This is an empty shop I pass on Finchley Road as I walk to and from work. It has a blue film over the window, which is responsible for the color of the photo. Looks like there might be some water intrusion problems there in the back! Maybe that's why the place hasn't been rented.
Not much news around here. A normal workday yesterday -- I pulled a bunch of books for the 7th Graders, who are doing projects on the historic revolutions in France, Russia, Haiti and the USA, as well as Indian independence. A very global focus!
The only thing I specifically remember about my 7th Grade Social Studies class is my teacher, Ms. Nichols, and the comments the kid sitting behind me would make about her. They were rude enough that I wouldn't want to repeat them here. You might say he had a crush on her, but that makes it sound much more innocent than it actually was. I bet that kid is a sex offender now.
Oh, I also remember a project I did with another student about the Civil War battles of Bull Run. My family had visited the battlefield while we stayed with my grandmother up in Washington, D.C., so they were at the forefront of my mind. I was also going through a period of fascination with the Civil War, having just read "Gone With the Wind." So when we had to choose something to study, that's what I came up with, and a kid named Mark was my study partner. As I remember, we made a hand-drawn filmstrip using transparencies that detailed the battles. I did the research and he did the drawings. I still remember his bubble-headed little stick men shooting each other.
I have to go to the dentist this morning for a cleaning. My boss quipped yesterday that I will have lots of time for these sorts of things after I retire on the 15th -- the unspoken question being, "Why do you have to go to the dentist now, and miss one of your last mornings of work?" I told her this appointment was made ages ago, which is partly true, though it was shifted by a few days just recently. I'm allowed to take care of my teeth, dammit.
How old are 7th graders, around 14? Like you say, it seems like a very global approach. Funny what and how we remember from our own school days. I wonder whether your subject "Social Studies" is the equivalent of what was called "Gemeinschaftskunde" in Germany; not really history, but touching on it, with a contemporary take.
ReplyDeleteYes, you ARE allowed to take care of your teeth, or any other health matter! And with only a few working days left for you, how much can it really matter to your boss?
That lit up shop looks like it could be a portal to another world.
I turned 12 in the fall of my 7th grade year.
DeleteThank you, Kelly!
DeleteNow that I think of it, I was 12 in 7th grade, too, but there are differences between the German, British and U.S. school systems and so I wasn't entirely sure.
I also turned 12 in August of seventh grade, while most of the class were 13 by the end of that year.
DeleteYeah, same with me. I turned 12 in November of my 7th Grade year.
DeleteI wonder what sticker cat is worried about today?
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to worry about!
DeleteBet you will be happy to leave that boss behind, when will they learn the best working environment is one where your workers are happy and feel respected.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things about this job I will not miss.
DeleteI must say that never once in all my many years as a teacher did I ever have a dental appointment in work time. I arranged them in the holidays or after the school day but of course I am a perfect human being just like Big Boss Woman. Sometimes I look back and wonder why I was so dedicated. What was the point?
ReplyDeleteI usually take the appointment that's offered. I've found that if I try to manipulate appointment times it slows my chances of getting in and gets too complicated.
DeleteWe have to grab medical appointments whenever they are offered or else we'd miss out!
ReplyDeletePrecisely!
DeleteI can’t remember anything about 7th grade social studies. Not a thing. Although, I THINK the teacher was a strawberry blonde and a good friend of my 6th grade teacher from my previous school, whom I liked a lot. Is that social studies?
ReplyDeleteJust think (and I’m sure you have), after the 15th you won’t have to put up with that!
Well, it has to do with sociability, so I guess that counts! LOL
DeleteThe nagging will all stop very soon, and you will be able to have your teeth professionally cleaned whenever you want to. Sometimes bosses just like to exert that little bit of power.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to having ultimate scheduling freedom over my days!
DeleteI don't like people who make snide comments. They tell you more about the person making them.
ReplyDeleteI could write volumes about this but I will leave it at that!
DeleteMaybe your boss has a point. You will have plenty of time once you retire, unless your retirement is like mine and everything expands to fills your life.
ReplyDeleteFunnily, perhaps by reading about a female teacher being prosecuted for sex with a young teen student, to whom she became pregnant, I was thinking about such matters. Should it really be classed as child rape?
School students lusting after teachers is time immemorial.
They can lust all they want to, but the point is they're not old enough to make decisions about what is and isn't good for them at that stage of life. They're still kids. And adults who violate that should be prosecuted.
DeleteYou have a right to schedule a dentist appointment convenient for you; I make mine every time I leave the dentist office, so I don't know what's happening that day in advance. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what happened here -- I made the appointment six months ago! (And then it got changed recently, but only barely.)
DeleteGood luck with the dentist. Your title was what I taught when I retired!
ReplyDeleteAre you singing "Memories" in your best Barbra Streisand voice? LOL
DeleteLooking back at those kids in my middle school, those that did end up being sex offenders were not the ones I would have guessed. One was a chubby kid who really never dated or had a girlfriend in school and pretty much kept to himself. The other was just a farm kid who seemed pretty normal. Those that made a lot of crude comments like what you were suggesting, ended up with wives and kids fairly quickly. Admittedly though, some may have had a few wives though I have never kept track of that.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a good point. Maybe the danger comes from kids who are very "repressed" and least able to work out their sexual demons.
DeleteNothing like having snide comments to remind you why you are retiring. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good reminder, for sure!
