Teaching In Fashion

It was with a heavy heart and an empty pocketbook that I left the school.

I’m glad they got their religion everyday, but I felt I just couldn’t be responsible for the rest of their time.

I stayed in touch with the kindergarten teacher. A few years down the road, we would have the most unbelievable experience together.

My teaching career took twists and turns and the next job I had was in a Hebrew Day School in Queens. I had a 5th grade. There were some new wrinkles to teaching there. While you didn’t have to be religious, while in school and in everything you said, you had to abide by their rules. I had to learn some of those rules and I found them incongruent with my life. Wearing slacks was prohibited for females. Luckily for me my niece married a man who manufactured women’s clothing. It became a saving grace that a couple of times a year he would invite me into Manhattan to “shop” at his office or at the warehouse in NJ. It was like a kid in a candy store. If I had to dress up everyday, I was so thankful for my nephew- in- law otherwise I would be wearing the same thing day in and day out.

When I applied for the job there, I was upset a little when during my intake interview, the Rabbi interviewing me said, “You are coming home where you belong!”

I was never sure if he meant that I shouldn’t have been teaching those other kids, or that I was going to be deprogrammed! Anyway, I basically liked it and it was much more like a public school, just with religion.

I liked the 5th grade. My son at that point was also a 5th grader. His school calendar didn’t always correspond to mine. There was a conflict and I asked if I could bring my son to school.

Classes were split with one half of the day having English and the other half Hebrew. My co-teacher, the Hebrew half said that she would welcome my son into the class in the morning. We decided to see if any of the kids could figure it out. Of course, my son knew no Hebrew. My co-teacher worked around that and no one was suspicious. After lunch, I was “introduced to my son.”

I know I already told you how bright he was. I had scheduled a spelling bee for the day followed by a geography lesson. I told my son, but I honestly didn’t supply him with the spelling words or the geography questions. When he won the spelling bee, all the kids cheered for him. After the geography, they started to become suspicious. One child said, “He looks like you, I think he’s your son!” We admitted it and everyone thought it was funny.They told me and he as well that anytime he wanted to come and join the class it would be great!.

Several years later, when I would no longer be at that school, teams from NYC and Long Island were involved in a contest called “OLYMPICS OF THE MIND.”

My son’s team had placed first within the school and our district. The next step, to go to the state finals! I went to the finals as a parent, and not the school I was currently teaching in. The kids followed a schedule where they had to compete in several things, most together, but one separately. The main event was the project they had worked on for some time. There were guidelines, but a lot of freedom allotted for each group dynamic.

When all the events were complete, we were led into a large auditorium on the campus of the college that was hosting.

The awards were given out for some things and then the major awards started. The third place team was announced, it was not ours.

Solomon Schecter School, my old school, was not announced either. The second place team was announced. It was not ours or theirs. We were expecting first place next but instead it was an individual award for brain storming going to one child. When they announced my son’s name I was flawed. He’s teammates applauded, but not too enthusiastically, but the team from Solomon Schechter went wild! He accepted the award and was about to leave the stage when the MC told him to stay where he was as the team from our school district took first place. Again it was my old school, my old students who screamed and applauded.

I was thrilled for my son, but I have to admit, I was thrilled for me too. In the words of Sally Fields, the actress, as she accepted her Oscar, “they like me, the really like me!”

We went on to the finals of the state up in Buffalo NY. Something went wrong! Our team was just not up to it. They had a breakout of chicken pox. The kids participated, not knowing that they were sick, they just didn’t feel well. They did the best they could, but did not win. No matter it was a thrill for both the kids and we, the parents.

After my 5th grade stint, I was back in a first grade classroom. It was a very large class. The kids ranged from hardly ready for first grade to readers on the 3rd grade level. I had a very good rapport with the Hebrew teacher. The group was divided in half, the two 1st grade classroom were next door to each other. One group was my morning group and after lunch, eaten in the classroom, we switched and the second group came in. the culmination of that year was one of the best things I had done with the kids. Today perhaps, it would not have been looked on kindly. When I was a kindergartener, we performed a play. We created a circus. The roles were suggested and then you could pick what you wanted to be, within reason of course. I decided as a 4 year old to be the Fat Lady!, I remember my teacher asking me, why, I wanted that role, I was the tiniest one in the class! I remember telling her that I wanted it because it was a solo! Made perfect sense to me.

Well, we didn’t have a fat lady in My first grade production, but we had most of the acts that were in your typical circus. The kids who wanted to “work” with animals, had to know all about the animals. They would tell the audience where the animals, lived, what they ate, and how circus animals were trained, if they could be trained. Acrobats had to talk about the muscles in the body and how to train and not get hurt. They strong man came onto the stage to the music of Rocky and demonstrated, with paper weights and explained what part of the body to use when trying to lift. The MC announced each act and about a 3 ring circus and the big top. The finale of the performance was a human pyramid. As each level showed up to assume a position, one child would explain something about a pyramid. There was music all through it, the kids had a blast! It was my finale at that school. I missed the 6-8 classes and I found a school that I would spend the next 18 years teaching at that level. One problem, it was an Orthodox Yeshiva, and if I thought Solomon Schecter was difficult to deal with, it was a piece of cake compared to the Yeshiva. More rules, regulations, prohibitions, and attitude from the kids. I adjusted and finally, making semi decent money found my home there.

