Field Trip: Washington D.C.

So two weeks ago I accompanied the seventh grade on a trip to Washington, D.C. We hit the National Zoo, the Lincoln Memorial, and The Air and Space Museum. I've only ever been to D.C. once, so it was a very cool trip for me to go on with our students who have never been there. Here's how my day went, along with quite possibly the funniest student quote of the year. *times are estimated as I dont remember*

6:30 a.m. - Leave school with three charter buses, packed to the gills with 12 and 13  year olds.
11:30 a.m. - Arrive at the zoo, herd the 26 kids I will be responsible for at said zoo. Yikes.
11:35 a.m. - Make the kids sit on benches and eat their lunches so I dont have to listen to them complain about carrying them/being hungry, etc....
11:45 a.m. - See Elephants, Giant Panda, some crazy Horse
12:00 p.m. - Show kids how to read the signs on the exhibits so they stop asking me what they're looking at. What am I? Some kind of zoologist - I'm the freaking music teacher!
12:20 - 12:40ish - Lose about half of the kids I am walking around with. Some group leader I am....
12:45 p.m. - find the kids. Regain confidence that I will not lose my job.

This is when the funniest quote of the year happened. We were looking at the lions when a girl in my group came up to me and said, totally serious, "Hey Miss, those are some big dogs!" I almost fell over the embankment laughing. I did take the time to make sure she knew that lions are cats, but here's a picture of the biggest dogs you'll see at the National Zoo:

Later that same girl asked me why there were no dogs in this zoo, which prompted me to ask, "What is it with you and dogs?"

We continued our day by going to the Lincoln Memorial. This was pretty cool to see the kids all run up the steps, except for one girl whose sandal promptly broke upon her first step. That too was pretty funny, as she refused to move while all the other kids ran up and then gathered on the steps for a group picture. Luckily we found some duct tape on our bus and were able to fix her shoe for the remainder of the trip - crises averted!

After visiting The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum we headed back home, stopping in Maryland to eat at a mall food court. I'm pretty confident many kids found this mall food court the best part of the trip. I counted at least five who had ice cream for dinner.

Overall this field trip was very memorable, mostly the quote about the lions, but also getting to see our kids on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr.King stood to deliver his famous speech. And our kids learned that food courts in malls in Maryland are way better than the food court at our mall....



Welcome to Yo, Miss!

Welcome to Yo, Miss!

If you don't get the title, you're probably NOT an inner-city middle school teacher. Lucky for you, I am.
I'll be posting my adventures in my career, ranging from the exasperating to the utterly hilarious. I'll try to only post positive things, as I do still enjoy my job and would like to keep it. If you know me, keep my location and my kiddos hush-hush, I appreciate it. If you don't know me, read on.

I will say that I am finishing my fifth year as a music teacher, choral director, and basketball coach in one of the largest urban districts in my state. Our district has 85% below the poverty line, but the kids and people I work with are certainly special. I always wanted to be a teacher in an inner-city setting, and someday I'd like to educate young educators about what it takes to cut it in these schools. I think it takes a sense of humor, mostly, like when you learn 24 classes of students first and last names, but you're still just "Miss"....hopefully you chuckle.

So welcome, hope you visit often, and I hope you find the stuff on here as funny as my teacher friends and I do.
-Miss