Scavenger Hunt Obstacle Course
Today at work I was thinking about how trying to get through end-of-the-year checkout is like an obstacle course and what a great blog post I could write about it, only to come home and find that Hillbilly Mom has already compared it to a scavenger hunt. Maybe it is more like a scavenger hunt than an obstacle course. Damn you, hillbilly. Stealing my thunder.
Oh well. I'll just tell you about my experiences with the scavenger hunt obstacle course.
The objective is to get signatures on each section of your checkout sheet. A different person is responsible for making sure you've done each thing. For example, one assistant principal signs off to say that I've turned in my gradebook, lesson plans, faculty handbook, and textbook inventory sheet. Another assistant principal verifies that I've turned in my room keys, cleaned the room, and removed all personal belongings. Signatures are also required from people like the librarian, the evil book keeper lady, and the counselors. The final signature-- the big one-- is the principal. He signs to say that you've completed checkout, and that is when you are free to leave.
I got to work at 6:55 this morning with the idea that I would hit the library early and print out everything that had to go in my gradebook. We have an electronic gradebook online which works perfectly fine, but we also have to have a hard copy of everything. Because not requiring us to have a hard copy would eliminate a task from our busy days, and that's not acceptable. I also needed to turn in my school issued laptop and get a signature from the librarian, but my big plan was foiled from the start.
First, nobody arrived to unlock the building until nearly 7:30, so I sat on the front step for over half an hour beating fire ants off my exposed ankles and getting angrier by the minute. Someone is supposed to be there at 7:00. By the time I got to my room, I was only about 15 minutes early. I could've slept!! Then the librarian didn't arrive until 8:00, and the kids were coming in by that time so I didn't get the chance to print out what I needed (my printer has been out of toner for six months) or turn in my computer.
Having the kids there was such a joke. At first, I made an attempt to make sure my kids were in my room and not wondering around, even though they kept asking permission to go to this teacher's room or that teacher's room. I let them go turn in their books, but made them come back. Meanwhile, other kids came to ask if they could stay in my room. The answer was NO. I had too much to do, and the fewer kids I had, the better. A few kids came to me with notes from various teachers saying it was okay for them to stay in their rooms, so I let them. Like I said, fewer kids = good.
The anal retentive principal actually walked the campus and bitched at kids for not having their shirts tucked in, for eating chips and candy, etc. At one point he said, "I can't believe this. It's like I have to do my job at the teachers' jobs too" or words to that effect. (I don't listen to him anymore.) I smiled and agreed it was outrageous, but in my head I was fantasizing about telling him to pull the corn cob out of his nether regions. It's the last day of school. It was like he wanted us to have them seated in straight rows with their shirts perfectly tucked in.
I kept about 5 of my kids with me and we finished moving my stuff to my new storage room. I sent them on various errands while I tracked down a couple of signatures and finally got my printouts for the gradebook. The kids left at 12:00, and then the real games began because everyone was more mobile. Every time I thought I had completed the requirements for one signature, I would find little details that I had missed along the way, and I would have to go back and tie up loose ends before I could ask them to sign. Once I did have things done the right way, everyone had started moving around campus and it was impossible to track them down. I chased one assistant principal across campus three times before I finally tracked him down, and then he told me he would meet me in my room-- and THEN he forGOT and he got away again! Argh!
I thought I was ahead of most people on this checkout process, but most of them somehow finished before I did. My biggest obstacle was the train wreck that was my classroom. The janitor hasn't mopped the floor all year, and the word "nasty" doesn't come close to describing the floors. They looked like we had held some sort of mud wrestling event in there at some point and never finished cleaning up. I knew they were dirty, but once everything was off of them it was easier to see how bad it was. And there was dust everywhere. And I'm not the most organized person, so even after everything was supposedly packed up, I was finding things that needed to go in my closet, or in my car, or where ever. I finally ran out of energy and just started throwing stuff out. Screw it.
Having finally acquired all the signatures I needed except the principal's, I headed to the front office to get the final stamp of approval to go home. My loaded-down car was right outside the door, ready to carry me into summer, but when I got to the office I discovered that the principal had taken a long lunch with the secretaries. They would be back at 3:00, someone said.
I checked the clock. It was 2:30. F*ck it. I put my checkout sheet in his box and hit the road. I thought I would call back after 3:00 and make sure it was okay, but as soon as I got home I fell asleep for three hours. They can fire me Monday if they want. As uptight as he is, I wouldn't be surprised if I do hear about it at some point.
Oh well. It's summer!!!
Oh well. I'll just tell you about my experiences with the scavenger hunt obstacle course.
The objective is to get signatures on each section of your checkout sheet. A different person is responsible for making sure you've done each thing. For example, one assistant principal signs off to say that I've turned in my gradebook, lesson plans, faculty handbook, and textbook inventory sheet. Another assistant principal verifies that I've turned in my room keys, cleaned the room, and removed all personal belongings. Signatures are also required from people like the librarian, the evil book keeper lady, and the counselors. The final signature-- the big one-- is the principal. He signs to say that you've completed checkout, and that is when you are free to leave.
