It is ridiculously easy to get student volunteers to run errands for me during class. Like going to the office to get the classroom key.
(That's a long story having to do with keys locked up in a safe place and the ones who had access to the safe place were all coincidentally unavailable before school.)
Second period hadn't quite started when I asked for someone to go to the office. I got three volunteers (of the five that were in the room at the time). Who to choose?
Well, where I was going to send the volunteer took a bit of explaining. It wasn't like they needed to go to the health office, the attendance office, or another office with which just about every student is familiar. So, I began my explanation.
"Do you know where the office of [specific assistant principal] is?"
Girl: "Oh, that's the office next to Ms. M..."
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.
Because, it was to Ms. M that I needed the student to go. (She was the keeper of the keys.)
The boy protested. He really wanted to go. "I know where that is."
Me: "Who is Ms. M?"
Boy: "Um, she's a lady..."
Nah. I'd rather send the girl who seems to have a good rapport with the secretary than the boy who kind of vaguely knows the office to which I'd be sending him.
(For the record, students aren't supposed to have keys. But this was a special circumstance where several things had gone wrong. And the student actually retrieved a sealed envelope with my name on it. So, not ideal, but necessary at that moment in time.)
Seemed like you chose the best person to retrieve the key :) Good idea with it being in a sealed envelope like that too. I would think the kids would welcome any diversion from school work, so many would volunteer to run an errand :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Kids with keys=kids with access. Sounds like a good decision on your part.
ReplyDeleteOh yea, this is not normally done. And when it's done, it's done very, very carefully.
DeleteI like the boy's response "Umm… She's a lady…"
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess that's why there is a "Ms." in front of her last name…
Well, actually we all used her first name, but it was clearly a feminine name.
DeleteNot your fault if you can't get the keys before school begins.
ReplyDeleteI would think that they would all like to have an excuse to leave class. Can't believe all 5 didn't volunteer.
ReplyDeleteIt was early enough in the day and the office was far enough away that I expect the others were just not in the mood to move. I know I wasn't looking forward to that walk.
DeleteThat boy was lucky Ms M wasn't Dr M or something otherwise he's really have been stumped!
ReplyDeleteWe were using her first name. I was just too lazy to think up a replacement for her name so I went the "adult" route and used Ms. with an initial. (I don't use real names on the blog. Privacy issues.)
DeleteYeah, definitely send the kid who knows where she's going instead of the one who just wants to leave. He'd probably be gone ten minutes.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found one student that actually knew where you wanted her to go! :D
ReplyDeleteMe too. And when she described the secretary, I got the impression that she knows the secretary well. Which bodes well.
DeleteAs you know very well, that was the safe bet. I still can't fathom a school so big you don't know every nook, cranny, and person in it though.
ReplyDelete125ish teachers. Over 2000 students. I know where pretty much everything is, but if a student isn't the joiner sort of the sort that's always in trouble, they might not know every office.
DeleteIt seem like still the student will do about anything to get out of class.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Yup. That's pretty normal.
DeleteI'm surprised more didn't volunteer. I would have been one to do that
ReplyDeleteWell, I did ask when the room was mostly empty. I did that on purpose.
DeleteUm, she's a lady... ::snort:: Good try, kid.
ReplyDelete