Educational Autobiography

Nicholas Matuszewski

Educational Autobiography

Educ. 361

9/12/2011

Blog 1: Educational Autobiography

            Whenever I think back to my first day of Kindergarten I always remember how excited yet nervous I was to ride the school bus for the first time. I was attending C.L. Robinson Elementary school in Laona, WI. It’s hard to forget seeing the town’s high school on fire and burning down while I was riding the bus to school on my first day. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but later on in my 1st, 2^nd, and 3^rd grade elementary years I would realize how this would affect some of my learning.

            I remember walking in to class feeling lost and out of place simply because I didn’t know who this foreign woman was. At first she was scary but as soon as she spoke she had this comforting and caring voice that instantly made me feel comfortable. Because of the high school burning down and the new one being built the first and second grade classes were relocated to the basement of the Lutheran church in town. This learning environment was way different than at the elementary school simply because we were in a basement with dull lighting instead of the big windows that let all kinds of natural light in at the elementary school. It was also weird that we had to get bused over to the school for lunch and then bused back after lunch/recess. It was exciting to finally get to go back to the elementary school once the high school was finished but I remember how odd it felt having parts of class with the 4^th graders. It was a good thing this lasted only a few months.

            4^th grade was a grade I can easily forget because the teacher was so strict and had a voice that made you cringe when she talked. However there was this one day in 4^th grade that I laugh about when the unforgettable memory pops into my mind. The greatest day in 4^th grade for me was when we had a substitute teacher one day. It’s not just because we had a day where we didn’t have the grouchy teacher it was mostly unforgettable because this substitute teacher was HOT! All us boys looked at each other, smiled, and we all knew that this was going to be a great day, but we also knew it stunk because we would never see our lovely substitute again after that day. 

            5^th grade for me was where my wanting to teach elementary probably started and I didn’t even know it at the time. I was terrible at doing my math homework and my teacher, Mr. Neilitz, tried everything to get me to do it. He was a super teacher and I regret not doing my work as I look back to that year. He pushed me and stayed positive with me even when I kept slacking off with my schoolwork. Any thought of my school days brings back that awful smell the came from the barf cleanup bags which was used when a student threw up. 5^th grade was when I was introduced to this lovely smelling stuff. To this day the thought of that smell makes my stomach churn a bit.

            Going to school in a small town meant that pretty much everyone in my class was all friends with each other because of the small class sizes. There were only a few years through my K-12 schooling days where there were new students so my friends all stayed the same throughout. I guess a person could say that we were like a small family going through school and hanging out a lot together.

            There was this program in high school called Project CHARLIE where some of us high school students would go to elementary classrooms and teach kids about being good students. This program was basically an anti-bullying and a promoter in positive self-esteem program. This is where my flame for wanting to teach grew and I will never forget how important participating in this program meant to me.