Although it isn't official yet, our principal has told us that she THINKS she knows who my replacement will be.
I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought. I knew first of all our choices would be limited, since budget cuts have pretty much frozen any possibilities of hiring from outside the county. We expected that if one of the high schools had to cut an English position, someone would be "sent" to our school, even if he or she didn't want to come. That's not ideal for a school like ours. So few people understand what it is exactly that we do, and it's sometimes difficult to find someone willing to take on the challenge of a nontraditional approach to teaching high school.
Our staff has been pretty much intact since our school opened in 2005. Three of us opened it together, our business/electives teacher came the second year, and the most turnover has happened in the area of science. We work beautifully together as a team (we even occasionally snap on each other, just like siblings who are forced to live in the same house), and I trusted my colleagues to choose an English teacher who would continue the work we have started together. If they were given any choice in the matter, that is.
I can't give away too much information, lest someone who reads this blog might put two and two together and let the cat out of the bag. It's not supposed to be a SECRET by any means, but since it isn't official yet, I don't want to give away too much information.
I can say this, though.
I couldn't be happier with the person who is rumored to be taking my place. She is a dynamic, creative teacher, has a wonderfully wicked sense of humor, borders on mischievous, and she KNOWS. HER. STUFF. She gets along well with her co-workers, and she knows how to relate to teenagers. And she has chosen to come to our school rather than being SENT there. It's the perfect package.
We exchanged a couple of cryptic emails today (cryptic in case our email is being monitored, which would surprise neither of us one iota), and I cryptically told her how happy I was and she cryptically said I would have to train her.
I was going to retire and walk away with no regrets either way. But it sure is nice to know the program will be in good hands. They'll forget all about me a month after school starts. And that is okay with me.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Theory of Relativity.....
With my most sincere apologies to Albert Einstein. (He WAS the one with the theory of relativity, wasn't he?)
This post has nothing to do with physics. Or whatever it was that Albert was famous for. For which Albert was famous. Whatever.
Have any of you ever experienced complete and total silence? Think about it. I mean the absolute absence of any sound. I kind of think I may have...but it was a long time ago, and part of my description of that experience will contradict the whole idea of complete and total silence. I'll (sort of) explain at the end.
This thought has occurred to me a couple of afternoons at the end of the school day. When the students leave, if we have no meetings or interviews, my co-workers and I are typically in our individual classrooms alone. We may be catching up on emails (the serious ones) or finishing up a level of Angry Birds (the slackers) or reading to the end of a chapter on the iPad (more slackers) or checking gymnastics websites to see what gymnasts should be inserted into the line-ups this week (slackers...wait...never mind).
Students are gone, and the hum of conversation is gone too. It's very quiet. Silent.
Then I turn off all the computers remotely. They go off one by one, and it becomes even silenter. As the low hum of each computer stops, what seemed like silence just a moment ago suddenly seems loud.
Then I turn off my own computer.
And then I turn off the power strip. It gets quieter and quieter and quieter. I've toyed with the idea of going around and unplugging every single power strip and device in the room, just to see how totally quiet it can be.
But that's a lot of trouble, and I'm not really that curious.
I'm not sure where I was going with this post. You may be able to tell that I couldn't decide which approach to take with this blog post. I was vacillating between being silly and sarcastic (my defaults) or attempting to make some serious connection between my computers and life. But I got nothing.
Now for my story about silence. I read an article once about some soundless booth a company (I think it was a telephone company) had developed for testing. They put someone in the booth and the person reported hearing the rushing waters of a river. That was the sound of the blood pumping through his veins and arteries. I thought that was cool. I think the closest I ever came to that was when I first started skydiving. Way back then we jumped with round canopies, old Army-issue ones. Those canopies, unlike the modern rectangular canopies, had almost zero forward drive in them. You jumped, you opened (thank all that is holy for those openings), and you went straight down. The only exception was that you could TURN the canopy so that the wind would carry you in a certain direction. Preferably in a direction that took you to the landing zone.
Because those canopies had no forward drive, there was very little motion. And it was dead silent under those babies. You couldn't hear the plane after it left, you couldn't hear anything from the ground because you opened so high (if you did what you were supposed to **ahem**), and there wasn't even the flap of nylon coming from the parachute. It was awesome.
Like the man in the soundproof booth, I think I heard my heart beating.
And it was going very, very fast.
This post has nothing to do with physics. Or whatever it was that Albert was famous for. For which Albert was famous. Whatever.
Have any of you ever experienced complete and total silence? Think about it. I mean the absolute absence of any sound. I kind of think I may have...but it was a long time ago, and part of my description of that experience will contradict the whole idea of complete and total silence. I'll (sort of) explain at the end.
This thought has occurred to me a couple of afternoons at the end of the school day. When the students leave, if we have no meetings or interviews, my co-workers and I are typically in our individual classrooms alone. We may be catching up on emails (the serious ones) or finishing up a level of Angry Birds (the slackers) or reading to the end of a chapter on the iPad (more slackers) or checking gymnastics websites to see what gymnasts should be inserted into the line-ups this week (slackers...wait...never mind).
Students are gone, and the hum of conversation is gone too. It's very quiet. Silent.
Then I turn off all the computers remotely. They go off one by one, and it becomes even silenter. As the low hum of each computer stops, what seemed like silence just a moment ago suddenly seems loud.
Then I turn off my own computer.
And then I turn off the power strip. It gets quieter and quieter and quieter. I've toyed with the idea of going around and unplugging every single power strip and device in the room, just to see how totally quiet it can be.
But that's a lot of trouble, and I'm not really that curious.
I'm not sure where I was going with this post. You may be able to tell that I couldn't decide which approach to take with this blog post. I was vacillating between being silly and sarcastic (my defaults) or attempting to make some serious connection between my computers and life. But I got nothing.
Now for my story about silence. I read an article once about some soundless booth a company (I think it was a telephone company) had developed for testing. They put someone in the booth and the person reported hearing the rushing waters of a river. That was the sound of the blood pumping through his veins and arteries. I thought that was cool. I think the closest I ever came to that was when I first started skydiving. Way back then we jumped with round canopies, old Army-issue ones. Those canopies, unlike the modern rectangular canopies, had almost zero forward drive in them. You jumped, you opened (thank all that is holy for those openings), and you went straight down. The only exception was that you could TURN the canopy so that the wind would carry you in a certain direction. Preferably in a direction that took you to the landing zone.
Because those canopies had no forward drive, there was very little motion. And it was dead silent under those babies. You couldn't hear the plane after it left, you couldn't hear anything from the ground because you opened so high (if you did what you were supposed to **ahem**), and there wasn't even the flap of nylon coming from the parachute. It was awesome.
Like the man in the soundproof booth, I think I heard my heart beating.
And it was going very, very fast.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
First Day of My Last Semester.....
I promise you I'm not going to carry this theme out for all 90 89 days remaining in this semester. You might get sick of hearing about my impending retirement. Unless you're sick of it already, in which case I apologize.
I was the first one at school today. That includes the custodian, who is ALWAYS there before me, and our math teacher, whom I have accused of sleeping at her desk because she's there when I leave and there when I arrive. I TOLD you I was ready to get this semester underway.
Our school day officially begins at 8:50. The person who is notorious for not showing up for work and not calling and ultimately having to have the police called to his house to do a welfare check only to discover that he's actually at the grocery store finally dragged in at 8:45, looking like hell. Baby Luke's daddy was already out (he spent the entire Christmas break in the hospital with the baby, so he's taking some time off now, and who can blame him?), so I was just about ready to panic whenthe Freak my co-worker finally dragged in.
But that's not what I started to write about.
By 8:30, I had already had a conference with a student about a practice essay he wrote in the car sometime during Christmas break. He has failed our state writing test, and he wanted to practice to improve his skills. I think he has been mostly home schooled, and they must focus a lot on facts and figures and not so much on writing essays and spelling words correctly. But he really wants to improve, he listens to instruction and accepts constructive criticism, and I'll take those any day over the smart-asses who already know everything and are only there to go through the motions of school.
