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The Mic is On: And It’s Back to School Night!

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

. . . Remember When Life Was Easy and School Was Hard?

Every year the first days of school bring back the idea of new clothes, new pads of paper, new supplies. Tonight it’s about school days”

  • remember firsts from school?
  • what did we take for granted?
  • what do we wish we could have back from school days now?
  • what did we think was hard that was really easy?

    • ahem . . .

back_to_school

And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring example links to share —

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Image: sxc.hu
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Comments

  13. This was always my problem with School, I ended up late because I got distracted a bit to more important things like Breadfast, Gene London, Sally Starr, Popeye.
    Hey Liz, Hey All.

    Reply

  27. I went to a Catholic high school, and they called detention Jug there, too, Joe. Nobody dare ask why. For fear of getting some.

    Oh, and by the way, I FINALLY MADE IT HERE! Hiya, Liz!

    Reply

  28. @ Liz- think congestion is to do with releasing stuff- plus a little self sabotage. The book has been a bit of a catalyst

    @ Glenda don’t you just love what kids have now

    Reply

  29. Liz, I have writers block more often than I’d like to admit. I have a good idea, a fair outline, and then can’t come up with anything that makes a decent post. 🙁
    Not good, maybe I should go back to English class?

    Reply

  35. ok, it was Grade Seven with Mr. Dingledorp. We working to be working silently. I didn’t understand something so I asked the girl beside me. He booms out, “Glenda, keep that up and you’ll have a detention.” I was mortified. When Mom came for me after school [she was a teacher too] and I told her, she laughed. My previous teachers tried encouraging me to talk. Adults.

    Reply

  36. I came close to going to NYU film school. Imagine it: NYC is your backdrop, (pre-9/11), scholarship pays the budget, your imagination is your limit, it’s all you do all day besides eat, no mortgage, no dependents.

    Reply

  49. Sitting out on the front deck and hearing Mr Softee tune playing down the street.
    When that stops, IT’S REALLY BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!

    Reply

  50. Actually, Liz, ideas are coming fast and furious. Not earth-shaking, but definitely bloggable. Feels like a garage sale in my brain. Except when I pull out an old idea, a new one takes its place! You’ll see my word count go down, too. That’s just natural.

    Reply

  52. Hi Liz. Pushing a button for faculty when indicating we don’t work in the summer. We just don’t teach. I’ve done numerous workshops, written and submitted 2 journal articles, updated my lecture notes…etc…

    Reply

  53. Seems an obvious trick, but when I get a blog idea, I make a draft in WordPress immediately. Sometimes just a cryptic few words in the title bar. Making sure to fix the automatically generated URL so it makes sense before publishing.

    Reply

  56. so let me get this straight,

    While Rick Wolff was in film school making a movie about Dingledorp, Glenda was talking to a 7th grade girl about her mom laughing at adults . . . and Joe was eating breakfast on a Tuesday night while Delaney was thinking about shopping at the University of South Florida. Did I get that right?

    Reply

  58. My first day of school:

    I then began Grade 1 in my purple heather sweater and purple plaid kilt. I was one bonnie lass!
    School was an older building; actually, it consisted of two buildings and a portable. The main building had four or five classrooms for the primary grades, the staff room, changing room and the principal’s office. The older kids were upstairs in the other building, accessible by a long, steep ramp.
    As this was before integration and mainstreaming had been invented, all the Special Ed students went to this school, which was actually an annex of a larger school, several blocks away. This was definitely segregation. But, at that age, I didn’t know any differently. I was excited to be starting school with my new notebooks, crayons and lefty scissors. And, I do remember hating missing school when I was sick. It was so boring to stay home.

    Reply

  59. My clue that summer’s starting to end: the crickets’ volume goes up. It’s a racket right now. Then you see the occasional renegade tree turn color. That’s actually a little scary.

    Reply

  61. {{}}{{{}}}}Scratches Chalk on Blackboard like Sr Philameana used to do{{}}{{{}}}
    Marti, take that out from under your desk and put it back in your mouth!!! :-&

    Reply

  65. Rick, my clue that Autumn is approaching is the commercials for the Renaissance Faire.

    This is the first time in 25 years I have not had a child returning to school. It is liberating and terrifying all at the same time.

