As a teacher, there are times where i truly get attached to my little kiddos. I know they're not mine, but I spend a lot of time with these little guys, and you begin to get attached. You form memories of moments that cannot be replaced with another student's presence. Today was a day where i realized how attached i truly was to one of my little ones! Tears streamed down my face as i said good bye to this little one who is moving to another county today. And the cherry on top today was that he told me he almost said "I love you" to me because "for a second, i thought you were my mom!" I hope that this little guy will remember me and the incredible school year we have had. I hope he will not just remember the good times but that he will take with him the lessons that he learned during the rough afternoons. I hope he will remember who helped him to learn to read and who sat with him on cold mornings while we waited for the other students to arrive. I know i won't forget him.
That leads me some of the memories that I had from my school age years. I don't have many from the early days, but I do have some. Junior High and High School are definitely fileld with good memories. Let's see what i can recall!
Kindergarten
There are a few things I remember. One of them is the playground and more specifically the jungle gym. This is the place where i got my first fat lip! I remember watching the other girls flip around the pole on the bars and thinking "that seems pretty high up!" Well, one day a girl dred me to try it and i whacked myself pretty good on the bar that was not far away! I remember not going to school the next day.The next memory i have is of being in a classroom with a teacher named Mrs. Flores. She was a young beautiful teacher who I really liked. She definitely seemed to like me. We did a winter performance where we sang songs for all the parents and I remember she even gave me a book that she wrote a personal note in! Thank's Mrs. Flores - The Wind in the Willows will forever be associated with you in my mind!
As I am writing, more memories are coming to my head.... when my parents divorced i spent part of 2nd grade at a school I disliked very much. I was alwyas the new kid and people were kind of mean. I will skip memories from then because it was only about 3 months of my life! It felt like and eternity though!
4th Grade
I had Mrs. Ullom. She drove a Jaguar that my mom loved to look at every morning when she dropped me off at school. I always remember thinking "that's my teacher's car!" Anyway she had the best prize box around! She had soooooooooooooo many stickers! I loved it! Its amazing how much I did for those crazy stickers! And I remember her reading aloud to us - A LOT. I think she read a lot of Roald Dahl books. I love Roald Dahl!High School
I had many teachers in middle school and throughout high school ... but three from high school will forever stand out.The first is my swim coach. Everyone just called him by his last name. Philpot. I swam from freshman year all the way to senior year. I even snuck in a season or two of water polo. I learned a lot about diligence and determination on swim team. His words still play out in my mind and to this day, whenever i peal an orange i think of him! (After morning workouts a few of us would go into the swim office and we would eat oranges!)
My second teacher that i will never forget is Mr. Woods. This man challenged me in a way that no other English teacher ever would. We had oral quizzes and that forced me to get my but in gear and read. I flat out never wanted to make a fool of myself in front of the honors class. I worked hard to sty afloat. To this day when i pick out a book to read i think to my self "I wonder if Mr. Woods would approve?" He was always pushing us to read good literature.
And lastly, my junior year English teacher was Mr. Sims. He was this kindhearted man who always was a friend to students. It was a class filled with my friends and a wonderful teacher who shared his views on life and the world through the books that he taught. I remember being sad on the last day of school, because i knew that the following year i would not have Mr. Sims. (It turned out OK, because the next year I had Mr. Woods.)
I look back on my school years and I totally realize how much time and effort that they put into my education. Everyone has trials and tribulations in school. Some are academic, others are social, but what youth is absent of these things? I think i fared pretty well.
Today I am sharing these memories with Jennifer and others over at Simply Kinder. Share yours too...
