Random Thoughts on the Last Day of School

It is the last full day of school and, as of 5th period, everything is going more or less smoothly. First period my English teacher friend came to my room to deliver two exams she had taken from students in first period study hall. She said they were working together and she confiscated the tests. I told her that the test was “take-home” and it was acceptable for them to work together. She was very suspicious of them because when she caught them the students lied to her about what they were doing. Everything would have been fine if they had told her the truth—that they were working together on an assignment and I had said that it was all right to do so. They lied, even when the truth would have kept them out of trouble. This is very common among students; the tendency to lie when confronted by authority figures. You can only wonder why they act so stupidly.

On May 18th we had our graduation ceremony at a large outdoor music theater. It was very cold and I wish I had worn something warmer under my graduation gown. So much for global warming! Every teacher wears a graduation gown that represents their degree and university.

The ceremony lasted about 90 minutes, including reading the names of every one of the almost 400 graduates. The reading of the names takes up about half the time. The senior class president and the valedictorian each give a brief speech, both being rather good as these speeches go.

Overall I hate going to graduation, finding it to be a waste of my time. Our contract requires us to be there, but I don’t know if our attendance means anything to the students.

Next week we give final exams. The juniors in A.P. Chemistry already took there’s with the senior’s last week. It was the multiple choice section of the 1984 exam. The Honors Chemistry final is comprehensive over the whole year, and the students have had a review packet for 3 weeks. In the first three periods today nobody had a question about anything on the review. This means that either they have it finished and need no help, or none of them have started it yet. We will find out next week which one is the case.