I’d like to share the news that my second article was published in PRAIRIE TIMES newspaper last month. It is a “how to” piece titled “Finding Memory in All the Wrong Places.” The article describes some memory tactics that, as a busy primary teacher, I began using many years ago. The mnemonics worked remarkably well and were adopted by some of my colleagues. I’ve adapted them to fit my life as I’ve grown older.
The first article which PRAIRIE TIMES published dealt with my tenure as a “school marm” at my elementary school in Lakewood during which I implemented a 4-week history unit. I had written the curriculum to duplicate the school life of Colorado children at the one-room prairie schools which dotted the eastern plains in the early l900’s. We used slates, hornbooks, McGuffey Readers, copy books, spelling bees and lunch pails. The children and I emulated the language and mannerisms of those long ago days. The girls wore pinafores and the boys wore little cotton vests. The unit culminated with a “walking” field trip when we, in costume, walked one mile along Lakewood streets to the One Room School House at the Belmar Museum grounds. We spent an unforgettable day studying and pretending in that “early days” classroom. –Pat Kennedy