I got to work at 6:55 this morning with the idea that I would hit the library early and print out everything that had to go in my gradebook. We have an electronic gradebook online which works perfectly fine, but we also have to have a hard copy of everything. Because not requiring us to have a hard copy would eliminate a task from our busy days, and that's not acceptable. I also needed to turn in my school issued laptop and get a signature from the librarian, but my big plan was foiled from the start.
First, nobody arrived to unlock the building until nearly 7:30, so I sat on the front step for over half an hour beating fire ants off my exposed ankles and getting angrier by the minute. Someone is supposed to be there at 7:00. By the time I got to my room, I was only about 15 minutes early. I could've slept!! Then the librarian didn't arrive until 8:00, and the kids were coming in by that time so I didn't get the chance to print out what I needed (my printer has been out of toner for six months) or turn in my computer.
Having the kids there was such a joke. At first, I made an attempt to make sure my kids were in my room and not wondering around, even though they kept asking permission to go to this teacher's room or that teacher's room. I let them go turn in their books, but made them come back. Meanwhile, other kids came to ask if they could stay in my room. The answer was NO. I had too much to do, and the fewer kids I had, the better. A few kids came to me with notes from various teachers saying it was okay for them to stay in their rooms, so I let them. Like I said, fewer kids = good.
The anal retentive principal actually walked the campus and bitched at kids for not having their shirts tucked in, for eating chips and candy, etc. At one point he said, "I can't believe this. It's like I have to do my job at the teachers' jobs too" or words to that effect. (I don't listen to him anymore.) I smiled and agreed it was outrageous, but in my head I was fantasizing about telling him to pull the corn cob out of his nether regions. It's the last day of school. It was like he wanted us to have them seated in straight rows with their shirts perfectly tucked in.
I kept about 5 of my kids with me and we finished moving my stuff to my new storage room. I sent them on various errands while I tracked down a couple of signatures and finally got my printouts for the gradebook. The kids left at 12:00, and then the real games began because everyone was more mobile. Every time I thought I had completed the requirements for one signature, I would find little details that I had missed along the way, and I would have to go back and tie up loose ends before I could ask them to sign. Once I did have things done the right way, everyone had started moving around campus and it was impossible to track them down. I chased one assistant principal across campus three times before I finally tracked him down, and then he told me he would meet me in my room-- and THEN he forGOT and he got away again! Argh!
I thought I was ahead of most people on this checkout process, but most of them somehow finished before I did. My biggest obstacle was the train wreck that was my classroom. The janitor hasn't mopped the floor all year, and the word "nasty" doesn't come close to describing the floors. They looked like we had held some sort of mud wrestling event in there at some point and never finished cleaning up. I knew they were dirty, but once everything was off of them it was easier to see how bad it was. And there was dust everywhere. And I'm not the most organized person, so even after everything was supposedly packed up, I was finding things that needed to go in my closet, or in my car, or where ever. I finally ran out of energy and just started throwing stuff out. Screw it.
Having finally acquired all the signatures I needed except the principal's, I headed to the front office to get the final stamp of approval to go home. My loaded-down car was right outside the door, ready to carry me into summer, but when I got to the office I discovered that the principal had taken a long lunch with the secretaries. They would be back at 3:00, someone said.
I checked the clock. It was 2:30. F*ck it. I put my checkout sheet in his box and hit the road. I thought I would call back after 3:00 and make sure it was okay, but as soon as I got home I fell asleep for three hours. They can fire me Monday if they want. As uptight as he is, I wouldn't be surprised if I do hear about it at some point.
Oh well. It's summer!!!
Labels: teacher life
The best part is knowing that the next school year is almost over!
Posted by
Stewed Hamm |
3:40 AM
I tried to leave this comment on Saturday, but Blogger went all wonky on me and kept popping up blank with 'done' on it.
The end-of-the-year scavenger hunt is also an obstacle course, because you have to jump through hoops and toe the line.
Ain't that the truth, Stewie! I even put that on my post-when-the-time-comes Friday night graduation post set to magically appear while I was at graduation. Good thing, too, because Mabel was PISSED that I didn't add to Thursday's blog "The school hear is almost over, you know." She was incensed that I'd said it all year, and left it out the night before the final half-day. She read me the riot act Friday morning, so I had to preview Friday night's post for her. She threatened to take out her iPhone at 7:03 and read it during graduation to see if I was pulling her leg.
Posted by
Hillbilly Mom |
9:00 PM
I am totally agree with Hilibily. The school hear is almost over, you know." She was incensed that I'd said it all year, and left it out the ECG training Los Angeles night before the final half-day. She read me the riot act Friday morning,
Posted by
Unknown |
6:43 AM