The wife and I went to the middle school with our grand son last night. It was orientation. We arrived early to allow time for the purchase of his P.E. gear. Twenty bucks for shorts and a tee shirt. Mandatory. A far cry from my own school days. We just selected a pair of shorts out of this huge bin they had at school. Some were fairly new and others had been in use I think since the school opened. Tee shirts were,well, your tee shirt. Almost every guy wore a tee shirt back then. If not you just brought a white tee shirt from home and kept it in your gym locker.
Then we got his schedule and proceeded to locate all his classrooms. The teachers were there to greet us.They were all dressed in kakai slacks and black polo shirts. The shirts had the school mascot on them, a wildcat. A little less formal than I like teachers to be dressed but I'm old school. Given the age of those teachers that uniform is probably formal attire for them. Whether this is what they wear daily or just for this occasion I don't know. They must all be exceptional to have earned a teaching degree at such a young age.
Following that was the actual orientation lecture given by the principle of the school. She too was dressed in the same uniform. A very nice and energetic lady. This took place in the cafeteria and was very hot and crowded. They did have an overhead projector set up but not a single transparency ! Darn thing was hooked to a laptop and projected images the same way, quite mysterious. They even used a wireless microphone. Pretty hi tech stuff. She introduced the entire teaching staff and office personnel. She spoke about the bus schedule, attendance policy and bullying. Extra time and emphasis was spent on the bullying issue. Another sign of the times. That and a small portion was spoken in Spanish.
Some time was spent talking about the hall lockers. This part I found amusing. School begins on Monday and the students will receive a hall locker. Instructions for opening that locker ( a combination lock ) are printed out for them to study. Monday and Tuesday the teacher will assist the students in opening their locker. If, on Wednesday, they can successfully open their locker on their own, they can begin using it. These students are beginning sixth grade not kindergarten. Can it be that difficult ? As I remember we were just given the combination and told to have at it. I don't recall a training session on it. Times change I suppose and we wouldn't want to cause undue stress and pressure on our students. As I said,amusing.
The orientation was wrapped up and we were all dismissed. I did note that my wife and I were probably the only grand parents in attendance. Perhaps school has outgrown us. Or is it that the grand son has outgrown us ? Not that he minded at all, he doesn't but we stuck out a bit. Not that we couldn't have been parents.
It is just that we have been there and done that.
Now we just have to wait for Monday. Well except we go to the elementary school tonight to meet our grand daughters teacher. We still have that. And we will be welcomed and expected there. And time marches on.
Then we got his schedule and proceeded to locate all his classrooms. The teachers were there to greet us.They were all dressed in kakai slacks and black polo shirts. The shirts had the school mascot on them, a wildcat. A little less formal than I like teachers to be dressed but I'm old school. Given the age of those teachers that uniform is probably formal attire for them. Whether this is what they wear daily or just for this occasion I don't know. They must all be exceptional to have earned a teaching degree at such a young age.
Following that was the actual orientation lecture given by the principle of the school. She too was dressed in the same uniform. A very nice and energetic lady. This took place in the cafeteria and was very hot and crowded. They did have an overhead projector set up but not a single transparency ! Darn thing was hooked to a laptop and projected images the same way, quite mysterious. They even used a wireless microphone. Pretty hi tech stuff. She introduced the entire teaching staff and office personnel. She spoke about the bus schedule, attendance policy and bullying. Extra time and emphasis was spent on the bullying issue. Another sign of the times. That and a small portion was spoken in Spanish.
Some time was spent talking about the hall lockers. This part I found amusing. School begins on Monday and the students will receive a hall locker. Instructions for opening that locker ( a combination lock ) are printed out for them to study. Monday and Tuesday the teacher will assist the students in opening their locker. If, on Wednesday, they can successfully open their locker on their own, they can begin using it. These students are beginning sixth grade not kindergarten. Can it be that difficult ? As I remember we were just given the combination and told to have at it. I don't recall a training session on it. Times change I suppose and we wouldn't want to cause undue stress and pressure on our students. As I said,amusing.
The orientation was wrapped up and we were all dismissed. I did note that my wife and I were probably the only grand parents in attendance. Perhaps school has outgrown us. Or is it that the grand son has outgrown us ? Not that he minded at all, he doesn't but we stuck out a bit. Not that we couldn't have been parents.
It is just that we have been there and done that.
Now we just have to wait for Monday. Well except we go to the elementary school tonight to meet our grand daughters teacher. We still have that. And we will be welcomed and expected there. And time marches on.
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