I liked school right away, starting in 1st grade. Kindergarten was kind of stressful for me, maybe because we moved halfway through it, maybe because I was a "very young 5", with a July birthday. (Don't lose that point, it will probably surface later.....) But, first grade was pretty cool. I had Mrs. McKnight. She was about 107 years old when she taught me. That was back in 1964. I'm pretty sure she's not around anymore. Nice teacher. Taught me all the stuff I needed to know in 1st grade. Read to us. And, I got in trouble in her class for the first time, and maybe only time in my school career. Even she said it was mostly the boys at my table who were talking when they were supposed to be listening. I just got swept up in the mob. But, I had to miss some recess, along with them. I felt like she didn't know who she was dealing with (yes, I had a halo, even in those days that I worked at keeping polished!)
2nd grade; now, 2nd grade was cool. I'm not really sure why, except that I had Miss Knott. She had black hair styled in a shoulder length flip with bangs. Very 1965. She wore tight skirts (not too short) and pointy toed high heels (teacher did NOT wear pants back in those days). She read to us, also. I loved that. I don't remember a whole lot else about her, except that every day, when she called us to line up at the door to go home, she asked us if we wanted a hug or a handshake. I always took a hug. I thought that was the most amazing thing! Nobody at my house shook my hand, much less hugged me by the time I was in 2nd grade. School was already my happy place, where I got pats on the back, "atta girl's" for knowing stuff and doing my work, stars on my papers. And HUGS. HUGS. That was huge for me. When I was in 2nd grade I decided I wanted to become a teacher. It didn't have anything to do with thinking kids were fun or cute or interesting to work with. I WAS a kid. I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to be like Miss Knott when I grew up. I wanted to offer and receive hugs.
It's really true that you never know who's watching you or whose life you're going to influence. You never know what act of kindness, or unkindness, is going to have a life changing effect on someone around you. Many times I have questioned my decision, at the age of 7, to become a teacher. It's one of the lowest paying jobs any college educated professional can have. It is stressful, frustrating and often thankless. More times than not you don't get the big picture in terms of the life time impact you have on your students. I don't know if Miss Knott thought about those things or not. I don't know if she knew I was a smart kid, starving for hugs. I know what she offered me every day of the 2nd grade and I know how much it meant to me. And I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
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