming"
Not a whole lot of positive experiences. Most of my teachers were crap, they made so many fascinating subjects seem so utterly uninteresting. I know it's not an easy job, but being a teacher should mean something. They have such a huge effect on shaping a child's future and I have little patience for any teacher who doesn't take that seriously.
There was one though. Despite the fact that I never been much of an athlete, I enjoyed P. E. the most. That was all down to the teacher. He expected your best, but never berated or mocked you when you didn't reach that. When you got his respect it felt like you deserved it. And when you disappointed him, he never got angry but you always felt it. It made you feel ashamed, not because of anything he said but because you knew you let yourself down. And he brought that same enthusiasm to every class, year after year. And because of that he had the respect of every one of his students.
There was one though. Despite the fact that I never been much of an athlete, I enjoyed P. E. the most. That was all down to the teacher. He expected your best, but never berated or mocked you when you didn't reach that. When you got his respect it felt like you deserved it. And when you disappointed him, he never got angry but you always felt it. It made you feel ashamed, not because of anything he said but because you knew you let yourself down. And he brought that same enthusiasm to every class, year after year. And because of that he had the respect of every one of his students.