    Hi Delaney! Knew you’d spot me.

    My report cards always said, “Talks too much” – LOL

    Reply

  71. First time here. Let’s see. I’m always the overly prepared one personally and as the mom of a school-age kiddo. I stress out for days making sure everything is just perfect, but it turns out I always end up forgetting something! And it’s usually my head!

    Reply

  72. OK, I’m going back to work. Discussing what faculty should do the first day of class. Need to decide what “I’m” doing that day also…

    Could someone pass me a Klondike? Need the sugar high!

    Reply

  75. I was always straigh “A”s in grade school, but once I found girls were cute, my grades went down as much as my attention to girls went up.
    That’s my story, and I’m sticking too it!

    Reply

  79. I definitely had a stronger delineation on the beginning and ending of summer. Now in the fall, I get stuck behind a school bus, and it’s a revelation. I remember having a feeling of impending dread as the leaves turned, for years after my graduation. Oddly, I miss that a little.

    Reply

  81. I wasn’t here to see it, but daughter said she went down and waved at the school bus when it went by, first time in 13 years without her on it. Gave me a tear and a smile.

    Reply

  82. Joe, my junior year in HS was my last in an-all boys Catholic school. I too discovered girls! People think I couldn’t hack the discipline with the priests. IT’s a longer story.

    Reply

  84. Marti, my wife sometimes IMs me when dinner’s ready, from downstairs. Sometimes she has to yell up the stairs to turn on my IM. I ask her, “Why don’t you just tell me what you want?”

    Reply

  85. Liz, does Illinois have the “back to school tax holiday”? Missouri does it the first weekend of August. Purchases of school supplies, computers, clothes etc are not charged sales tax. Good time to shop, even if you have no back-to-schoolers – LOL

    Reply

  89. My first day of Kindergarten I walked over to the shorty counter top. I placed my hand on this thing that looked similar to a robotic monster mouth. I’d never seen something so peculiar in my many years. I put my thumb in it’s mouth to check for teeth and pushed down on the top.

    That was the day I learned what a stapler was.

    Reply

  91. From Grade Seven with Dingledorp:

    Within a couple of months, the school needed a full-time vice-principal; much to our disappointment, we lost our great teacher. Another one was hired to fill his position. We quickly discovered that our new teacher had some unconventional teaching methods, which caused a few waves. His first day he came in and ripped down all of the spelling tests from the wall. I don’t know if he felt we were too old to have work up on the wall or if he wanted the space for something else. Either way, I felt it was hurtful and disrespectful. Things didn’t improve from there. Being typical Grade 7 kids, we soon had a few choice nicknames for him. As far as I know, his teaching contract was not renewed at the end of the year.
    But, he did have us do one exercise regularly to get us writing. He would pick a word, like cars, and we had five minutes to write as much as we could about cars. I think the purpose was to get us over the fear of putting words down on paper and to get thoughts flowing. On a couple of occasions, as a replacement assignment if there was something I couldn’t do, he had me pick one moment or incident and write as much as I could about it by describing all of my five senses. The idea was to expand that one moment in time as much as possible and to include as many details as I could remember.
    I still use those techniques if I’m stuck while writing. I start writing to get the ideas flowing and to get something down on paper. From there, I can go back to pick out the portions worth keeping, and then I can proceed. Despite him not being my favourite teacher, I do remember him for encouraging my writing, and I do owe him some gratitude. Perhaps he saw potential and knew that writing would have to play an important part in my life.
    On the last day of Grade 7, Mom wheeled me out to the van like she did every other day. There were a few tears as we passed Mrs. Peart in her classroom. She gave me a gift that I still have to this day – a butterfly necklace, symbolizing freedom in a new life. And then Mom and I left, not to return, as it was the last day for the both of us. Mom had resigned her teaching position so that she would be available to assist me in high school; a risky move financially and professionally but one that she felt was necessary to give me the best chance of success.
    We went through those doors, neither one of us certain of what the next chapter would bring but knowing we would get through it, one way or another.

    Reply

  96. My question is…
    If my son went to Catholic school (which I paid for), graduated, went to College (which I also paid for) and I have no children of school age, WHY am I STILL paying school taxes (that go up every year)?

