Junior High School Teacher Version 11.0

Frustration

2007-09-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

So, since I have two accounts on blogger, I can't seem to leave comments as jhsteacher on other blogger blogs. I've tried, but my other blogger name comes up, one that isn't anonymous. I started this blog so I could write about school and what goes on there without worrying about being found out, but I also like reading the other edublogs out there.

Hmmm... just tried to leave a comment on Shrewdness of Apes (I knew a quote from the movie) but couldn't do it.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

A record

2007-08-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today, whilst my darling new students in fifth period English were presenting their "Where He's/She's From" poems (ones they wrote about a classmate they interviewed), one of the students in the class was screwing around. I told Stewie (not his real name, of course) to knock it off, but he just kept making faces and shadow puppets with his hands instead of paying attention to the students at the front of the class.

Then, as a boy was reading his rather good poem to the class, and everyone was listening, Stewie ripped off a fart that could be heard bouncing off the foothills behind our school.

He then acted shocked that I would send him outside for a natural action such as his.

And so, the referrals have begun.

Yeah, I know, I'll laugh about it later. But dang... if he's doing this five days into the school year, what's he going to get up to by Christmas?

Last Day of Freedom

2007-08-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow? Back to school.

On the 21st of August? On the frickin' 21st of August?

You have got to be kidding me.

Remember when school started after Labor day? Well, we're having none of that any more.

Of course, the weather's just heated up beyond comprehension. My classroom gets sun on two exposed walls, so that causes... um... parboiling to begin happening in the early afternoon. After a few days of it, it's unbearable. At home, we leave our windows open at night, so it can cool down the house; not at school. Of course we can't do that.

So the heat-sink that are my classroom walls just grab hold of that solar energy and wait to release it on my students each day.

A few years ago, I complained that the fan system (we have no AC) in my room wasn't working. Or that it was working, but only when I turned on the heat. That wasn't going to do. I brought in fans from home, but still, my room was in the low 90's for three days in a row.

They finally came to address the problem.

And removed the thermostat.

Yeah. That's how my district runs.

I'm going to go take my dog to the beach.

Happy new school year folks.

I missed a month!

2007-07-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

I don't even know the last time I checked in. I've been out of town for a few weeks now, and you know... I'm having a hard time keeping this updated, let alone checking in on everyone else's blog. What a lazy bum I've been.

However, 100 Farmers has tagged me (even though I'm two weeks late to the party), so it's easy for me to get back into the swing.

Eight Random Facts about Me:

1. Potatoes are my favorite food. What? Okay, probably it’s the cheese and butter and other artery clogging items put atop or in which they are fried, but still.

2. In the first presidential election in which I was old enough to vote, I walked to my former elementary school with my mother and father and voted for Reagan. My politics have changed since then.

3. I have many, many shades of eye shadow, lipstick and lip gloss, but rarely wear any of it.

4. Cathy Brown hit me full-on in the mouth and chipped my front tooth at sixth grade camp. Good times.

5. I don’t like anything but bodies, pajamas or books on my sheets. No food, and no street clothes.

6. My toes are ridiculously short.

7. I never chew gum (it hurts my jaw).

8. Sappy romances or romantic comedies are still my favorite kind of movies.

The rules are
1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged (since I'm so late to this, everyone I could think of to tag already had been. So, if you are reading this and would like to do it yourself, consider this a blanket tag to all readers).

So, at least once a month

2007-05-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've got a post.

Three weeks left and counting.

I gave a test to my students yesterday. I told them they could earn 50 bonus points if they could think of three jobs in which it is acceptable to be late.

Definitely made my point.

Well...

2007-04-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

As anyone who has checked in the last month, I've not written.

Am I going to keep this blog or not? That's the question. I don't know.

See, I started this blog to have a safe place to say what I needed to, without anyone knowing who I was. Teachers are not safe. I actually do have a regular blog, one with my picture, and one which any student who really wanted to, could find. I avoid speaking of school over there.

So, this blog.

At first, it was wonderful. A whole bunch of teachers were just like me, needing a place to talk or rant or recount the day.

Now, my life's become crazy busy. As I mentioned a month ago, a friend's cancer, my sister's new baby (I'm now an Aunt!), the extra class I'm teaching this year (so no prep period), and my Fulbright application have taken all my time and energy.

Oh yeah, about the Fulbright? I got my exchange packet 10 days ago.

I applied to the UK.

My exchange is in Hungary.

I'm not going.

My administration won't approve it because my exchange partner can't teach the same English classes I teach. Of course, it's more detailed than that, but basically, she majored in Theology and American Studies, and they want a degree in English, minimum.

So poo.

I will apply again next year, and make sure this time NOT to mark that little box "yes" that asks, "Would you be willing to consider other countries than the ones you have indicated?"

She's going to be let down too. I feel rotten, but I also question the Fulbright administrators. There is a lot of hoo ha about how they work so hard to make a good match, and yet nothing about this woman and I seem to be a good match.

She teaches at a very orthodox Catholic boarding school and I don't even go to church. Some of what she teaches is religion (not something I'd be able to do... I can just see it now..."well, what do you think? You know, the bible was written by men, and men make mistakes right? Don't think your religion is more important than someone else's..."

Yeah, wouldn't go over too well.

Plus, she has a husband and three kids, which means I'd have to give up my apartment, find them a place that would be willing to rent to them for only a year, and then find another apartment for myself when I return (since I don't need a place big enough for a family of five). I'd also have to help with the rent, since she makes significantly less than I do, and with the Fulbright, we'd both be collecting our salaries from our respective schools, not the host school.

Rent in my town? I checked yesterday. 3-bedroom apartments are between $2200 and $3000. So, I don't know, if even with my help, they could afford it here.

