Back to School Friday Five

Back to School Friday Five, with the RevGalBlogPals

1. What is your earliest memory of school?
Tactile and visual memories of the Montessori manipulatives. I started Montessori when I was not quite three (fall birthday), and stayed in Montessori through second grade.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?
My Montessori school principal, Mr. Detmer. As he established new schools we followed him, so I'm pretty sure my parents thought he was great, too. I also really liked my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Fujioka. (I wonder what her story was. This was about 1970 in the Seattle area, and Asian background was semi-rare but not unknown.)

3. What do you remember about school "back then" that is different from what you know about schools now?
My public elementary school was very small compared to the "small" schools in this area; now that size is not even considered a small school. Instead of 120 or so kids in a school, in our district a typical "small" school has 500 kids, and a "normal" school has 800-1000. Everyone at my elementary school was able to walk to school -- four blocks in my case. Most kids where we live now are bused to their "local" school. Drives me crazy.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.
Very rarely if ever, assuming you don't mean the multiplication table... In high school, I memorized the first few lines of... well, apparently I forgot the poem's title! "In Xanadu did Kublai Khan his stately pleasure dome decree," and three more lines but No. 2 escapes me. Something something something, "...in caverns measureless to man, down to the sunless sea." Hmmm.

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?
Yep. Beloved Mr. Detmer spanked me, don't know what for. I was mouthy and independent when I was little, I think, and who knows what I did!