    Reply

  97. Good Evening Liz and Friends-Here you are talkin’ about school-my favorite subject! Just had back to school night for my 10 and 13 year old! Lots of memories of back to school night in my own classroom!

    Reply

  112. Blogitus Ergo Sum.

    You know, Liz, I took the StrengthFinder 2.0 test, and it told me I should do something to exercise my skill with words. So I said, “But I’m an artist, ergo this test is flawed.”

    Reply

  117. Angela,
    It’s truly frightening, isn’t it? I’m working as we speak on a 2-week post tornado video. Should have it out tonight. I’m a little on edge with the winds and rains these days.

    Reply

  118. Thanks Kim and Angela. In my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself, I share my life living with cerebral palsy to show others cp isn’t a death sentence but rather a life sentence. I’d provide the link but then this comment will end up in the fish pond for some unknown reason.

    Reply

  120. Glenda, I’ve actually visited and poked around on your site before. You have a great story and you really are quite amazing. I enjoy stopping by to visit and gain some inspiration.

    Reply

  123. Glenda, my wife was diagnosed with scleraderma 2 years ago. She blogs about it, much less formally than you. It’s a Live Journal, and she has this coterie of friends who cheer for her when she has good days and give her coping tips. Should you care to see, she goes by the name of Zaduzbina there. Since she’s a lot more mobile and capable, she still works a full-time job. Don’t know how much longer that’s going to happen.

    Reply

  125. Ah, school. Last three years of high school were the best:

    >The friends.
    >Getting a license and using it.
    >Favorite teachers(2).
    >Not so favorite teachers (the rest).
    >The theater group (local, not school and all classic musicals).
    >Riding around with my best friend in his 1956 Buick Special with that ever present 6 pack of Molsen Golden Ale (just one mind you).
    >Laurie Despres (sigh).
    >Being able to “rat race” an old Chevy station wagon better than my arch rival could handle his AMC Gremlin.
    >Late Saturday nights foggin’ up the windows.
    >The Eagles, America, Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zepplin, Air Supply, Crosby, Stills and Nash, ZZ Top and all the others you don’t hear any more.
    >Home.

    And all the rest…

    Time for bed. I just wanted to stop by and say hello. Think I’ll go dream of those bygone days of lesser responsibilities.

    Have fun.

    Reply

  129. I remember tornado drills.

    Going down into the bowels of that ancient brick building, (the one that still had desks connected in a row on iron rails and a cloakroom at the back of every classroom)with the giant boiler rattling, and the smell of fresh bread baking (yes I am so old they baked fresh bread at my elementary school).

    We all lined the walls and sat cross-legged on the cold concrete floor, us girls daintily tucking our petticoats in around us (girls only wore dresses) and ducked our heads into our laps, holding our arms folded over our heads.

    Reply

  130. Thanks for posting the link, Joe. I think Liz has my comments booby-trapped if I include a link.

    Rick, I will look for your wife’s blog. Take it one day at a time, and don’t put off something you really want to do until tomorrow if you can possibly do it today.

    Reply

  131. Many blog-and-run guests tonight. Or maybe that happens a lot. What else do I remember from school? Oh yeah.

    The roots of a ginormous tree that fell, in the property behind the schoolyard. Anthony Addessa and I would climb up and flex and twist the roots as if they were control levers. We played Gigantor.

    I haven’t thought of that for decades!

    Reply

  139. Marti-Happy Belated Birthday!

    Liz-doing great! Did six teacher training institutes this summer, book is done and turning in final copy tomorrow (yeah!), and just starting back to my “normal” job working with individual schools. The kids start tomorrow!

    Reply

  143. Fire drills!

    I have a story that’s not so much about a drill as it is about a real fire. I was in high school and a boy ended up lighting the bathroom on fire because he was angry at his mother (he and the family had issues). Of course, we were all rushed outside. This was during the middle of winter in Chicago when there was already 9 inches of snow on the ground. We all know that when there’s a fire, there’s no chance to stop to grab a jacket. Two and a half hours later they decided to get the busses out so that we wouldn’t be frost bitten. Thirty minutes after the entire high school population had been loaded onto busses, the firemen declared it all-clear.

    Reply

  145. Thanks, Liz… that DV essay has always been a favorite of mine.

    Hard to believe my little sweetheart is starting third grade already.