By 8:40, I had given a mini-lesson to this same student on active and passive voice.
And at 4:00, when I was on the way home, I found myself wondering, "Wait...was this just ONE day?"
I was the first one at school today. That includes the custodian, who is ALWAYS there before me, and our math teacher, whom I have accused of sleeping at her desk because she's there when I leave and there when I arrive. I TOLD you I was ready to get this semester underway.
Our school day officially begins at 8:50. The person who is notorious for not showing up for work and not calling and ultimately having to have the police called to his house to do a welfare check only to discover that he's actually at the grocery store finally dragged in at 8:45, looking like hell. Baby Luke's daddy was already out (he spent the entire Christmas break in the hospital with the baby, so he's taking some time off now, and who can blame him?), so I was just about ready to panic when
But that's not what I started to write about.
By 8:30, I had already had a conference with a student about a practice essay he wrote in the car sometime during Christmas break. He has failed our state writing test, and he wanted to practice to improve his skills. I think he has been mostly home schooled, and they must focus a lot on facts and figures and not so much on writing essays and spelling words correctly. But he really wants to improve, he listens to instruction and accepts constructive criticism, and I'll take those any day over the smart-asses who already know everything and are only there to go through the motions of school.
By 8:40, I had given a mini-lesson to this same student on active and passive voice.
And at 4:00, when I was on the way home, I found myself wondering, "Wait...was this just ONE day?"
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Keeping My Day Job....
Subtitle: Bakerella Need Not Fear That I Will Supplant Her as the Cake Pop Queen
Is that the correct usage of the word "supplant"?
Someone came up with the BRILLIANT (and I mean it this time, not being sarcastic. This time) idea that we should order box lunches at school today instead of a potluck lunch. I suggested that we combine it with a "goodie swap" and bring in cookies and/or candy to share at school.
In the meantime, our wonderfully sweet cafeteria ladies, who knew nothing of our lunch and/or goodie plans, said they would be providing "treats" for both faculties today.
You really didn't need all that information for this blog post, but since I started it and my "delete" key suddenly won't work (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), I'm gonna give you the rest of it too.
The "treats" these ladies provided weren't just treats. It was a complete spread: pimiento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, crackers and cheese, Chex mix, cookies, peanuts, M&Ms, chips and dip, and I'm sure I've left something out.
Holy cow.
It didn't take me long to realize I didn't need the box lunch I'd ordered. But since it was a chicken wrap and fruit cup (I'm trying, I really am), I decided it would keep until tomorrow, and that eliminates the need to prepare a lunch for tomorrow. Score.
Back to those treats.
Because I had such success with my first cake pops, I thought I would make some more of those. I'd already done Christmas trees, so this time I thought I would just make little round cake pops in red and green and decorate them.
The red ones went well, except for the fact that the green sugar I put on them made them look kind of like dirt. But I hope they will taste good. I also bought the multicolored sprinkles.
Trivia question: Do you know how far multicolored sprinkles will bounce if you drop a few -- all right, a million -- of them on a tile floor?
Answer: Ten trillion. I think a few of them are still bouncing somewhere in Bulgaria.
Is Bulgaria still a country? I can't keep up with geography anymore, ever since the fall of Communism combined with the law requiring that African countries change their names with every full moon.
Because I tend to be rather OCD about such things, I thought I would do exactly half of the cake pops in red candy coating, and the other half in green. After I had dipped and sprinkled exactly half of the cake pops in the refrigerator, I dumped the red candy coating.
(Note to self: If you buy some cheap candy molds, you can put that candy coating to good use instead of throwing it away every time. There now.)
I melted the green candy coating, and that's when things started to go downhill. I couldn't get the green coating thin enough, and it would drag the cake pops off their little sticks. Bakerella's book suggested using a little shortening to thin the candy coating when it isn't thin enough, but I didn't have any. I didn't anticipate having that problem, since I had been so successful with the green coating when I made the little Christmas trees.
I managed to dip a few green ones, then I dumped several in the trash, threw out the green candy coating, and chalked it up to a learning experience. It was 11:00 PM by that time, and I also had crock pot candy cooling all over the kitchen.
(Note to self: If you write a blog post about being stress-free during the holiday season, you shouldn't then find it necessary to CREATE stress where there was none. There now.)
I didn't cry in my candy coating (actually, that might have helped), and I didn't let it get to me. I still had a fair number (albeit not an even number, a fact I'm trying to claw from my memory) of cake pops, and I will share them at school tomorrow.
I'm not giving up on the cake pops, either. I may not become an expert, and mine may never be as cute and creative as the ones in the book, but I will get better.
In the meantime, I think it's best to keep my day job.
For 91 more school days.
Is that the correct usage of the word "supplant"?
Someone came up with the BRILLIANT (and I mean it this time, not being sarcastic. This time) idea that we should order box lunches at school today instead of a potluck lunch. I suggested that we combine it with a "goodie swap" and bring in cookies and/or candy to share at school.
In the meantime, our wonderfully sweet cafeteria ladies, who knew nothing of our lunch and/or goodie plans, said they would be providing "treats" for both faculties today.
You really didn't need all that information for this blog post, but since I started it and my "delete" key suddenly won't work (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), I'm gonna give you the rest of it too.
The "treats" these ladies provided weren't just treats. It was a complete spread: pimiento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, crackers and cheese, Chex mix, cookies, peanuts, M&Ms, chips and dip, and I'm sure I've left something out.
Holy cow.
It didn't take me long to realize I didn't need the box lunch I'd ordered. But since it was a chicken wrap and fruit cup (I'm trying, I really am), I decided it would keep until tomorrow, and that eliminates the need to prepare a lunch for tomorrow. Score.
Back to those treats.
Because I had such success with my first cake pops, I thought I would make some more of those. I'd already done Christmas trees, so this time I thought I would just make little round cake pops in red and green and decorate them.
The red ones went well, except for the fact that the green sugar I put on them made them look kind of like dirt. But I hope they will taste good. I also bought the multicolored sprinkles.
Trivia question: Do you know how far multicolored sprinkles will bounce if you drop a few -- all right, a million -- of them on a tile floor?
Answer: Ten trillion. I think a few of them are still bouncing somewhere in Bulgaria.
Is Bulgaria still a country? I can't keep up with geography anymore, ever since the fall of Communism combined with the law requiring that African countries change their names with every full moon.
Because I tend to be rather OCD about such things, I thought I would do exactly half of the cake pops in red candy coating, and the other half in green. After I had dipped and sprinkled exactly half of the cake pops in the refrigerator, I dumped the red candy coating.
(Note to self: If you buy some cheap candy molds, you can put that candy coating to good use instead of throwing it away every time. There now.)
I melted the green candy coating, and that's when things started to go downhill. I couldn't get the green coating thin enough, and it would drag the cake pops off their little sticks. Bakerella's book suggested using a little shortening to thin the candy coating when it isn't thin enough, but I didn't have any. I didn't anticipate having that problem, since I had been so successful with the green coating when I made the little Christmas trees.
I managed to dip a few green ones, then I dumped several in the trash, threw out the green candy coating, and chalked it up to a learning experience. It was 11:00 PM by that time, and I also had crock pot candy cooling all over the kitchen.
(Note to self: If you write a blog post about being stress-free during the holiday season, you shouldn't then find it necessary to CREATE stress where there was none. There now.)
I didn't cry in my candy coating (actually, that might have helped), and I didn't let it get to me. I still had a fair number (albeit not an even number, a fact I'm trying to claw from my memory) of cake pops, and I will share them at school tomorrow.
I'm not giving up on the cake pops, either. I may not become an expert, and mine may never be as cute and creative as the ones in the book, but I will get better.
In the meantime, I think it's best to keep my day job.
For 91 more school days.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Fall Break ..... Yeah, Baby!......
For the past few years, our school system has had an entire week off for fall break. This year we started a week later, so our fall break is only 3 days: tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. We are all so dang ready for a break that I'm not EVEN complaining that it's only 3 days. Being spread over a weekend makes it seem a little longer. Having Friday off is weird, though. I keep thinking I need to go fix my lunch and make sure I have something ready to wear tomorrow.
