Are You A Fish Or Are You A Clown?

Indian Village Elementary School
3835 Wenonah Lane
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46809
(260) 467-5200

Photo Credit: Indian Village Elementary School Website

I have lots to say about two particular things that I must only hint on briefly here - Kindergarten and My Parents and their educational background. Both, I think, are points of reference which I need to tell you about so that you can better understand today's entry. So let me give you hints of them and then I'll move into today's entry - which is about - First Grade, Room 19, Mrs. Marsha Lawson - and of course - Indian Village Elementary School.

Kindergarten (the year before - with Miss Crouse in Room 1) - was just 1/2 of a day (and it was the afternoon session for me). While I have lots of stories to tell about this year, one thing that stands out to me is that I never considered it a year of academics. It seemed like much of the focus was on how to co-exist with other kids and how to participate in group activities. It also served to familiarize you with the bus system, how to get around the building, and most importantly, it put you on somewhat of a schedule :).

My parents and education....First of all, at this point in time of my life, neither of my parents had graduated from high school. My father went up through eighth grade and my mother dropped out at the end of her sophomore year to have me.

When I went into Kindergarten, I didn't know how to read. I'm not sure I knew how to write. I could probably count (shrugs). My parents did recognize that education was important however, they really looked to the teachers of the school system to provide the guidance. I'm sure that had a lot to do with their lack of education.

SO - two very important data points for you to understand for today's entry.

In first grade, I didn't know what to expect and frankly, I wasn't thinking really hard about "expectations" around education. We were a pretty poor, but proud family. Although we could have qualified for free and/or reduced lunches (and of course - that dreaded "welfare" term), my parents would have nothing of that.

SO - what was I thinking about if I wasn't focused on my education? I loved me some Barbies! I had Barbies but not any of that fancy furniture (too expensive)....so I usually thought about what kind of things I could use from around the house that could double for my Barbie furniture/Barbie house. I'm telling you - that's mental labor intensive! :)

Mrs. Lawson was a very nice first grade teacher. She was subtle in how she tested us to see where our skills were. I don't remember any paper/pencil exercises to determine this. I think that it was some one on one sessions with her and maybe one other staff/teacher type.

After she had determined where our as-is reading and language skills were, she placed us into small groups. Each group had a name. I think that there were four groups however, the only two group names I can remember today is the Fish group and the Clown group.



Now, I assumed she put us in those groups so that she could work closely with us at the appropriate level we were all at. Now go figure. How smart of her!

I was assigned to the Fish group. At the time, I loved tuna fish so I was kind of excited about being in a group with a food attached to it that I like (for more on my food issues - see Mr. Yuk!).

I don't know how it happened but after about a week, it dawned on me that I was in the retarded group. Side note to readers - I know you know I don't literally mean that. When you are seven years old (during that period in the 70's), you knew why Reading Readiness existed and why some of your classmates didn't transition from Kindergarten to First Grade.

So, I was a little miffed that I was in the retard/slow/stupid group. The Fish Group. So ticked off I was, that I took a moment to figure out what group I should REALLY be in and over the next 3-4 weeks, I worked my way out of the Fish Group and into the Clown Group.



First Grade Readers - Publisher - Houghton Mifflin

How'd I do that?

I recognized that reading and spelling and general processing of my thoughts, was all about patterns. Okay, but know this. In first grade, I didn't KNOW that. Mrs. Lawson used something they call - oh PHONICS. And phonics for me, was about pattern, repetition, logic. I could translate the flashcards she would use, into sounds and I would practice those over and over again - not even aloud, but in my head. It wasn't memorizing - it was the marriage of sight, with hearing, and thought processing.

Like I said - Mrs. Lawson was great - she did a lot of head fakes with us :)

Mrs. Lawson was impressed when I took such a short time to work my way out of the Fish Group and into the Clown Group. Dr. Schroeder (principal with the bald head, fuzzy side burns - he kinda looked clownish...and he was always twisting a pinkie ring) wasn't sure what to make of me. But then, I really showed them - nobody puts baby into a corner (dang - I really wish I had coined that term because really - as a seven year old - that's what being in the Fish Group felt like).

I quickly surpassed the Clown Group. Mrs. Lawson was at a loss. She consulted with Mrs. Lyons (the other first grade teacher). They both thought it was a good idea to get me started with the next level up reader.

By the end of the first grade, I had whizzed through the required reading books for Grade 2, Grade 3, and Grade 4. And yes, the associated workbooks, vocabulary, and testing.

How things have changed or NOT - My parents didn't help me (or not - they were just busy with other stuff). I didn't have any fancy tutors. Every day after school, as a latchkey kid, I had CHORES and other responsibilities. We didn't even have homework in first grade. There were around 30 kids in my class too (see class picture). My point? Just another data reference for you - hopefully it gets people thinking about why kids now (who are just like I was) - aren't succeeding like I did. I don't think for a moment that I was the most unique kid in the world.

But anyway....

These books my friends, represent a very important and pivotal time in my life.

“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities," Maya Angelou

I had a fantasy of getting the heck out of the Fish Group. And by doing that - I unknowingly, laid the foundational building blocks that would benefit me a million fold for the rest of my life. Having this foundation allowed me to survive my parents divorce and my movement to at least ten additional schools. Without the foundation that Mrs. Lawson helped me realize, I would have been one of those statistics that none of us would be proud to be.

I'm slowly, but surely, locating these books either through eBay or through Amazon Marketplace. I'm convinced I'm missing ONE book from the First Grade series (so if you know what that is, please let me know).

Side note: I can't remember which of these are associated to which grade, so if you remember - let me know!!!



By the way, all of these awesome books were authored by the legendary professor from Michigan State University - William K. Durr. He's retired now however, I've decided that I'm going to take my Dinosaurs book and I'm going to mail it to him to see if he'll autograph it for me.

Fer real!