    Ms. Glenda. Sock-up at noon? You’re on!

    Reply

  151. There was a school year between my late mother and my father’s marrying my stepmother. One day my father asked me what my favorite sandwich was. I said it was ham and Swiss cheese. He bought a six-foot wedge, made it all ham and Swiss cheese, cut it into two-inch lengths, wrapped them individually in paper, labeled each “RW, H&S, 2/6/70” (or whatever), and put them in the freezer. After the first month of ham and Swiss daily, it was difficult to see where the ham ended and the Swiss began. I complained to my younger sister, who couldn’t sympathize. She got a half-year of cream cheese and jelly!

    Don’t get me started on haircuts.

    Reply

  152. Kim – you learned a valuable lesson that day about how government bureaucracies work. You probably didn’t realize the whole experience was staged by the business and sociology departments. 🙂

    Reply

  153. I’m doing OK, Miss Glenda. Trying to figure out how to boost my Amazon rankings without sounding like begging.

    BTW, Liz, on Thursday I’m talking to that publicist I emailed you about.

    Marti – glad you liked it.

    Reply

  165. Of course I’m still here Rick, I just threw you a Klondike (hope you got it).
    And as far as “jelly” I think is homogonized (sp?) and “jam” is more like a preserve (more pieces of fruit). Not sure, I grew up in Philly, I can only go by what the sold in the Acme. 😉

    Reply

  168. Joe gets a gold star for sharing!

    Rick, that was such a touching story.

    Glenda, from my knowledge of spreadable sandwich products, jelly is firmer than jam. Jelly is almost translucent, because it is made with only fruit (or berry) juice, whereas jam has bits of the fruit or berry in it. I’ve made both, coming from hillbilly roots where all the womenfolk had to learn how to can fruits and vegetables.

    Wow, I managed to say something educational – LOL

    Reply

  180. My granddaughter is starting pre-school, Liz. She’s excited about it. She knows she has to have a physical and see the dentist first, so everyday she asks when she gets to go to the doctor so she can start school.

    Reply

  181. Hey Rick C, have a Klondike, I have plenty (big lunchbox)
    *Rick W, we have hoagies and grinders and Cheesesteaks. but our only heroes are the firemen and cops (and the Iggles). 😉

    Reply

  183. What’s up in school these days?

    Here in the Philippines, I don’t like much the present curriculum – it’s not balanced because the extra curricular activities were made optional. It’s up to the students to choose the physical (like sports) or the sedentary (like art) clubs.

    Reply

  191. 😉 yeah Rick C, I didn’t understand adults. Some wanted me to talk, others gave me detentions [almost]. Go figure. Not that it really mattered since I was the first kid to school and last to leave. Even even there on pro-d days. No fair.

    Reply

  207. Ah oh, I’m out past curfew.

    Don’t anybody get cooties! LOL

    Delightful as always. Thank you for brightening my day!

    Peace and joy to all….

    Reply

  216. Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy days of Summer
    Soon turn into something other

    Than the kids would like to remember
    When parents say “See you in September”

    And the days of autumn soon turn to winter
    Then Christmas tunes will soon be the winner

    Then all of a sudden it is Spring once again
    And childish thoughts turn away from the din

    Cause Summer will be upon us once more
    And children and parents will run to the door

    With thoughts of spending some time in the sun
    And the whole family will once again have great fun.

    Burma Shave

    Nite Liz
    Nite All

    Reply

  218. Yes, there’s something very relaxing about this. I’m getting all sleepy too, Liz. I enjoyed it! It’s sort of like Twitter, with blinders. (Twitter still my frame of reference, as a newcomer. I know I’m backwards!)

    Reply

  236. Rick you said goodnight, but Liz and Glenda didn’t.
    I actually thought the little ditty was pretty good and no one noticed. 🙁

    Reply

  238. 🙂 I feel much better, I can’t sleep on Tuesday nights unless Liz tells me to Sleepy Swell.
    Ok, I’m really a kid at heart.
    Nite Liz
    Nite All (again)

    Reply

  250. Hi, Meikah!

    I’m off, too, so goodnight Glenda, Meikah, and any other keeners who like to stay late to school.:)

    Bye Liz. Thank you for the evening. ‘Til next time.

    Reply

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