- 2 months ago
Sharpening pencils, climbing ropes, and waiting weeks for your Scholastic book order — school used to hit different! Join us as we count down our picks for the most nostalgic school experiences that today's students will never get to live through. Which of these throwback classroom moments do you miss the most? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00I've been thinking, son. It's been a while since your last physical evaluation.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today, we'll be counting down our picks for those nostalgic,
00:10or maybe not-so-nostalgic moments from bygone scholastic eras.
00:14We see a brilliant flash. Now, what do we do?
00:17We talk in cover.
00:19Correct. Here we go.
00:22Flash!
00:26Number 10. TV Cart Movie Days.
00:29All right. You and you.
00:32Grab the TV and roll it up front.
00:34We're watching a movie on the first day?
00:36I think it's awesome. You rock.
00:38Nothing hit quite like walking into class and seeing that towering,
00:42heavy-duty black cart topped with a massive CRT television and a VCR.
00:46It was the ultimate signal that your brain could officially take the class period off.
00:51Teachers wheeling in this magical vehicle meant an incoming documentary,
00:55a movie adaptation of a book you didn't read,
00:58or just a lazy Friday before spring break.
01:02One of my favorites.
01:04But we didn't have an assignment on Romeo and Juliet.
01:08What's my story, honey?
01:10I brought the tape. It's so much more accessible for the kids to relate to. Don't you agree?
01:14Watching the teacher fight with the static,
01:17adjust the tracking, or struggle with the tangled cables
01:19was a bonding experience like no other.
01:22Today, streaming links and smart screens
01:24have officially retired this metallic harbinger of academic freedom.
01:28We ask children to do school on the same device they play Minecraft.
01:35It's like holding a Weight Watchers meeting in a Wendy's.
01:39Number 9. Metal slide playground equipment.
01:43Hot butt! Hot butt! Hot butt!
01:46Recess in the 80s and 90s was a true survival sport,
01:50and nothing tested your resolve quite like the towering metal slide.
01:54Built without safety standards or heat warnings,
01:57these silver giant slides transformed into absolute scorching griddles on sunny afternoons,
02:03delivering third-degree burns through your denim shorts.
02:06Add in static electricity that would shock your friends,
02:10rust spots that tore clothes,
02:12and a landing pad made of hard-packed dirt,
02:14and you had a rite of passage.
02:16Man, I love this thing.
02:21Modern plastic, shade-covered, low-profile alternatives are certainly safer for kids today,
02:26but they definitely lack the sheer adrenaline rush of surviving a mid-July slide session.
02:32Anybody asks, Mr. Prickly is a great principal,
02:35and his first priority is now, and always will be, you children.
02:39Number 8. Playing M.A.S.H. and using cootie catchers.
02:43Long before algorithm-driven dating apps,
02:46middle schoolers mapped out their entire futures using a piece of lined notebook paper
02:50or a folded fortune teller.
02:52It's a funny story, because I went to a psychic a couple days ago,
02:55and she told me the reason why my life is like Baby Boy 2
02:57is because of this M.A.S.H. game we played years ago.
03:01M.A.S.H., an acronym for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House,
03:05was the ultimate playground fortune-telling game that determined your future spouse,
03:10number of kids, career, and dream car through simple tally marks.
03:14Meanwhile, origami cootie catchers kept everyone entertained during dull lectures,
03:19revealing silly fortunes with every flick of your fingers.
03:22P-I-N-K. Pick a number. Five.
03:25You will marry Sean Cassidy and cheat with David.
03:28Well, good for me.
03:29These low-tech, highly dramatic paper games were crucial currency for passing secret notes in class,
03:36but digital group chats and smartphones have completely rendered these folded paper prophecies obsolete.
03:42There's only one scientific way to find out.
03:44An online BuzzFeed quiz.
03:48Thanks to this quiz, I knew I should marry Fernando and divorce him.
03:53It's foolproof.
03:54What's another fun thing you can use your smartphone for?
03:57Watching Ms. Mojo's 24-7 live stream.
04:00Scan the QR code to find out more.
04:02Fun? Perhaps you think it fun?
04:05The M.A.S.H. lords have smiled on you!
04:08Number 7. Handwriting Practice with Pen and Ink.
04:11Who taught you to write like this?
04:13The Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.
04:16But I know it well.
04:18Before keyboards took over and even cursive instruction became a rarity,
04:22generations of students were required to master the messy art of pen and ink penmanship.
04:27Classrooms were filled with the scratchy sound of nibs hitting paper,
04:31inkwells built directly into wooden desks,
04:33and dark blue stains permanently covering everyone's fingers.
