It's the End of the School Year and the Teachers Are Fried
Example 1: We are tired of how amped up these kids have been since they resumed class after a four-day weekend!
After poor behavior during the beginning of class--seriously, I asked them to finish their worksheet and then sit quietly for not even five minutes while two kids bought summer reading books--my fourth grade class had to sit in silence with their hands folded for five whole minutes (listening to the ticking timer borrowed from my co-librarian) before we could proceed with the fun we had planned. They had been out of their seats and practically screaming, so it was an agonizing five minutes for them. I wrote out my errands list while they sat in miniature misery.
After that, they were pretty good--but it's weird how they jump right up in the middle of your giving instructions. No impulse control whatsoever. Some of them still didn't follow all the instructions, either. Good grief.
Example 2: We are getting a bit punchy and do strange things to relieve our stress.
I have car-riders duty at dismissal, as do many other faculty for coverage. When I started, nobody really told me where to stand out on the sidewalk with the kids, so I took up "residence" between the fifth & sixth graders and it's worked out pretty well. I'm usually hanging out with one of the sixth grade teachers, a fairly laid back 20-something dude who makes me wonder at his patience with some of these kids.
However, apparently even he had had enough by the end of the day today. Hence the impromptu outburst of the intro to Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes."
I joined in.
(What? It was my middle aunt's favorite album years ago when she was still just dating my now-uncle. We listened to it a lot.)
We serenaded some bemused fifth graders whose only exposure to African music is the soundtrack to The Lion King.
And lastly:
My head almost exploded today because the library secretary spent all morning keying into the inventory scanner all the materials checked out to teachers indefinitely because, as I found out later, "the inventory screen wouldn't let her". Uh, there's a reason for that. You can not scan materials that aren't physically present in the library. Not to mention that their whereabouts are already accounted for (they are checked out, hellooo), and inventory programs take that into consideration.
My head almost exploded again when she demanded my co-librarian call the circ software's help desk, because she didn't believe the above explanation. Which was exactly the same explanation the help desk lady gave us. I hope she didn't think we were stupid. (And it was all my co-librarian and I could do to hide our embarrassment silently on speakerphone.)
My head almost exploded a third time when she insisted that my predecessor always made her do that every year for inventory.
I'd like to sedate her and give my predecessor a good talking-to. Would anyone have a problem with that?
After poor behavior during the beginning of class--seriously, I asked them to finish their worksheet and then sit quietly for not even five minutes while two kids bought summer reading books--my fourth grade class had to sit in silence with their hands folded for five whole minutes (listening to the ticking timer borrowed from my co-librarian) before we could proceed with the fun we had planned. They had been out of their seats and practically screaming, so it was an agonizing five minutes for them. I wrote out my errands list while they sat in miniature misery.
After that, they were pretty good--but it's weird how they jump right up in the middle of your giving instructions. No impulse control whatsoever. Some of them still didn't follow all the instructions, either. Good grief.
Example 2: We are getting a bit punchy and do strange things to relieve our stress.
I have car-riders duty at dismissal, as do many other faculty for coverage. When I started, nobody really told me where to stand out on the sidewalk with the kids, so I took up "residence" between the fifth & sixth graders and it's worked out pretty well. I'm usually hanging out with one of the sixth grade teachers, a fairly laid back 20-something dude who makes me wonder at his patience with some of these kids.
However, apparently even he had had enough by the end of the day today. Hence the impromptu outburst of the intro to Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes."
I joined in.
(What? It was my middle aunt's favorite album years ago when she was still just dating my now-uncle. We listened to it a lot.)
We serenaded some bemused fifth graders whose only exposure to African music is the soundtrack to The Lion King.
And lastly:
My head almost exploded today because the library secretary spent all morning keying into the inventory scanner all the materials checked out to teachers indefinitely because, as I found out later, "the inventory screen wouldn't let her". Uh, there's a reason for that. You can not scan materials that aren't physically present in the library. Not to mention that their whereabouts are already accounted for (they are checked out, hellooo), and inventory programs take that into consideration.
My head almost exploded again when she demanded my co-librarian call the circ software's help desk, because she didn't believe the above explanation. Which was exactly the same explanation the help desk lady gave us. I hope she didn't think we were stupid. (And it was all my co-librarian and I could do to hide our embarrassment silently on speakerphone.)
My head almost exploded a third time when she insisted that my predecessor always made her do that every year for inventory.
I'd like to sedate her and give my predecessor a good talking-to. Would anyone have a problem with that?
Comments
You wouldn't think that something as logical and straightforward as inventory control would generate so many blank stares, but it does.
I've seen my predecessor's old server folder, and judging by her files, she was not that proficient with computers. She also was a control freak, and somehow last year she was the only one who got tutored on some changes to the system. Go figure.
One thing I do know is that there is an inconsistency in the program. In setup functions, you save things by just closing the window after you've made changes.
In inventory, however, it's more like a standard Windows dialog, where you have use "Open" and click on other buttons (such as "Proceed") to set things in motion.
Again, it was logical for me to use those buttons, but everybody else was in an "x-out" mindset and not following what was actually on the screen!