All of her extra-curricular activities have to do with her church and religion, and even today, although Easter vacation has officially started for them, the teachers are together for a "spiritual retreat."

No. I'm not going.

But still. It feels crummy to know I'm going to let her down.

Anne Frank, Socratic Seminars and an Observation

2007-02-04T18:41:00.000-08:00

As a tenured teacher, I'm observed every other year. I've always had good reviews, but I still get nervous. I always feel like I'm going to get found out. About what, I don't know, but the nerves shake me up.

It doesn't help that Ms. Vice Principal who is observing me this year has a reputation for ripping new assholes for people. I've not heard of a single good observation review by her, ever.

That doesn't make me feel too comfortable. She and I are okay with each other, but have a hard time communicating. We just don't... you know... mesh. I don't get her, she doesn't get me.

She comes from an elementary background and refers back to it quite often. I don't believe she's gotten the hang just yet of developing junior high curriculum. Or discipline.

I like to take care of my own problems, know what I mean? I don't send kids to the office unless they've come to blows, and I don't write referrals unless it's the last option. Mr. Principal and Mr. Vice Principal both know this, and respect this fact. If I do send a kid up, it's serious.

Ms. Principal doesn't quite get it. She will have a "talk" with a boy who has thrown a lemon at a girl's head in the middle of my class. She will give one day of trash-pick-up (a lunchtime consequence; it comes before detention) for a student's seventh time of taking another's pencil/backpack/eraser... you get it.

Gah.

So, tonight, in the next few hours, I need to have the next two weeks of The Diary of Anne Frank planned out, set up the Socratic Seminar for the day of observation, write up a lesson plan (what the hell is that any more?) listing each California State English Standard I'm addressing, and how it will be measured for assessment, and oh yeah, finish grading about 30 essays.

Eek.

Fulbright news

2007-01-29T20:22:00.002-08:00

So today? In the mail? A full month before expected?

A manila envelope was waiting for me when I got home tonight.

I have been recommended for an exchange if a match is found.

Yahoo!

Now, the wait for a match. As early as March and as late as early May will be when I find out.

Oh, the highs and lows.

I wonder if they have student teachers in Scotland?

new blogger stuff

2007-01-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

Gosh, go away for a few weeks and... well, I am confused as all get out.

See, I went over to Unaccountabletalk, went to make a comment, and couldn't as jhsteacher. Not even an anonymous comment was allowed.

Then I come back here and see my photo and my personal info up here.

NO!

This is is the place where I can say whatever I want... not where I want folks to know who I am. Friggin' frackin' gosh darn it.

So, new blogger/google whatever will not let me comment as jhsteacher, only as my primary blog name.

Yes, I have two blogs. One is the personal one. One in which I rarely mention work, being that I keep the work/teaching stuff over here. I started this blog, so I'd have a safe place to say what I want to say, without worrying about who might read it.

Now though, I don't know how to keep my two blogs separate. How do I keep my anonymity? How do I comment on another teaching blog without revealing who I am?

I think I might need to return to my old Luddite ways. Then all of this angst would be moot.

Personal life

2007-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's happened. My personal life took over for a while. I've been just keeping my head above water.

Lots of life-changing stuff. A sister's baby, a friend's cancer, and more.

How do those folks with kids handle it all?

Beginning Anne Frank next week. It's always interesting to me to see what comes up in discussions.

I'll try to keep you all updated.

If there's anyone still left out there?

Singing the Doxology...

2006-12-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

... is what I'm doing now that my student teacher, moronic Mr. X, has left.

I know, I know, it's sacrilegious, but it's how I feel.

He just blew to hell in two weeks what took me the first 12 weeks of school to set up.

Argh.

Thank goodness break is in four days.

Well, it's done

2006-12-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

I can't really say how it went, the interview I mean.

Lots of research done by yours truly on the educational system in all four UK countries, went over again my essay as to why I wanted to be a Fulbright exchange teacher and they asked about... discipline. Yep. Kept throwing possible situations at me, such as "well, you could end up in the inner city, how would you handle a violent student?" and "What if you have students who are taught by their parents to be militant?"

Weird questions, but I did my best. What I was really thinking was, "huh. Would I really be matched with someone teaching in a school so radically different from mine?"

Then I was asked about my finances; if I had savings and if I realized that the UK was twice as expensive as the USA. Geez. I happen to live in a VERY expensive part of California, which happens to be an expensive state anyway. Were they saying that if a bag of rice cost two dollars here, it would cost four dollars there?

And then, they asked me what I would do in a school situation where there were no books and no technology available. Again I thought, "Huh?" I know schools like this exist, both here and there, but wow... do the teachers that apply to the Fulbright program teach in schools like that?

Perhaps I was naive, but I don't think that's it. The panel interview is run by former Fulbright teachers; at times it seems as if they were talking more about themselves, rather than interested in my answers to their questions.

I did my best, and although I'm sure I'll mull over this for a while, there's nothing I can do now except wait.

February feels a long way off right now.

A request

2006-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

My Fulbright Teacher Exchange interview is this Saturday! I've got to drive almost 150 miles to get there, and I'm a bit worried about finding the place, and making sure I get to the right room on time, but that's not my main concern.

I've requested an exchange in the United Kingdom; my first choice being Scotland. Then, Wales, Ireland, and England. I picked these countries instead of something more... exotic, because I want to continue teaching English, rather than English as a second or foreign language. I want my students here to have the experience of a non-US English speaker in their classroom as well.

Anyway, I've done a tiny bit of research on the educational systems in the UK, and know that Scotland differs from the other three, but that all have differences.

Here's my request:
Do you have any information or links to websites about the educational system in these countries? How about personal experience?

This is a chance of a lifetime, and I want to do everything I can to make it happen.

