I used to...

Today was an "I used to..." day in one of my classes, which got me thinking about a lot of things. When I was recently in the US, I had to go through boxes of my "keepsakes" because my parents are probably going to sell the house and they (understandably) didn't want to move multiple boxes filled with my spelling tests from 1st to 6th grade. I used to be a pack rat and I saved EVERYTHING. Yes, I'm talking notebooks with notes on Greek history from 10th grade, art projects that probably no one but my mother would classify as "art", every single birthday card I've ever received (I still saved those), a Rubbermaid tub FULL of beanie babies (remember those?) and everything in between.

So anyway, going through these boxes were like a glimpse into my past. Here's my version of an exercise that I often do with my students.

• I used to be good at calculus. Now, I need a calculator do figure out my students' grades.
• I used to know how to improvise over a set of jazz chord changes on my saxophone. Now, if I'm lucky, I can play a few chords of the guitar.
• I used to record songs I liked from the radio onto cassette tapes. Now I download music onto my iPod.
• I used to write childrens' stories in Spanish. Now I speak Spanish every day.
• I used to take the bus to school. Now I take the bus to work.
• I used to muck out my horse's stall. Now I scoop out Charlie's litter box.
• I used to be the secretary of my 4-H club. Now I'm very thankful that I'm not a secretary at my place of work.
  
• I used to learn how to conjugate verbs in Spanish: soy, eres, es, somos, son. Now I endlessly remind students not to forget the "s" at the end of verbs in the third person singular.
• I used to scrounge up enough change to put a gallon of gas into my car. Now I scrounge up enough change to buy a metro ticket.
  
• I used to play field hockey. Now I watch soccer on TV.
  
• I used to write in my journal. Then, I used to write in my Xanga. Then, I used to write in my Livejournal. Now, I have a blog.