Monday of the last week of school. Eighth grade English, co-taught. Fourth period.
The eighth graders were done. Their grades had been submitted the prior Friday. Eighth grade promotion activities started Tuesday. So, the lesson for the day was a streamed movie.
As it was a co-taught class, Ms. R was there. (I was subbing for the special ed teacher.) And she was really done with them. She wasn't going to permit them to sit next to their friends, but she was going to permit them to sign yearbooks.
After going over the agenda for the rest of the week (she made sure to stress that the quicker they followed directions on Tuesday, the quicker they could be done with promotion practice), she put on the movie.
A boy pulled out a red Sharpie...
The kiddos are not allowed to bring Sharpies to school. The kiddos have not made good choices with regards to where they write with that permanent ink marker.
Ms. R, exasperated, reminded the kiddos that she had spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year warning them about having Sharpies at school. She was not in the mood to deal with it, though, so she told the boy to put it away.
He explained that he brought it so that people could autograph his shirt.
Okay, I might need to back up here a bit. It was tradition in my elementary school, and likely many of the elementary schools in the area, that on the last day of school, the sixth graders got to wear a white t-shirt that everyone could sign. I still have mine. Someplace.
He was in a white t-shirt. In fact, there was a good portion of the class that were in white t-shirts that had various writings on them. (This is the first time I've seen it in the middle school.) Okay, then...
So, people were signing shirts. A few of them had yearbooks, but more had shirts. (They were complaining about the price of the full-color, hardcover yearbooks. Their yearbooks were much nicer than my junior high yearbooks were.)
I mean, it is a Title I school. I'm sure some couldn't afford the yearbooks.
Yearbook prices are crazy! Especially High School.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are. But they do make an effort to include everyone, they are in full color, and they are great keepsakes. Still, many do not buy them.
DeleteLast year the elementary where my son works had yearbooks, $20. There is a pile still left out for free. It was a standard yearbook, individual photos with names, hardcover. This year they went with soft cover, not individual photos but classroom shots of the students doing things, field trips, school events, fun stuff. Much more interesting for the students. And they were FREE! It's a Title 1 school too.
ReplyDeleteFree would work better. But, they would have to find a way to fund them somehow. That is a thought, though...
DeleteThe tradition of autographing on t-shirts is interesting. That's not common here, or at least not during my time. Here autographing is more common after, what we refer to as, higher secondary school, which in the US is high school. And there are "autograph books/albums" available for this, at least during my time.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this, but why not? I would want different colors of pens though…
ReplyDeleteThis is new to me, but as Paula above said, why not? I would also like different colours of pens.
ReplyDeleteSome of them had a selection.
DeleteNeat!
ReplyDeleteWe never signed shirts but we did make autograph books that all our friends could leave comments in. I never bought any year books.
ReplyDeleteSigning shirts.
ReplyDeleteI've seen it.
Apparently, it's a thing.
This is new thing for me, sign shirts. Although when they did plaster cast for broken bone. We signed the cast.
ReplyDeleteHere it's just the last year of schooling that does a year book. But the signing shirts thing is done at the end of each schooling era (eg primary school)
ReplyDeleteSome of them will only do yearbooks for senior year, but it's open to all. I have all four of my high school yearbooks and both my junior high ones.
DeleteSigning shirts? That’s new to me
ReplyDeleteThat’s a fun idea. I hadn’t come across it before. It makes sense as a way to capture memories, and I think it would look even better with a mix of pen colors instead of just one.
ReplyDeleteSigning on school shirts is quite common in Delhi and some areas of India too. Funny way to show love on the last day. When I was a kid, the last day of school was meant to settle all scores and so there would be some fights.
ReplyDeleteReally? Fascinating.
DeleteI've never heard of this before, but I don't have kids and am not around kids much. I think it's a good idea, myself. There were years in high school when our yearbooks didn't come in until after school was over, so I have like two signatures in those books.
ReplyDeleteReally? Wow. They've never had that issue before. In fact, the yearbook is finished in April so it has time to print to get shipped in time.
DeleteWhen I was in school, back when, in Italy, we used to pass around a small sketchbook where friends drew or wrote something (mainly drew) and then. signed it as remembrance of the person. This was done throughout the year, not just at the end.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning so much about end of year traditions with this post. Fascinating.
DeleteWe had autograph books we signed (not sure that's their official name)l. I still have mine from elementary school.. People would write cheesy poems (Remember Grant, remember Lee, to heck with them, remember me), heartfelt messages, or maybe just their signature. Not sure where junior high and high school ones went. I haven't heard of the shirt signing tradition.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to learn about all the various end-of-school traditions from different parts of the country and the world.
DeleteMy senior year in High School we had a poster board thing passed around for everyone to sign, and it was screenprinted onto shirts 👕 "Kiss My Class Goodbye"
ReplyDeleteI still have it. (In a box in the closet. But whatever.) So that is a cool keepsake.
Similar story- my friend was getting married and she has a Bachelorette shirt for guys to sign. The party went bar hopping and we had guys signing my (very extroverted) friend. No clue if she kept her shirt. But a fun night.
That is a great bachelorette party idea.
DeleteHere in Australia, I have never seen a yearbook in my life, but shirt signing is an annual event! Year 6 and Year 12 are the traditional year groups (Primary into High School, then High School Graduation). A number of high schools that I have worked at even build a half day into Year 12s last week to go around the school for shirt signing.
ReplyDeleteNo yearbooks? That's sad. They're fun to look back at years in the future. As kids, my brother and I loved to look through our parents'.
DeleteI can't miss it, because it just isn't a thing here, they don't exist. But 32 years later I do still have my Year 12 leavers shirt with signature.
Delete