School Daze: Grade 3

Day 165! Only 200 more to go!

I must have blocked out most of the 3rd grade since I had a teacher I was not very fond of. Not only was she a yeller but she was also mean. She would make you feel like a turd. But at times I think I deserved it.



Third grade was still a heck of a lot better than my Killarney and North Cache days that is for sure. It is here I met one of my best friends, Alvin Tam. He is the second kid from the left on the second row. I have fond memories of going to his grandmother's home (she only spoke Chinese) and eating these pink chips and playing in their backyard. We would break open rocks with other rocks and pretend we were searching for precious stones. We would also build snow forts and pretend that the AT-AT's were coming to blow up our secret base. And if you don't know what an AT-AT you live in a very sad world. Or you are pretty old.

If you cannot tell who I am in this picture, I am the one on the back row, first one from the left. The one with the goofy look on his face.

I do remember one instance where Mrs. Glenn really let me have it and I deserved it. It was during Art and we were supposed to draw Garfield (he was really big back then) and we got to pick out and share with another person a Garfield strip. When she showed one that I wanted she picked me and also a kid named Sun Park. I stuck out my tongue in disapproval to my friends and Mrs. Glenn caught it and she really let me have it. She said I was cruel and that everyone should treat me like I treated Sun. She didn't give me the Garfield strip and made me sit by myself. She then stuck out her tongue at me in front of the class and said something to the effect of "No one should draw with Matthew!" and I was crushed. My feelings were so hurt. But she nailed it, that is exactly how Sun must have felt. Lesson learned Mrs. Glenn.

I did make it up to him and Mrs. Glenn later in the year. That year I was part of the Christmas Choir. Mrs. Miller (the music teacher) thought I should join since I liked singing so much and there was a girl in the 6th grade that I had such a crush on. I once gave her a present, it was a jewelry box filled with coins, Bottlecap candies and a gold necklace which I am not sure how I ended up with. I might have got it from my sister. Anyway, I was happy to join the choir. During one of our rehearsals I was placed in the front row of the choir and was asked if I minded if Sun would stand by me. Now Sun had a problem with his legs, I am not sure what it was but he could not stand for a long time. He would need someone he could grab or hang on to so he could regain his balance. Ashamed for how I treated him earlier and wanting to make it up to him and Mrs. Glenn I told them I had no problem standing and helping Sun if needed. I loved singing in that choir!

In our class we had three girls named Tammy. Tammy R. (which every boy had a crush on at one time; she is the girl in red on the front row), Tammy M. (who sat right next to her, 3rd from the left) and Tammy S. (she is the girl with glasses on the front row). I don't think I know any other girls named Tammy. Tammy R. and Tammy S. moved away and I later became good friends with Tammy M. But that comes later on in the Sixth Grade.

Logan recently got a Spider-Man journal that has one of those cheap locks on it and it reminded me that I had a journal like that too. But mine was Garfield (told you he was big back then) and I started writing it during the 3rd Grade. One thing I noticed is that I liked a girl named Carmen and then suddenly I hated her.

That was my first entry. I love that I put my mom's words in quotations.
Anyway, back to Carmen. She came into the 3rd grade sometime after school started and I thought she was cute. She thought I was cute and we became friends. I cannot believe some of the stuff I am willing to admit here but I remember one time we were watching a film strip and I rolled up my sleeves on my shirt so she could see my muscles. *sigh* Puppy Love!

But then she wanted to take the relationship to the next level. During recess her and her friends would chase me and catch me and corner me against a fence or against the brick wall. And they would wait until the bell would ring and then kiss me! And that was too much. Which led to this funny journal entry:

In case you cannot read my handwriting: I HATE CARMEN. SHE IS A *BEEP*, SHE THINKS SHE IS HOT STUFF AND I HAD ENOUGH OF HER SHE IS DUMB YES SHE IS. I HATE HER SHE DRIVES ME UP THE WALL ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON. NOW I'M GOING TO MARS.
And this last journal entry I will share with you really made me laugh. I apologize in advance Jennifer!

I was commenting about another cute girl when I wrote this: CARMEN THE DUMBEST IN THE WORLD (I am sure I meant dumbest girl, who's dumb now right?) IS DUMBER THAN JENNIFER.
My grades were consistent and I was a pretty good student. Kristy should be proud that I raised my PE grades to a B! And I was awarded with a Silver Fitness Award!


It is hard to see what my teacher commented on my report card because of some water damage but she did note that I should have brought a helmet to our ice skating activity. I didn't really know how to ice skate and I cracked my head on the ice. It doesn't surprise me at all that Mrs. Glenn would make sure to make a note of that later on in my report card. It was not like my parents didn't know when I came home! It's like she had to take that final jab before I moved on to the 4th grade!

3rd grade was the worst one at Sifton but it was still a lot of fun. But the last 3 years at Sifton were the best!