Fun on the Last Day of School
Let me tell you about one more thing you could do with seventh graders that you wouldn't even think of doing with eighth or ninth graders. This wasn't a discipline technique. This was more like: How to Survive on the last day of school when it is bedlam anyway.
This was in Springfield, Massachusetts.
There was a darling seventh grade girl whose name I don't remember. She was smaller than most seventh grade girls, looked younger, and was as cute as a button. This little darling was actually quite sophisticated, and she admittedly smoked like a fish, which might possibly have accounted for her stunted growth.
On the last day of school, this little girl asked if she could go up front and show me what I looked like from the point of view of a student in class. Glad for some relief, I sat in her seat, and she went up before the class.
She had me down to a T. She was amazing -- the way she strutted about that classroom. The way she put her hands on her hips. The way she told someone to sit up. The way she smiled. The way she called on children -- and me! The way she looked to find the right page in a book. The way she read the poem when she did find the page. The way she admired a student's paper. She had all the mannerisms down pat. She could have received an academy award for best actress. Truly, except for her size, she could have been me.
And then, the grand finale, she portrayed me as grumpy. Oh, she was good. She was in the middle of a tirade, when she pretended the intercom had rung.
In an instant, this little Mrs. Wendroff became sweety-sweet as she carried on a conversation with the assistant principal. "Oh, yes, Mr. Mack, certainly, whatever you say. [smile, smile] You want me to send Joey down to the office? [looking around] Why, he's not here. I haven't seen him today. [now whispering] Oh, no, Mr. Mack [batting her eyelashes] you didn't interrupt. I don't mind a bit [now outright flirting.] You want to see me in your office after school?... [giggle, giggle]...."
Sure, she exaggerated, but what made it so funny was that it was all so true!
Comments
Senora, this story is a classic!
I always wondered how teachers felt when their students left to go to another school. Was there any kind of attachment or sense of loss when an entire class graduates? Do you think there that their should be some kind of continuity in relationships between teachers and their students?
I wonder what it would be like for a teacher to take a class from grade 1 all the way to grade 7. I remember seeing wild west movies where schools were made up of 1 room, 1 teacher and students of all different ages and sizes.
Of course in those days the teacher would bat her eyelids at the deputy!
Senor One,
Do you know that the Waldorf School, instituted by Rudolf Steiner, recommends that teacher and students stay together through all the grades? What a deep loving relationship that would create. Then, surely, children and teachers would be friends for life. I was trained as a Waldorf School teacher.
When there is love between a teacher and student -- it doesn't go away.
Deputy sounds right! Wink. Wink.
Dear One, one-room school houses still existed when I was a kid. My cousins went to one (grades 1-8), then on to the city high school. I went with them once--they were so excited to have a visitor the whole school (all 8 or 10 of them) put on a show for me. What I remember most is three farm boys singing "We Three Kings" and it wasn't anywhere near Christmas! I also remember how "on stage" I felt as the one and only audience member. LOL
Gloria, YOU would have been a wonderful teacher to spend so much time with. I hadn't heard of the Waldorf School until it was mentioned in your blog some entries back, and it sounds like a wonderful system to truly teach children.
Gloria,
Even though you told me this story yesterday on our walk,
I still loved reading it and laughed at the fun you gave your students.
Another cute note about one-room schoolhouses. My mother (71--yes, she had me young) just found out today that the one-room school she and her siblings attended is having a class reunion! They had one a few years ago and people came from all over (it was for everyone who had ever attended the school). She reconnected with her 7th and 8th grade best friend who came all the way from Kentucky for the event.
Oh, Pam, that's so sweet. It must be quite a feeling for your mom to go to that reunion.
Actually, that is normal here - to have the same teacher from first grade through sixth. Then it's on to juinor high for three years with another teacher being your head-teacher those three years. Although the teacher doesn't teach every subject, you always have a 'contact-teacher' (directly translated) that is responsible for you and your class. This teacher is the link between parents and school, and most importantly between student and school (sometimes even student and parents in cases where there might be abuse at home or such.)
This teacher is also responsible that every student gets through all the subjects and reaches every goal that is set for him or her. Also that the student is taken care of in the school-system, plus making sure that any warning signals that suggests abuse/disorders/personal problems are being seen and cared for.
The school system is quite different here than in the states.
Margaretha, what you describe in the educational system in Norway is wonderful. I wish we could have this way in the U.S. I think it is essential that a child know there is a teacher who cares about him and his welfare.
In elementary school in the U.S., the teacher would be responsible. I don't know that that is acknowledged.
Here, in junior high school and up, there are guidance counselors, but that is not the same. Counselors are separate. Although they may well do good things, when a teacher has difficulty with a student, the teacher might refer the child to a counselor. My sense of it is that the counselor represents the school and the teacher as much or more than the student's heart.
There is so much I could say about schools.
Thank you so much for telling us about this, Margaretha.
By the way, did your dear mother in law have a response to Heavenletters?