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Nick -<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">One day, during geography, I raised my hand
and said, “How come north/south America and Europe/Africa sort
of <i>fit together?” </i>General merriment on all sides,
including the teacher’s. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Did she do that to YOU, also? </p>
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<p>Nah, but my 4th grade teacher drew her own maps on mimeograph.
When we were studying Europe, she left out Switzerland. When she
handed out the unmarked maps as homework and asked us to fill in
the country names and place/identify their capitals, I noticed she
had left out Switzerland! I raised my hand, waited for her to
call on me, then politely (or possibly too eagerly) asked "Where
is Switzerland?". I don't remember what happened next... but she
basically told me to "shut up". I did. But I did not do *any
more* Geography homework (or at least her hand-drawn map)
assignments for the rest of the year. <br>
</p>
<p> When I flunked (who gets an F in a class in 4th grade?) the
class, my parents intervened and made the deal with her that she
would pass me if/when I did all the homework that summer. It
grated the hell out of me, but I remember whipping out the whole
year of assignments in the first week (or so) because we didn't
not do what our parents told us to, even if we sometimes didn't do
what our teachers told us to do. I had, after all, paid attention
in class and *read the book* as I was as fascinated with geography
as anything else... I held the line on the
Europe-sans-Switzerland assignment and my parents acquiesced. I
*LIKE* to think that Ms. McCarty was more careful with her maps
after I (innocently) asked her about "Switzerland?". <br>
</p>
<p>Later she told me to shut up when she was teaching "weather" and
my father had just shown me (he took daily meteorological readings
at the USFS offices) about wet-bulb temperature and even alcohol
thermometers (which are preferred over mercury ones for very low
temperature use)... the "shut up" came when I raised my hand and
asked if the thermometer she was showing us was mercury or
alcohol. I think she said "there is no such thing" before she
told me to shut up. I don't know why she ever called on me, but
then one could ask why I ever bothered to raise my hand. I think
I did cut way back on that as the year progressed.</p>
<p>Did your first grade teacher break a ruler on your knuckles for
having bad penmanship (age 6) ? And I didn't even go to Catholic
School! Her name was Mrs. Hay and *should have been* a Nun...<br>
</p>
<p>- Steve<br>
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