1. Smart Boards

Ah, the classic smart board. The absolute center of attention, and one of the most mesmerizing parts about elementary school. I remember watching the teacher write on the smart board thinking it was the coolest thing ever. It was so cool in fact that during indoor recesses, (which sucked by the way), we would play hangman on the smart board. Love it or hate it, the smart board is a staple in the world of grade school.

2. The Classrooms

If your grade school didn’t have the type of classroom in the picture above, you were one of the lucky ones. However, the rest of us were stranded on the most uncomfortable carpet on planet Earth, forced to sit in “crisscross applesauce.” Then all of a sudden, some kid rips a fart right next to you, and the whole class starts dying. Boy, am I glad those days are over. Thank you, St. X, for giving us chairs.

3. Recess/Football

Next up: recess, and more specifically, the absolute chaos of what was the high-level competition of football games. Every elementary school had this, and I can confidently say that this was the highlight of everyone’s day. The scores somehow tallied up to the 50s and 60s, even though it was only a 20-minute recess. Times were great, all up until the teacher banned football because some idiot tackled someone on the solid concrete, forcing everyone to play kickball. If you’ve ever experienced this, you know what I’m talking about.

4. School Lunches

The nostalgia of the old school lunches will forever be held in all of our hearts. From the lunch lady named Janice who only let you take one sorbet cup, to the classic TruMoo chocolate milks with the mediocre jokes on the side of the carton. You can probably sense the environment from this picture. Your friend to the left of you is making the most disgusting concoction of “soup” humanly possible, while your friend on your right is blowing bubbles into his milk carton. Either you were a ‘bring your own lunch’ type of kid, or you got food from the lunchroom. Usually, the sides were evenly split on every other day, except pizza day.

5. Box Tops

Next up: Box Tops. Every kid remembers these, whether you had no idea what the purpose of them was, or you were an avid Box Tops collector. Either way, I’m sure you all remember having a little jar in your classroom where if your class filled the jar with Box Tops, the whole class got extra recess. Personally, I was a Cocoa Puffs fanatic as a kid, which led to hundreds of Box Tops for the class, and ultimately clutching extra recess for the squad.

6. Classroom Jobs

Perhaps the most forgotten element of grade school was the classroom jobs. Jobs such as the line leader, door holder, caboose, light technician, board eraser and pencil sharpener might ring a bell. However, the most important (and the most legendary) job was the line leader. I swear, if you got to be the line leader, you were on top of the world, and if you didn’t get the line leader, then your second option was the door holder (you got to be 2nd in line).