Saturday, July 31, 2010

Miscellany of Sixth Grade


This is a late posting of my sixth grade memories. I remember a lot of different things in sixth grade.
  • Our classes were mostly on the first floor of the middle school. Mrs. Haley was my teacher for most of my classes. I remember a fire drill going off one day and she threw the book she was holding over her head and (I think) said a swear word. We, of course, that this was hilarious.
  • Hormones and "girl cliques" came in to play. I remember some not liking me one day and hating me the next to liking me on an entirely different day.
  • I remember jeans being the "in" thing to wear. I had one pair. I wore them every single day. That probably contributed to some not liking me one day. Then I blew a hole in them one day - right in the crotch area. My mom had to bring me a pair - of my older sister's - to wear. That was much worse. 
  • My best friend got in a fight and ended up with a black eye. She was called "Rocky" by her family. (She won the fight.)
  • The "other" sixth grade class was assigned to read Caddie Woodlawn and were complaining. I couldn't figure out why as I had read it a couple years before and loved it!
I need to explain how our middle school worked. There were three "groups" of students. There was group 1 (5-1, 6-1, 7-1, 8-1) who were the college prep or higher level students. Then there was group 2 (split the same way) who were more business/vocational minded. Finally there was the third group which were the students who struggled a bit more. For fifth and sixth grade I was in the top group for everything but math - then I was in the 2nd group. It all started back in fourth grade and never really improved.
  • I was in the band. I had started in fifth grade. Our family owned a clarinet. Each of us played it in fifth grade as that is when band started in our district. Each of the older siblings would play for a year but no more than two. The clarinet would always be free when the next sibling started. I would go on to quit band my 7th grade year just in time for my little sister to learn to play it in fifth grade. Thankfully, she didn't continue and I joined again in 8th grade. I loved band and music and chorus (still do).
  • I went away for two weeks to Girl Scout camp the summer between 5th & 6th grade. I hated it actually. It was the first time I was away from my family and not staying with family. I also hated the food. I still remember being told we had to eat "three big Girl Scout helpings" of all the food served - whether we liked it or not. I managed to avoid notice for most of the time I was there. In the last few days it was noticed that I hadn't eaten my baked beans. I despise baked beans - the smell, the texture. I know, it's not very New England of me, but I do not like them. The counselor made me eat one bite. One big bite. After I almost brought them all back up in her lap, she didn't make me eat any more. There were a few girls from my school who went with me so I did at least have some friends. We climbed to the top of Mt. Kathadin while there. My ankles hadn't bothered me once the whole time, but I ended up back on my crutches for a couple days at camp.
Overall I remember sixth grade as being an awkward and difficult time. It was a time when hormones hit hard and I was trying to figure out who I was in life. It really didn't get all that much better in seventh either.


2 comments:

  1. Everytime I read one of your childhood memory posts, I'm inspired to think about writing my own! But, first on my list is recording some of our kids' childhood memories!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! I struggled with the jeans around this time too!! Though my issue was that I hated them but they were the 'cool' thing to wear. I have never really fell into doing what was 'cool' though so I wore stretch pants like I always had and paid the consequences at school!
    I also played Clarinet VERY briefly! Our band started in 4th grade, and I did flute (I was already in choir which was open to younger ages as well) at first, but I couldn't get any sound to come out of it! I ended up with with clarinet by 5th grade at a different school, but fudged my way through with that as well before I couldn't stand it anymore!
    Sometimes I wish I had stuck with an instrument though, I wish I knew the piano! I hope to get my children playing either the violin or the piano at a young age and make them stick it out because I believe they will regret NOT later in life.

    ReplyDelete

Oh thank goodness! I'm not here all alone. Thanks for leaving me a comment. It helps that I'm not always talking to myself. Right? Hello?