*waves* Hi! I want to join. :P I've decided to go with memories that are triggered by yours - that way I might recall moments and details I'd have otherwise forgotten.
When I was in Year 5, I was extremely short. I was also extremely short in nearly every other year as well, but that's beside the point. In this year I temporarily had a substitute teacher - a ridiculously tall substitute teacher.
Let me tell you, bolting around a corner and running face first into a stranger's groin is only entertaining to the bystanders.
When I was in second grade there was a girl in my class named Megan who I thought was really really cute. I desperately wanted to impress her and make her like me so I started trying to come up with nice things I could do for her. I'm not sure how, but it came to my attention that she still couldn't read and nothing the teachers were doing was working. Since nobody can remember a time when I couldn't read (I already knew how when I started speaking [in full sentences] at age three) I offered to help her learn.
I did manage to teach Megan how to read but, alas, prepubescent romance did not blossom. We stayed friends, though! She's now married and has a baby and we still see each other from time to time. And when she introduces me to people she still proudly announces that she learned to read because of me.
That's really sweet. And may support an argument about class size and the limit of teachers' abilities, since your one-on-one peer tutoring did the trick certified adults couldn't manage.
And why am I not surprised that you started reading and speaking in full sentences so young?
And why am I not surprised that you started reading and speaking in full sentences so young?
Because I'm kinda weird like that. :D People actually thought I was autistic for a while. I was big on repetitive behavior -- rocking myself, lining things up, etc. I didn't make eye contact or respond properly to noises around me. And I had colic but when I wasn't crying over that I was extremely quiet. Then all of the sudden I just ... spoke. We were in the car driving somewhere and I pointed at a billboard and said, "Look, it's a sign for Curtis Lumber." :: palms up ::
I still haven't outgrown the rocking thing. I make eye contact now but it takes a little thought and effort. So while nobody's tossing the term "autism" at me anymore, people still wonder if I've maybe got a mild case of Asperger's syndrome. Just what I need -- another 'syndrome' or 'disorder' label. haha Oh, well. At least I'd be in pretty good company with this one.
My first-grade teacher was named Mrs. Nelson (as all teachers, at least in elementary school, have the first name Mr., Miss, or Mrs.) and she had red hair.
She was the first person I'd ever seen who had red hair.
Not a very interesting memory this time, but there it is.
*g* Mine was named Mrs. Cardinal and she did not have red hair.
Hey, I think it's interesting. You probably think of her sometimes when you see redheads. And anyway, a memory doesn't have to be interesting for this little project -- it just has to be a memory.
My parents always seemed huge when I was a little girl, but I always assumed that when I grew up I'd be as tall as they were - well, at least as tall as my mother, if not surpass her. One day in high school I invited a friend over to study. It was his first time visiting, and after he saw my mom he absently noted, "Wow, your mom's really tall."
That was the moment I realized that my mom really was exceptionally tall, and seeing as I hadn't grown a centimeter in the previous year, I would probably never be as tall as she is.
That's funny -- a twist on a child's perspective that everything is tall and your parents are the standard of comparison, not necessarily that your parents are exceptional -- and also sad in the way all "I'll never"s are sad.
I went to a small primary school - K-4 only - with a very small library. It was in the centre of the school and shaped like a cylinder - there were shelves on the outside and a small area inside where you checked out the books. I was small as well, and my favourite place to wait for my mother (who taught at the school) was curled up in one of the book return shelves, reading.
In what may be the defining picture from my childhood, my mother has managed to get me into a dress, but I've tucked it between my legs to simulate shorts. And she lost on the dirty tennis shoes. Both knees are scabbed and my bangs are self-cut in a lovely jagged line across my forehead. Most people who know me would suggest that my "style" hasn't improved much.
Aww, this makes me want to drag out pictures from when I was young and go through them to find some of the ones of me curled up in my bookshelves reading so I can scan and post them! ♥
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When I was in Year 5, I was extremely short. I was also extremely short in nearly every other year as well, but that's beside the point. In this year I temporarily had a substitute teacher - a ridiculously tall substitute teacher.
Let me tell you, bolting around a corner and running face first into a stranger's groin is only entertaining to the bystanders.
:)
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Wilkommen! I'm excited to hear lots more about you. 'Specially if it's embarrassing.
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I did manage to teach Megan how to read but, alas, prepubescent romance did not blossom. We stayed friends, though! She's now married and has a baby and we still see each other from time to time. And when she introduces me to people she still proudly announces that she learned to read because of me.
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And why am I not surprised that you started reading and speaking in full sentences so young?
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Because I'm kinda weird like that. :D People actually thought I was autistic for a while. I was big on repetitive behavior -- rocking myself, lining things up, etc. I didn't make eye contact or respond properly to noises around me. And I had colic but when I wasn't crying over that I was extremely quiet. Then all of the sudden I just ... spoke. We were in the car driving somewhere and I pointed at a billboard and said, "Look, it's a sign for Curtis Lumber." :: palms up ::
I still haven't outgrown the rocking thing. I make eye contact now but it takes a little thought and effort. So while nobody's tossing the term "autism" at me anymore, people still wonder if I've maybe got a mild case of Asperger's syndrome. Just what I need -- another 'syndrome' or 'disorder' label. haha Oh, well. At least I'd be in pretty good company with this one.
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She was the first person I'd ever seen who had red hair.
Not a very interesting memory this time, but there it is.
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Hey, I think it's interesting. You probably think of her sometimes when you see redheads. And anyway, a memory doesn't have to be interesting for this little project -- it just has to be a memory.
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That was the moment I realized that my mom really was exceptionally tall, and seeing as I hadn't grown a centimeter in the previous year, I would probably never be as tall as she is.
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In what may be the defining picture from my childhood, my mother has managed to get me into a dress, but I've tucked it between my legs to simulate shorts. And she lost on the dirty tennis shoes. Both knees are scabbed and my bangs are self-cut in a lovely jagged line across my forehead. Most people who know me would suggest that my "style" hasn't improved much.
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