Possumblog

School days, school days…

O those golden rule days!

Or, rather golden ruler days, when she’d come by and whack you on the back of the head with that great big yellow yardstick from the hardware store and tell you to pay attention.

BE THAT AS IT MAY, the topic for this week’s blog-filler game was brought about during a conversation with a certain East Carolinian as we reminisced about the teachers we had as children who had an impact on us (and not of the paddling kind). SO, without further ado, we bring you The Axis of Weevil “Excellence in Primary and Secondary Pedagogy Edition” of the Thursday Three!

As has always been the case, anyone may play along by answering these questions:

1. What three teachers did you have in grade school or high school who had the greatest impact on you, either for good or bad?

2. Which teacher do you wish you could go back and apologize to for your terrible misbehavior?

3. What do you think is the best thing to happen to grade school since when you were there?

Leave your answers in the comments below, or leave a link to your blog and we’ll all come over there.

As for my answers…

1. I’m not going to use their real names, just to protect the innocent, but I think I would have to say the most memorable teacher was my second grade teacher who was probably ninety and dipped snuff. She was gross. Of the teachers who helped me most in later life, I’d have to say our English/history/social studies teacher who I had for several different classes over many years. I also went to church with her. She was a real whiz, although a no-nonsense sort of the highest order. The fact that I can still diagram sentences is due to her. I think the one who was the most harmful (at least to others) was a guy I had back in 7th or 8th grade for biology. He was the first teacher whom I could identify with confidence as being more ignorant than me. That’s not a good thing for a teacher or a student, but he was extra special stupid. I think I’ve mentioned him before--he’s the one who taught us that whenever you learn something, a tiny crease forms in your brain. Biology, my friends.

2. I never was bad as some of the other hellspawn kids--that just wasn’t my style--but I suppose if I had to pick one I’d have to apologize to the lady who taught us typing when I was a junior. Not for necessarily being a pest in class, but for saying mean things about her out of class. She’s really a nice lady, and went on to marry and have a nice family. I saw her about three years back when we were visiting Nashville and it was very strange because our relative ages are so much closer now. When she was our teacher, she was probably only about six years older than us, which seems like a lot when you’re 16 and she’s 22 or 23, but when you’re 40 and she’s 46, well, it’s just odd. You’re both middle-aged folks, you know? Anyway, her.

3. Well, of all the horror stories about the way public schools and teachers have gone all to crap with the lack of discipline and lack of intellectual rigor, I think our elementary school the kids attend now is pretty good, with smart and engaged teachers who truly seem to enjoy being around kids. And none of them dip snuff or smell like camphor.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at May 5, 2005 08:00 AM