DeleteWhenever I overheard a truly rude comment from a student, I’d take them out into the hall and make them repeat it to my face -with no audience. Funny how reluctant they were.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, that would be effective!
DeleteI had so many sick/vacation days built up, that the last three weeks that I "worked" I only worked three days.
ReplyDeleteI can't accrue sick or vacation time, sadly. Use it or lose it!
DeleteI wonder who your boss will snark at after the 15th. What difference does it make to her compulsive little heart if you have a dental checkup? You're not an air traffic controller!
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY. I say things like that all the time. We're just running a school library, for goodness' sake!
DeleteHere in the US, there would be no mystery at all about why I would go to the dentist before my last day of work because all of my insurance ends on my last day. Use it before you lose it!
ReplyDeleteThat IS a danger in the USA. We have private insurance but we're able to continue it because Dave will still work here. (And it doesn't cover dental anyway.)
DeleteYou're going to miss your boss so much. LOL!
ReplyDeleteNOT!
DeleteBad A$$ Photo And My First Thought Was That You Were Underwater Shooting A Swimming Pool There Brother Man
ReplyDeleteWay Cool ,
Cheers
It does look very aquatic!
DeleteYou know what I remember about 7th grade Social Studies? Our teacher, whom I will not name here, had what I now assume was scrotal elephantiatis.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is all I have to say about that.
Enjoy that dental cleaning!
Ha! Well THAT's a disturbing memory. Maybe he had a colostomy bag or something?
DeleteNope. Scrotal elephantiatis. Why I am so sure of this I do not know but I am pretty sure that's what it was.
DeleteMy seventh grade teacher was Sister Claudette. I remember she loved African violets and had them all along the window sills. She also taught the girls how to crochet onto hangers so clothes wouldn't slip off the metal hangers.
ReplyDeleteI remember those crocheted hangers! We had some my babysitter made.
DeleteI really do not like your boss. She was lucky to have you working in the library. Given her snarky comment(s), I would have left the job long ago.
ReplyDeleteFunny how we remember certain teachers. I remember Mr. Norton, my math 7th grade teacher. He made math fun.
As Boud said above, I just don't get why she's so uptight about everything. We are not building nuclear bombs.
DeleteOooo, passive aggression. Did you tell her, Lady, any excuse not to have to be here works for me.
ReplyDeleteI think 7th grade history was Texas history which I wasn't particularly interested in and didn't get a very good grade. If I remember correctly there was a parent teacher meeting about it.
Yes, it was VERY passive aggressive. I took Florida history in fourth grade.
DeleteI agree with Ellen, a little passive aggression going on there. Oh well, count down those days....
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I am!
DeleteI don't like snide comments like that. Definitely passive-aggressive. But it's hard to know exactly how to respond. I'm with Susan; I don't like your boss and am glad you're out of there soon.
ReplyDeleteWell, you're all seeing her through my eyes, and I don't like her much either. So no doubt some of what you're perceiving are my own feelings and suspicions.
DeleteYou'd think the small things about a job and co-workers that low-key have annoyed you for months and years would be more easly overlooked when the end is so near in sight, but I've noticed this is never the case. Instead, they're amplified. The close you get to the end, the more they make you gnash your teeth and tear at your hair.
ReplyDeleteYou just run out of patience, right? Sometimes a situation arises and I think, "You know, I'm just not going to address that."
DeleteYou can bloody well do as you wish- ain't no body the boss of you...well , at least soon enough, no body will be. I can't wait!! The top photo of the vacant shop is so trippy! I looked at it a long time before reading what it was- my imagination went in all directions. What a splendid shot, thanks for noticing! Just too cool for school!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait either! Glad you like the photo. I love the way the sun streams into that shop from the rear.
DeleteMy geography teacher in the 7th grade was Mrs. Craighead and I think she was about 100 years old! The other Geography teacher was Mrs. McKinnon and she wasn't much younger. It was a subject I loved.
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, they both had lots of experience, which makes them more effective, usually!
Delete... my dental appointments are often booked months in advance.
ReplyDeleteI like that first photograph.
All the best Jan
Yeah, same with mine.
DeleteGood to hear that some group work works well.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I remember working well on several group projects in school. Fortunately I never had a deadbeat partner as sometimes happens.
DeleteI remember my seventh grade teacher too, a wonderful woman who knew her subjects and knew how to teach them in a way that would interest the kids. She also understood kids and was loved by all of us. I remember a few days when highschool kids would drop in if they had time off and come back to talk with her and let her know how they were getting on now that they were once again the youngest bunch of kids in a much bigger school. That was one of the things she made clear to us in our final term with her, as 7th graders we were the big fish in the pond, but in highschool we would be the babies again and it might be overwhelming at first.
ReplyDeleteOh, interesting. So 7th Grade is the top level of your elementary school, I guess? In the USA, elementary school is kindergarten through 5th Grade, Middle School is 6th through 8th Grade, and high school is 9th and above.
DeleteI don't remember seventh grade social studies, though I know I had it. I remember reading "Gone with the Wind" around then and having to do a report about it in front of the class -- but I think that was eighth. (Loved that teacher -- he was the kind that made you want to read and find out all you could about whatever the subject was.) That's a chunky book for a kid! We had kindy through five, junior high 7-9 and senior high 10-12, but that's changed now.
ReplyDelete