They did What???

[Ride Junkie]

On my first day of kindergarten, I was scared & didn't want to stand for the pledge of allegiance, so the teacher grabbed me by both my arms & shook me. Not a good impression for my first ever day at school.

I remember a girl getting spanked by the teacher in front of the whole class in 1st grade. I think she was being bratty & disruptive.

Never did see the paddles, but I heard our principal had one.

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

-My grade 10 geography teacher threw one of those desk/chair combos at a grade 9 student. The desk missed the kid, and nothing happened to the teacher. No one really liked that kid anyway.

We had a teacher do this in 7th grade history. No one got in trouble. The kid was mouthy (and one of my friend, lol) and most of the teachers wanted to do it to him at one point, I'm sure!

We also had a teacher that had an arm that didn't work due to a case of polio as a child. I always liked him as he taught literature, my favorite subject, but a lot of the kids made fun of him. One of my friends was dared to stick a pencil in his hand to see if he would feel it. Needless to say, we weren't the cool kids, and I think he thought anything to impress them was worth it, and actually did it. He regrets it to this day...and that was 15 years ago.

 

[Vexorg]

In fourth grade, I somehow ended up playing the part of God in the school Christmas play (I think the ACLU would drop their lawyers in on parachutes if you tried that one in a public school today.)

 

[Poohs Pal]

This is really going to date me but in Juinor High we had do a b-st exercises in gym class......
There was a little poem we had to recite as we did the exercise:
It goes like this:
We must We Must develope the B-st
For fear For Fear it will go to the rear............
Unfortunatley it never helped me

we did not have a smoking area unless you count the detention room for those that got caught smoking.
We had a choice between a paddle with holes in it or solid wood.
We feared our teachers but most importantly feared what would happen at home if we acted up at school.
Wearing under wear even though an unwritten rule was required

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

We would square dance in music class. I'd always have to be a "boy" b/c I was the tallest kid in the class (I'm 6' now). Needless to say, I HATED it.

We had Christmas parties all the time. Parents were allowed to bring in homemade goodies and were able to call it a Christmas party instead of a holiday party. It was quite nice.

- My school had a lot of teacher affairs, I knew of at least three...two of which eventually ended up in mutual divorces and happy remarriages...

My high school did too (I graduated in 2001). During my junior year, my English teacher was having an affair with my economics teacher, who was married to my math teacher. The English teacher's husband was also a teacher at the school. Talk about awkward! My math teacher would always talk about it too. It was crazy!

 

[Erin1700]

In 2nd grade the nun would tape your mouth shut or tape shoes on your feet.

We were always left alone in the classroom for long periods of time.

In HS we learned to juggle in gym class.

We had to take a breathalizer (sp?) to get into the school functions. It was a catholic school.

 

[Jingle]

In addition to a lot of the things already mentioned, the older kids (about 5th through 8th graders) had to rake the school grounds in the spring--during school hours. We actually didn't mind it at all!

 

[Liberty Belle]

We had a classroom cat in fourth grade. It stayed in our room (there was a litter box in there) and the teacher took it home at night. We'd found it on the playground and named it Pumpkin.

We were weighed in the hallway and our weight was announced to a record keeper. The whole class heard everyone's weight.

In middle school we were allowed to walk downtown (pretty close to the school) during lunch.

My algebra teacher gave me my first alcoholic drink in 9th grade (it was at a cast party away from the school).

My history teacher in 10th grade wanted to know if I wanted to borrow his copy of the latest Jackie Collins book. That one still blows my mind. First, I have no idea why he'd think it was my kind of book, and they are extremely adult.

I used to help my freshman English teacher develop newspaper and yearbook photos in his darkroom (at school) and he'd always rub up against me. He also told me I reminded him of his late wife.

 

[tar heel]

My elementary principal beat the crap out of one of my classmates with a book one day when he did something in class -- can't remember what, but I can sure remember the attack. He even hit him on the head.

When I was in fourth or fifth grade, there was a huge tree on the playground and the boys used to tie the girls to it with a jump rope.

We played red rover as well as dodgeball.

My high school had an afternoon "break" during which the gym concession stand was open and selling soft drinks and candy. You couldn't smoke in there, though -- had to go to the smoking area.

My elementary classes were divided by ability groups in all subjects. One year the slow group's desks were faced a different way.

In ninth grade, all girls took home ec and all boys took "introduction to vocations."

We had K-12 school buses, some of which were driven by 16-year-olds with little driving experience and even less sense.

