What was a typical school day like during the 1950s?

Answer 1

In the morning, students arrived at elementary schools on foot, by bike, by bus, or by car. Elementary schools started at 8:00 or 8:30. Students went to their classrooms. There were 30-40 students per class. As a group, the class and the teacher stood and faced the classroom U.S. flag and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. There were not TVs, computers, or phones in classrooms. Students stayed in one classroom with one teacher who taught everything. In some schools, students were expected to stand when the teacher called on them. Teachers taught by reading aloud and asking students to read aloud and writing on the chalkboard. In some schools, teachers physically hit students who misbehaved. In the morning, the teacher took a count of how many students were going to want hot lunch and how many students were going to want milk, and whether they wanted white milk or chocolate. Mid-morning, students had an outdoor recess of 15 or 20 minutes. At some point in the morning, the students in one classroom all went to the hall and stood in lines outside the restrooms to go to the restroom as a group. At lunch time, students were often dismissed by rows (desks were in rows) to walk QUIETLY to the cafeteria. They stood in line for school lunch and went to tables to eat. Then there was an outdoor recess and another chance to go to the restroom. Each class was about 30-45 minutes long, mostly with the same teacher, although sometimes a different teacher came to the classroom. Discipline was tight because there were so many children in schools after the Baby Boom. Students studied almost the same courses that they study now, except there were civics classes, state history classes, handwriting classes, spelling classes, singing, and art classes. Some schools had classes in citizenship or how to be a good citizen and student. Classes ended around 3:00 or 3:30 and students went home the same way they had arrived.