And then I think, "Sweet! I can sleep in!"
And then I remember, "Dang! Granny still has to pee first thing in the morning!"
Still, I don't have to get up at 5:00, and I can come back from Granny's and enjoy my coffee and read the paper.
Sometimes I try to pack so many activities into a school break that I feel like I need to go back to school just to get some rest. I've tried not to do that this time, but I'm still planning some fun things.
Rozmo and I are doing a bike ride tomorrow in one of the prettiest areas in our state, the same general area where our Spring Tune-Up ride takes place in April.
Saturday is a UGA home football game, and I hope to see my good friend Elizabeth, whom I haven't seen since we both left the same school in 2005. She has two beautiful girls and she's the only PERSON -- let alone WOMAN -- I've ever seen who can match Hubby beer for beer.
Sunday is an organized bike ride south of Atlanta. Katydid and I will be riding the tandem, and Rozmo is riding also.
Monday my only plans are to take Gus to the beauty shop. It's time for his every-other-month haircut and nail trimming. I'll also use that day to grocery shop and drop some pants off to be hemmed.
Tuesday I may have to take my mother-in-law to get a perm, and I'll have to stay there with her to move her from chair to chair. But that will be okay too. I'll take my crocheting or my iPad and keep myself occupied while I'm there. (If I can tune out the old-lady gossip. Which is sort of doubtful.)
We may not be taking the trip to Vegas we had tentatively planned, but I'll take a three-day break from school any old day.
Happy (early) weekend!
And then I think, "Sweet! I can sleep in!"
And then I remember, "Dang! Granny still has to pee first thing in the morning!"
Still, I don't have to get up at 5:00, and I can come back from Granny's and enjoy my coffee and read the paper.
Sometimes I try to pack so many activities into a school break that I feel like I need to go back to school just to get some rest. I've tried not to do that this time, but I'm still planning some fun things.
Rozmo and I are doing a bike ride tomorrow in one of the prettiest areas in our state, the same general area where our Spring Tune-Up ride takes place in April.
Saturday is a UGA home football game, and I hope to see my good friend Elizabeth, whom I haven't seen since we both left the same school in 2005. She has two beautiful girls and she's the only PERSON -- let alone WOMAN -- I've ever seen who can match Hubby beer for beer.
Sunday is an organized bike ride south of Atlanta. Katydid and I will be riding the tandem, and Rozmo is riding also.
Monday my only plans are to take Gus to the beauty shop. It's time for his every-other-month haircut and nail trimming. I'll also use that day to grocery shop and drop some pants off to be hemmed.
Tuesday I may have to take my mother-in-law to get a perm, and I'll have to stay there with her to move her from chair to chair. But that will be okay too. I'll take my crocheting or my iPad and keep myself occupied while I'm there. (If I can tune out the old-lady gossip. Which is sort of doubtful.)
We may not be taking the trip to Vegas we had tentatively planned, but I'll take a three-day break from school any old day.
Happy (early) weekend!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Watching the Clock.......
I have worked for many principals in my teaching career, and it seems they all had varying opinions about teachers' working hours. To their credit, the vast majority of the ones I've worked under have taken the approach that teachers don't stop working when they walk out the door, so the 8:00-4:00 working hours have been somewhat flexible. I had one principal who allowed me to be late every single day because we lived 30 minutes away on a country dirt road, and I didn't want to leave home until Sweet Girl was on the bus. He was cool with that, since I had first period planning, and it didn't impact my direct interaction with students. He went home every. single. day. for a two-hour nap, so it's not like he had a whole lot of room to talk.
We've usually been expected to sign in and out, but even that wasn't always strictly enforced. In my first teaching job, another teacher and I started playing games with each other, signing each other out at random times of the day for made-up reasons, trying to see who could be more outrageous than the other. I wonder what she's doing now....she got a divorce and left town, taking a job teaching in Hawai'i, and naturally we couldn't be friends after THAT. I remember getting a postcard from her that said, "I'm never going to wear pantyhose again." I sighed wistfully at the thought. Yes, I realize I'm showing my age.
At another school, one of the several principals who marched through there thought it was important that teachers be on time. Or at least that they SIGN IN on time. He asked the secretary (or perhaps he did it himself, I don't know) to put a RED DOT next to anyone's name who had not signed in at 8:00. It didn't matter that perhaps someone had arrived early to school and gone directly to his or her classroom; it also didn't matter if you were there until 5:00 or 6:00 coaching a sport or directing the play or putting together the yearbook. The details are fuzzy, but supposedly something "bad" was to happen if you got three red dots. One of our assistant principals, a woman with a bad attitude to begin with, went in one morning and red-dotted HER OWN NAME all the way across the week. That did not go over well.
I've worked in more than one school where the front office would be closed when I left for the day. So the next morning I would sign OUT from the day before and IN for that day at the same time. Sometimes I even told the truth. There was talk at one school where I worked (can you tell I've been around the block a few times?) of having teachers sign in from their own computers. That made perfect sense to me, since it could be done from the classroom and didn't involve what might be a long walk to the front office. I'm not sure it ever came to fruition, and I left that school. Too.
Our county started using electronic key cards a few years ago, but it never touched our school because we were A) so small; and B) located in an ancient building that didn't even meet ADA codes. When they moved us this year, though, the building was equipped with the key card scanners, so that's how we are supposed to check in and out. I don't mind it, but I've heard that the POWER-THAT-BE spends a lot of time going over those electronic log-ins. Just as in a previous location, working an hour past the normal quitting time of 4:00 has no impact whatsoever, but you can have your pay docked if you are late to school. Or are late swiping your card. Woe be unto anyone who arrives at school at the same time as another faculty member and saunters in the front door, chatting all the while, and forgets to swipe his or her card. You aren't there. They can prove it, because you didn't swipe your card. Thanks but no thanks for holding the door for me, I've got to swipe my damn card.
Who in the world came up with the 40-hour work week anyway? I can see it for some professions, but is it really necessary for jobs like teaching? If the students are gone and I don't have lesson plans to write (I don't) or papers to grade (I don't), what's the point of my sitting around waiting for the clock to turn over to what someone has deemed "quitting time"? Every time a student sends me a text message when I'm at home, do I have the privilege of running down to the school and swiping my card in/out, because by golly I was WORKING during those minutes? You're right, that could get expensive, even if it IS only five miles to school.
I guess I shouldn't complain about the possibility of getting scolded when it hasn't happened yet. It just irks me that in a profession where we should be treated..... oh, professionally maybe?...... we actually get treated like the kids we teach.
Going to bed so I can clock in on time tomorrow,
Bragger
We've usually been expected to sign in and out, but even that wasn't always strictly enforced. In my first teaching job, another teacher and I started playing games with each other, signing each other out at random times of the day for made-up reasons, trying to see who could be more outrageous than the other. I wonder what she's doing now....she got a divorce and left town, taking a job teaching in Hawai'i, and naturally we couldn't be friends after THAT. I remember getting a postcard from her that said, "I'm never going to wear pantyhose again." I sighed wistfully at the thought. Yes, I realize I'm showing my age.
At another school, one of the several principals who marched through there thought it was important that teachers be on time. Or at least that they SIGN IN on time. He asked the secretary (or perhaps he did it himself, I don't know) to put a RED DOT next to anyone's name who had not signed in at 8:00. It didn't matter that perhaps someone had arrived early to school and gone directly to his or her classroom; it also didn't matter if you were there until 5:00 or 6:00 coaching a sport or directing the play or putting together the yearbook. The details are fuzzy, but supposedly something "bad" was to happen if you got three red dots. One of our assistant principals, a woman with a bad attitude to begin with, went in one morning and red-dotted HER OWN NAME all the way across the week. That did not go over well.