We routinely had 35 or more students in our classes.

 

[Snoopymom]

I posted this before and I think there were a few people who didn't believe me but the rifle team brought their guns and the chef class brought their knives to school on the bus.

We had a beautiful courtyard with huge oak treas and benches for smoking.

A girl in my first grade class got put into a closet for saying that she had a bird at home that was "purple, blue, green, yellow, and on and on" I remember being so upset by this.

We had a rope and pole to climb in gym class that was probably 2 or 3 stories high, with only a little mat at the bottom.

A teacher slammed a student against a chalkboard in 8th grade.

A teacher in 5th grade (public school) made us pray. He also used to throw erasers at us.

A teacher in highschool who asked me if I needed a ride home once was arrested for... you guessed it.

There was an English teacher that would give you an A in her class if you did a paper on Queen Elizabeth I...worked for me

 

[Allison]

We had a rope and pole to climb in gym class that was probably 2 or 3 stories high, with only a little mat at the bottom.

Oh god, not the rope, I still shudder thinking about that darn rope. I could not climb that thing at all.

 

[Snoopymom]

I couldn't climb the rope either, and we used to sit in a circle underneath it....to break a fall?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I remember those ropes! I never could climb them. But I was little when we had ropes in the gym - like 2nd grade. That must have been in Massachusetts.

I went to 6 different elementary schools so some of the schools had better stuff than others. Like the school in Houston didn't have a gym. They folded up the cafeteria tables and pushed them over to the side. We square danced and whatever in the cafeteria.

We also played a game called "Bombardment" where we threw these synthetic snowballs at each other. The balls were soft little plush pom-pom things about the size of a softball so we could throw them inside without damaging anything.

In 6th grade I had a male teacher. That was in FL, and the school was not air conditioned so the teachers were allowed to wear shorts. He had this vintage shoe shine chair he liked to sit in while he talked to the class - neat chair, higher than a bar stool. He didn't wear underwear.

 

[Allison]

I couldn't climb the rope either, and we used to sit in a circle underneath it....to break a fall?

Us too! I was just talking to my kids about it the other day and how that rope was the bane of my existence in my gym class life.

We also used to jump on a trampoline in the middle of the gym and we would all stand around the trampoline like we were going to break someone's fall if they went flying off.

 

[clarabelle]

My elementary principal beat the crap out of one of my classmates with a book one day when he did something in class -- can't remember what, but I can sure remember the attack. He even hit him on the head.

When I was in fourth or fifth grade, there was a huge tree on the playground and the boys used to tie the girls to it with a jump rope.

We played red rover as well as dodgeball.

My high school had an afternoon "break" during which the gym concession stand was open and selling soft drinks and candy. You couldn't smoke in there, though -- had to go to the smoking area.

My elementary classes were divided by ability groups in all subjects. One year the slow group's desks were faced a different way.

In ninth grade, all girls took home ec and all boys took "introduction to vocations."

We had K-12 school buses, some of which were driven by 16-year-olds with little driving experience and even less sense.

We routinely had 35 or more students in our classes.

My DH (also from NC) drove a school bus when he was 16. Can you imagine?

 

[Allison]

In 6th grade I had a male teacher. That was in FL, and the school was not air conditioned so the teachers were allowed to wear shorts. He had this vintage shoe shine chair he liked to sit in while he talked to the class - neat chair, higher than a bar stool. He didn't wear underwear.

Oh man, that reminds me of one of the longest hours of my college life. My marketing professor sat on top of the desk right in front of my seat to lecture one day. Apparently, he was unaware of the huge hole in the crotch of his pants.

I know my face was red the entire class trying not to burst out laughing and desperately looking for anywhere to hold my gaze other than on him. I have a weird habit of laughing when I'm uncomfortable or nervous.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Us too! I was just talking to my kids about it the other day and how that rope was the bane of my existence in my gym class life.

We also used to jump on a trampoline in the middle of the gym and we would all stand around the trampoline like we were going to break someone's fall if they went flying off.

I can remember a girl in 4th grade falling on her head after we failed to properly "spot" her on the uneven bars.

Oh man, that reminds me of one of the longest hours of my college life. My marketing professor sat on top of the desk right in front of my seat to lecture one day. Apparently, he was unaware of the huge hole in the crotch of his pants.

I know my face was red the entire class trying not to burst out laughing and desperately looking for anywhere to hold my gaze other than on him. I have a weird habit of laughing when I'm uncomfortable or nervous.

