Lessons Learned post-Graduation

Graduating High School Senior has accepted his diploma. He sang in the senior choir, made his speech, visited with well-wishers, and then crashed (slept) on the couch still in his dress clothes.

We hosted a party the next day for between 125 and 175 people. It was difficult to tell exactly how many guests had visited.

Through it all, I didn't know if I was coming or going. I didn't know exactly who was coming or going. Quite literally.

My grandmother, up there in years, drove herself the 6-hour distance from her home to our town. It was rumored that she was on her way.

During the days I thought she was driving I worried.

And I listened for the phone and I watched the driveway, hoping for a link to the coming and going.

Finally someone's Facebook post showed a picture of her in another town an hour away.

"I guess she made it," I said to myself. I was very much guessing.

Out of the loop. Out of sorts.

We learned many lessons through this experience.

1. Do not throw a party the day after graduation. Give yourself some time to prepare, once the June concerts, senior dinners, and class nights have come to an end.

2. Use heave-duty mosquito control.

3. Put large fans in the barn if it's a hot day. Nobody wants to dance inside a red, metal oven.

4. Borrow coolers and refrigerators. Lots of them. Have enough cold, bottled water on hand to provide for a small village, let alone a group the size of a backyard get-together.

5. Start saving now for the next boy's grad party. T minus two years.

Lessons from High School

I taught a review class today. One student came (which is one more over the number I had predicted would attend).

I have only one more day's worth of responsibilities before me as a high school teacher. Next Monday I will arrive at 7 a.m., give the Regional exam for three hours, help grade it, and then turn in my grades and my classroom key.

Here is the beginning of a list I've been working on.

"The Top Ten Lessons I've Learned from my Year as a High School Spanish Teacher."

1. High School students don't care what you've published, where you've worked before, or where you went to college. They will still call you names, bite you, scratch you, and beg for no homework.

2. The end of the school year is more bitter than sweet. A senior at our school took his own life the night before the last day of school.

3. Students judge one another not just by appearances but by the quality of their vacations and summer job.

4. Most (not all of) today's students are so engrossed in social media and cell phones and each other that they barely look to adults for advice or instruction.

5. So much of the responsibility of learning has been shifted to the teacher that students and parents expect them to do the learning as well as provide instruction.

Disgruntled Employee

The slang term " going postal" was originally coined after a series of real life shootings in the postal service. It has come to be associated with becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace.

This morning I became extremely angry over a filthy workplace.

I'm tired of being the only person in the office to shovel snow, move boxes, clean up when the shredder pukes, and wash windows.

Our office vacuum cleaner was thrown away months ago. The vacuum for the building I supervise has been broken for weeks. The cleaning staff has been directed not to work in support or administrative areas of the company but rather to focus on customer-facing areas.

After a day off I I came back to work and focused on the dirt. Poop and pee on the floor and walls of the bathroom. Black mold along the baseboards. Dried up (and fresh) food across the floor of the break room. Staples, wads of paper, and stones all over the floor of the common area.

I became determined to find a working vacuum.

I went to HR (the director there brought in her own personal vacuum).

The department that oversees house-keeping gave me a vacuum that didn't suck dirt. Instead, it spilled black clouds of dust into the air. I promptly returned it and widened my search to other buildings.

I was especially annoyed when, in the middle of my cleaning spree (using my own Clorox wipes on the walls and toilets), the Office Manager asked if I had ordered water.

I mumbled under my breath..."when I'm done washing your toilet and kitchen floors, I'll fetch your water."

I feel like Cinderella. My clothes are stained, my hands are filthy, and my contacts are full of dust.

I wish I could explain why I feel this situation is wrong, instead of turning into an emotional, angry employee.

It's not like me to say, "that's not my job." Perhaps, however, we could rotate the responsibility or post signs in the break room reminding people to empty the garbage before it rots and overflows.

Caught Off Guard

As a kid I was always caught off guard by the end of the school year. "How can that be?" you might ask. The weather warms up and we should know that summer vacation is nearing. The focus inside the classroom turns to testing and test preparation.

The kid "me" would still wake up one day, every June, completely surprised that, all of a sudden, there was no school bus to catch or lunch to pack. It might have been because I really,k really loved school.

It's amazing that this year I could be caught off guard. We watch the calendar closely so as not to miss J's senior events. We're preparing the house and grounds for a graduation ceremony.

The little ones are giddy.

Still, I just looked up at my teaching calendar and found, much to my surprise, that I only have two days of work left.

And I'm sad. Because I really, really love my students.

Senior Pieces

Our oldest, J (18) will conduct his senior piece tonight at the school's last orchestra performance of the year. He chose a work in which the conductor controls the tempo throughout as opposed to simply keeping time and cuing sections. It can be a wild ride for the instrumentalist who has to watch both the conductor and the music very, very carefully. It's a difficult song.

Mr. WestBerryWorkingDad and I are hanging on during this "wild" graduation season. There's Baccaloreate (spelling),Class Night, various award events, and final performances. Meanwhile, we are trying to ready the house and food for the graduation party happening at the end of June.

If life is like a concerto, this might be the part where the tempo is frantic.