William Lynwood Montell Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers

Annotation

This colorful collection of stories celebrates a fascinating aspect of Kentucky's cultural heritage in ';a fascinating look back at a bygone era' (Kentucky Monthly). In an educational era defined by large school campuses and overcrowded classrooms, it is easy to overlook the era of one-room schools, when teachers filled every role, including janitor, and provided a family-like atmosphere in which children also learned from one another. In Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers, oral historian William Lynwood Montell reclaims an important part of Kentuckys social, cultural, and educational heritage, assembling a fascinating collection of schoolroom stories. The firsthand narratives and anecdotes in this collection cover topics such as teacher-student relationships, day-to-day activities, lunchtime foods, students personal relationships, and, of course, the challenges of teaching in a one-room school. Montell includes tales about fund-raising pie suppers, pranks, outrageous student behaviorsuch as the quiet little boy whose first ';sharing' involved profanityand many other topics. Montell even includes some of his own memories from his days as a pupil in a one-room school.