Well, at least it only happened once!
The 6th grade teacher wore shorts and sat in that chair ALL THE TIME!

 

[JoJo's Mom]

We also played Heads up 7up in elementary school. LOVED it!. I always cheated though. When my head was down on my desk I would try and look on the floor and try to see shoes. That way if my thumb was pushed down I would try and look for those shoes and I would know who picked me!!!

We also had square dancing, waltz, etc in Jr. High. Yes, we had to touch boys. Even the icky ones.

In HS we also had a smoking lounge.

There was a gym teacher that was fooling around with a student. Thing is, the gym teacher was gross and no one ever stood why the girl liked him. EEEWWWWWW.....

There was a girl pregnant in 10th grade and that was a HUGE deal back then. Today, it's way too common.

We also had dances after every football game on Friday nights.

Said the pledge every morning.

I used to be able to run around the neighborhood all day and not come home until the streetlights were on or until we heard mom yelling from the front steps. There was no need for our parents to worry that we would go missing.

In elementary school we also had field day on the last day of school. If you didn't place top 3, you didn't get a participation ribbon. You had to place in the event to get one.

We had big elaborate musicals in elementary school with out music teacher. They were so much fun and such a production.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My 3rd grade teacher threw a kid against a wall and broke his collarbone. I can still see it happening, I was sooo shocked!

my 3rd or 4th grade teacher did the same, threw a kid who was mouthing off. i was pretty shocked, too, but the kid was pretty mouthy...

Square dancing in Gym.
Showers with no doors in gym.
Smoking area in the parking lot.
Lunch allowed "off-campus" for seniors.

yup. except our unofficial smoking area was in the wooded area at the far end of the property.

school gyms have shower doors now? none of the girls at my jr. high/high schools would shower, we just changed our clothes. the boys, however, were required to shower.

We played a game called Heads Up 7 Up when the teachers needed to fill up time.

omg, i forgot all about that!

We said the Pledge of Allegiance every day

Is that unusual now ?

not in our area, our elementary school still says the pledge every morning.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Dodgeball or Killball. *PLOINK*

in my elementary school, the students stood in a big circle surrounding a single student or two. there were 3 or 4 balls in play tossed across the circle trying to hit the kid in the middle. i hated playing dodgeball!

ds8's description of dodgeball today is like a game we called soak'em (or something that sounded like that.)

the history teacher with a glass eye if you did anything he didn't like he would put his eye on the desk in front of you and say I've got my eye on you, bad enough in class but he looked after the people who brought packed lunches and you don't want to go into your lunch box with some one' eye sitting on the lid

oh wow, that's scary and hilarious at the same time!

This is really going to date me but in Juinor High we had do a b-st exercises in gym class......

we had a "figure development" pe class in high school, though it involved working with weights and stretches and aerobics. this would have been around 1980...

My algebra teacher gave me my first alcoholic drink in 9th grade (it was at a cast party away from the school).

My history teacher in 10th grade wanted to know if I wanted to borrow his copy of the latest Jackie Collins book. That one still blows my mind. First, I have no idea why he'd think it was my kind of book, and they are extremely adult.

I used to help my freshman English teacher develop newspaper and yearbook photos in his darkroom (at school) and he'd always rub up against me. He also told me I reminded him of his late wife.

Yuck! you people with these creepy teachers are making me feel i got through fairly unscathed!

Oh god, not the rope, I still shudder thinking about that darn rope. I could not climb that thing at all.

i climbed the rope! it's all in the legs, baby!

but i was one of the few who could make it to the top. the boys had to climb it using just their arms!

There was a girl pregnant in 10th grade and that was a HUGE deal back then. Today, it's way too common.

if a girl got pregnant, she just disappeared, it was really creepy! girls were not allowed to attend school if they were pregnant, so they were kicked out of school. one girl in my class attended an alternative school after giving birth. she actually wound up graduating from there a year before the rest of us because of the lame graduation requirements for that school.

 

[jrmasm]

My DH (also from NC) drove a school bus when he was 16. Can you imagine?

I forgot about that. My morning bus driver in 7th was a high school student. I have no idea how we got to school without wrecking. I swear he was always asleep. This was also in NC.

in my elementary school, the students stood in a big circle surrounding a single student or two. there were 3 or 4 balls in play tossed across the circle trying to hit the kid in the middle. i hated playing dodgeball!

I loved dodgeball.