Chalk dust plus summary | MHADRTA 2008-15

Other members shared their Chalk Dust Memories,

2008 February Vicki McCaig Favorite Berry
During a discussion about classifying items in groups, we were

sorting fruits and vegetables into categories. After listing root

vegetables, squashes, pod vegetables, etc., we went on to

categorize fruits. We did fruits with stones, citrus fruits, fruits with

seeds and so on. The last category was berries. There were arms

waving to present strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry

and we discussed a few others that were not so common. Then

one little girl waved her hand excitedly. I asked her, wondering

what the answer would be. She said excitedly, “Liberry” meaning “library”.

It was hard to keep a straight face.

The minutes have these summaries.

I do not have a copy of the following presentations.

(If you would like your entire presentation shared on this site please send it to

my e-mail...see below)

2009 Dec. 9

Sandra Craven introduced David Gue for his Chalk Dust Memory. David recounted several incidents including the time he asked his students for suggestions to improve his teaching, the time he was mistaken for the children's author Robert Munsch, and some incidents while teaching in Africa.

2009 June 17

Diane Klinck shared a touching story from her teaching

experiences entitled, "Children of Your Heart".

She reminded members of children in one's career who need a

special touch and much needed love. Diane is known as

"Grandma Bear" because she loves Teddy Bears. She shared

a colored picture of a Teddy Bear that was presented to her from the child who was the centre of her story. It is a treasure that she will always keep among her chalkdust memories.

2010 February

Sandra Wilson recounted a Chalk Dust Memory about

conducting a Junior High basketball try-out and having a student suffer a respiratory attack which classmates attributed to the student's heart problems.

2010 April 14

Sandra Craven recounted a story," Blueberry Icecream" which

highlighted the very important difference between business and

icecream

Annita Pinder introduced Constable Terry Garbowsky who began with his own Chalk Dust Memory of a Grade Three teacher who started him on "the straight and narrow".

2010 Nov. 3

Ray Morrison introduced Alan Jensen for his "Chalk Dust Memory". Allan recounted how he had started his career in a four-room school in Munson, Alberta where he was the principal at the age of nineteen. He revealed that his use of very strict discipline, in the first few weeks of school, had served him well. He spoke of some memorable students from those first years, including winners in the provincial speaking competitions. He also spoke of Terry Clarke, the now-famous country singer, whom he had found necessary to expel from class one time.

2010 December

For "Chalk Dust Memories" Sandra asked all members to share stories of Christmas Concerts and Christmastime from their years of teaching while enjoying their turkey dinner.

2010 June 16

As a Chalk Dust Memory Evelyn Kleis paid tribute to her Grade

One teacher, Mrs. Brenner, who encouraged her to perform at a

Christmas Concert and who told Evelyn and her parents that

Evelyn would make a very good teacher. Evelyn took this to heart

and did not have to worry about what career she would pursue.

Evelyn also recounted the manner in which her young male

students took to their clay modeling class in junior high. Despite her

warnings about appropriate subject matter, one young lad ended up in the Principal's office for his creation. Here he protested Evelyn's interpretation but the Principal declared, "If Mrs. Kleis says it's a penis, then it's a penis!"

2011 February 16

Ray Morrison introduced Eugene Sailor who presented his "Chalk Dust Memories". He began his career with a 36-student Junior High class. He recalled completely dismantling an old alarm clock for Vera Bracken who had simply wanted the back removed to display the inner workings. He also recalled the introduction of "Outdoor Education" and the student who brought the outdoors inside with a snake that appeared under the secretary's desk.

June 2011 Report by Sandra Craven

Chalk Dust Memories Revisited

Today’s Chalk Dust Memory will acknowledge those individuals who have shared their joys, their sorrows, and those hiccups that encompass, the teaching experience.

For the trivia buffs in the audience; do you remember when Chalk Dust Memories began?

IF YOU SAID OCTOBER 2007, YOU GET THE GOLD STAR.

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s nearly 4 years ago, with a total of 17 presentations.

I thought getting speakers from a room full of teachers would be easy-peasy; NOT SO!!

Now folks, what does one do when you need volunteers, and all else has failed, that’s right ....

“You ask your friends, and when you can’t get a speaker, or at the last minute the speaker cancels, you do it yourself.”

It may have started with a sputter, and threatened to peter out, but thanks to

your support, Chalk Dust Memories has become a regular item on the agenda.

What follows is a list of the presenters and the title of their Chalk Dust Memory.

