Wednesday, November 1, 2017

The Tardy Boys


They waited until the bell rang to saunter into the room. Five 11th grade boys. Then one paused in the doorway. Just because, I think.

O ho! Someone's put himself (themselves?) on my radar.

And then... nothing. It was a U.S. history class. They had bookwork. They worked quietly. Ho hum.

So I thought I had a great title and nothing more. Until one of the tardy boys got up and sauntered to the other side of the room. He stood in front of another boy, waiting with his hand out. The boy reached into his purple can of Pringles and handed the first boy some chips.

This also is not especially blog-worthy. At least it wasn't until a second boy got up and repeated the first boy's entreaty. All three had been in the tardy group. And all three were seated as far away from each other as possible in the room.

I'm not a fan of eating in the classroom, but I chose not to fight that battle on this day. And I figured the incident was over. Until boy #1 got out of his seat again.

First boy #1. Then boy #2. And then boy #3 got out of his seat to deliver the can of Pringles to boy #1.

All the while, the rest of the class worked quietly.

But I had had enough. There was no reason for the roaming. Especially since the boys did have work to do.

The next day I ran into their teacher. Since the classes worked so well, she rewarded the students. Well, all except the boys I had named for the whole roaming thing. 😏
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34 comments:

  1. Darla M SandsNovember 1, 2017 at 8:13 AM

    Payback is a b!&@$. ~grin~ I'm wondering what reward the other students received... Happy Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 1, 2017 at 9:01 AM

      The reward is kind of a long explanation, so I left it out so as to not confuse the brief post. (They get points. These points go towards various events and such throughout the year. These boys didn't get those points for this day.)

      Delete
    2. Darla M SandsNovember 1, 2017 at 8:24 PM

      Thanks for taking time to explain. Sounds like a neat idea. Hope your Thursday is good!

      Delete
    3. Liz A.November 2, 2017 at 6:00 PM

      Thanks.

      Delete
  2. Jennifer HawesNovember 1, 2017 at 8:22 AM

    I can't imagine the eating of the pringles to be a quiet activity. Oh boy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 1, 2017 at 9:02 AM

      But the room was pretty quiet, so they managed to keep it under the radar.

      Delete
  3. songbird's crazy worldNovember 1, 2017 at 8:30 AM

    Pringles? Really?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alex J. CavanaughNovember 1, 2017 at 8:47 AM

    All for some Pringles...

    ReplyDelete
  5. M.J. FifieldNovember 1, 2017 at 8:50 AM

    Is eating in the classroom allowed, or was it something they were just trying to pull because of the presence of a sub?

    Was the reward Pringles? :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Michael Offutt, Phantom ReaderNovember 1, 2017 at 11:03 AM

    All in all, kids are so much better behaved and respectful to each other than I remember. God, when I was a kid, kids did the worst most cruel thing to each other. Roaming and sharing chips would have been a blessing. I witnessed so much bullying and cruelty. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan KaneNovember 1, 2017 at 11:14 AM

    Were the chips salt and vinegar? WHAT were they thinking?! Or were they thinking?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 1, 2017 at 11:30 AM

      I'm not sure what flavor is in the purple can. BBQ? Could be salt and vinegar.

      Delete
  8. LilyElementNovember 1, 2017 at 12:27 PM

    Ha! They shouldn't have been messing around :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chrys FeyNovember 1, 2017 at 12:59 PM

    If I was one of the good students, I would've been annoyed, and I also would've secretly wanted some Pringles. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 1, 2017 at 4:57 PM

      They weren't disruptive, which is what usually happens in situations like this. So, kinda a win?

      Delete
  10. J E OneilNovember 1, 2017 at 1:18 PM

    If they get away with something, they always have to keep trying until they eventually do get busted for it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. cleemckenzieNovember 1, 2017 at 3:31 PM

    Sounds like a testing session for the sub. Little jerks. Oh well, one day they'll grow up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 1, 2017 at 4:58 PM

      I sometimes wonder if these are the stories they tell years from now about the "good times".

      Delete
  12. PamNovember 1, 2017 at 5:41 PM

    Seems like to me they were rewarded with the chips they got on the day they roamed!

    ReplyDelete
  13. BeaNovember 1, 2017 at 6:30 PM

    The Tardy Boys, one YA novel I don't want to read. (Lil' brats!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. bettyNovember 1, 2017 at 9:35 PM

    I'm trying to figure out what the purple can of Pringles flavor is. Hadn't seen it in the store (not that I buy a lot of Pringles to begin with).

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  15. L. Diane WolfeNovember 2, 2017 at 4:41 AM

    Meanwhile, Boy #3's mother is beginning to worry about his Pringles can a day habit. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousNovember 2, 2017 at 7:47 AM

    It IS a great title.

    ReplyDelete
  17. BirgitNovember 2, 2017 at 9:41 AM

    I would have taken it away, tell them to work and then eat the pringles:) Probably not allowed to do that but glad they didn't get positive points...they have no idea how that will affect them until the end of the year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 2, 2017 at 6:02 PM

      You have no idea what it's like when someone tries to take their food from them. They're worse than rabid dogs. Oh, the howling!

      Delete
  18. Pinky PoinkerNovember 3, 2017 at 10:47 PM

    First rule of my classroom- don't leave your seat! I agree, it's the only way to maintain order.

    ReplyDelete
  19. PaulaNovember 6, 2017 at 1:28 PM

    I would have walked over and held out my hand for the entire can of Pringles. He could have gotten it back after class.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz A.November 6, 2017 at 2:48 PM

      I wasn't in the mood for the howling. You should hear them when someone takes their food!

      Delete

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