A Trip Down Memory Lane: 12th Grade School Things You Forgot About
Remember the smell of crayons, the thrill of being a line leader, or the drama of kickball disputes? This list brings all that back. We’ve listed some nostalgic things that’ll have you grinning like it’s recess again.
Smelly Markers
Credit: flickr
These things were practically candy-scented contraband. Each color came with its artificial fragrance, and students couldn’t resist sneaking a sniff mid-doodle. They left rainbow streaks on fingers and noses alike, and some poor soul always took it too far and got a headache.
Overhead Projectors
Credit: flickr
Overhead projectors ruled the classroom long before smart boards and digital slideshows. The teacher would write on a transparent plastic sheet, and the words would shine enormously on the wall. Adjusting the focus took a minute, and someone usually had to reposition the arm.
Bulletin Boards With Wacky Borders
Credit: Reddit
Every month had a theme, and the borders had bright zigzags, cartoon apples, or glittery scallops. Teachers poured their hearts into these displays, using every ounce of free time and lamination film to staple perfect paper snowflakes. If your art made the board, winning a tiny Oscar felt like winning.
Jump Rope Rhymes
Credit: flickr
Before smartphones, rhymes were chanted while skipping rope. “Miss Mary Mack,” “Cinderella dressed in yella,” or “Down in the valley where the green grass grows”—everyone had their version. You didn’t need rhythm, just enough courage to jump in at the right moment.
Paper Fortune Tellers
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
These origami contraptions could predict your future, settle a bet, or determine your soulmate. You’d fold notebook paper into a palm-sized prophecy machine, scrawl names, numbers, and sometimes strange dares inside, then go fishing for secrets during quiet class moments.
Pogs and Slammers
Credit: Reddit
For a brief moment, these cardboard circles ruled the playground. Kids carried stacks in plastic tubes and decorated them with wild designs. The goal was to slam your heavy metal or plastic disc onto a neatly stacked pile and claim whatever flipped. Somehow, it always led to arguments about rules.
Cursive Writing Lessons
Credit: Reddit
Schools pushed cursive writing hard in the 1990s and early 2000s, especially after the Palmer Method and D’Nealian script became popular. By 2010, keyboards took over, and cursive slowly got bumped off most state curricula.
Classroom Jobs
Credit: Reddit
You weren’t getting paid, but oh, the power of being the Line Leader! Teachers handed out these mini-responsibilities like they were promotions. The class had its own ecosystem: paper passers, calendar managers, and door holders. More than the fun, it taught accountability, turn-taking, and gave kids a tiny taste of responsibility.
Rainbow Erasers That Didn’t Work
Credit: Reddit
Rainbow erasers looked like tiny popsicles and smelled like bubblegum or watermelon—too good to resist. But they barely erased anything and made more of a mess than they fixed. Still, nobody cared and they lived in pencil cases like prized jewels.
Time Capsule Projects
Credit: Reddit
Schools loved this idea: “Write a letter to your future self,” sealing and burying it. The idea hit big in the late ’90s and early 2000s during the Y2K nostalgia wave. Some schools even marked reopening dates—only to lose track of where they hid the thing.
The Pencil Sharpener Wall Grinder
Credit: Reddit
With these sharpeners, you had to crank the handle like your life depended on it, and heaven forbid you went mid-lesson—everyone heard it. Electric sharpeners existed, sure, but classrooms stuck with these manual dinosaurs well into the 2000s.
The Computer Lab’s Giant Monitors
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Classrooms used to have chunky CRT monitors that took up half the desk. Most labs were arranged in tight rows and ran programs like Oregon Trail, Typing Tutor, and Kid Pix. These machines made kids feel like hackers, even if they were just playing Math Blaster.
Library Checkout Cards
Credit: Reddit
You’d sign your name under the last borrower’s and give the book a mini history. Some names would pop up year after year, or had weird drawings instead of signatures. This method existed for over a century before automation took over in the ’90s.
The Colored Behavior Chart
Credit: Reddit
Red, yellow, green—and sometimes a mortifying purple or black at the bottom—teachers used these laminated behavior charts to track student conduct. It was basically public HR for seven-year-olds. Though intended to promote accountability, these charts have faced criticism for publicly shaming students.
Egg Baby Assignments
Credit: Reddit
Students carried these makeshift “babies” around for a week, tasked with not breaking them as a way to learn about responsibility and parenting. Many wrapped theirs in socks, strapped them into shoebox bassinets, or drew faces on with Sharpies. A cracked egg meant failure, sometimes literally.