I substituted in 7th grade Science today. It was fun, but I sure am tired! Kids like to take advantage of subs sometimes, but the classes I taught today were good. Not like some of the boys in Grandpa Johnson's class when he was young.
Grandpa was raised in Sweden. He started school when he was 7 years old, back in 1905. Back in those days the schools were all work and no play. School was from 9:00 to 3:30, with half an hour for lunch. Each hour they had a five minute recess to run around and get the wiggles out. During the rest of the time students were to sit quietly at their desks, no talking, whispering, or fidgiting.
One day a little girl in Grandpa's class spoke without permission. Their teacher was a very hard man. He walked up behind the girl, grabbed one of her pig-tails, and yanked it. He yanked so hard that he pulled her hair out. The class was furious, but they had no recourse. The teacher ruled and the kids obeyed, and that was that.
That night Grandpa and his friends got together. They were all angry about what their teacher had done and they wanted to find a way to pay him back. Early in the morning before school they went house to house, gathering the contents of everyone's bedpans into one big bucket. This they took to the teacher's house, where they dumped it on his front porch. Then one of the boys knocked on his door and they all ran to hide. The teacher opened the door. Not seeing anyone, he stepped out onto his porch, slipped, and fell flat on his back in the liquid.
Like I said, I'm glad my students today were better behaved than grandpa's class. I also hope I was a nicer teacher.
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