what the heck?

First of all, I would like to apologize to our loyal fan base for not posting more often. You would think we both would have more to say after spending our days with students. Come on, Teacher, let's post more often!......I am the first person your kids see every day.. well, at least if they ride my bus. If not, then they see someone else. I greet all my kids with a good morning, or I like your hat, or something to let them know I see them. Today was one of the best days.. Let me give you some background. .....I like to wear winter hats. I like to wear them when it's cold, not just all the time as we see some tween/teen doing. It's been rather chilly here and have worn some hats this week. Yesterday I had on one that looks like the black bomb angry bird.. today, was a sock monkey. At my second stop, a very cute girl, I think 1st grade, has on a sock monkey hat, too! (her hat was better than mine.. much cuter) I got all excited and told her that her hat was great. Her mom came up to the service door and chatted a minute with me. Nice way to start the morning. .....After my other six stops and picking up all my kids (about 65), we are off to school. And yes, I have a full bus. Seven stops, some picking up 15, 16 kids, makes a full bus. When we get to school and are unloading, some of the older kids.. 5th grade... who are the last off the bus are nearing the front, they tell me they like my hat. I thank them.. they say I am cool. (hahahhahhaha... ) I ask them if I am cooler than the driver in the PM.. (I drive for a different ele and then a middle school in the PM) and they say yes!, I am cooler. HA! I tell them they should ask Mr. Dwayne to sing for them as he looks like Cee Lo Green. The one girl can't stop laughing because that is who SHE thinks he looks like, too!

It was just a great morning.
Should I post my hats? Ok, you twisted my arm.

Start of another year

It's the start of a new year and new "rules". Our district has a new superintendent--who has shaken things up. We have been given a new dress code--because we are professionals! I really don't think the clothes/shoes I wear will influence the test scores of my students. However, I will do what I am asked to do. I'm a rule follower. I have no idea what I am going to wear tomorrow. I have so many new outfits...but I have to make sure I am comfortable.

I am moving on up with my kids this year. If you asked me in June, I'd say I was doing it kicking and screaming. But now, I'm ready. I have heard from a bunch of kids who seem happy with the fact as well. I will let you know how it goes.

Happy New School Year to all!!!!

Silly Children....

On May 6th, one of the teachers in our hallway purchased a cheeseburger from the cafeteria for lunch. After she put mayonnaise on her sandwich, she realized she purchased a chopped beef sandwich from a fundraiser. She decided to give her uneaten cheeseburger to a student. She chose Aaron. Aaron did not eat the burger, nor did he take it home. He left it in his locker over the weekend! The air conditioning on our campus shuts off on Friday and doesn't come on until someone fixes it on Monday--usually around noon or so. The temp in our building Monday morning was approximately 87 degrees. Around 2:30 on Monday, we had locker clean-out. Aaron found his cheeseburger. Another student, Martin, offered Aaron $1 to eat the cheeseburger. SO. HE. DID!!!!!!!! One bite. The kids in the room started making noises and the teacher in the room was alerted to the situation. Another teacher and I made Aaron go to the restroom and throw up. Told him to stick his fingers down his throat if he had to. Thankfully, he was successful with this as our nurse had nothing to offer to help in the process. When I asked him why and he told me about the dollar, I told him I would give him the money next time!

Whew!!! Trip to the ER or a VERY sick child was averted!!! Hopefully he learned his lesson!!!

endangered species

I hear some pretty interesting stuff on the cb radio while driving the school bus. This is what I heard this morning.

-bus 1234 to base
-base here
-environmental call today.. there is a turtle on Street XYZ just north of Hawthorne. I can see it won't make it up the curb and they are an endangered species....you might want to call the police to let them know.
-10-4
-why don't you just run over it? (this is from another driver)
-alright, enough guys (THIS is from base)

I wonder what I will hear this afternoon.

no radio

Just a few notes to catch this blog up with my happenings...