Thanks for any help!

Ready to scream

2006-11-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Mr. X was teaching a lesson today. He was talking about appositives, and a student gave a faulty example. I waited, thinking Mr. X would correct it. Instead, he wrote it on the overhead as an example for the rest of the class.

I waited until the students were writing, went up to him, and quietly, with my back to the class, pointed out that the example wasn't an appositive. He said it was. I pointed out that there were two adjectives, but no noun in the example. He said "Big-toothed" and "flabby" were nouns.

What. The. Hell.

He was also being observed by his supervisor from the university (Thank god. I am so glad I'm not the only one seeing this). I know she talked to him about it, but don't know exactly what was said.

When do you let a student teacher flail around and fall on his face, and when do you step in? And what do you do when you do step in, and that teacher refuses to acknowledge what you've said?

I'm not talking about later. Alone with him, I made it clear that he's a guest in my classroom, and that he needs to listen to me when I advise him on his lessons with my students. No, I'm talking about right in the moment. What do you all do? Of course, if someone was learning heart surgery, we would step in if we saw a mistake happening. But this isn't heart surgery. I'm sure I've made my share of bloopers and mistakes.

As I've said, he's very very young. I certainly would not want him teaching my son or daughter. Do I feel I have the knowledge to say he's not cut out to be a teacher? Perhaps. But that's not my call.

What do you do? Where's the line with a student teacher?

Wants Vs. Needs

2006-11-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

I want to be blogging more; really I do... I just have no time this year. It's my own fault, mostly.

See, first I decided to take on an extra class; teach six classes instead of the normal five. Lots of extra money, but phew... I won't be doing this again soon. I have NO extra time at school. Meetings after school often keep me until after the office folks have gone home and locked up for the day. I can get into my classroom, but not the copy room to make, you know, copies.

Then, we have the wonderful BTSA program. The latest meeting was yesterday from 4-7 pm. The day before a three-day weekend. Oh yes, just what I want to do to wind down before my three days... listen to someone read out loud the three double-sided papers I am totally capable of reading myself.

And -- I know, I know, what was I thinking? -- I took on a student teacher for a 9-week placement. In our district the student teachers are placed in a high school for nine weeks, a junior high for nine weeks, and then do a "Full" take over of one class in either junior or senior high for the second semester.

I thought, "gosh, if I get a good student teacher second semester, it will lighten my load a bit."

I always think that, and I'm always wrong.

Anyway, I took on the 9-week one, because it's the way to get in good with the local university teaching program.

He's a child. A rather shy, helpless, child. I'm not talking just age here, although he's barely 22; I'm talking about his absolute lack of any authority at all.

Here's what I think. Lots of kids come up in school doing well academically. They get their self-esteem from good grades. They get warm fuzzies from the teachers telling them they did a good job. On to college, and the same.

Then graduation and ut oh... real life.

Academics are comfortable and familiar and what they know... so... yeah, that's it... they think to themselves... I'll be a teacher!

Somehow, they get into a program, and end up "practicing" in classrooms like mine.

Mr. X (we'll call him). is nervous and scared of my little cream puffs. Says he's "lost" up there in front of them. He asks for quiet, doesn't get it, so ignores the chatting, whistles and donkey noises coming from the back of the room. He constantly is asking me what to do, I tell him about the classroom procedures, and he then says "I don't want to be super strict."

Okay. I am not known for being strict. Actually, most teachers think I allow too much nonsense in my classes. But, the best compliment came from a student last year, regarding my management style:

"You can have a lot of fun in Ms. JHSTeacher's class. Just don't be rude or disrespectful, and she's pretty cool."

I nearly died of joy when I read that.

Anyway, enough bragging. I'm trying to show though, that "super-strict" in my class doesn't exist. Even so, there are classroom guidelines, which the kids are pushing when Mr. X is up there, since they know he won't do anything.

I'm getting very worried. He's supposed to do a full two-week takeover soon (so far he's been doing mini-lessons each week), and he has no classroom management, no lesson plans for me to look at, and no ideas of what he wants to teach.

So, that's why I'm not been writing lately.

And, I've changed my mind about a full takeover student teacher next semester; forget it. I don't have time for babysitting any more children this year.

(Please, if you are a student teacher reading this, I know you are fabulous, better than the regular classroom teacher. You know all the latest research, you know about collaborative learning groups and total body response, and well, far more than a teacher that's just been, oh, I don't know... teaching 150-180 students a day for years. Just remember, you are a beginner. You can do this, but not on your own. Keep your chins up, and know that experience actually does count for something.)

Is there ever a moment when we are actually doing enough?

2006-10-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

My school district has fallen in love with this school. We had a day long in-service during one of our so-called "work days" just before classes started up again. From 8:30 am to 3:00, we listened to the principal/superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School tell us how his school was fabulous, and had great test scores and how everyone went to college after attending his school.

It could have been inspiring, but instead, what could have been a two-hour revving up of our engines, ended up being a day that dragged on and on; one in which we couldn't leave, since we had to sign in and sign out for the day.

It could have been inspiring, a way for all of us to feel as if we were a part of the decision-making process, but instead it was something else the district was telling us to do.

Professional Learning Communities are a great idea, if they're implemented correctly. However, does the district think telling us we HAVE to buy in to this way of thinking, is going to be effective?

An example: our English department is being told that we have to have common lesson plans, common assessments, common homework, common plans for the year. I'm surprised they haven't suggested common dress and hairstyles.

I agree that we need to have curriculum in line with other teachers in our grade level, and vertical alignment as well. However, when I started at Unnamed Junior High School, I was handed a textbook, and a file cabinet full of former teachers' lessons and told to "go to it." We were on our own. We've all been on our own. We were expected to know how to develop lessons on our own, taking into account our different students' abilities. We were professionals, and we were up to the task.