My sister, had a son who was in his late 20s. My nephew was always on the quiet side. My sister started to bother me about fixing him up with some nice teacher. I hated the thought of asking someone but she bothered me. Finally, I asked another teacher if she would be willing to meet my nephew. She apparently had been fixed up before, but it never worked out. She was not too receptive to the idea. I asked to her to please accept a phone call from him and if there was no connection that would be it. She agreed. He called and she accepted a date. That weekend my stomach was in turmoil knowing I would have to face her on Monday.

She saw me, ran over and said, “He is so nice!” Needless to say they eventually married and had two kids! I guess I could add matchmaker to my list of jobs!

I know that I was different from all the teachers at the school. I always felt that if I was bored by droning on about dates and the past, my students must be bored too. In order to spice things up I developed projects to go with each large unit.

I didn’t want reports that I would have to read and grade. I wanted something more enjoyable, personal. Some of the things I came up with were fun and exciting, while others still required a report of sorts but not on the standard topics. For example, teaching about the Oregon trail and the hazards of people traveling out west in the 1800s, I created a “trail” within the school complete with pitfalls and rewards. They had to use a map to find different locations where a clue was available for them to “travel” to the next location until they reached their reward! I had half the school participating, from other teachers, the administration, and the maintenance people. Along the way the pitfalls were unexpected. It was the role of the Principal to terminate their chance to get to the end and return them to the classroom. Sometimes I could send out up to three teams of two because they were so quickly eliminated. Sometimes one team would find a way to avoid all the pitfalls and get to the end of the trek. There they would claim a ticket which indicated they reached the end. Each year, I had no more than three teams beat the odds. Of course I had to alter the path to victory at least twice a year.

We performed the Oklahoma land rush,The gym teacher helped me place “landmarks” in places inside the gym. We created our own countries, complete with map, natural resources, native animals, and government, and we had projects dealing with so many aspects of the Civil War. The projects ranged from music of the Civil War, innovations of the Civil War, medicine and surgery of that era, the role of women, an in depth project of one military leader, and the paths of the Underground Railroad, just to name a few. Each project was presented by the student and they recruited other students to act things out or help sing a song.

The Roaring 20’s was so much fun to teach. It was a time of growth and properity. The birth of different music forms and fashion. The 18th amendment came into direct conflict with a more liberal society. Finally it was repealed in 1933. It was the rise of mobs and organized crime, and overlapped the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. I created a speak easy, the kids dressed in 1920’s styles and had to use the “secret” word to gain entry into the class ice cream parlor.

We learned about the court system and one of my favorites was having a trial. Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz was put on trial for murder of the Wicked Witch. The whole class was involved, from those who were lawyers, the bailiff, all the characters, including Toto were witnesses. The children who did not have an acting part were the jury. The Judge was always the Rabbi or the Principal. I am amazed that in different years, there were different verdicts! In my 6th grade classes, I managed to integrate the girls and boys. We had a huge unit on ancient Greece. I concocted an Olympics and banquet. The classes were split up into Greek city states and there were several things each group had to complete. I had some parents volunteer to help and that was greatly appreciated, especially the banquet, which we prepared ourselves in the school cafeteria observing all the dietary laws. It took a lot of time, but they were all working and learning and it was enjoyable.

On the day of the Olympics, parents were invited for individual competitions and to see the whole group. I was tickled pink when some of the Rabbi’s showed up with togas over there usual clothing. They got into the spirit and it was great! Parents would follow their child to each activity which lasted about 30 minutes. Finally everyone was in the auditorium/ lunch room to hear the winners, The teams paraded in under an original banner they created. The winners of the sports events were given a certificate, the winners of the essay project were awarded their prizes, we even had a cheer each group created for their city state. One year a rap group of boys won the award! They were terrific!

Finally the city state winner was announced. Then it was time to eat!

Keeping with the tradition of the school, the cafeteria, divided into boys and girls sides, the dietary laws obeyed. Everyone devoured the goodies we made.

I was exhausted when it was over but at least I had some of the parents help to clean up. The Principal came over to me and said, “This was great, we can do it again next year!” I nearly cried. It was really too much, we did it twice more, but then I said, “No mas!”

Every four years, to coincide with the Presidential Election, we had debates, depicting each side, we made campaign slogans, we had a mock election. I can say with total conviction that I have finished my teaching career. It think it would be a nightmare today to teach about government!