“But Lucy (or Loosy, or Luce, or LAP, or whichever name you use for me), why is this called Riding the Bus with My Students?”
Good question. In part, I needed it to have a name because that’s what people do – they name their blog-things. Plus, I commute to work four ways:
1. When it is warm and I don’t have to be at work early I walk (this has happened once, in part because I missed the bus and it was, in fact, cold so I walked instead of standing there freezing; but maybe in the spring it will happen more).
2. When it is warm enough and I don’t have anywhere too far or too immediately to be after school I ride my bike (this happened a lot in the fall and will happen again when spring eventually arrives).
3. When our schedules sync beautifully and I don’t need to get to work early my neighbor and colleague David drives me to work (Thank you! I will buy you coffee eventually to express my gratitude!).
4. I ride the bus (but I’m not going to say which one in case some creepy person finds this).
In the mornings the bus ride is quiet and I typically read (more on that later). In the evenings, depending on my post-school obligations, I sometimes end up riding the crowded rush-hour bus with my students who live near me (or well beyond me, which I’ll also get back to later).
A few days ago as I was riding the bus back with a sixth grader who I feel will become a common feature of this story I was thinking about how funny it is that I ride with my students home from work. And thus the idea for the title was born.
No, I won’t only tell you about the bus or about my students or about riding it with them. But it seemed like a reasonable place to start.
Here goes (again):