Back to School Friday 5

Songbird writes:
My late mother-in-law thought of September as the “real” New Year because of the number of programs and classes starting. By Labor Day, school is back in session for most of us in the U.S., although there is great variation by region (my children don't return until Sept. 7th!). To mark this, we bring you the Back to School Friday Five.

1. What is your earliest memory of school? I think that would be taking the bus across town for the first few months of Grade 1 (the school I was meant to attend was not yet completed--we started there in January)
2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education? What does early mean? I am thinking of my Grade 4 teacher. He read a chapter of a book to us each Friday after lunch. ANd he played guitar so we had singing sessions on a regular basis. THose Friday readings are where I was first introduced to Middle-Earth and to Narnia.
3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now? Hmmm, knowing what is done in Junior and Senior Kindergarten in Ontario, and reflecting on what we did in Kindergarten/Grade 1 I think that we may start pushing kids to do too much too soon nowadays. And I don't remember this focus on "teach them what they need to get a job" when I was in high school. But that may be related to the way I paid attention, and that I was on track for post-secondary education. All in all I tnink school is more stressful now, or stressful in different ways.
4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned. Not that I can recall. At least not as a regular thing. (Either that or I can't remember any of it).
5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share? In a word--yes. And oh so many embarassing moments, many of which involved my ridiculous attempts to hide the fact that the homework was, once again, not complete.