A job I wouldn't want!

Ok so, think about how rough your classroom is right now........... If it's anything like mine, the kids are CRAZY! Between the full moon and the unusually warm winter we are having, my kids have lost it! I try to remind myself that it HAS to be the moon and the weather because I know they know better than to act the way they have this week. Now as tough as it gets for me with my students, I can someway or other most of the time get them settled down. In special classes, on the bus, and in the cafeteria they are not under my specific control and are not listening to anything any other adult tells them. With that said..........

BUS DRIVER

This morning I watch for Mrs. Cathy to pull in with her bus, so that I can go ask her to drive for our next Kindergarten field trip (to the local library for Dr. Seuss Day). I go outside in the cold and end up having to wait because she is fussing at all the kids on the bus. When she begins to open the door, big kids keep getting off. An occasional little kid and then the door shuts again. She talks to them, opens the door, lets two or three off and shuts the door again. This continues for three groups. The groups had my kinders involved. I have 12 kinders that ride this bus. Now if you know me, you know that I take alot of responsibilty making sure ALL kindergarten bus riders on where they should be. As some of my kiddos got off the bus they knew it would not be good when they arrived in class because Mrs. Shelton had seen them getting fussed at on the bus. Boy were they right! I finally am able to step on the bus and ask about the field trip. I proceeded to ask first, "Rough morning?" The driver then fills me in on what is going on. Now take in mind that this particular bus is FULL of students. The driver informs me that students are standing up, screaming, throwing paper, sticking arms, and trying to stick heads out the windows. I tell her that I will have a discussion with my all the kinders to refresh our minds on correct bus behavior. We finish talking and I go in, straight to my asst. principals office and leave a note on his computer stating, "Call me ASAP!" When school announcements are open, I call and get all kinders that ride this specific bus to meet me in the hallway outside my room. We discuss why they were in trouble on the bus and refreshed how they were suppose to act on the bus. At this point I seperate the students that were not on the bus this morning and the ones who got off with the big kids to the other side of the wall. I ask that they ALL apologize to the driver for their behavior and send those kinders back to class. I continue to talk to the ones who got in touble. After I finish talking to them I ask them to go clip down and that if they don't and I find out it would result in moving straight to red. I go back to get started. Shortly after returning to class, my phone rings. The asst. principal asks, "What is wrong?" I proceed to tell him and ask that he come down at some point before school is over to give ALL kinders a refresher on what they should be doing and not doing on the bus. He says he would do it.

Our asst. principal comes in and I send my car riders to my neighboring class and call for ALL kindergarten bus riders to come to my room for a pow-wow! Between myself and the asst. principal we remind them of why it is so important to sit and be quiet on the bus. I hope all of the negative bus behavior changes and quick!
At the end of the day when I saw the particular bus that had started all the problems today, I snuck around the corner to see if my kinders apologized as they got on the bus. I couldn't see if they did or not because the driver had moved to the back to assign seats(I am guessing on that part). The asst. principal was out with the bus and got on to talk to the students. I know I can't do much because it is a bus, but I will do my best to make sure the kinders do as they are told.

Now think about it. If my kids are crazy in my classroom, where I have only 5 and 6 year olds how bad can you imagine it is on a bus of k-8th graderes. I would not have the job of bus driver if it paid a million dollars. I can't think about how hard it would be to drive a bus and be responsible for all the students on that bus while driving and checking my mirror the whole time to make sure everyone was safe. I have always believed that certain people were made to deal with certain situations. I LOVE my job, but could not imagine or even want to imagine having to drive a bus with K-8th graders everyday!

Well, there is my rambling post. What are your thoughts on being a bus driver? I would not be one for anything!