by Donna Swagerty Shreve In the year 1993, I was back in a classroom. I had been first a science consultant for elementary teachers for two years and then I became a math consultant for two years. The funding was…
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Social Experiment in a Classroom
by Donna Swagerty Shreve The year was 1987 and I was teaching Gifted And Talented Education for a sixth year in a row. This fifth grade class of ten year olds became quite a challenge unlike my previous classes. The…
Spotlight on Steven
by Donna Swagerty Shreve I had six years of teaching experience and I was finally able to move to older students. I was now teaching sixth graders at a country school on Davis Road. The school had the long corridors…
Conversation with Myself
by Donna Swagerty Shreve Darn, it is raining again and will be for a few days. That will certainly limit my footwear selection. I only have one choice: my clunky, ugly, huge buckled boots. My already large size elevens look…
Putting One’s Life into History
by Donna Swagerty Shreve I was fascinated early on with how much had happened during my grandfather’s life in the history of the world. Elmer was born in 1890 during Benjamin Harrison’s administration and died during Jimmy Carter ‘s presidency. …
Name One Specific Thing You Got In Trouble For In School
by Donna Swagerty Shreve High School Graduation 1963Donna Swagerty My sister-in-law put up this prompt on Facebook. That was when this story bubbled up within me. Mr. Fife and I did not get along. He brought out the worst in…
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When Rules Don’t Count
by Donna Swagerty Shreve The year was 1988 and I left the confines of the classroom to go in and out of other teachers’ classrooms to demonstrate and teach them better math techniques. My exhausting job had many perks and…
Carlos, the Student with so Much Potential, Yet Too Many Strikes Against Him
by Donna Swagerty Shreve In 1982 Lodi Unified created a Gifted and Talented school for students who tested with a certain intelligent quotient and tested well on standardized tests. The students’ parents had to complete the process by signing up…
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The Start of My Teaching Career
By Donna Swagerty Shreve My first classroom experience was in a sixth grade. The teacher was a Japanese gentleman who I secretly ended up calling “Mr. Shitta”. He taught me what not to do as a teacher. The first day…
17 Dates
by Donna Swagerty Shreve I first saw John walk into the U.O.P. band room his freshman year. He was tall, dark and quite striking, yes, good looking. He played in the trumpet section and I sat across the room in…
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 