Blame

Apparently at some point a student spray painted the side of the school. I am not sure about the details of where and when. The really interesting part about it is that when the parent was shown the video footage of her daughter vandalizing the school building, the first question she asked was, "Well, where were the teachers?"

What?!?! 

This seems to be a theme in education. Not just for the bigger issues such as vandalism, but also classroom disruption, bad grades, or other similar problems. Many of the parents immediately assume that the teachers are doing something wrong, or that they aren't doing enough.

Silent Lunch

A common punishment for students who misbehave is silent lunch. They must sit with the teachers, away from their classmates. They are supposed to remain silent, however, many times they talk with the teachers. I am always interested in how they got silent lunch, and they are usually eager to tell me why they did not deserve silent lunch.

stock photo, not the SMS cafeteria

Picture Day

Yesterday was picture day.

 I was surprised at the number of students who tried to get out of having their picture taken. Some just didn't want to do it. One asked if they could do it on the make up day. One even had a note from their parent so they didn't have to. I am not sure what the note said.

One of the students had been told to turn his shirt inside out earlier in the day because it had a skull on it, which did not meet the dress code. He had to have his picture taken with his shirt inside out. It was a polo shirt, so it may look a little funny in the picture.