2007

Oct . Delle Lovig: Don’t Miss the Boat: A Story of 2 Vietnamese Children
Dec. Sandra Craven: Parody: Night Before Christmas

2008

Feb. Vicki McCaig: My Favorite Berry, a Liberry
Sept. Eleanor Townsend: Experiences of a New Teacher,

read by Sharon Clay

Oct. Sandra Craven: No Way, She’s too Young

2009

June. Diane Klink: Children of Your Heart
Sept. Donna-Mae Goldade: Escaping from Laos
Oct. Paul Nederveen: Student at the Vending Machine
Dec. David Gue: Teaching in Africa

2010

Feb. Sandra Wilson: Coaching Basketball
April Sandra Craven: The Blueberry Ice-cream Story
June Ev Kleis: Then It’s a Penis
Sept. Grace Christie: Dockyards in Halifax
Nov. Allen Jensen: Strict Discipline

2011

Feb. Eugene Sailer: Outdoor Education
April Elaine Dufresne: Teaching up North
June Sandra Craven: Chalk Dust Memories Revisited

To the Speakers, thank you for sharing your, Chalk Dust Memories.

I leave you with these parting words, which I received via email:

Old is good in some things, such as old songs, old movies, but best of all, OLD FRIENDS.

Always remember, it’s not what you gather, but what you scatter, that tells what kind of life you have lived.

And so concludes Chalk Dust Memories for 2010-2011.

Sandra Craven

June 15, 2011 General Meeting

More Chalk Dust Memories

2011 December 7th

Both Madeline Fischer and Garry Law did presentations. Madeline Fischer’s was entitled, “One Teacher’s Memory”. Madeline relayed the adage of “don’t smile until Christmas” and then having to walk to school and then having to get youngsters to remove outerwear before standing in front of them – not realizing her slip was showing – and, it was not yet Christmas. Laughter does work in teaching.

Garry Law related the lectures of “Could and Couldn’t Do” - rules that

a University laid out for teaching. Garry noted that at one point he

sent a Grade 1 boy home with a dog that got inside the school.

The boy returned with his mother. The dog was not theirs. He noted

that you should know about the situation before you attack it

2012 February 29

Chalk Dust Memories’ speaker, Fay Felesky, was introduced by Ray Morrison. Fay spoke of her first teaching position at the Guthrie School on the Canadian Forces Base by Edmonton. One of her challenges was a red-headed boy, Jack, who enjoyed calling his young Grade Six teacher “Cutie” until she was able to instill a little more respect into the young man.

2012 Sept. 5

Paul Nederveen introduced Peggy Kelly for her “Chalkdust Memory”:

Peggy spoke of her years at the George P. Vanier School. Her

experiences as the “retarded teacher” with the mentally challenged

students were very amusing and included an account of her class

trip to Edmonton.

2012 June

Sandra Craven introduced Beth Davies for her “Chalkdust Memory”:

Beth noted that she had had a long-standing association with “Mr. Squeeze” during her teaching and administrative career. She noted how students, teachers and administrators had all warmed to her friend, “Mr. Squeeze” and recounted how a grade one student in a new school had come to Beth’s door on cold wintry night when “Mr. Squeeze” had been left in the car. Beth then introduced the membership to Mr. Squeeze” and led everyone to a challenging version of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” on her accordion.

2013 February

Sandra Craven introduced Delle Lovig who recounted how she had organized a “box social” with her Grade Six class as a fund raiser for the Junior Red Cross. The project, which involves an auction and a lot of teasing and joking, had been motivated by a family story of a box social involving her parents.

2013 April

For the Chalkdust Memory, Sandra Craven introduced Diane Klinck who recounted how she had accepted to teach in a portable classroom in Edmonton, provided that she could take her piano with her. The large portable allowed her a great deal of independence, creating a story corner with a large easy-chair and space to hold complete Christmas pageants in the classroom for many happy years…. before being sold off as a granary.

2013 October

With her Chalkdust Memories, Dianne Durda recounted four delightful stories from her teaching career.

The first was asking a young girl who had misbehaved to

“write lines”. The naïve child took her “punishment” literally and

present an amazing page of lines, actual lines.

The second memory was of the days when Dianne would have to gauge how high she could write on the blackboard so as to stay within the confines limited by her fashionable mini-skirts.

Her third memory was of the last minute creation of alligators for a Cajun version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” being presented by her class for the Christmas Concert.

Her fourth story was about the creation of a “safe volcano” where Dianne very fortunately found herself to be in an older classroom with a very high vaulted ceiling!

2014 February 12

Chalk dust Memories, Annita Pinder recounted two delightful stories:

one of a Grade One “Show and Tell” session that involved a detailed description of the arrival of new kittens;

and the second of a trip with her Legal Studies class to a court hearing where one of the students’ mothers was unknowingly on the docket.

compiled by Stella Dalsto

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