School Bells Ring

As August nears the end of its month and the days start getting shorter, a jingle reverberates in my mind, “School bells ring and children sing, it’s back to Robert Hall again.” Entering Staples the smell of paper fires up my juices. I finger the notebooks, pencils, pens, pads, and binders which conjure up past school days and the smell of mimeographed paper.

Large blue three ring notebooks held sections for six subjects with blue lined paper. Cartridges for my fountain pen, sharpened yellow number two pencils, 3X5 cards, compass, protractor, wood ruler, and pinky erasers filled my plastic zippered pencil case. Wooden desks in varying sizes with chairs attached dwarfed or squeezed maturing teen bodies. Each desktop had an inkwell hole and had names carved in black or blue ink. Hinges allowed the top to be opened for storage of books and used gum. There were no book bags or electronic devices, even the pencil sharpener was manual.

Studying at home was made easier by 3X5 cards. In elementary school they were used as flashcards to remember number facts. Moving on to higher grades the cards held history dates, spelling words and definitions, chemistry symbols, and foreign language vocabulary. It was a chore to make the cards and review them by yourself. Rarely would teachers let you study with someone else and you could never borrow anyone’s cards.

Gee whiz, I wish I could travel back to school with the electronic devices that now make learning easier and fun. No longer do you have to struggle with handwritten flash cards that you misplace or can’t share. There is a gWhiz (www.gwhizmobile.com) mobile app called gFlash that lets you make your own flash cards or find some that already exist. You can edit the existing cards to meet your requirements. Or you can download an app such as PrepZilla that allows you to turn studying into a game with another student while reviewing a variety of subjects. Godzilla growls if you make a mistake. A graduate from Chesapeake High School has developed these. I shake my head in amazement that even I can play games with my grandchildren in math and they are in their home in St. Mary’s County. Maybe I need to sign up for a course to have some fun with apps.