So, moving from that to perfect alignment is going to take some time. It will definitely take some extra time. Add to that the difference between teaching a GATE class and an at-level or below General class, and there's quite a bit of work involved. I believe it's valid work, and that we should not all be teaching in isolation. However, we are being given no extra time, and no extra pay to work together to make this alignment happen. None.

This is where the frustration comes in. Our school has the highest AYP in our district. Every year we improve our score. Last year we jumped 16 points.

But it's not good enough.

Nope. We just had another presentation last week.

"It is no longer acceptable to let a student choose to fail. It is your responsibility as a teacher to make sure that student learns. Yes, there are lots of excuses about family, living situation, poor attitudes, and second language learning; but they are just that: excuses."

Then we were shown a video highlighting those kinds of teachers we see in Movies-of-the-Week. You know the kind, they come in early, stay late, give up their lunch breaks, go to the students' homes, work with the students one-on-one, in lovely spacious classrooms, and are always cheerful and full of hope. They have no meetings to attend, other than parent conferences, no papers to grade, no BTSA events for three hours in the afternoon, and of course, none share half a classroom with another teacher, due to lack of housing space.

Instead of inspiring us, it pissed us off. Where are we supposed to get more time? How are we to get to those kids who refuse to complete their work, or come in at lunch for help, or show up at the special tutorial class developed for them? How are we to take responsibility for parents who won't take the time to check a reading log or that homework has been done, or even check that students have written down the assignments?

We already do go the extra mile at our school. Teachers already are in their classrooms, without pay, in the mornings, at lunch and after school, helping students. And, most of our students do well. Very well.

Where did the idea come from that students shouldn't be held accountable for their academic actions? That if they don't do their homework, we should give them more time? That if they don't do their reading, we read aloud to them? That if they get a poor mark on a test, it doesn't mean they didn't study, it means the teacher didn't facilitate their learning skillfully enough?

Oh, and the approximately 8% COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) sent by the state to our district? They have offered 1.5% of it to us this year.

That is, if we agree to allow an increase in class size in our elementary schools.

But work more! Harder! Better! You can never do well enough!

If it wasn't for my wonderful students, I'd have made a beeline out of this profession long ago.

Little bits of Friday

2006-09-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm still in love with all my students. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm no longer teaching "Corrective Reading," a scripted-instruction reading program I headed for the past five year. It was really dragging me down. Could be a whole post in that.

I've been teaching an extra class this year, and finally made it to today, payday. My extra $900 was missing. Payroll is blaming personnel, personnel is blaming our principal, and I'm out of luck. Have to wait another entire month to get pay I've already earned.

Mid-quarter report cards arrived home today. They were sent out yesterday. I try to call home before the progress report gets there, but was late. I was on the phone today with at least eight parents.

Speaking of phone calls, what's the deal? I think out of the eight, only one person actually picked up the phone when it rang. All the others went to voice mail or machines. Then, four parents actually called me back within a few minutes. Which wouldn't be so bad, except I would be on the phone with another parent, so my voice mail would pick it up, then I'd have to retrieve it (which at my school is a circuitous, and time wasting route), only to get the darn voice mail again. Am I that out of it that I answer my phone?

The school board met last Tuesday, and approving my Fulbright Teacher Exchange application was not on the agenda. The approval must go in by the 16th of October or I'm finished before I started. The school board is only meeting one more time before that deadline.

Even though the students sent in a Scholastic order less than two weeks ago, I have another order ready to go... for over 400 dollars! Who are these kids with so much money? I've been teaching for ten years now, and have never had this large an order. Wow. Readers. I'm smiling. And I certainly don't mind the bonus points.

We're trying out the Holt On-Line testing this year. I'm the one going in first. Two days in a computer lab. So much can go wrong. We're scheduled for a week from Monday.

I'm not going to get much work done this weekend. Driving inland to where my sister lives for a family get together. It was 94 degrees there today. ugh.

Let the blaming begin

2006-09-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished the progress reports, and they've not even gone home yet, and I've been chastised.

By the special Ed. department no less.

Seems that my several ignored emails and face-to-face attempts to get a copy of student IEPs weren't enough to get the case manager's attention. I kept asking about accommodations for two particular students; to no avail.

Until today.

Both are flunking my class, in which they have been mainstreamed.

One has completed one of 13 homework assignments; the other has flunked three quizzes and has not availed himself of the makeup opportunities I give at lunchtime and after school.

So today I get a phone message from the irritated case manager, stating that I need to have better communication with her since she had no idea that boy # 1 was doing anything but fabulously in my class. She then came over and interrupted a meeting I had with another English teacher, and demanded I give her all the work from the past 4 weeks. She also suggested that my requirement that students read at least 10 pages a night of independent reading as part of their homework was excessive; could I change it to 5 pages?

She's under pressure to make sure her students do well, I get that. She's the one the parents yell at first when they feel we aren't "supporting" the kids enough.

However.

I'm known at school as a mainstream teacher that does whatever she can to accommodate kids with special needs. I worked in Special Ed. for seven years, for goodness' sake. But, I can't do anything without information. In addition, I have 32 students per class, six times a day. Unless I know what that IEP or 504 accommodation plan says, I am at a loss.

Cranky I am.

Progress reports

2006-09-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that mid-quarter progress reports are already due. It's still September! Gah.

Teaching an extra class this year hasn't been so hard...yet. I have the energy to keep up with it, although next week, when 150 essays come in, I might change my tune. I am trying to get out of school each day before dark, which is still possible (unless you count the smoke-filled air from the three-week-old Day Fire, as "dark"). Once the time changes, I'm going to be challenged.