I've worked in more than one school where the front office would be closed when I left for the day. So the next morning I would sign OUT from the day before and IN for that day at the same time. Sometimes I even told the truth. There was talk at one school where I worked (can you tell I've been around the block a few times?) of having teachers sign in from their own computers. That made perfect sense to me, since it could be done from the classroom and didn't involve what might be a long walk to the front office. I'm not sure it ever came to fruition, and I left that school. Too.
Our county started using electronic key cards a few years ago, but it never touched our school because we were A) so small; and B) located in an ancient building that didn't even meet ADA codes. When they moved us this year, though, the building was equipped with the key card scanners, so that's how we are supposed to check in and out. I don't mind it, but I've heard that the POWER-THAT-BE spends a lot of time going over those electronic log-ins. Just as in a previous location, working an hour past the normal quitting time of 4:00 has no impact whatsoever, but you can have your pay docked if you are late to school. Or are late swiping your card. Woe be unto anyone who arrives at school at the same time as another faculty member and saunters in the front door, chatting all the while, and forgets to swipe his or her card. You aren't there. They can prove it, because you didn't swipe your card. Thanks but no thanks for holding the door for me, I've got to swipe my damn card.
Who in the world came up with the 40-hour work week anyway? I can see it for some professions, but is it really necessary for jobs like teaching? If the students are gone and I don't have lesson plans to write (I don't) or papers to grade (I don't), what's the point of my sitting around waiting for the clock to turn over to what someone has deemed "quitting time"? Every time a student sends me a text message when I'm at home, do I have the privilege of running down to the school and swiping my card in/out, because by golly I was WORKING during those minutes? You're right, that could get expensive, even if it IS only five miles to school.
I guess I shouldn't complain about the possibility of getting scolded when it hasn't happened yet. It just irks me that in a profession where we should be treated..... oh, professionally maybe?...... we actually get treated like the kids we teach.
Going to bed so I can clock in on time tomorrow,
Bragger
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tough Decisions....
Well not really that tough in the overall scheme of life, but still.....
I've been packing up my classroom this week. We usually have to store everything (and lock the cabinets) because summer school for our county is held in our building. This year is different, though, because we are moving to a new/old facility (even closer to my house - yay!) next year.
I've been resisting packing, mainly because I hate to do it, and I've been grumbling a little (a lot?) because it seems doubly irritating to pack everything up, move it, and then pack it up again at the end of next year when I retire.
That's 177 school days away, if you're counting. Including furlough days already scheduled for next year. Minus any personal days (almost always used for bicycling events) or sick days (didn't take any this year.... or last year) I might take.
I've had to take everything off the walls this year, which is not something I normally have to do. The wall over my desk is covered with things students have drawn or written for me (yes, they still do that in high school, especially if it gets them out of having to do their WORK for a few minutes), and I try to put all of them up. It's a big wall, what the heck. I think I had five different drawings produced by one student alone.
I used to have BRAG posters lining the walls of my room, in chronological order, for every single year I have ridden BRAG. I took them down one year when they were going to paint our classrooms, and I never put them back up. Yesterday I threw them away, shocking even myself.
I kept most of the pictures of students, even the creepy ones (why are those the ones who ALWAYS give me pictures?). I'll move them to the new school, but I'm not sure I'll put the pictures back up. At least not all of them. Likewise I'll keep the pictures of students' babies, who will look nothing like the pictures next time I see them.
I threw away old Gym Dogs schedules that I had taped to the wall. I think I had at least the last two seasons still up there. I kept my Gym Dogs calendar, because it will, after all, still be good for a few months after we return to school.
I kept a couple of pages from the page-a-day calendar Hubby and I always have, "365 of the Stupidest Things Ever Said." Some of them are worthy of being displayed in my classroom, and I hate to part with them. I should have scanned them (or photographed them) to put on my blog before I packed them up. I threw away the cartoon in which the Pepsi employee is being fired because, as his boss says, "The test came back....You tested positive for Coke." That one doesn't apply anymore, since Hubby retired from Pepsi over a year ago. I also threw away a cartoon with a couple of frogs, one of which was saying, "Walden Pond is a much nicer place when Thoreau isn't here." I never did get that one, but someone thought it was funny enough to give it to me, so I put it on my wall.
I kept a little paper finger-puppet made by one of my students when he was doing a movie based on "The Raven." The head of the puppet keeps falling off, and I tape it back on and put it back on the wall. The student who made it didn't finish with us, but he is now in the Navy and LOVES IT. He came back to see us a couple of times, and I'm so glad he turned things around.
Tomorrow I have some even tougher decisions to make. I have some books and teaching materials that are no longer appropriate for my students, and there is no sense in moving them. I may have to haul them to the dumpster. Throwing books away goes against my nature.
But if I did it with the BRAG posters, I'm sure I can handle the books.
I've been packing up my classroom this week. We usually have to store everything (and lock the cabinets) because summer school for our county is held in our building. This year is different, though, because we are moving to a new/old facility (even closer to my house - yay!) next year.
I've been resisting packing, mainly because I hate to do it, and I've been grumbling a little (a lot?) because it seems doubly irritating to pack everything up, move it, and then pack it up again at the end of next year when I retire.
That's 177 school days away, if you're counting. Including furlough days already scheduled for next year. Minus any personal days (almost always used for bicycling events) or sick days (didn't take any this year.... or last year) I might take.
I've had to take everything off the walls this year, which is not something I normally have to do. The wall over my desk is covered with things students have drawn or written for me (yes, they still do that in high school, especially if it gets them out of having to do their WORK for a few minutes), and I try to put all of them up. It's a big wall, what the heck. I think I had five different drawings produced by one student alone.
I used to have BRAG posters lining the walls of my room, in chronological order, for every single year I have ridden BRAG. I took them down one year when they were going to paint our classrooms, and I never put them back up. Yesterday I threw them away, shocking even myself.
I kept most of the pictures of students, even the creepy ones (why are those the ones who ALWAYS give me pictures?). I'll move them to the new school, but I'm not sure I'll put the pictures back up. At least not all of them. Likewise I'll keep the pictures of students' babies, who will look nothing like the pictures next time I see them.
I threw away old Gym Dogs schedules that I had taped to the wall. I think I had at least the last two seasons still up there. I kept my Gym Dogs calendar, because it will, after all, still be good for a few months after we return to school.
I kept a couple of pages from the page-a-day calendar Hubby and I always have, "365 of the Stupidest Things Ever Said." Some of them are worthy of being displayed in my classroom, and I hate to part with them. I should have scanned them (or photographed them) to put on my blog before I packed them up. I threw away the cartoon in which the Pepsi employee is being fired because, as his boss says, "The test came back....You tested positive for Coke." That one doesn't apply anymore, since Hubby retired from Pepsi over a year ago. I also threw away a cartoon with a couple of frogs, one of which was saying, "Walden Pond is a much nicer place when Thoreau isn't here." I never did get that one, but someone thought it was funny enough to give it to me, so I put it on my wall.
I kept a little paper finger-puppet made by one of my students when he was doing a movie based on "The Raven." The head of the puppet keeps falling off, and I tape it back on and put it back on the wall. The student who made it didn't finish with us, but he is now in the Navy and LOVES IT. He came back to see us a couple of times, and I'm so glad he turned things around.
Tomorrow I have some even tougher decisions to make. I have some books and teaching materials that are no longer appropriate for my students, and there is no sense in moving them. I may have to haul them to the dumpster. Throwing books away goes against my nature.
But if I did it with the BRAG posters, I'm sure I can handle the books.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
What is WRONG With Me?.....................
The title of this post has nothing to do with last night's post...... although it probably should. I'm not sure where all that came from.
I'm not going to give you a play-by-play of my morning routine, just a summary. The alarm goes off at 5:00, and I get up immediately because Hubby is fundamentally against the use of the snooze. He mentioned it once 14 years ago, and I've never used it again. (Wonder why MY **hints** don't have that effect on HIM?)
