Thursday, June 02, 2005

Not Beating Around The Bush

The EdWonks recently posted a story about a school district that published guidelines for teacher gifts. That's right, there's a dollar amount on the type of gift you can buy for a teacher. Bah.

I teach at a school in a well-to-do neighborhood. Yes, my Kia really is the most inexpensive car in the parking lot. I'm glad that district in the story mentioned above isn't mine.

Today I was reminded (in a very thoughtful way) that I have students who read this blog. Good! Pay close attention to the following 3 words:

Mercedes
Hardtop
Convertible

It's not like I'm asking every student for such a car. I have over 150 students--each of them could kick in a few bucks and we'd have it taken care of. Heck, some of these kids wouldn't even miss that money, based on the Acuras and Avalanches they're driving to school.

I used to drop subtle hints that I've never been to the Bahamas (hint hint). One student even decorated a paint can for me to use as a Send Mr. Miller To The Bahamas Fund. Perhaps I should put the can out more often, considering that I have only about $8 or so in it. And maybe my hints were too subtle in the past. They apparently didn't work, since I've still not been to the Bahamas.

I won't make that mistake now.

The "check engine" light is on in the Kia. That probably means one of the squirrels on the treadmill is sick. This is a bad thing. Don't you want a math teacher who has a cool car? Don't you think your math teacher deserves a cool car? Aren't you yet sick of hearing me talk about the Kia?

Get me a freakin' Mercedes hardtop convertible. And no, I won't trade you an A for the car; that would be unethical.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ya, it's not unethical to ask students for a car though, haha, i must admit, those convertibles are pretty sexy cars, good choice!

Darren said...

Quincy, *that's* the kind of outside-the-box thinking that I value and reward in class!

Would you like to be the first to enter the contest? :-)

Phyllis S said...

Makes me think of the rule for candidates to elected office about giving folks rides to the polls. Something along the lines of not pressuring/expecting them to vote for the candidate who's providing the ride. But there's nothing in the rule about giving/not giving a ride home based on that same premise. Maybe there's a parallel for you there.