Back To School Then vs. Now
{how time flies!}
Back. To. School.
Oh those three dirty words.
You know, I’m just going to say it I love Summer. I love having Austin home with me. Always have. I miss him the first few weeks he is back in school, and not home hanging out with me. Plus you know, there is the sleeping in, and the not watching the clock for pick-up time. But, it rolls around every Fall and once we get back into the swing of things, there is excitement too. I always visit https://www.promotionchoice.com/categories/Office-School/Custom-Pencils/ to create customised stationery for them to take back with them.
A new school year, new experiences, new things to learn and new memories to be made.
Flashback: Myself and my two BFF’s in 6th grade.
Whenever I stop and think about then and now, it really smacks me how different everything is. It sort of sneaks up on you, those changes. I loved back to school shopping. I was probably totally a little more concerned with what I was wearing for back to school. I loved getting new clothes, shoes and jewelry. It was definitely a high point. So fun!! But it was also exciting thinking about what teacher you would get for what class and which friends you would share them with! I remember getting all my school supplies un-packaged and all set-up in my backpack, filling my pencil pouches and getting organized.
We had cutting edge school supplies like the Trapper Keeper! Do you guys remember that commercial? It showed a student with a regular folder and how you would bungle it up and all your papers would fall out and fly away if you didn’t have a Trapper Keeper!?
I remember when they came out with erasable INK. That was like a technological breakthrough! Oh, and did you guys cover your books with grocery sacks? We did. All my girlfriends would have me do theirs because I would decorate them. You know, with things like, ‘Tina+Scott 4ever’ or your fav rock band emblazoned on the cover. Good Times!! It’s so funny when we go shopping now and they have fancy stretchable book covers and I think, can’t they just make them?!
The whole school experience just seems so different now.
We actually bought Austin a PC a few years ago to ensure he had it available for homework and school projects since he was attending the satellite tech school within our local high school. It’s surprising because some of my friends told me that their younger children have computers and tablets now. They watch fun online content and other videos to help them with their early development. Eventually they’ll be using those computers for school work when they’re older!
Austin’s school also has a tech lab with a laptop set up for each student and they use the web to gather information for reports (which is actually really fun, I had to help some when Austin was still in grade school).
They have these super cool Smartboards that are like a hybrid blackboard-slash-overhead projector type deal. We had blackboards and erasers. Erasers that some teachers would throw at your head if you were turned around talking in class. Not that I would know. I never talked in class.
We had to stay after school and use the library, or lug home a bunch of books and pore over them for the information we needed, then use the family typewriter to type it! They have text alerts if there is a delay. We had to call the Bus Barn to see if weather was affecting our school day! Austin comes home with a gig stick, jacks in and finishes his school work, then prints it out.
One thing I am really looking forward to this year is being extra organized. No last minute, oh mom, I have a band performance or a project due in two days surprises, none of that business I tell ya. We are going to be in sync. And I’m not talking the pop group! I’m talking Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium. It’s loaded with features that are going to make sure it’s a stress free year for everyone. And I am going to use every one. lol! Of course, by using Office so much, I may have to invest in some Office 365 Reporting so that I’m made aware of any problems that the software runs into.
With Outlook, we can keep to-do lists, coordinate calendars, color code family activities, and organize important contacts and email. It’ll be easy to track things like band trips, performances and practice. I’m going to be ‘that mom,’ the mom with everything in order. All while wearing my painting clothes and making something out of a pool noodle. Austin’s only got two years left, and I want them to be awesome!!
So Microsoft did this survey, and these two points so stood out to me! 1. Almost all parents and teens agree that software and online tools are critical for success in school (87% and 93% respectively) and beyond (91% and 94%). I agree! In today’s evolving workforce, you’ve got to be tech savvy! 2. Nearly all teens (97%) agree that the tools and technologies they have today are far better than the ones their parents used when they were teens. No wonder! More than half (59%) of parents used typewriters while almost all teens (82%) use either a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer.
Yep! I can attest to that. I had a typing class. On a typewriter. And we had to use correction paper. We didn’t even have white out in class. I am officially ancient. I do miss the typewriter though. During my research for this post, I found that you can still buy a typewriter! Sites like hereon.biz give you a breakdown of various typewriters which I think is pretty great. I’m sure all those aspiring hipster writers would love it!
My Senior Picture (please ignore the eyebrows!)
Well. It’s countdown time. Summer is sliding away. August is going to fly by� and next thing you know, that school bell will be ringing again! I can almost hear it now. Hey, if you think of anything that you did back in high school, that is different then from now, please share. I’d love to reminisce! It’s fun to wax nostalgic!!
Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win either a one-year subscription of Office 365 Home Premium (to be given away every weekday) or a Surface Pro (to be given away every Thursday) just click on the link below!!
Be sure to check out Microsoft Office 365’s > Back to School Throwback Sweepstakes <
-Sweepstakes to launch on August 15th (on throwback Thursday!) and closes on September 27th
-To enter, all you have to do is submit a throwback picture of yourself from back in the day. Submit your picture here on the Office Facebook page and share it on Facebook or Twitter to let your friends know! (#tbt + #officebts)
-Contestants are entered for a chance to win either a one-year subscription of Office 365 Home Premium (to be given away every weekday) or a Surface Pro (to be given away every Thursday).
