The trip to San Francisco was wonderful. We had a great charter bus driver who manuevered through traffic like he was riding a bike instead of manhandling a huge bus. The weather was pristine with the temperature in the high 60s. All of the students behaved very well, getting back to the bus after each stop with time to spare. The bus driver was very complimentary of the kids and we explained that these were our top students. All of my students, though, get high praise from bus drivers because they are well mannered. It takes training.
My husband went along as a chaperone and our daughter (who is 6 months pregnant) joined us for lunch so it was a family affair for me.
Mr. Zody with our grandchild-to-be, oh, and our daughter
On Friday we went back to school and reality hit. One of the students had missed the bus and complained to the principal. Fortunately, Mr. Principal knows us very well and explained to tardy student that he saw all the cars and no bus which meant that we probably left on time.
My senior marketing students have been working on business plans for months now, and I have devoted the last three weeks of class time exclusively to this project so they can have the plans in good shape for presentation. The Fresno State University sponsor came on Friday to hear preliminary presentations. They were terrible. I can only imagine what this woman thinks of my teaching, or lack thereof.
One senior, who went to SF the day before, was absent, and I needed her to work on a project for our next big event–the Valentine’s Party. When our secretary got ahold of her she said she couldn’t come to school because she had gone on the fieldtrip the day before. What?
My multimedia students have their own passes, which they made, to use when they leave class to gather information and pictures for web pages and videos. They CANNOT leave class without the pass. One of the 5th period boys returns without his partners but with a phone number I am to call because the partners were picked up by campus security. When I explain to the VP in charge of on campus suspension that these multimedia boys have passes, he says, NO, one did but the two prisoners did not. I was livid. “Keep ’em in jail.” He said that since I had called, he was releasing them to me. Their passes were AT HOME. Now, I ask you, dear Reader, what do I do with such bad behavior? And, here I am again looking like some delinquent teacher who doesn’t know how to run her classes.
Hey, Mr. Bus Driver, can you come back and get me? San Francisco was so much nicer than reality.
A billboard just off Union Square
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