Back-to-school day
a real learning experience
BY SANDI CARPELLO
Staff Writer
The majority of my first-grade career was spent within the confines of the school nurse’s office. It was usually stomach pains, excruciating headaches, an ear infection, toothache — whatever would allow me to escape the treachery of Mrs. Collins’ claustrophobic classroom.
It was 1984. Mrs. Deborah Collins, who seemed to be about 200 years old at the time, came from the school of thought that 6-year-olds should be seen, but never heard. Following all the regulations in Robert’s Rules of Order, she must have also thought that children enjoyed being confined to their seats all day, staring at the chalkboard, and enduring her bitterly entropic and criminally boring lesson plans.
By the time school let out in June of ’85, I swore I would never return to first grade again.
Well, never say never.
It was 8:40 a.m. last Friday when I arrived at Mrs. Mary Mason’s first-grade class at the Red Bank Primary School. A little taller than the average first-grader, I felt a little out of place. Some of the kids stared at me with bewilderment, others begged me to tell them how old I was, but most of my 30 classmates cordially introduced themselves, shook my hand, and gave me the rundown on the morning routine.
My first impression was that things hadn’t changed much.
"You have to put your coat and backpack in the back of the room," said Brian Smith (names have been changed.) "And you have to give your homework to Mrs. Mason, and if you didn’t do your homework, you get lunch detention."
Within moments, I learned that writing in ink was strictly forbidden and my legs could not be crossed, but rather placed flat on the floor, underneath the desk. When walking in the hallways, my arms should be by my side and my mouth must be shut.
The first sign that things might be different came when Laura Johnson politely informed me that if I needed to go to the bathroom, I didn’t have to ask the teacher’s permission. "We’re in first grade now," she said.
When I was finally situated in my desk (which was substantially larger than the ones my classmates were sitting at), I immediately noticed that the classroom layout was significantly more vibrant and welcoming than Mrs. Collins’ classroom.
The desks were no longer arranged in rigid rows, but in a warm, inviting semi-circle. Two PCs sat on tables in the back of the classroom, and each wooden desk came complete with a school-supplied pack of Crayola crayons, a white dry-erase board, a writing journal, and a homework pouch.
As we completed our daily "morning assignment" — an arithmetic and coloring project that many of my classmates deemed "too easy" (There was a lot more chatter than I remember in first grade) — Mrs. Mason finished grading the homework. At about 9:15, we were ready to roll.
Mrs. Mason, who has been teaching at the Red Bank Primary School for 35 years, confirmed that things are much different today than when her current class’ parents (and maybe even older brothers and sisters) were in first grade.
Previously confined to their seats for most of the day, first-grade students today are more autonomous and guided by hands-on learning and constant movement.
Textbooks, which once centered around the daily activities of Dick and Jane, now tell stories of science, anatomy and social studies. Most importantly, Mrs. Mason said, students are having fun while they learn.
And she’s right.
Rather than stare at the blackboard for hours on end, Mrs. Mason asked the class to gather on the floor for a 20-minute lesson on phonetics. Singing the phonics anthem "Apples and Bananas" at the top of our lungs, the teacher quizzed us on both the short "a" and long "a"
vowel sounds.
Minutes later, we went back to our seats and took our weekly spelling test.
Some things, apparently, never change. Spelling tests still come with a five-point extra-credit question, and returned assignments still come with big red checks and stickers.
Moving back to the floor for our daily writing assignment, we got out our black magic markers and dry-erase boards and created long, detailed sentences.
Instead of solving math problems on the blackboard, we took turns playing an arithmetic-based game on the class computers. And, rather than read about how Dick and Jane run with their dog Spot, we read a book titled, "How Many Legs Does an Octopus Have?" and brushed up on the anatomy of an octopus, slug, and kitten.
While the way of teaching may have changed, there is still, and probably always will be, a class clown, a teacher’s pet, and a class troublemaker. The general classroom etiquette, like raising your hand and not talking out of turn, still applies. And the cafeteria lunches still leave a lot to be desired.
My classmates, however, seemed to disagree. While only two youngsters brought a bagged lunch that day, the remaining 28 happily munched on a cafeteria meal that consisted of once-frozen pepperoni pizza, mushy corn, and chocolate milk. Chowing down their lunches as quickly as possible, we ran outside to catch the last 20 minutes of recess.
The rest of the day seemed to fly by.
A 40-minute Spanish lesson with Ms. Erin Thomas was followed by a visit from the Reading Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), where a member of the senior community read a book to the class.
When the clock struck 3 p.m. and it was time to go home, something strange happened — the kids seemed kind of bummed out. As Laura Johnson approached the school bus, she said, "I hate the weekends because I don’t have school."
I may not have shared that sentiment, but I didn’t once feel the need to go to the nurse’s office.
Following the policy of the Red Bank School District, the real names of students were not used.