Second to last day of school
Tomorrow, who gives a fuc
Last year my 6th graders dumped giant bags of Flaming Hot Cheetos
into a hastily washed storage bin,
then added copious amounts
of hot sauce and lemon juice.
They polished off the whole thing.
They also took all the play money
from the ten or so sets of Pay Day games
that had sat in the closet all year,
and made up some kind of weird game,
effectively trashing all ten sets,
but who cares?
It was the last day of school.
But yesterday was the second to last day.
The penultimate day so to speak.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to give them regular assignments
I’m not that dumb
Neither are they,
but I wanted them to learn something.
So, I came up with a game
one that currently mirrors my own psyche:
Spin the Globe.
Close your eyes, spin the globe and point.
Then we’ll watch two or three minutes or so about that place.
I had to shorten the time to one minute.
Everyone wanted to spin the globe.
We travelled to Belize
Greenland
Uzbekistan
Antarctica
The Philippines (which I supplemented by showing them the Jolly Bee menu, a popular restaurant chain there.
They thought the spaghetti with hot dogs sounded good.
Yeah, teacher’s ADD as shit. But it’s the second to last day of school…)
Manchuria
Iran
and some place where they had that ride with the swings so I had to show them the version of that ride that’s REALLY high up and would they go on that and… yeah, ADD addled teacher loves tangents,
but who cares it’s the second to last day of school)
Tomorrow,
the last day of school,
we’ll probably do a few more rounds
of Spin the Globe
then watch a movie
while they eat the pizza I ordered for them
Seventy bucks
but who cares,
I’m getting a pretty hefty performance bonus,
and it’s the last day of school.
I resigned in January
I have no idea what I’m going to do next
or even if I’m going to stay in Phoenix
I’m going to relax for a month or two.
And then I’ll spin the globe.
Woo hoo!! Last day of school!
“School’s out for summer!” School’s out forever!!!!
You’re the coolest teacher those kids will ever have, but most of all , you made a difference.
You put in enough time, now it’s your time. Have fun spinning that globe!!!
Thanks, Adira. It feels great to be free, at least for a while.
Enjoy your freedom, Pink.
Happy unofficial 1st day of summer.
You know, in my class we’d spin the bottle, and the teacher wasn’t invited. I’m so glad you’re in there doing the spinning. It’s obvious that you make learning fun. (I’m not saying we didn’t have fun learning, but it wasn’t on the curriculum.)
Have fun in your new life! You’ve earned it.
If it was Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher, the teacher might have been invited to Spin the Bottle (old video but still fun, I think anyway).
Thanks for the good wishes on my new life. While web surfing I stumbled upon a school I might actually like. Going to apply. Can always turn it down.
Phenomenal write. Your poetry has such humor & realism. Love it! Wishing you the best of luck in your journey.
Thank you! Now that I’m out of school, I’m going to get caught up on your writing.
Awesome!!!
This is a great read.
I wish I had teachers like you who gave a damn about her students. I’ve had ADD my whole life. I outgrew it for years but now as a geezer it’s returning…. which sucks.
I skim everything but I read every word here…
Best of luck going forward.
I’m thinking of retiring but the thought of it makes me kinda want to puke. I’m old enough to retire but I’m not done yet.
Need a new career not so much for the money but more for identity..
BIG LIKE
IMAGINARY RL AWARD
Thank you PS. I get the retirement struggle. Even if I could afford to retire at this point, I know I would feel lost. Like you, I feel I have more to give. And structure is necessary for ADDs like us. I’m just hoping to find a new gig that’s not as stressful. Hope you find what you’re looking for too.