One day last week was a real bummer. On our buses we use what is called Zonar. It is a computer aide when we do our pretrip. Well, my Zonar wasn't working. That's number one. Then, just as all my kids leave the bus at the school for morning drop off, my wiper falls off. It was a dark, cloudy sort of day and raining. The wiper on the driver's side flipped backwards and was just hanging there. I can't drive with it this way so now what?! I drive the bus out of the school loading zone and park on the side of the street where I always do my student check. I used the radio to base... I am thinking someone from shop will have to come out and change it. They ask if I can move the one from the passenger side to the driver side... Well, here it is. In case you haven't been next to a school bus, up close, in some time, they are tall. And if you know me.. and for those of you who do not... I am short. There is a step right there so I use that. I can't do it. I am stepping on the tiny step, hanging on the handle, leaning over the bus... And the entire wiper is off. Bracket and all. I get back in the bus and radio in that I cannot change it.. I am too short!! Apparently while I was out dangling on the bus, a fellow driver said he would stop to see what he could do. He arrived and after opening the hood of the engine, he stood on the wheel and was able to change the wipers for me. (For those who don't know, the hood opens out so there was plenty of room for him to stand on the wheel.) Mind you, I was hoping and praying this nice enough man would not slip and fall off my bus! End of story, he got it changed and I was able to drive back to base. I then left it with the mechanics who had it changed by my afternoon route.

In the afternoon, one of the turns I need to make is a hard right turn. The town I drive in has very narrow streets and sharp right turns. The word is if you can drive in this town, you can drive just about anywhere. Well, I have trouble with this one turn almost every day...and the trouble isn't so much with my driving but rather that a mail truck parks just about at the end of the street...making my right turn almost impossible. I have at times, sshh, don't tell anyone had to back up to make the turn. So anyway, one of the kids says really loud when we get to the intersection from H-E-double hockey sticks, "Yeah! No mail truck today. Whoo hoot!"

I then laughed out loud.

On with the afternoon route. When only a few kids remained on the bus, it was relatively quiet. One of the kids shouts out.. "Hey, Miss Bus Driver. Can you turn on the radio?" *wink* I don't have a radio other than my cb for communication between the bus and dispatch.

Although the day began somewhat crummy, I ended up smiling a few times before all was over with. Thanks, kids, for the smiles.

change of plans

Yes, if you are visiting us again, you can see that I am no longer a substitute teacher. With the economy that way that it is, and with districts cutting teachers left and right (recently a local district cut a couple hundred teachers..with the explanation that probably more than half will return...but in the mean time, what do the parents think? What do those educators do about finding a job doing what they love?), I figure if I can't teach them, I will drive them there so someone else can.

Yes, people, you heard right. I am no longer the substitute. I AM THE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER. Today marks day five of driving my own route. Most of my students are bilingual and usually are speaking Spanish on the bus. I do know some of the naughty words but have only heard "shut up" in Spanish. My biggest peeve is that they seem to like to stand up and change seats while I am driving. Nope, not on my bus. I already have a nick name for one student. Chris the chip. You see, last week, someone was crunching away so I asked, "Who is eating?" No one answered so I asked again. "Who is eating potato chips?" Finally one student said that he was. I then said to him, "Here's the deal. If I find one chip or crumb on the seat or the floor, you won't eat again on my bus. Deal?" He shook his head in agreement. After dropping everyone off, I checked my bus for kids and much to my surprise, I did not find one morsel anywhere. The next day, I was sure to give a kudos to him. He just smiled at me. Today, he was eating chips again. I laughed and said, "Chip boy is at it again, huh?" He laughed and told me his name was Christopher. He then added that I could call him Chris the Chip.

Oh, yah...I almost forgot. The last few kids were on the bus and they were chatting away. The only two words I could understand ... brace yourselves... the ONLY TWO WORDS I could understand with the Spanish chatter were:

JUSTIN BIEBER.

Recent Event

Last week, the high school in my district where my students go after they have me held a special event. I briefly heard about it just before it happened. Then, I heard a little more that night. The next day, I read about it in the newspaper. I just have to say this: My district is AWESOME!!!!!! They really went above and beyond the norm. Even in this rough time of teacher layoffs, and budget cuts, I'm proud to be a part of this district. That said....here is what happened.

3 years ago, a freshman student "Joe" was diagnosed with a form of cancer in his leg which resulted in his leg being amputated. The cancer came back and attacked his lungs. Joe had a portion of his right lung removed. Throughout this entire ordeal, Joe never gave up. He worked very hard to keep his grades up and to stay with his class. The cancer came back and is in his left lung. The doctors can do nothing more for this young man. Because of his dreams and goals in life, he pushed harder and completed all of his coursework to graduate...not in May with the rest of his class, but now, in March. The high school put together a graduation ceremony for Joe. It wasn't a small ceremony either. The entire auditorium was filled. The band played, the choir sang, the school board was there....everything like a "real" graduation ceremony. The best part of this story though??? Joe isn't finished. His new goal is to graduate from college and be an engineer.