Just for fun, a Sr. Graduation party pic of me and my grandmother. Oh High School, those were the days. So let’s see, I went from Farrah feathers to crimped hair. Oh my. I sure miss my granny. That lady was a Fire. Cracker.
Susan @ Oh My! Creative says
You are not alone! I had the Farrah Faucet feathers, I think the same jacket and I see you had your jeans cuffed…me too, as I am very short! Our senior pictures look very similar as well! We must be close in age…I graduated in 1981. Lots of fond memories from those days. As much as I love technology there is something to be said for being disconnected!
Have a great weekend!
Susan
Laura @ Our Prairie Home says
Well, weren’t you a purty girl! The 80s were such great times, weren’t they? I was a little young – 12 in ’89 -, but I do remember wearing my hair with “the wave” in my bangs. I can remember I would spray the hair spray so thick that when I brushed it out, it was full of flakes. LOL! It took a lot of hairspray to stand that sucker up. HA!
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
Oh yeah. They sure were. Was that Aqua Net you were using by any chance? hehe. Love and hugs!! Lilo
Audrey Zumwalt says
Great memories … Beautiful pictures …
What is wrong with the eyebrows … look beautiful to me …
Blessings,
Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures
Julie says
Love this post. You now how pretty I think you are…your senior picture is BEAUTIFUL. It’s amazing, all the changes now. Scary too. I remember getting one of those new Papermate pens that erase and thought it was the best thing ever. Thanks for taking me back friend! Good luck to Austin in school!!
Julie {Lilacs & Longhorns} says
Shannon, I think we’re about the same age….I had Farrah Fawcet hair, big shoulder pads, teased hair, Trapper Keepers and all that stuff- HA! Great memories. Thanks for the laugh! And, BTW, your pictures are much better than mine. I’m hoping to keep those under wraps for a long time! lol
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
Didn’t we grow up in a great time? The 80’s were so fun. I loved our music and so many things about when we were kids.
Nancy says
Oh my, I do believe we are of the same era! Boy did you bring back the memories!! Loved the photos of you, and I agree with a previous comment, nothing wrong with your eyebrows!!
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
Wasn’t it the best? We had such fun. I loved the 80’s!!! (and thanks)
Bliss says
1. PeeChee folders. I had kids before trappers came out.
2. Farrah and I go way back, to about 10th grade and I had my cut done in a famous California salon. I didn’t look like her when the cut was done – I was disappointed.
3. I gave paper sack book cover lessons to a group of 8th graders once. They had never seen one 😮
4. There is nothing wrong with your eyebrows.
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
1. We did Pee Chee folders also, and I wrote all over those too. No surface was safe!
2. I did not look like Farrah either and once had a $100 haircut and a salon called Head First.
3. My son does not even cover his books. As if.
4. I wish I had those eyebrows now! That is something that got really thin after chemo. No complaints though 😉
Lynn says
Shannon you were and are still so very pretty. I remember having feathered hair and crimped hair…my goodness I am ancient as well… I also had a trapper keeper, I remember covering 7 different books with brown bags and we had chalkboards. Wanna know why we’d get erasers thrown at us?? We would exchange the chalk for those fake candy cigarettes that looked like chalk….when the teacher would go to write on the board nothing and they’d keep trying until they realized it…and about that time we’d all duck under our desks because certainly an eraser was going to be flying at someone’s head 🙂 Oh good times!!
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says
LOL!!!!! Well, I didn’t see the eraser coming, since my head was turned, you know… with the talking. I’m sure it was something really important!
debbiedoos says
Awww… such a flash back from the past Shannon. You were a doll then and doll face now!
laura@Top This Top That says
no worries…we all sported the farrah, In fact I had a poster of her in my bedroom…so wrong.
Sharon says
Great post, Shannon!! Sounds like we went to school in the same era. Oh, the memories. I remember the family typewriter, the erasable ink, and Trapper Keepers like it was yesterday. I can still smell the strong fumes of our mimeographed worksheets. And how they felt a little wet if they were fresh off the press.
I can’t believe how far technology has come in such a short time.
Mary Beth @ Cupcakes and Crinoline says
The pictures are priceless ~ I love them. I still love to do Back to School shopping even though my boys are homeschooled. There is nothing I like more than a shopping cart filled with tablets, pens, pencils, loose leaf paper and binders….ahhh….joy. We do use the computer more and more for their schoolwork {but I still make them WRITE with their own little fingers ~ I’m so mean}. I just checked out the Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium and with a subscription you get 12 months of Xbox Live Gold….now that’s a deal! Thanks for sharing the info….I had no idea!
Carol Cook says
I just retired from teaching at a technology magnet middle school – today would have been my first day back. Students did not even print anything out – all work was submitted on Edmodo and as a teacher, I could read, comment and grade even from my phone. Parents have their own Edmodo access to check on any of the classes for their kids.
That’s a long way from my grandmother’s 1900 slate she carried to and from school. I still have that slate and leave messages around the house on it.