In 1775

She stood in front of the class.  Her notes were on the podium within reach, but they seemed a million miles away and out of focus.  The entire class was looking at her; she felt every eye and knew there was judgement by them all.  This speech was a big part of her grade and she was frozen with anxiety.  She remembered what her teacher had said and took a deep breathe and centered on the wall in back instead of a person.  She cleared her throat, glanced at her notes briefly and began her speech on the American Revolution.

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(100 words)

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – speech

Cursed Gravity

A fun fact… most of the big ones I have at some time covered with a portion of a post.  So, I am going back to a special thing I did that I can barely remember but I had a love hate relationship with it.  Back in the day (early 70s), at least around here, there was a class you could take through parks and rec that was a skill I have used zero times in my life.

Both my sister and I took a class for baton twirling.  It was very big for baton twirlers to be at the state fair talent search, and the occasional marching band, but your average citizen does not need that skill.  I loved the class because my mom used to twirl a baton in her marching band and made it look so easy.  I wanted to be just like mom.

Gravity had other plans for me and I dropped the baton more times than I caught it.  And there were the bruises from this metal stick with heavy rubber knobs on it falling and hitting me in various places.  I was black and blue all over my arms.

Now in 2020, nearly 50 years later, I wonder if any towns still offer classes like that for kids in the summer or any time of year really.  Of course now a days, you would get a visit from child protective services if you had a child with that many bruises.  It was an experience that was not a life changer, but I can look back and smile at how hard I tried to be like mom.

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Written for Fandango’s Dog Days of August (FDDA) #24 – a fun fact

(photo from Google search)

You Can Lead A Horse To Water…

Sitting at her desk, Jane was reading a book about young romance.  She heard the classroom door shut and knew reading time was over.  Her teacher stood in front of the class and began to talk about math.  It wasn’t long before she heard two boys in the back of the class whispering and start to laugh.  Mr. Thompson said, “Mark and Dan, are you going to pay attention or go see the principal?”

The two boys turned around forward in their sears and said, “Pay attention.”

The teacher grinned a little and said, “I thought so.  You know you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink; you can send a kid to school, but you can’t make him think.  Maybe you two would like to write a paper on that subject?”

The boys both shook their heads no and looked ashamed.  Mr. Thompson turned back to the black board and began to write a series of equations.

 

Written for Fandango’s February Expressions (FFE) #22

(Image from Google search)

In The Nick Of Time

She ran down the hall afraid she would be late.  The first bell rang three minutes ago so she had two minutes to dash down the hall and upstairs to get to her class on time.  She was just furious with herself for having hit the snooze button on her alarm.  As she went up the stairs she realized no other students were still in the halls.  It was eerily quiet.  Mr. Hampton always stood at the door to close it right when the second bell began to ring.  She bounded up the last few steps and saw Mr. Hampton at the door.  He looked at her, then at his watch.  About two feet from the door the second bell began to ring out through the empty hallway.  Mr. Hampton said, “Miss Taggert I expect you to be here on time tomorrow.  I will let it slide this time, but you will not have that luxury next time.  Now take your seat.”

 

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – expect

Do You Have The Time?

The teacher stood in front of the class.  She was discussing the reading assignment she was giving the class.  “You don’t have to finish the book over the weekend, but I want you all to be at least to page 250 by the time you come back to class on Monday.”

One student rose his hand.  “Yes Kenny,” the teacher said.  “What can I help you with?”

Kenny looked at the clock and back at Miss Snider, “Do you know the clock is almost 3 minutes slow?”

“Kenny that is not germane to the subject at hand.”

“I don’t know where it was made, but it could be a German clock I guess.”

“Kenny I want you to go talk to Mr. Wilson.”

“But I was just letting you know it was slow.”

“You can discuss it with Mr. Wilson and maybe he will want to have maintenance look at the clock.  Until then I expect you to pay attention in class.  Now go talk to Mr. Wilson and explain to him what a slow clock has to do with History?”

Kenny stood up and gathered the few books he had and as he walked out of the door he turned backward to smirk at the class.

 

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – germane

Mumbles … mnemonic

I loved my seventh grade English teacher. She always had a great demeanor and made learning fun. I will never forget one day when we were getting our theme papers back.

I walked into class and took my seat. Mrs. Whitmer closed the door and gathered our papers at her desk. She handed the papers back and then began to yell at the class. Ok, she didn’t really yell, but I was shocked to see she was almost angry. She was disappointed in our writing and was going to demonstrate a point that was a repeated problem with the papers.

She went to the far left side of the chalk board and wrote the letter “a.” She then walked to the far right side of the chalkboard and wrote “lot.” Placing the chalk back in the tray she turned back to us and told us those two words do not touch each other and never should.

That image hits me every time I type “a lot” … her point was made quite clearly and is still with me to this day nearly forty years later. Do you have any vivid memories of your favorite teacher?

 

For the daily word prompt mnemonic

Happy and Grateful – Day 15

I have undertaken a challenge this year.  I am trying to find the good in every day by writing about happiness and gratitude that I feel.  No matter how small there is always something to bring a smile or make you grateful, if just for a moment.  Follow along with me as I dig deep as necessary and find the peace of the day.  Join in if you are feeling happy and grateful too – in the comments or on your own blog.  Let’s find some fun!

I still am somehow a day behind.. one of these nights I am going to have the energy to stay awake long enough to get caught up on both days and the daily prompt.  I hope you all forgive me.

This day was really fun.  I may have a creative mind, but my daughter is the one with the artistic talent so I was a little nervous.  A friend of mine was going to a paint studio to make a gift for her daughter and wanted me to come along to the class.  I have thought about these classes before but have never gone.

This was a SMALL class and because of my anxiety I am glad about that.  There were only two other people there besides my friend and I.  The instructor took us step by step through the process and it was easier than I thought.  I was favorably impressed with the way the painting turned out.  Don’t look at it too closely though as the fine detail is NOT there, my hands shake too much.  But for a fun little Valentine’s Day gift for my boyfriend it is ok.

Now that I have done the class once, I would not be afraid to go again for another project that would be appealing to me.  They offer several each month.  I would love to have my daughter go to a class with me as she has the artistic talent in the family.  It was a fun day and I was happy to have accomplished my first painting (even though I see things wrong with the painting).  And I am very grateful to have had the time with my friend.