Parents, do you remember your third grade class and teacher?  What stands out in your memory and how does that compare to your child's experience in third grade?  Are the academics the same?  Is the playground the same?

I was in Madera Elementary School in El Cerrito, California, in third grade in the 1960s and I recall that my teacher's name was "Mrs. Gedda."  While I don't remember much about the academics, I do recall that we had chalk slateboards (I think they were green), and getting chosen to take the chamois rags outside and whack the chalk dust out of them during class time was a sign that you were in favor with the teacher.  We sat in individual desks in rows.

We did not have a television in the classroom, but one of the parents brought one in on the day that John Glenn was launched into orbit.

The school has a playground perched atop a small cliff in the hills above San Francisco Bay and the view out towards the Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular.  We mostly played kickball and four-square during recess, and the same three boys were always dominant in those games.

Here is a satellite view of the school:
http://tinyurl.com/37mt6g

Last year my youngest daughter was in third grade and I noted some similarities and differences, and our schools are about the same size and in the same general area.

Her: parents pick up most of the kids in minivans.
Me: most kids walked home.

Her: teacher who put a lot of time and energy into teaching.
Me: the same.

Her: cliques, bullies, some playground trash talk.
Me: the same.