I fetch the paper, fix my coffee, turn on the morning news, check emails and blogs, and generally relax until 6:00. Or 6:15. Or 6:30. Or 6:45. (This is all because my elliptical is STILL broken, and if it EVER gets repaired, all this will change. Again.) My absolute drop-dead latest time to get in the shower is 7:00, and I can still be ready to leave the house at 7:30. Most of the time. Unless I remember at the very last moment that I have neglected to pack a lunch, eat breakfast, take my pills, or all of the above.
I'm supposed to be at school at 7:45, and I usually make it within a couple of minutes. We're not strict about arrival/departure times around here (thank goodness), so it's not like I'm risking losing my job. It's just a darn good thing I don't work for my mother anymore; she considers it late if you arrive at work five minutes early.
I used to race with the school zone lights just down the road from our school. They were set to go off at 7:45, and if they weren't flashing as I approached, then I considered myself on time. A couple of times they have started flashing just as I got even with them, and I was highly insulted. Then apparently someone changed the flashing time to 7:30, and I gave up that game immediately.
This morning I got up at my usual time and went through all my usual activities. My lunch was already packed from last night, I ate breakfast, and I have even gone back to drying my hair instead of coming to school with it wet and letting it dry naturally.
I promise there is a purpose to all this. When I was completely ready for school I went downstairs, and it was only then I looked at the clock.
It was 7:00.
I asked Hubby, "What is WRONG with me?"
It could have something to do with going to bed at 7:50 last night (I was aiming for 7:30 but didn't make it). It could have something to do with FINALLY getting rid of the headache I had all Tuesday night and most of yesterday (great way to start the new semester - a headache so bad that I DREAMED about having a headache). It could have something to do with not having the added stress and activities of my former online teaching job.
At any rate, I'll take it. I actually had a few moments of peace and quiet at the beginning of the school day, before the craziness that is the REST of my daily routine kicked in. And I beat the flashing lights to boot.
But I don't want anyone to get used to it..... It's not likely to happen too many times that I actually get to school EARLY.
I'm not going to give you a play-by-play of my morning routine, just a summary. The alarm goes off at 5:00, and I get up immediately because Hubby is fundamentally against the use of the snooze. He mentioned it once 14 years ago, and I've never used it again. (Wonder why MY **hints** don't have that effect on HIM?)
I fetch the paper, fix my coffee, turn on the morning news, check emails and blogs, and generally relax until 6:00. Or 6:15. Or 6:30. Or 6:45. (This is all because my elliptical is STILL broken, and if it EVER gets repaired, all this will change. Again.) My absolute drop-dead latest time to get in the shower is 7:00, and I can still be ready to leave the house at 7:30. Most of the time. Unless I remember at the very last moment that I have neglected to pack a lunch, eat breakfast, take my pills, or all of the above.
I'm supposed to be at school at 7:45, and I usually make it within a couple of minutes. We're not strict about arrival/departure times around here (thank goodness), so it's not like I'm risking losing my job. It's just a darn good thing I don't work for my mother anymore; she considers it late if you arrive at work five minutes early.
I used to race with the school zone lights just down the road from our school. They were set to go off at 7:45, and if they weren't flashing as I approached, then I considered myself on time. A couple of times they have started flashing just as I got even with them, and I was highly insulted. Then apparently someone changed the flashing time to 7:30, and I gave up that game immediately.
This morning I got up at my usual time and went through all my usual activities. My lunch was already packed from last night, I ate breakfast, and I have even gone back to drying my hair instead of coming to school with it wet and letting it dry naturally.
I promise there is a purpose to all this. When I was completely ready for school I went downstairs, and it was only then I looked at the clock.
It was 7:00.
I asked Hubby, "What is WRONG with me?"
It could have something to do with going to bed at 7:50 last night (I was aiming for 7:30 but didn't make it). It could have something to do with FINALLY getting rid of the headache I had all Tuesday night and most of yesterday (great way to start the new semester - a headache so bad that I DREAMED about having a headache). It could have something to do with not having the added stress and activities of my former online teaching job.
At any rate, I'll take it. I actually had a few moments of peace and quiet at the beginning of the school day, before the craziness that is the REST of my daily routine kicked in. And I beat the flashing lights to boot.
But I don't want anyone to get used to it..... It's not likely to happen too many times that I actually get to school EARLY.
Friday, August 6, 2010
One Week Down.....
I had two blog topics planned, either of which would have sufficed for tonight, but it ain't gonna happen. One is about criminals with whom I've been acquainted (including a murderer) and the other is about a quaint little restaurant that used to be in the small town I lived in. Most of the memories about that restaurant revolve around Sweet Girl. I'll get to those topics in the coming days.
As usual, it has been a crazy first week of school. Nothing really out of the ordinary, just busy settling into the new (old) routine. To all my blogging pals whose sites I have sorely neglected in the past week (or two), I PROMISE I will stop by sometime this weekend and leave a comment. Y'all are wonderful about leaving sweet comments for me.
I can't promise next week will be much better. Next week will be the first week of school in my ONLINE job, and I'm teaching two different courses this fall, one of which I've never taught before. After that things should settle down and I'll get comfortable and convince myself that, yes, I CAN work two jobs!
In the meantime, happy weekend to everyone and thanks for being my friends. Love you all!
As usual, it has been a crazy first week of school. Nothing really out of the ordinary, just busy settling into the new (old) routine. To all my blogging pals whose sites I have sorely neglected in the past week (or two), I PROMISE I will stop by sometime this weekend and leave a comment. Y'all are wonderful about leaving sweet comments for me.
I can't promise next week will be much better. Next week will be the first week of school in my ONLINE job, and I'm teaching two different courses this fall, one of which I've never taught before. After that things should settle down and I'll get comfortable and convince myself that, yes, I CAN work two jobs!
In the meantime, happy weekend to everyone and thanks for being my friends. Love you all!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Full Moon was LAST Week....
I don't know if it's the spring-like weather or what, but our kids have been a little harder to manage than usual this week. First, when we took them on a field trip, some of them acted like it was their first time off the farm. Second, they have been sillier than usual, slapping and hitting at each other like they're in third grade.
Might I remind you that I teach high school? And mostly juniors and seniors? Well, at least the age juniors and seniors should be.
Third, they don't yet feel the pressure of time passing them by.
We had a little assembly today (we call it Morning Motivation), and we gave them the speech about needing to work seriously, seniors needing to graduate, 50 school days left, yada yada yada. A couple of them looked panic-stricken, but mostly they just looked like we might be talking to the people sitting next to them.
On a positive note, I had Hubby take me and my bicycle to school this morning, so riding it was the only way I could get home. How's THAT for incentive? It was only an 8.5 mile ride home, but I figure if I do that a couple of times a week, at least I can get SOME miles in. I'm not really helping the environment, since Hubby has to drive me over there, but what the hey.....
At least it's the weekend. And 50 school days left sounds pretty darn good about now.
Ten more Mondays.
Forty more days to decide what to wear. (Ten Fridays means ten blue jeans days.)
If I subtract the two personal days I already KNOW I'm going to take.....
Summer break will be here before we know it. I feel better already.
Might I remind you that I teach high school? And mostly juniors and seniors? Well, at least the age juniors and seniors should be.
Third, they don't yet feel the pressure of time passing them by.
We had a little assembly today (we call it Morning Motivation), and we gave them the speech about needing to work seriously, seniors needing to graduate, 50 school days left, yada yada yada. A couple of them looked panic-stricken, but mostly they just looked like we might be talking to the people sitting next to them.
On a positive note, I had Hubby take me and my bicycle to school this morning, so riding it was the only way I could get home. How's THAT for incentive? It was only an 8.5 mile ride home, but I figure if I do that a couple of times a week, at least I can get SOME miles in. I'm not really helping the environment, since Hubby has to drive me over there, but what the hey.....
At least it's the weekend. And 50 school days left sounds pretty darn good about now.
Ten more Mondays.
Forty more days to decide what to wear. (Ten Fridays means ten blue jeans days.)
If I subtract the two personal days I already KNOW I'm going to take.....
Summer break will be here before we know it. I feel better already.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
My Favorite Time of Year....