It's my tenth year. My tenth year spending my days with 12 and 13-year-olds. My tenth year of teaching grammar and spelling and literacy and composition and... you know the song.

For the last five years, I taught Corrective Reading, a scripted, direct instruction program.

This year, I'm not.

And I'm happier now than I've been in a long time with my students. It's a little lovefest I tell you. At first, I thought it was just the honeymoon period. You know, everyone's on their best behavior and all? But we're going into week five, and I still love them. All of them. There's not one kid with a mean spirit in my classes.

Oh, they aren't all perfect, no. Some have trouble paying attention, some do not listen, no matter how politely or repeatedly I ask them to take out a pencil or get their textbook, some have not earned a single bit of homework credit since school began.

However. I like these kids. I look forward to being with them every day. Yeah, yeah, teachers are supposed to feel like that, but we don't. Not always.

I teach general level and honors level of eighth grade English, and a seventh grade class of study skills. There's a range of kids I see. Some just don't get it, or are choosing not to "get it." There's more than a few who will be getting unpleasant progress reports next week.

But still. I have hope for this year.

Just wait though. After the progress reports go home, and I start getting phone calls from Jimmy's dad or Mary's mom; "Why didn't you notify me that my child wasn't turning in his/her work?"

And I'll have to say that by sending the progress report home, I just did.

Talk to me next week. We'll see if my joy continues.

I realize

2006-09-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

That to keep a good amount of readers of this blog, I need to post more than once every two weeks. Also to read and comment on other's blogs. Both of which I've not been doing.

Too much to write about and not enough time.The six, instead of five, classes are not too difficult, it's just that I have no time it seems for planning, grading, copying, and talking to parents. That one little prep period of 49 minutes is definitely missed. I'm trying this year to go home by 5 pm every night, but it's not working too well for me just yet.

And then, inspired by Ms. Frizzle, along with some others, I've begun the application for a Fulbright Teacher's Exchange. After school today I have an appointment with the head of personnel for our district, to discuss the "administrative approval" portion. The application won't even be considered if I don't have that.

And yesterday? I spent a good hour just figuring out the stupid Scholastic book order. Wow. I've done them many times over the years, usually the kids order $50 -$75 worth of books as a whole. This year though? $337! I had to keep going through the order forms, checking and double checking that everything added up. I'm glad I can order on line now; it would've taken me even longer with the old paper form. Our class got 5000 bonus points though. Whoo wee.

Only 25,000 more for a lap top.

Hope all is well out there in edu-blogland.

Still undecided what to ask for

2006-08-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

I forgot about something.

We no longer have any tech support at our school.

For the last 9 years, "George" was our Keyboarding/study skills/ teach-an-extra-class-of-what's-needed guy, who also was paid to be our tech support one period a day. He did far more than one period a day. He got us set up with electronic grades (through two different grade programs) maintained the computer lab, and helped me when there was a power surge two years ago during Winter Break which fried all my electrical stuff (yep, including my computer, but he saved my hard drive somehow). When a student had trouble logging on, George would have the problem fixed by the end of the day.

However.

He left our lovely 'burb, because it's just too damn expensive here to try and raise a young family. His wife wanted to stay home, and she couldn't here. On a teacher's salary, there's no buying a house unless a rich relative dies.

So he moved.

Today, I realized how much we are going to miss him. The district has decided not to replace him, so we have no one now on site to take care of any problems.

Like this. A mother emailed me Monday. I emailed her back, using my school email. I hit "send" and it went.

I thought.

Today I got a call from the mother asking about the email. That she had sent the email, but hadn't heard back. I went back into the stupid program, and spent an hour trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I sent what looked like several emails, which were not making it to their destination (my personal hotmail address). Oh, they'd show up as "sent mail" and "copies to self" on the school email account, but they weren't going anywhere. They may be still floating around the cyber equivalent to the dead letter office, for all I know.

Never did figure it out. Made me see that getting a document camera, an LED projector, a new laptop is all pipe dreamland.

There's no one to help set it up.

I can't even take my kids to the computer lab, because there's no one there to help when a computer goes down, or won't connect to the internet, or a child can't log on to the student account.

I'm supposed to take my little seventh grade study skills class in there once a week for keyboarding skills; but I can't. Not one seventh grader can sign on at all, because no one has put them into the system.

Oh dear. This really sucketh.

Office Supplies

2006-08-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Why do these give me such a thrill? I mean really, how many highlighters or file folders does one person need?

Staples online has a bunch of 69 cent items, plus those boxes of colored pencils for 25 cents each... and I had three of those ink coupons (turn in your used ink cartridges, and you get a coupon for three dollars for each of 'em), so I ended up spending about fifty cents.

Oh year, I used my teacher reward ID number too, so I got free shipping.

Maybe it's the deal that thrills me so.

Here's a question for anyone reading. Let's say there was a special fund in your town for teachers. All the teacher has to do is write up a little bit (a paragraph mind you) about what it is he or she wants for the classroom, how it will help all students, and turn it in. They can be quite generous; I know of a few teachers who have received items worth around $1000. Anyway, what would you ask for?

I'm really trying to think of something great. I have a computer(pretty old), a TV and a DVD/Video player. I have two rather old computers for my students to use as well. They work fine for word documents, and internet work, but won't do much other than that.

I'm trying to think of what would be best to add to my room.

1) a new computer, with CD burner. I found out just this summer,that since we have the site license for our textbook, we actually do have the right to rip CD's from the audio versions of our textbook. That means I could send a CD home with all those kids who need extra help with reading the stories. That's pretty cool. However, my Honors kids wouldn't really need something like that.

