The year was 1951...I think!

   If my memory serves me correctly, it was September 1951. It was my first day of school, of kindergarten. I don't remember much about that day. In fact, I don't remember anything. It was a long time ago. I am not even sure I remember the name of the school, although I'll take a guess at Roseland Elementary School in Roseland, New Jersey.

   With that day, it was the beginning of 13 years of classes in grades K-12, then college, graduate school and even more graduate school. But over the years the nature and delivery of education has changed tremendously. OK. I'll say it. Today's classroom is not your grandfather's classroom any more.

   What I do remember of the early days was the playground, school lunches, and neatly arranged chairs and desks in five rows with seven chairs in each row, each classroom exactly the same. We all went to the boys room and girls room at the same time, even if we didn't have to go and if someone in class misbehaved, we all stayed inside at recess time.

   And then there was the little red-haired girl who  always sat in front of me in class. We always sat in alphabetical order. But that's a story for another day.

   In the early years if we had a question we raised our hand and, when called upon, we stood up to ask the teacher or were called up to the teacher's desk.

   Back in the day, there were black boards, white chalk and erasers that needed to be cleaned (clapped) almost daily. We always clapped them against the red brick wall of the school building, right near the front door, right next to the window of the principal's office.
   The black boards were washed each day and washing the black board for the teacher was either a reward for good behavior or a punishment for bad. (For the record, I did my share of washing! Your guess as to which reason.)  

   Above the black board, tacked to a strip of bulletin board, were green cards with the letters of the alphabet. In K-3, they were block letters and after grade three, they were the cursive letters of the alphabet for handwriting lessons.

   It was the No 2 yellow pencils for writing, plain 'off white' paper for math and blue lined composition paper for writing. On occasion we used pens instead of pencils and I am still trying to remember if this was a time when the ball point pen was taking the place of a 'fountain pen'. But, we were never allowed to use a pen for math. What would happen if you made a mistake? Ink didn't erase!

   Let's see now...there were the robins, the blue jays, and the turtles, the poor turtles and poor Joey P, who was a turtle most of his years in school. These were often the names given to the reading groups.

   Remember reading groups? While one group gathered in a circle for reading instruction, the rest of the class was busy at their desks, supposedly doing either map work or doing extra math problems. Nothing to do? How about practicing the alphabet, both the capital and lower case letters. I mean, how many times can you write the alphabet? The teacher called it guided practice time. We called it 'busy' work.

   The worst time of the week... music class. Once a week, the music teacher would come into the classroom and attempt to 'teach' us to sing. She would take out her pitch pipe, pick a note and start to sing ”The itsy-bitsy spider. Every day, year after year.  In grade 1 or 2 it was probably OK.  But in the 6^th grade.....please.

   We called her the old maid. She wore the same gray sweater with big leather button and always had the smell of mothballs Along with the sweater she wore the same blue plaid skirt. On her feet she wore thick stockings and black shoes that laced up the front. When she walked around the room she often sounded like a small horse, the heels of her shoes hitting the wooden classroom floor. It was always the longest 25 minutes of the week and sometime a good time to get sent to the office to see the principal.

   The truth is, I must have found some comfort and pleasure in the classroom. After high school, I went on to college and, after spending a year or so in business administration classes and along with tutoring high school kids at several local high schools in some very rural sections of West Virginia in my free time, I decided to become a teacher and school counselor. Those of you who know me know that I spent the next 35+ years at various levels of public education before retiring.

   Those early years, both as a student - and I was not always the best student for sure - and as a beginning teacher, taught me the importance and value of a good education and what could be accomplished with just a little hard work

   Schools have changed a great deal since 1951. From the robins, blue jays and turtle reading groups, to trading in the yellow No 2 pencil for today's latest computers or tablets, today's schools offer opportunities we never dreamed 65 years ago. But one thing has remained the same...the importance of studying hard and getting the best education possible.

   And about that music teacher that drove many of us crazy in class for 25 minutes each week, perhaps she was attempting to teach us more about life than how to sing back then. The good news? We at least all started the song on the same note.