This is probably my very favorite time of year.
Well, it will be as soon as it cools off somewhat. Almost 90 degrees at 8:00 PM.
In the next month, however, temperatures will cool off and the air will be crisp and cool in the mornings. In the afternoons we can go walk in the park without feeling like we're breathing through gauze.
Bicycle riding will be much more comfortable. Katydid and I have at least four organized bicycle rides coming up, two of which are overnighters. We're pretty much over sleeping in tents, however. Comfortable beds, internet, television, air conditioning. Roughing it has lost its charm. Sitting on a bicycle seat for 50 miles or so is rough enough anyway.
School will settle into a routine and I'll once again feel purposeful. (Is that an adjective that can refer to a person?) We'll soon figure out our new computer curriculum and perhaps even be able to explain to students how it works.
More importantly, however, within the next month baseball season and football season will overlap.
Life is good.
Well, it will be as soon as it cools off somewhat. Almost 90 degrees at 8:00 PM.
In the next month, however, temperatures will cool off and the air will be crisp and cool in the mornings. In the afternoons we can go walk in the park without feeling like we're breathing through gauze.
Bicycle riding will be much more comfortable. Katydid and I have at least four organized bicycle rides coming up, two of which are overnighters. We're pretty much over sleeping in tents, however. Comfortable beds, internet, television, air conditioning. Roughing it has lost its charm. Sitting on a bicycle seat for 50 miles or so is rough enough anyway.
School will settle into a routine and I'll once again feel purposeful. (Is that an adjective that can refer to a person?) We'll soon figure out our new computer curriculum and perhaps even be able to explain to students how it works.
More importantly, however, within the next month baseball season and football season will overlap.
Life is good.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Back to School.......
A new school year starts tomorrow.
540 .... I mean 538 .... school days to retirement.
I've known all along that school started on August 3rd.
But at dinner tonight, it hit me.
August Freaking Third.
What in the world is going on?
Is this a sign of the apocalypse? We start back to school while it's still summer? Are you KIDDING me?
We will hand out our first progress reports BEFORE. LABOR. DAY.
We will have five Casual Fridays before the first college football game.
And we get our lovely furlough days in No-Freakin-Vember? And one of them is on a TUESDAY?
Seriously?
That fits nicely into EVERYONE'S schedule.
Two more (sort of random) signs that the apocalypse is upon us:
So far, I've made my lunch the night before (instead of scrambling around madly at 7:30 AM, which I should be leaving the house) one night in a row.
540 .... I mean 538 .... school days to retirement.
I've known all along that school started on August 3rd.
But at dinner tonight, it hit me.
August Freaking Third.
What in the world is going on?
Is this a sign of the apocalypse? We start back to school while it's still summer? Are you KIDDING me?
We will hand out our first progress reports BEFORE. LABOR. DAY.
We will have five Casual Fridays before the first college football game.
And we get our lovely furlough days in No-Freakin-Vember? And one of them is on a TUESDAY?
Seriously?
That fits nicely into EVERYONE'S schedule.
Two more (sort of random) signs that the apocalypse is upon us:
- On The Price is Right the other day (Sweet Girl, I know you can't believe I only watched it three times all summer), one of the models was VISIBLY PREGNANT. And they mentioned it!
- The church up the street from us has a "For Sale" sign in front of it.
So far, I've made my lunch the night before (instead of scrambling around madly at 7:30 AM, which I should be leaving the house) one night in a row.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
It Isn't Just Me.....
Many years ago, when I had only been teaching for a few years, I realized that I went into a sort of depression at the END of the school year. I abhorred the loss of both a routine and the feeling of being needed that I (occasionally) got from the classroom.
Yesterday I read a blog post by Tense Teacher, and I am relieved to report that it isn't just me. I'm not sure where she teaches, but she is ready to go back to school. Maybe she should move HERE, where we get to go back on July Freakin' 28th.
It's not that I don't have a routine. I still get up with Hubby every morning at 5:00 AM (except for Sunday, my usual sleep-in day). We have breakfast together, and then I watch CNN Headline News until I have memorized all the day's stories.
That's the same thing I do in the school year. Only during the school year, I know that at a certain time I have to pry myself out of the recliner and get on the elliptical. If I am to arrive at school by 7:45 (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha), I need to get in the shower by 7:00. I need a chance to stop sweating, so I need to get OFF the elliptical by 6:45. That means I have to be ON the elliptical by 6:15. (Does anyone else out there plan your mornings in REVERSE?) That means I have to have finished reading the paper by 6:00 so I have time to go get my duds on.
During summer, I've had a little different schedule. I'll surf the net, avoiding the bajillion assignments that have been turned in overnight until that little voice in my ear becomes a deafening roar. After overdosing on CNN, I'll watch something I've recorded. This morning it was Episodes 2 and 3 of Make It or Break It and WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW. The ranks right up there with the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my life. Up and including Wipeout. I'm recording the whole series, so I'll get to see Episode 4 next week.
I realized this afternoon at around 5:00 that I hadn't exercised all day. So I hopped on the elliptical while I boiled some eggs for tuna salad and exercised while I watched the Braves beat the Cubs 4-1.
I just hate being out of my routine.
I know that as soon as school starts, I will be lamenting all the things I didn't get done during my 6-week summer. I'm not really wishing away my free time.
But school has to start before football season can start.
Yesterday I read a blog post by Tense Teacher, and I am relieved to report that it isn't just me. I'm not sure where she teaches, but she is ready to go back to school. Maybe she should move HERE, where we get to go back on July Freakin' 28th.
It's not that I don't have a routine. I still get up with Hubby every morning at 5:00 AM (except for Sunday, my usual sleep-in day). We have breakfast together, and then I watch CNN Headline News until I have memorized all the day's stories.
That's the same thing I do in the school year. Only during the school year, I know that at a certain time I have to pry myself out of the recliner and get on the elliptical. If I am to arrive at school by 7:45 (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha), I need to get in the shower by 7:00. I need a chance to stop sweating, so I need to get OFF the elliptical by 6:45. That means I have to be ON the elliptical by 6:15. (Does anyone else out there plan your mornings in REVERSE?) That means I have to have finished reading the paper by 6:00 so I have time to go get my duds on.
During summer, I've had a little different schedule. I'll surf the net, avoiding the bajillion assignments that have been turned in overnight until that little voice in my ear becomes a deafening roar. After overdosing on CNN, I'll watch something I've recorded. This morning it was Episodes 2 and 3 of Make It or Break It and WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW. The ranks right up there with the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my life. Up and including Wipeout. I'm recording the whole series, so I'll get to see Episode 4 next week.
I realized this afternoon at around 5:00 that I hadn't exercised all day. So I hopped on the elliptical while I boiled some eggs for tuna salad and exercised while I watched the Braves beat the Cubs 4-1.
I just hate being out of my routine.
I know that as soon as school starts, I will be lamenting all the things I didn't get done during my 6-week summer. I'm not really wishing away my free time.
But school has to start before football season can start.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
School Bored Meeting......
No that's not a typo. We are here to present a proposal for a new online curriculum for our school next year. We are #16 on the agenda. We have been here an hour and a half and we are on #7. How in the hell did we wind up AFTER textbook adoptions? And budget? And JROTC? And character education?
Good thing I'm recording Dancing With The Stars. Tonight is double elimination. My personal opinion is that Steve Wozniak and Holly Madison have got to go. I'm just sayin'.
Good thing I'm recording Dancing With The Stars. Tonight is double elimination. My personal opinion is that Steve Wozniak and Holly Madison have got to go. I'm just sayin'.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
What Do You Know? vs. What Did You Do?
As a teacher, I constantly question myself when it comes time to award grades and credits. This is particularly true in our non-traditional setting, where students sometimes go through a course very quickly, and I feel a little guilt associated with that old, traditional, 180-school-days-to-get-it mentality.
We have a student who came to us because he would like to graduate a year early. We don't encourage that, and the other two county high schools discourage the practice, because they don't want a mad rush of students coming to our school just so they can graduate early. This young man, however, is college material, driven, ambitious, hard-working, and very smart. Except for one thing. He got his girlfriend pregnant.
