Special Olympics Torch
Interesting thing happened this week.
I (Mirror) saw an Olympic torch live and in person.
Which was kinda cool!
I was subbing at a middle school and had just finished lunch. I was also starting the worst class that this teacher has. As the students came in, they started asking if we'd be going outside for the torch.
My response: -.- Eh?
I'm getting a garbled mix of different stories about other teachers heading out for this, and are we going? Will we be using the laptops? Etc. The usual chaos of starting class. But this thread of going outside is getting strong and I'm wondering what the hell my students are talking about.
So I call one of the other teachers on the team to discover, wait, REALLY? The torch will be coming by??
But they also tell me I have to go to "X street". Now I've been subbing at this school for just over a year, and I know the RT that runs by the school, but "X street" is unknown to me. (I never know street names...) And I'm told to just ask the kids, they'll know where to go.
Cue me looking at the Worst Class of the Day. Trust? Nope. But I'm going to make an attempt of this. So I get the kids lined up and tell them to be quiet because there are other classes in session. (Standard talk before going somewhere for me.)
We barely make it down the hall before I'm telling the class to go back to the classroom, we'll be doing this again. I tell the students in no uncertain terms that if they want to go outside with the gorgeous weather, they're going to be quiet in the halls or I have plenty of regular old classwork for them to do inside. Of course, in the middle of this chaos, the principal has taken one of my troublemakers, another kid has thrown up in the boys room and is going home.
Did I mention chaos?
Anyway, so we're going down the hall again, and the class is better. Still not ideal, but a vast improvement. We head outside and I no longer have to worry about wondering where the hell I'm going, since there's a nice large cluster of classes. My students immediately go to be with their friends. (*sigh* Whatever, there are plenty of teachers around and no apparent order of classes...) So we wait a few minutes, and then, lo and behold,
A start of a motorcade begins! You can already see traffic is starting to slow down as they realize somethings up. Then, over the hill, you can see them.
I start taking photos with my cellphone as quickly as I can. Please note, it's not easy taking pics in the sun with shades on. I tried hard, but ultimately I couldn't see the screen. I'm surprised so many of these came out halfway decent.
The motorcade kept coming, with students cheering, a photographer for the motorcade taking pics of us, and lots of clapping.
What I wanted was a good pic of the torch. That would have been PERFECT. Unfortunately,
Move that arm!
But I DID get a picture... sorta.... of the actual torchbearer.
And then they were gone and on their way.
At least you can see the flame... sorta...
Then I had to wrangle the kids back to the room and settle that Worst Class of the Day into an actual lesson for the rest of the day. I actually ended up letting a little bit slide. They watched the video, and they were all watching (minus one trio, but they were quiet at least). So I didn't pick any big fights about their quiet chatter. They'll just get a 0 for the assignment, since that trio didn't do any real work.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I never thought I'd ever see an Olympic torch in person. That was awesome, despite the class I had. I just wish I could have taken better pics.
I (Mirror) saw an Olympic torch live and in person.
Which was kinda cool!
I was subbing at a middle school and had just finished lunch. I was also starting the worst class that this teacher has. As the students came in, they started asking if we'd be going outside for the torch.
My response: -.- Eh?
I'm getting a garbled mix of different stories about other teachers heading out for this, and are we going? Will we be using the laptops? Etc. The usual chaos of starting class. But this thread of going outside is getting strong and I'm wondering what the hell my students are talking about.
So I call one of the other teachers on the team to discover, wait, REALLY? The torch will be coming by??
But they also tell me I have to go to "X street". Now I've been subbing at this school for just over a year, and I know the RT that runs by the school, but "X street" is unknown to me. (I never know street names...) And I'm told to just ask the kids, they'll know where to go.
Cue me looking at the Worst Class of the Day. Trust? Nope. But I'm going to make an attempt of this. So I get the kids lined up and tell them to be quiet because there are other classes in session. (Standard talk before going somewhere for me.)
We barely make it down the hall before I'm telling the class to go back to the classroom, we'll be doing this again. I tell the students in no uncertain terms that if they want to go outside with the gorgeous weather, they're going to be quiet in the halls or I have plenty of regular old classwork for them to do inside. Of course, in the middle of this chaos, the principal has taken one of my troublemakers, another kid has thrown up in the boys room and is going home.
Did I mention chaos?
Anyway, so we're going down the hall again, and the class is better. Still not ideal, but a vast improvement. We head outside and I no longer have to worry about wondering where the hell I'm going, since there's a nice large cluster of classes. My students immediately go to be with their friends. (*sigh* Whatever, there are plenty of teachers around and no apparent order of classes...) So we wait a few minutes, and then, lo and behold,
A start of a motorcade begins! You can already see traffic is starting to slow down as they realize somethings up. Then, over the hill, you can see them.
I start taking photos with my cellphone as quickly as I can. Please note, it's not easy taking pics in the sun with shades on. I tried hard, but ultimately I couldn't see the screen. I'm surprised so many of these came out halfway decent.
The motorcade kept coming, with students cheering, a photographer for the motorcade taking pics of us, and lots of clapping.
What I wanted was a good pic of the torch. That would have been PERFECT. Unfortunately,
Move that arm!
But I DID get a picture... sorta.... of the actual torchbearer.
And then they were gone and on their way.
At least you can see the flame... sorta...
Then I had to wrangle the kids back to the room and settle that Worst Class of the Day into an actual lesson for the rest of the day. I actually ended up letting a little bit slide. They watched the video, and they were all watching (minus one trio, but they were quiet at least). So I didn't pick any big fights about their quiet chatter. They'll just get a 0 for the assignment, since that trio didn't do any real work.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I never thought I'd ever see an Olympic torch in person. That was awesome, despite the class I had. I just wish I could have taken better pics.