04:37When first I saw you, I thought,
04:40ah, she is a writer.
04:45What made you think so?
04:50Practice sheets required endless lines of neat loops,
04:54tight ovals, and careful slants to ensure legibility.
04:57Blotting paper was an absolute necessity to prevent disastrous smudges across your final draft.
05:02Today, tap-to-type tablets and touchscreens have made the ink bottle,
05:07blotter paper, and formal calligraphic handwriting practice
05:10a forgotten relic of academic history.
05:12The National Archives even calls cursive a superpower
05:15and has actually been recruiting people who can help read it
05:18to help transcribe Revolutionary War-era documents ahead of America's 250th birthday.
05:23So the question is, are you up for the challenge?
05:26Number 6. Sewing and Home Economics Classes for Everyone.
05:30There was a time when every middle and high school student,
05:34regardless of gender, was required to pass Home Economics.
05:38Look at Evan, okay? Just look at him.
05:40Hey, don't keep me waiting much longer. I'm getting impatient up here.
05:44You know what I'm talking about.
05:46You're embarrassing.
05:47I'm over here in my unit, isolating and alone,
05:49eating my terrible-tasting food, and I gotta look over at that.
05:52Looks like the most fun I've ever seen in my entire life.
05:55Classrooms featured row after row of heavy-duty sewing machines,
05:58ironing boards, and fully-equipped mini-kitchens.
06:01Students spent weeks learning how to hem trousers, stitch a pillow, thread a needle,
06:06and cook basic meals from scratch without burning down the building.
06:09It provided practical life skills that prepared teenagers for adulthood and living on their own.
06:15Boys learn skills that will always be useful.
06:18The boys study the fine art of cooking and do well at it, too.
06:22As schools shifted budgets towards standardized testing and computer technology,
06:27these hands-on domestic survival courses were largely scrapped,
06:31leaving modern students to learn how to cook and sew via YouTube tutorials instead.
06:35I know my young students always want to go really, really fast,
06:38but you have much less control that way.
06:41So practice doing both.
06:42You know, see if you can go really, really slow.
06:45Try going really fast.
06:46See if you have a lot of control.
06:48Um, but it's really important to be able to go slow when you need to.
06:52Number 5. Using Chalkboards and Chalk
06:55There's the A, and now the B, loop and around, and there's the C.
07:03Before sleek, interactive whiteboards and slick dry-erase boards conquered the front of the classroom,
07:09teachers relied entirely on slate chalkboards.
07:12The experience came with its own distinct sensory nightmare.
07:15The terrifying sound of fingernails accidentally dragging across the board,
07:20the relentless clouds of white dust that covered every surface,
07:24and the daily chore of banging dusty erasers together outside.
07:28Look how well Sabrina claps the erasers.
07:36Sabrina likes to clap erasers.
07:38Sabrina likes to clap erasers.
07:39Getting called up to solve a math problem on the board was high-stakes pressure,
07:44especially when you snapped your chalk in half mid-equation.
07:48Today's dust-free digital classrooms are certainly better for allergies,
07:52but they lack the dramatic flair of a teacher aggressively slamming a piece of chalk down.
07:57You have a question?
07:58Bell rang 10 minutes ago.
07:59Can we go now?
08:01Number 4. Rope Climbing in Gym Class
08:19Nothing struck terror into the hearts of uncoordinated students
08:23quite like the thick hemp rope dangling from the gymnasium ceiling.
08:27Gym teachers would regularly order kids to scale this towering apparatus
08:31using pure upper body strength,
08:33offering zero harnesses, safety nets, or modern padding below.
08:37The rewards for reaching the top metal beam were immense brag rights,
08:41but the consequences included severe rope burns on your palms
08:44and absolute social humiliation if you got stuck dangling 10 feet in the air.
08:49I can't.
08:51Sure you can.
08:52Just wrap your leg around the rope and hold it with your foot.
08:55I... yeah, I can't.
08:57Barry, I hate that word.
08:59Who the hell is he talking to?
09:01Hey, you up there!
09:02You not off again?
09:05Get going!
09:06Modern physical education programs have largely replaced
09:09this brutal military-style obstacle
09:11with cooperative games and accessible fitness,
09:14permanently grounding this terrifying gym tradition.
09:17Kiss the beam?
09:19You're on my team.
09:20What do I look like, a freaking Tarzan?
09:23Number 3.
09:24Ordering from the Scholastic Book Club with paper forms.
09:27This story begins with a box
09:30filled with adventures and discoveries that ignite the imagination.