So he's working 30 hours a week, taking college entrance tests, trying to earn 8 units in a school day that normally accommodates 5 subjects, coming in early and staying late, and he does it all with a smile on his face. He says, "You gotta do what you gotta do" instead of "It isn't my fault and why did this happen to me?"
Then I get a report yesterday that says he failed AP Government at his home high school. AP. As in college-level course. He was genuinely shocked and said, "She told me if I passed the final exam, I would pass the course." He made an 80 on the final exam. AP final exam. As in college-level final exam.
I emailed the teacher to make sure the information I had was correct, and I received a VERY curt reply that of course it was.
This young man summoned all his courage and went by to see the old bit... the teacher.... yesterday afternoon. She was rude to him and said that he had failed because he turned in a project late, and she gave him a 50 on it. That was the difference in passing or failing the course.
That's not the part that made me the most angry, however. As he was leaving, he said to her, "Well I guess I'll see you at graduation."
Her reply: "I doubt that."
It. Is. On.
I'm damned determined he'll graduate. Short of doing his work for him (and he may be smarter than I am), I will do whatever it takes to help him get those 8...no 9....credits to graduate early.
Which leads me to the question about schools and teachers. What is our ultimate goal? What do we grade students on? How much they know? Or how much they do?
If this young man learned 80% of the material he needed in an AP Government course, why should it matter whether or not he did the required project? What lesson are we teaching him?
I know that in addition to teaching subject matter we are supposed to teach them work ethics and responsibility and fulfilling commitments and all that, but COME ON! I believe this young man could run circles around many a grown-up in every single one of those departments.
I'm guessing that many teachers out there would say, "Well it's not fair to give him the same credit as other students who actually DID all of their work."
Yes, actually, it is.
Because "fair" does not mean "equal." It is FAIR to this young man to give him the unit of credit he started working on before he learned that oh by the way, you're going to be a daddy. It is also FAIR to the other students who earn their own credits. I just don't think there has to be a comparison.
It reminds me of a Bible story, Matthew 20:1-16. And those of you who know me are probably sitting there with your jaws slack and your mouths gaping open. Relax -- I didn't know where the story was, I Googled it. Then I looked it up in my (dusty) Bible to make sure. And I'll be back in my regular seat at Happy Hour tomorrow afternoon.
Basically the story is about a vineyard owner who pays some men to work for him. Some men were hired to work all day and agreed on a fair wage. There's that word again: fair. Some other men showed up later and were paid the same amount of money even though they only worked one hour. When the first dudes got pissed off about that (okay, so that word is NOT in the Bible), the vineyard owner told them if they were satisfied with what THEY got, then what anyone else got was NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.
That's my point. If the other students are happy with the credit they earned, it shouldn't bother them at all if my guy gets a credit for doing less than they did. I wonder how many of THEM made an 80 on the final exam? I'm not suggesting we just start handing out credits willy-nilly, don't get me wrong. There has to be some basis for assessment and some accountability. But I just think that anyone who can get an 80 on an AP final exam from a teacher who was obviously a B-I-T-C-H and made life hell for her students anyway deserves a break. Possibly two.
This rant has been brought to you today by the letters N and W and by the number 7.
We have a student who came to us because he would like to graduate a year early. We don't encourage that, and the other two county high schools discourage the practice, because they don't want a mad rush of students coming to our school just so they can graduate early. This young man, however, is college material, driven, ambitious, hard-working, and very smart. Except for one thing. He got his girlfriend pregnant.
So he's working 30 hours a week, taking college entrance tests, trying to earn 8 units in a school day that normally accommodates 5 subjects, coming in early and staying late, and he does it all with a smile on his face. He says, "You gotta do what you gotta do" instead of "It isn't my fault and why did this happen to me?"
Then I get a report yesterday that says he failed AP Government at his home high school. AP. As in college-level course. He was genuinely shocked and said, "She told me if I passed the final exam, I would pass the course." He made an 80 on the final exam. AP final exam. As in college-level final exam.
I emailed the teacher to make sure the information I had was correct, and I received a VERY curt reply that of course it was.
This young man summoned all his courage and went by to see the old bit... the teacher.... yesterday afternoon. She was rude to him and said that he had failed because he turned in a project late, and she gave him a 50 on it. That was the difference in passing or failing the course.
That's not the part that made me the most angry, however. As he was leaving, he said to her, "Well I guess I'll see you at graduation."
Her reply: "I doubt that."
It. Is. On.
I'm damned determined he'll graduate. Short of doing his work for him (and he may be smarter than I am), I will do whatever it takes to help him get those 8...no 9....credits to graduate early.
Which leads me to the question about schools and teachers. What is our ultimate goal? What do we grade students on? How much they know? Or how much they do?
If this young man learned 80% of the material he needed in an AP Government course, why should it matter whether or not he did the required project? What lesson are we teaching him?
I know that in addition to teaching subject matter we are supposed to teach them work ethics and responsibility and fulfilling commitments and all that, but COME ON! I believe this young man could run circles around many a grown-up in every single one of those departments.
I'm guessing that many teachers out there would say, "Well it's not fair to give him the same credit as other students who actually DID all of their work."
Yes, actually, it is.
Because "fair" does not mean "equal." It is FAIR to this young man to give him the unit of credit he started working on before he learned that oh by the way, you're going to be a daddy. It is also FAIR to the other students who earn their own credits. I just don't think there has to be a comparison.
It reminds me of a Bible story, Matthew 20:1-16. And those of you who know me are probably sitting there with your jaws slack and your mouths gaping open. Relax -- I didn't know where the story was, I Googled it. Then I looked it up in my (dusty) Bible to make sure. And I'll be back in my regular seat at Happy Hour tomorrow afternoon.
Basically the story is about a vineyard owner who pays some men to work for him. Some men were hired to work all day and agreed on a fair wage. There's that word again: fair. Some other men showed up later and were paid the same amount of money even though they only worked one hour. When the first dudes got pissed off about that (okay, so that word is NOT in the Bible), the vineyard owner told them if they were satisfied with what THEY got, then what anyone else got was NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.
That's my point. If the other students are happy with the credit they earned, it shouldn't bother them at all if my guy gets a credit for doing less than they did. I wonder how many of THEM made an 80 on the final exam? I'm not suggesting we just start handing out credits willy-nilly, don't get me wrong. There has to be some basis for assessment and some accountability. But I just think that anyone who can get an 80 on an AP final exam from a teacher who was obviously a B-I-T-C-H and made life hell for her students anyway deserves a break. Possibly two.
This rant has been brought to you today by the letters N and W and by the number 7.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Crazy Dream #2.....
Last night I dreamed (dreamt? I hate that word) that I was riding a bicycle with one of my students, whom I'll call KK. I suppose we were riding the tandem, and Katydid will be pretty pissed that I let someone else be my stoker, even in a dream.
I have no idea where we were, but there was a huge DOWNhill. And it led to an even steeper downhill. And the road merged with another road on a blind curve, and we went flying down the hill and into the other road without me even being able to see whether or not a car might have been coming. The pavement was wet.
I remember screaming to KK, "Hold on!" As if she had a choice of doing anything else.
I told KK about my dream today at school. I think she went to get her schedule changed.
I have no idea where we were, but there was a huge DOWNhill. And it led to an even steeper downhill. And the road merged with another road on a blind curve, and we went flying down the hill and into the other road without me even being able to see whether or not a car might have been coming. The pavement was wet.
I remember screaming to KK, "Hold on!" As if she had a choice of doing anything else.
I told KK about my dream today at school. I think she went to get her schedule changed.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Longest Week in History....
Is it just me, or has this been the longest week in history? Or maybe it's just those of us who had two weeks off for Christmas, and the ONE week we've been back seems like it has been exponentially longer. I just like using the word "exponentially."
I was once on the attendance appeals committee at our local high school, and parents had to produce documentation and explain why their little darlings had missed too many days. That was the only way for students to get credits that had been denied due to attendance.