2) a Document camera. These are pretty damn expensive, and the bulbs alone are a couple hundred bucks, but these are great for hands on work! If you don't know how they work, they are used like an overhead, but special transparencies and pens aren't needed. Instead you could take a student's writing, put it on the camera, and bingo, it's up on the screen for everyone to see while it's discussed. Students could even volunteer their rough drafts; the incentive would be that they'd get extra help on their writing.

3) LED projector. Now, the problem with this is that I don't have a laptop, and it really needs one to operate. The students and I could both use it for powerpoint presentations, slideshows, and all kinds of other presentations.

4) A new overhead projector. Mine is from 1989, and is temperamental at best. Right now I can't turn it off, so I have to plug it in and unplug it every time I use it. I think overhead projectors can be found for around $200, so there might be a different way to get a new one of these.

Any other suggestions?

Some of you might be jealous of my good luck with this situation, and others might be wondering why I have none of these technological items. If you have been reading this for a while, you know I teach in an affluent area.

That's just it. We get absolutely no extra funding for our school. No Title I, no extras, no grants, Nada.

Just last year I finally got white boards, instead of the decaying, messed up chalk boards installed in 1959. I'm not complaining, because I love where I live, and I'm happy to be at Unnamed Junior High School.

I'm just giddy at the possibility of bringing some 21st century into my classroom.

1 day down, 183 to go

2006-08-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Busy I will be this year. I've switched from 11o students last year (wonderful, lovely load0) to 186 students this year. Crazy I tell you, crazy.

Five classes of eighth grade English, and an extra class of seventh graders in a study skills/tutorial class.

My throat hurts from talking all day yesterday. I always forget how much talking is done the first few days.

However, on a good note, this is the first first day of school that I didn't come home with sore feet. I think it's due to wearing my new and lovely Hush puppies.

And now, I've just found out that they come in Gunmetal! Ooo... I must have the new color.

I know, they look terribly high, but the front is high too, and they are like walking on clouds. I will never give up my dansko standbys, but for girly shoes, these beat all in the comfortable yet fashionable category.

Time to get to work. Oh the simple joys of my life.

Has it really been a month?

2006-08-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sheesh.

A whole month. I've been on vacation, and generally enjoying my last few days of freedom.

They are over now. The last two days have been spent in "training." Yet another way to teach writing so our test scores improve. We have a bloody API of 821... what more do they want?

The students are back on Monday, I'm teaching an extra class this year, and I'm not ready.

Migraine headaches, stomach aches and nausea have been my companions lately. It doesn't usually hit me this hard, but this year...

I'm. Not. Ready.

And tomorrow? An all day, district wide "inservice." What the hell? Every school district does this silly nonsense. Right before school starts, we can't actually have those teacher "work days" to work. Can't be trusted.

So, we all end up madly working on Saturday and Sunday, trying to get everything set. Rearranging the rooms after summer school classes have been held in them, trying to find out where seven desks ran off to, running to Kinko's to make copies with our own money because we can't get into the main office to use the copy machine.

Welcome ba--aack.

The New Version is out!

2006-07-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Being that I'm about to embark on my tenth year at Unnamed Junior High School, I thought it was time for an update.

I've not exactly found my niche just yet here in the edublogosphere, but I'm getting there. I've been introduced to some wonderful teachers and have had several days brightened by the humor on other people's sites.

We don't go back until the 22nd of August, which is still two weeks earlier than it used to be. What happened to summer lasting until Labor Day? Oi. It sure is hot enough right now. Weird muggy weather for Southern California. Awful in my little cottage with no cross ventilation and an 80-year-old landlady who for some reason only known to herself, will not allow me to buy a little air conditioner. And I pay for my gas and electric.

Gawd. Who knows? I just worry about my little doggie boy becoming a little roasted doggie when I'm out. I mean, how many fans can I buy?

At least it's better than the classroom getting hot. It gets up into the 90's on hot days. That's a ridiculous situation. I complained about it two years ago when my room never got below 84 degrees, and was close to 96 for five days. How did they address the problem?

Removed the thermometer, of course.

Tell me, those of you who are going back sooner than I, in warmer climes, how the heck do you teach when the kids are so sweaty that they slide off their plastic chairs? When you feel the perspiration drip all the way down the side of your torso and stop only when it hits your waistband? When the bright blue sky is only a window or doorway away, and yet out of your reach?

Tell me Ms. Spellings, can you do something about the weather?

Because this is one thing over which I have no control. Or are you going to blame me for that too?

Can't get away from it

2006-07-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

So, as I start my 10th year at Unnamed Junior High School, I'm thinking seriously about where I want to be in the next 10 years.

I mean, I love my life right now, but 10 years from now, will it still be the life I want? I'm not sure.

Teaching is the most important contribution I've made so far in my life. Yes, I'm a good friend, and a wonderful daughter, but I've made a difference as a teacher. If I had gone down the path of marriage and parenthood, I might think differently, but I've not reached either of those roads so far, and may never (although hope still springs eternal in this middle-aged heart).

However.

The political climate regarding teaching is starting to wear on me.

Last year I threw out almost every thing I'd ever created to teach from the red textbook from Holt. I kept to the schedule, even when it made no sense. I spent at least one class period a week on spelling, because that's the area administration decided upon which we would focus. More than halfway through the year, the English chair decided we would adopt the Sheri Henderson way of teaching writing, and we had no say in that decision. So, yet again, I threw out something (this time, something not even well-tried) for the newest "solution."

I'm beat.

I think most people, at least most thinking people, agree that giving everyone the exact same education is not giving everyone a fair education, yet that's what's happening. This crap about being on the same page on the same day in every eighth grade classroom in the district is actually being given consideration.

I have a friend who homeschools. I don't agree with her on many things, and obviously, I support public education, but she and I see eye to eye on one thing: teachers, for the most part, are in it for the betterment of others.

Simple really.

