teacher memories

It always amuses me when I remember things that are triggered by something insignficant. Such as, this morning after a crazy coughing fit, I popped a lemon Hall's cough drop in my mouth. Immediately the smell reminded me of my first grade teacher, Mrs. Kolb. We would gather around for story time, and sit on little rugs, and I would intently watch her mouth as she read. She always had a lemon Hall's, and it became a strangely comforting smell. I also remember the way her mouth made funny crackly noises as she read.

That started me thinking of my different teachers through the years. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Landis, had very thin, smooth lips that I used to wonder how she got so smooth. I would watch her mouth too, as we read 'James and the Giant Peach' and 'The Incredible Journey'. I loved story time with her.

Fifth grade I had a male teacher, Mr. McLaughlin, who always had his chalk in a little metal holder. I loved writing on the blackboard that year because of that chalk holder. He also had massive hands with very neat nails. And I think he smoked.

My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Kline, had no earlobes. Well, she had seriously tiny earlobes that didn't seem to detach at all at the bottom, (which fascinated me and I thought was very neat) and she always wore pretty little opal earrings, and an opal necklace. She had red hair, and tons of freckles.

Anyway...I won't bore you with recollections from ALL my school years, but I just thought it was funny and strange the things that stand out in my mind.

What teacher memories do you have?