Even if he doesn't complete this next goal, he has inspired an entire community. Way to go, Joe!!

new school, new state

Well, I did it. I subbed again. In a new school, a new district, a new state. I moved back to my home state after some life changes and am subbing again. While I am not new to subbing (I have subbed now in three different states for a combined 5-6 years), I was nervous. This is the largest suburban area I have subbed in and was a bit nervous.

But you know what?

Once the kids came in, it was like putting on an old hat.

And it felt great.

WOW!!!

That is ALL I can say about an incident in school today. I took some of my kiddos with me to our Spanish teacher's classroom. She has several posters around the room--one of them being a portrait of George Washington. I had a student ask "Is that the Mexican George Washington?"
SAY WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!? Then, the question was asked by another student "Do you say announcements in Spanish?" We were both confused, but figured out what was being asked--Did the Spanish class get the morning announcement in English or Spanish? Well, since the entire school is connected, the answer would be NO!

Eye-Opener

I subbed for a 5th grade math teacher in summer school the other day. I think I have figured out a HUGE part of the problem with the math scores in this country....KIDS CAN'T READ!!!! OR, THEY CHOOSE NOT TO!!!!

Approximately 95% of the students missed one of the problems. It was a fairly easy problem...but they skipped the word "twice". They knew the process to use to solve the problem, but becuase they missed that one little word, they got the problem wrong. I asked one kid to read the problem outloud to me, and he refused. Eventually, he gave into my goading and read the problem. When he finished, I asked him what major word did he skip over the first time. He told me!!! He then took about 5 seconds to calculate the correct answer. UGH!!!

If we are going to test the math ability of students, WHY ARE WE USING A STINKIN' READING TEST TO DO IT???????

KG escapee

I was subbing the other day. I had one of many lunch recess duties. I was in charge of the third grade class. Some other classes also came outside while I was out there. Teachers and staff know to strategically place ourselves in the correct "position" so that we can view all areas of the playground with just the turn of our heads.

It was rather chaotic and as we tried to watch all the kids, I see a young student climbing over the fence. CLIMBING OVER THE FENCE! I ran over, shouting, "hey, what are you doing?" To which the boy responds, "I needed my car." WHAT? Since I did not want him climbing back over, risking getting hurt upon going back over the fence, I walked alongside of him...him on the outside, me on the inside...to the door. Then once he was inside, I ran to the recess door and met him in the hallway. We chatted about it, and we both went out to recess. I watched him like a hawk and when it was my time to go back inside, I asked the other teacher to use the radio and ask our principal to meet me outside my classroom's door.

I told him what happened and he sighed and sorta laughed. Apparently this student is known to do odd things. I do not know what the punishment was...but is was rather amusing that a KG student climbed over the fence.

First time for everything.

Interesting observation....

Many teachers on my campus are showing movies these last few days of school....what else is there to do when half of your class is being pulled out for this incentive or that program and your grades have to be turned in almost a week before school is out???? Because this time of the year has the kids turning into complete aliens--as in forms of life we don't recognize--our team has an incentive party. This year, only 10 students were not allowed to participate. SWEET!!!! (We make them responsible for their behavior--and most step up to the plate!) One of the activities we have are movies in the afternoon. Each room shows something different. Almost every room had a "new" movie....one the kids have probably seen a million times....or at least twice! The kids were talking and doing things other than watching. I showed 2 movies...one that has been re-done recently and one based on a true story. Both are pretty old considering--one from 1971 and the other from 1995. The kids watched the first intently and were TOTALLY mesmerized by the second....I almost wonder if these kids would have ever seen either movie if i hadn't shown them.

That would be sad.

The End is Near....

Yup, the end of the school year is almost here. Our academic team had an awards ceremony the other day. I created a memories video--and cried. I'm really gonna miss a lot of these kids. Every year, you have a group of kids that you really get to know and love. Some years, more than others. That's this year. I really enjoy ALL of my kids--even the ones some people refer to as PITA's. I'm very thankful for the kiddos that I have.

I have a lot of plans for this summer....I'd venture a guess that I don't even finish 25% of what I want to!!! How sad is that????