09:35Few school moments matched the pure joy of the teacher
09:38handing out thin, newsprint Scholastic Book Club flyers.
09:42Browsing through pages of paperbacks, poster packs,
09:45and bookmark freebies was a highlight of the month.
09:47You would carefully circle your picks, persuade your parents to pay for it,
09:52and return the completed paper order form with a check attached.
09:55Wow, that is a throwback.
09:57I was obsessed with that thing.
09:59Yes, you were obsessed.
10:01You wanted to beat everyone in your class and read all the books on the list.
10:06Then began the excruciating multi-week wait
10:09until a heavy cardboard box finally arrived in the classroom.
10:12Watching the teacher slice open that box and call out names
10:15felt like opening presents on Christmas morning.
10:18A magic that modern online shopping portals just cannot replicate.
10:22It's a thrill your kid will look forward to
10:24and someday fondly look back on
10:26like you might be doing right now.
10:28Number 2.
10:29Using physical encyclopedias for research.
10:32You need to sit in a hard wooden chair.
10:35You need to hear the silence of the pages flipping.
10:40You need a hint of the mildew.
10:44Conducting research for a history report used to mean
10:47a physical journey to the school library
10:49to haul heavy, leather-bound encyclopedia volumes off the shelves.
10:53You had to cross-reference topics alphabetically,
10:55pray the volume covering your subject wasn't already in use by a classmate,
10:59and manually transcribe facts onto index cards.
11:03Here they are.
11:04These are the notes for one story.
11:06Yeah, I'm kind of a note freak.
11:08Man, Ace, I'm impressed and partially terrified.
11:10The information was often years out of date,
11:13but the smell of the pages and the weight of the books
11:16made the work feel important.
11:18Today, Wikipedia, digital databases, and instant search engines
11:22have made searching through 26 volumes of heavy books
11:25completely extinct for modern students.
11:27Well, I can't take it anymore.
11:29I'm going to the library.
11:32The library?
11:33Yeah, Dad.
11:34It's come to that.
11:36Do you even know where the library is?
11:38I'll find it.
11:39Before we unveil our top pick,
11:41here are a few honorable mentions.
11:43Receiving a report card in a sealed envelope.
11:47Do-or-die time with the parental units.
11:49Reminds me, where's your report card?
11:51It's not ready yet.
11:52What do you mean, it's not ready yet?
11:53Well, some teachers were trying to low-ball me, Daddy.
11:56And I know how you say never accept a first offer,
11:58so I figure these grades are just a jumping-off point
12:01to start negotiations.
12:02Collecting and trading Trapper Keeper accessories.
12:05Style and customization.
12:08It's got a security flap, see-through pocket,
12:10and lots of folders to keep you organized and together.
12:13Face it, when it comes to organization,
12:15you either got it or you don't.
12:17Playing Oregon Trail in the computer lab.
12:20Just don't die of dysentery.
12:21I've been running simulations.
12:23All of them have ended in their demos.
12:25That's the Oregon Trail you're playing!
12:27Did you do the rest of your test in freestyle?
12:28I mean, I'm doing the best I can.
12:33Are you a musician, singer, producer, or band?
12:36Sound Mojo is committing $50,000
12:38to turn our demos into real recordings.
12:43Earn $1,000 per song,
12:45or $500 plus a 50% revenue share.
12:48Think you can bring our music to life?
12:50Or make it even better?
12:51Apply to the Sound Mojo label fund today.
12:59Number 1. Using Overhead Projectors
13:02Any questions?
13:05What is that?
13:07That is an overhead projector.
13:10Do you ever use it anymore?
13:12No, not really.
13:13Taking the top spot is the unmistakable giant
13:15of retro classroom technology,
13:18the overhead projector.
13:19This heavy machine featured a burning hot bulb,
13:22a loud whirring fan,
13:24and a mirror head that projected transparent plastic sheets
13:27onto a pull-down wall screen.
13:29Teachers wrote on the clear plastic film
13:31with wet erase markers,
13:32constantly smudging their own handwriting,
13:34or scrambling to wipe away mistakes with a damp cloth.
13:38Presentation materials could be anything you wanted.
13:52The best part of class was when a student was chosen to roll the transparency roll,
13:56or write the answers on the screen for everyone to see.
13:59Today's high-definition document cameras and wireless screen sharing
14:03have officially turned off the lamp
14:05on this classic piece of school gear.
14:07This power cell represents a major breakthrough.
14:12Sorry.
14:14Should have gone with overhead projector.
14:16Which of these school memories make you the most wistful
14:19for the good old days?
14:20Let us know in the comments.