In one such letter, a parent had written that while she acknowledged that her child had attendance issues, he/she (I don't remember which one it was) had "improved exponentially." As soon as we got to that word, I said to grant him/her the credit. I was in awe of a parent who would use that word in an appeals letter.
But I digress...
It hasn't been a difficult week at all. We're still finishing up first semester, so classes are small and students are scrambling to finish all their assignments. Too bad some of them waited until the eighteenth week instead of scrambling from the first week. So I can't really say it has been stressful or more work than usual or anything.
It just seems like an awfully long time since I got up Monday morning to go back to school.
I was once on the attendance appeals committee at our local high school, and parents had to produce documentation and explain why their little darlings had missed too many days. That was the only way for students to get credits that had been denied due to attendance.
In one such letter, a parent had written that while she acknowledged that her child had attendance issues, he/she (I don't remember which one it was) had "improved exponentially." As soon as we got to that word, I said to grant him/her the credit. I was in awe of a parent who would use that word in an appeals letter.
But I digress...
It hasn't been a difficult week at all. We're still finishing up first semester, so classes are small and students are scrambling to finish all their assignments. Too bad some of them waited until the eighteenth week instead of scrambling from the first week. So I can't really say it has been stressful or more work than usual or anything.
It just seems like an awfully long time since I got up Monday morning to go back to school.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Playing Hooky.....
I didn't go to school today, and I'm feeling pretty guilty about it. I needed the mental health day, but since we are a small school and there are NEVER substitutes available on any given Friday, that meant my colleagues had to absorb my classes for the day. I usually take my three personal days during the school year for bicycling trips, and I know about them well enough in advance to schedule a substitute. I have only taken 4 sick days in the 4 years our school has been open. Five counting today. And two of those were to see Sweet Girl's ship return from a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf. Those shouldn't even count.
And I wasn't sick today. I was just angry. I was angry at...... Never mind, I can't remember if I gave the person I'm mad at the link to my blog when I first started it. Not that she won't know. If she can get her head out of her rear end long enough to think about it. But it's probably better not to put it in writing. Yet.
When I called in this morning, I talked to the only person who is there at that time of morning. I didn't mind her knowing the true non-reason for my absence. I told her my attitude had a bad rash and my disposition was plumb swole up. (That's country Southern for "swollen," if you're reading from another part of the country/world.)
And I wasn't sick today. I was just angry. I was angry at...... Never mind, I can't remember if I gave the person I'm mad at the link to my blog when I first started it. Not that she won't know. If she can get her head out of her rear end long enough to think about it. But it's probably better not to put it in writing. Yet.
When I called in this morning, I talked to the only person who is there at that time of morning. I didn't mind her knowing the true non-reason for my absence. I told her my attitude had a bad rash and my disposition was plumb swole up. (That's country Southern for "swollen," if you're reading from another part of the country/world.)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Cool? Or Unethical.......
I read a newspaper article the other day about a school where I used to teach. It's a very small, nontraditional high school aimed at drop out prevention. Just like the school where I teach now, the focus is on self-paced learning using a computerized curriculum. Their students tend to be somewhat older than the typical high school student, many of them having dropped out already and made the decision to return to school and earn their high school diplomas. After they have been out in the world, they often realize just how relevant and necessary a high school diploma (or more) is.
The article, though, highlighted the fact that the school had taken a group of these students to the polls to vote in their first presidential elections. In balloon-filled limousines. For which the teachers ponied up about $100 each. And then they took them out to lunch.
My first reaction was, "Well, isn't that cool?" But by the time I finished reading the article, I wondered about the ethics of it all. The article stated that the teachers had been having "conversations" with the students about the candidates and their stance on the issues, etc. It makes me wonder just what form those conversations took. Don't get me wrong -- I don't think the teachers would deliberately do anything inappropriate. But as human beings, how possible is it to keep our opinions out of any discussions about things we feel passionate about?
I don't think their county was holding any major local elections, but one of their teachers is also a county commissioner. What if he had been up for re-election and had chipped in money to take the students to vote? What side of right and wrong would that be on? I happen to think he's a wonderful teacher and a sensible commissioner, and if I lived in that county I'd vote for him too. I'm just sayin'.
This might be a better topic for Debateur Debates, because she's a pro at handling issues like this.
Don't get me wrong. I understand their motivation. They want to instill the habit of voting in these students early in their lives and hope they continue to exercise their civil rights. Maybe they can even extend the lesson to include the fact that once a person is convicted of certain crimes, his/her right to vote may be revoked. (This school is also in a high crime area.) I don't know if voting might be important enough to a potential thug to keep him (or her) from turning to a life of crime, but it couldn't hurt, I guess.
Something about it just bothers me.......
------------------------------------
On a completely different note, it is November 2nd, and I have already heard the "give-a-give-a-give-a-give-a-Garmin" commercial jingle twice today. Arrrrrggggghhhh!!!!! I was going to buy Sweet Girl a Garmin for her new car for Christmas, but I may have to get a Magellan or a Tom-Tom in protest of A) annoying commercials; and B) barely-disguised Christmas commercials two days after Halloween.
The article, though, highlighted the fact that the school had taken a group of these students to the polls to vote in their first presidential elections. In balloon-filled limousines. For which the teachers ponied up about $100 each. And then they took them out to lunch.
My first reaction was, "Well, isn't that cool?" But by the time I finished reading the article, I wondered about the ethics of it all. The article stated that the teachers had been having "conversations" with the students about the candidates and their stance on the issues, etc. It makes me wonder just what form those conversations took. Don't get me wrong -- I don't think the teachers would deliberately do anything inappropriate. But as human beings, how possible is it to keep our opinions out of any discussions about things we feel passionate about?
I don't think their county was holding any major local elections, but one of their teachers is also a county commissioner. What if he had been up for re-election and had chipped in money to take the students to vote? What side of right and wrong would that be on? I happen to think he's a wonderful teacher and a sensible commissioner, and if I lived in that county I'd vote for him too. I'm just sayin'.
This might be a better topic for Debateur Debates, because she's a pro at handling issues like this.
Don't get me wrong. I understand their motivation. They want to instill the habit of voting in these students early in their lives and hope they continue to exercise their civil rights. Maybe they can even extend the lesson to include the fact that once a person is convicted of certain crimes, his/her right to vote may be revoked. (This school is also in a high crime area.) I don't know if voting might be important enough to a potential thug to keep him (or her) from turning to a life of crime, but it couldn't hurt, I guess.
Something about it just bothers me.......
------------------------------------
On a completely different note, it is November 2nd, and I have already heard the "give-a-give-a-give-a-give-a-Garmin" commercial jingle twice today. Arrrrrggggghhhh!!!!! I was going to buy Sweet Girl a Garmin for her new car for Christmas, but I may have to get a Magellan or a Tom-Tom in protest of A) annoying commercials; and B) barely-disguised Christmas commercials two days after Halloween.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I swear it was a project for class......
Thank you, Benjamin Franklin, you freak. You could have used real words that the average.... or below average.... high school student would understand. Instead I may have some explaining to do to our Instructional Technology folks. As if they didn't hate us enough already...
My students mostly work independently, at their own pace, and on computers. So their assignments are tailored so they can do them on their own without just being, "Read such-and-such a story and answer questions 1-5 in complete sentences."
One of the selections for my American Literature course (I teach all levels of high school English) was an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. In this excerpt are good old Ben's thirteen virtues. I had the bright idea to have students explain them visually rather than the same old boring "put these into your own words." I gave them a project whereby they use a program from Microsoft called PhotoStory (I absolutely love this program) to create a video of the 13 virtues, with graphics and captions and transitions and effects on the pictures and anything moving that would drive a typical ADHD kid crazy.
The first step (after reading the selection, which they would love to skip) is to download images from the internet for each virtue that they will import into their movies.
Virtue number 11 is Chastity.
Go to Google and do a search for images using the keyword chastity.
Go ahead. I dare you.
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