Be Prepared

I don’t mean to sound like a bitter old schoolmarm, but when did it become the teacher’s job to stop lessons to provide supplies?  I remember forgetting my pen or pencil and asking to borrow one in whispers, hoping my teacher wouldn’t catch me unprepared. So usually when my teenage students announce “I don’t have a pencil” and look at me to fix that, I remind them that I’m not a pencil tree, and go on with class.

I take that back. Maybe I am a bitter old schoolmarm.

In Chinese school the other day, one of my high school boys announced that he didn’t have a pencil. I handed him a pen from the collection I have in my bag. I’ve got some one-jiao pens that must have fallen off the back of a rickshaw, and a bunch of promo pens. Stick’s stepmom Char works in elder care, and she has a seemingly endless supply of drug rep swag. The pen I happened to hand to the boy happened to be a Viagra pen.

I didn’t have any trouble getting my pen back after class, and I don’t think he’ll be asking me to provide one again.

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0 Responses to Be Prepared

  1. threegee says:

    that’s my girl! old age and treachery, for the win.

  2. Barbasaurus says:

    Since Izzy started school, I’ve been shocked at what’s NOT supplied to the classes. For example, the teachers often spend their own money on paper (PAPER!) and classroom decorations, etc. The PTA helps a little, but I think Izzy’s class gets most supplies from parents like us because, thankfully, her teacher isn’t shy about asking us to help by giving a wish list for the class every week. I’ve sent in things like construction paper, glue sticks, notebooks, dolls and other toys, paper towels, cleaning supplies, finger paints, stencils… the list goes on, and these are things in addition to Isabelle’s own class needs.

    I guess I went off on a tangent there, but what it circles back to is that it falls to teachers to provide a ridiculous amount of supplies!

  3. Meg says:

    I don’t mind buying things like whiteboard markers that I can use for multiple classes, and Chinese school has been really good about getting me books and copies. (Unlike the GED program!)

    I’m more annoyed that students don’t think bringing a pen is their responsibility. Um… what were they expecting to do in class?

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