Although I hate when people say it's a "calling" or "noble," you and I both know I didn't go into it for money or fame. No. I teach because it's what I do best. I teach because I'm getting paid to care about other people, and their futures, I teach because it's interesting, and I teach because it makes me happy.

The political stuff? Not so much.

Back to School Sale

2006-07-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

I was in Long's Drugstore yesterday, trying to buy a cheapo pair of flip flops for my walk on the beach. I went to the aisle where I'd seen them, and it had been cleaned out! No flip flops in sight. Instead, there were almost empty shelves, with great big cardboard boxes piled high in the middle of the floor.

You guessed it. Binders, Pee Chee folders, pens, pencils, filler paper, gel markers...

Not even the middle of July and already with the school stuff.

Sheesh.

My local department store is having an "end of summer" clearance sale.

Excuse me, isn't the end of summer in September? What is going on? And then, of course, the Christmas sales start up in October.

I just want to relax, visit with friends, drink wine, and not worry about anything.

Including if I have a pencil case for my three ring binder.

I'm back to normal

2006-06-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Somewhat, anyway.

Last day with kids was Friday the 16th, and it was a scorcher. Sitting outside on hard plastic chairs in the direct sun with 500 eighth graders, Monday, working in the classroom, finishing up grades, and yesterday, Wednesday, I flew to Denver, where I am right now. Geek that I am, I'm at the National Scoring Convention for the National Writing Project. It's a lot of sitting on chairs and being inside all day, but it's a great way to see how others score papers. There's a rubric that's different from the one I use in California, and it's interesting to see where my, and other teachers' biases show up when we grade.

One of mine is the essay that starts with, "Have you ever...?" Someone, somewhere, taught them that one of the ways to "hook" readers was to open with a question. I ended up telling my students this past year to never start another essay in my class with those three words, because they've become such a junior high school essay cliche.

I have to get over that here.

However, we are done for the day, downtown is calling, and there's a quiz night some of us are going to at an Irish pub in the LoDo (lower downtown, don't I sound in the know?) area.

Geek, geek, geek. I know.

But a happy one.

The grouch

2006-06-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

It's what I am right now. Bad, bad time of year. One more week (yes, our last day is Monday, the 19th), and then I'm sure I'll be bored within 24 hours.

It's all this hurry up and get this, that and the other thing done.

Actually had a girl looked shocked when I told her she was earning a D- for the semester.

"I am?" Tears started in her eyes.

I guess she didn't realize that when I reminded her to get in her rough drafts for her poetry assignments, I meant it. Or when I called home when aforementioned rough drafts were past the due date, that I meant she should still get them turned in. Or when the due date came and went for the final drafts, and I still hadn't seen anything from her, that her grade would suffer. Or when I reminded students that it was probably the easiest 100 points they would earn this semester, she wasn't paying attention.

What I'm so pissy about is that this is an honors student. I did call home, yet I'll be held responsible now for not notifying her parents about her crappy grade.

And, last week, this was the mother that wrote her darling daughter a note asking that she be excused from the House of the Scorpion final, being that she was behind in her reading, and that she had had to attend her sister's band concert the night before.

Crabby, cranky, grouchy, and generally unpleasant to be around right now am I.

I'll get back to you when school's out next week.

What do you think?

2006-06-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Every year, I hear a student teacher, or first year teacher, talk about "copyrighting" a lesson plans or unit. I'm thinking about it now as I procrastinate (not getting my papers graded) in this unbelievable heat.

For me, I have been saved many times by other teachers "lending" or "sharing" their work with me. The Internet particularly has been a boon those times I needed help writing a test for a novel I'm teaching, or when I've been fresh out of ideas for teaching prepositions. As a new teacher, I remember the struggle I went through, creating almost everything from scratch. It was fun, sort of. I mean, I love the creation part of teaching, but it is exhausting.

If someone has a fabulous idea, and I know about it, it's much easier for me to see their plans, than have to try and recreate it all on my own. I've gone down that road. A teacher at our school taught Socratic Seminar. She learned about it from a presentation at the CATE conference a few years ago (California Association of Teachers of English). She talked about it in our department meeting, said it was really a great thing to do in the classroom, and yet would not give up her notes or worksheets or any other paperwork. I bugged her about it for a year, not realizing she wasn't going to help me out. I figured she was just busy and didn't have time to go looking for things for me.

Finally, I did a bit of research myself, mostly on line, and just jumped in with my classes. It was a rough start, but we figured it out rather quickly. Now they are a permanent fixture in my classroom.

This could have been so much easier if Ms. I-will-deign-to-give-you-my-attention had just shared what she had learned with me.

Another situation. I teach eighth grade. Poetry forms are a specific eighth grade standard in California. Memorizing a poem or speech is another one. I've always been known as a poetry lover at my school, and I always have a great time during that unit. I've poured myself into it.

Well, a seventh grade teacher at our school loves poetry too. Her seventh grade students quite often end up being my eighth grade students. Since she loves poetry, even though it's not specifically in the seventh grade standards, she teaches a rather large unit in it as well.

So far so good. But.

What she has done again and again, is teach almost the exact same poetic types, along with the same examples, and the same "poetry coffee shop" recitation that I've done (did I mention that she was a pre-professional in my classroom several years ago?).

I've tried talking to her; it's not like there are only 20 poems out there, but she puts me off every time. "You know, Ms. JHSTeacher, it's okay for students to do something more than once."

I know that, but does she have to do almost the same unit as I do? Every year, I keep throwing out poetic forms, because I know she's already taught the students, using almost the same lessons as I do. I no longer teach Ode, or Random Autobiography, or color sensory (one in which a color represents all five senses) because of her lessons.

This year, I was helping out a seventh grade student in my tutorial class. She has this teacher. As I was looking over her shoulder, I saw on her worksheet a very familiar poem.

