Our class has finally
wrapped up our Grade 3 Social Studies unit on Communities in Canada where we
learned all about First Nations and Early Settlers. Because there was so much
to cover in this unit, it took about two months to do it right.
The kids had learned so
much about First Nations and how they lived in North America, making use of
their environments and overcoming various challenges, such as facing the
arrival of the Early Settlers.
Eventually, we moved
exclusively into the life of a pioneer, specifically a child. A few weeks ago,
the kids arrived to find that I had transformed our classroom into a one room
schoolhouse (well, as best as one can do in a 21st Century
classroom; we had to ignore our new wall-mounted Smart Board at the front of
the room).
I took the desks out of
groups and arranged them in rows and pretended that there was a big wood stove
in the middle of the room.
Furthermore, when they
finally found their desks, they saw that I had set them up to resemble the desk
of a pioneer student’s.
Since we don’t actually
have slates, we pretended by using white boards and markers; and since I bought
brand new markers for this little project, the kids were just that much more
excited.
So what’s that up in the
top right corner? That’s a slapper tracker. No, pioneer school houses didn’t
have such a thing because the teacher would just whack the children for
misbehaviour and other misdemeanours. Obviously, I would never hit a student,
but they were so interested in what would warrant a slap, that I used this
tracker to let them see how it worked.
First off, my two poor
kiddos that are left-handed immediately got a slap, because that was forbidden
at the time. I had them fill in one of the circles-with their right hands!
In order to understand all
other punishments, we looked at the rules for a one room school house:
Student
Rules
-Boys and
girls shall file into classroom in separate lines and be seated quietly on
opposite sides of the room
-Children
must be clean and tidy in clothing
-There will
be a daily inspection of neck, ears, and fingernails prior to class to ensure
cleanliness of person
-Young
ladies must never show a bare ankle; girls’ and boys’ clothing should cover
arms and legs completely
-Move their
caps when entering
-Children
must sit up straight at all times
-Children
must not squirm, fidget, or whine
Punishments
-Five
minutes tardy = 1 hour after school
-Double
assignment id homework is not done
-Nothing
shall be dipped into ink wells except pens
-Children
who are caught writing with their left hand = 1 ruler rap on the knuckles
-Do not
speak unless spoken to by the teacher. Talking in class = 1 whack with a rod
-Nothing
shall be thrown in class. Such behaviour = 5 whacks with a rod
-Chewing of
tobacco or spitting = 7 whacks with a rod
-Speaking
immoral language = suspension
-Carving on
desks or defacing school property = expulsion
-Fighting,
lying, or cheating = expulsion
ONLY WELL
MANNERED CHILDREN MAY ATTEND SCHOOL.
REMEMBER:
EDUCATION IS A PRIVILEDGE
*I’m sorry, I cannot
remember where I accessed this list, but it appeared on many websites after a
Google search
They had a blast as I
looked in their ears and doled out “slaps” for bare ankles showing. Even the
poor little guy that came in late from a dentist appointment asked (no, begged)
if he could actually stay one hour after school for being late…haha!
