Disclaimer:

Many stories herein are subject to the faulty, and sometimes creative, memory of the blog owner and should not be taken as factual, although the names and events are real! Kind of.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Evolution of a Research paper

Monday--Students enter the library, chattering happily. They meander to a table with their friends, only to be told "two to a table." They are then given the standard "here's where you find stuff" lecture from the librarian. Their teacher tells them that 30 note cards and 3 bibliography cards are due Friday. Their eyes glaze over at the 'blah, blah, blah, blah' of adult voices. Students then wander aimlessly among the shelves, searching for materials, laughing, talking, giggling, whispering, despite the reminder from their teacher that 30 cards are due Friday--Hey, it's 4 days away! One student embellishes his shoe with a pen.




Tuesday--Students sit at the tables with their materials, laughing, talking, giggling, whispering, despite repeated reminders, SHHHs, and checking on from their teacher and loving librarian. Hey--there's still three days to go! One student takes a nap.




Wednesday--The teacher's gone. The students
are reminded even though their teacher is absent that all 33 of their notecards are due Friday. "WHAT?" 33 cards? You're crazy, I'll never get that done." Some moan and groan. Some continue to laugh, talk, etc. and a few buckle down to work. One student hides out on the couch.






Thursday--Students sit at tables furiously scribbling random notes that will never amount to a paper on note cards. They give the evil eye to their mean substitute (the teacher has the flu) and the librarian who dares torture them with this job. A few still laugh and talk--they are the ones that will NEVER, EVER DO AN ASSIGNMENT. But mostly, no one wants to listen to them. Some students show the librarian their three cards they have completed out of 30 for the week. One student finishes coloring his shoe with a pen and begins on the back of his belt.


Friday--Students enter the room. Some grab their chosen books or find a computer and begin to write--even before the bell rings! Some of them show off their finished cards to their teacher--they did homework! Some plead for more time but give up complaining when told "too bad" and manage to finish the assignment before the end of the class period. Some look frantically for all their lost note cards. One student throws down his pen, slams his inked-in shoe to the floor and says, "I give up. You never give us enough time to finish this stuff."



Friday Evening-- The librarian goes home, collapses in a chair and contemplates other ways to make a living. But then decides that perhaps her week would make an entertaining blog and proceeds to write about it. She feels better.

9 comments:

Shasta said...

hehehe...You just gave me a picture back to high school!! It's sad but true.

Kara said...

That is so funny...time management kids, that is what it is all about!

simple country living! said...

Hi there Dawn! Enjoying your blog & had to smile when I read your profile! THE BIBLE truly IS the MANUAL FOR LIFE~period....nothing more needs to be said! Now if only we could stay the course, our lives would be much simpler!
God bless you!
Leona

Mandy said...

OOHHH, I really do miss high school sometimes, you know those kind of assignments you could procrastinate on and still finish!

Marilyn said...

Remember that is why you are the librarian and not the teacher. At least you don't have to grade them.

Sarah Kamolz said...

Very funny. Andrea informs me that this reminds her of me, but I swear I did a better job of doing those stupid note cards earlier. haha

Unknown said...

At least you didn't color on your clothing! I don't think???

emmafudd said...

See, my teenager is the one pestering me to drive her to the public library, reading me all of the interesting facts she's digging up in her research as she writes them down on her notecards, and checking my little brown book (from college) for appropriate bibliographical notation. All this for a research paper that is due in APRIL for a CONTEST and is strictly VOLUNTARY!!!

Becky said...

I love this post! And it is proof that some things never change - and there were a few teenagers that probably did about 30 note cards in one day. Only in public school could you get that kind of entertainment or aggravation :)

One Last Thought.......

Pleasant words are a honeycomb;
sweet to the soul and healing to the body.
Proverbs 16:
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