Wait a minute. I wrote that poem!

Was there any kind of acknowledgement that I had written it? No. Was it a poem I had written to specifically teach a type of poem? Yes. Was it one that I had asked her not to teach? Yes.

And so, confrontation again. Now, I must say, this teacher is a friend of mine on the "outside" so our confrontation is very polite.

She won't back down. Apologized for not giving me credit (which isn't my point anyway) but kept up with her party line of "well, we don't teach students how to write an essay just once, do we?"

No, but we do hopefully, use different avenues to teach it. What this teacher is not understanding is that when she uses my worksheets, my units in her class, it's new and fresh for the kids. When they get to me, they whine and moan about doing "the same thing again" and try to recycle the poetry they wrote the year before.

How do we go about differentiating between ripping off another teacher's lessons, and sharing our expertise? I know I've used things almost word-for-word I've found on-line or which other teachers have given me. I'm also quite perturbed right now about my poetry unit.

Where do you draw the line? Should there be a line? What do you think of this "copyrighting" idea? Do you share? How do you share? Have you ever felt your lesson was "ripped off" or "hijacked" by another teacher? How did you deal with it?

Help if you can!

2006-05-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

The other day a fellow teacher blogger posted about a lesson using AIM or IM language and translating it into standard English and back again. I was at school and couldn't link to the website where he got his idea.

Of course, now I'm at home, and can't remember the site or the blogger.

Anyone? Bueller?

Edited Sunday:
I found it! This is the post I was talking about. Mr. McNamar was the one. I printed out the 10 (!) pages from the BBC Adobe file, and now am going to go about adapting the stuff for my classes.

Hooray.

The Mad Dash

2006-05-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

This is the giddy time of year. The end is in sight, the kids are absolutely nuts, and I'm crazy trying to get all my work done.

On Wednesday, more than two full weeks before the end of school, I have to report who is earning an A or A- (for our valedictorian pool) and who is earning an F. Every year I chafe at this. Most of my straight A students can be counted on to continue with the A's, but not all. I have one student who has a B. Not a B+, mind you, an 86% B. She's not going to get an A this time. And, of course, I have to be the one to cause her not to be one of the special valedictorian's that get to sit on the stage with the other honored kids.

I know, I know, she earned it, I didn't give it to her, but try telling that to her parents. It's not her fault, it's my fault, for not giving her enough time, enough make-up work, whatever.

Then there's the three students I have that are flunking. Are they for sure flunking? Well, no. Not for sure. They are are hovering at the 55% mark. Which means they are flunking now, but could conceivably pull off a D- or even a D by the end of the term. Can they pull it off by Wednesday? No.

therein lies my frustration. If I had a student with a 35%, there'd be no question, but I don't have students that are doing that badly any more. That is something that has changed.

Several years ago, when I started teaching, I had more students that flunked, and with much worse percentages. I think there has been an improvement in parental expectation (and of course our support for those kids at school). I'm available before school, after school, during lunch... we have a mandatory Homework "club" for students missing work, and any student earning a D or an F in a core subject automatically is put into a zero or seventh period tutorial class so they can get extra help with their grade.

I digress.

A friend of mine in another district tells me that students must earn at least a C or they don't graduate.

I like that idea. However, implementing it here would be next to impossible. It's got to be a group effort. I get called into Mr. Principal's office every term I have even one student who is flunking. And every time I have to explain myself, what I did to help this child, and all the measures I took. Can you imagine the pressure if all kids needed at least a C?

Teachers do have a responsibility to their students, they need to use every avenue possible to reach the child's needs.

But.

We can't be held responsible for it all. What everyone but teachers keep ignoring is that there are other players involved. If a kid simply doesn't want to do the work, and he or she doesn't do the work, our hands are tied. If parents don't support the education of their children, if they don't even do something as simple as checking their homework each night, respond with "Well, I trust him when he says he did it already." after they've received the poor grade progress report, and that's even when I actually call and talk to a human being, when parents can't be bothered,
we, as teachers are getting the full brunt of the blame.

The state threatens to come in and take over "under performing" schools. They don't know what the hell to do, but they can't come in and "take over" underperforming parents.

I'm really glad the school year is almost over. It's time.

Loud Boy

2006-05-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the Louds? The family from a Saturday Night Live skit about a family who had no volume control?

I have one of their kids in my third period class. He is absolutely the loudest student I have ever encountered (other than the autistic child who screamed all the time. But again, that was back in the days when I worked in Special Ed.).

I don't think he knows how to whisper. He's the same charmer who hit me in the head with a straw during the STAR test a few weeks ago. Disruptive isn't a strong enough word for him.

Now, he's not a bad kid. He's not mean to others (except for Beauty Queen, on which every boy in class has a crush. And in that oh-so-junior-high way of showing affection, on whom massive teasing, mockery, and general annoyance is heaped.). He knows what manners are, just chooses never to use them.

He just never. Shuts. Up.

Ever.

I've told him I don't need to know every thought every moment one passes through his brain. I know for sure, every student in class doesn't need to know it.

One on one? Outside the class to have a little... um... conference about his behavior? He's all business.

"Yes. I understand." "I'm sorry Ms. Jhsteacher, I know I need to be quiet."

He gets serious and appears to be listening. Then goes back into the classroom and starts singing about how "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes" at the top of his lungs.

At Unnamed Junior High School, eighth graders are not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremonies, or the after party, if they get poor citizenship marks in more than one class. A "4" is exceptional, a "3" is satisfactory, "2" means the student's behavior needs improvement, and a "1" means the kid is actually disrupting class. There is no "0" score, or Loud Boy would be earning it.

I've been warning some kids again and again; they don't have much time to get their act together if they want to improve their marks. It's not as if I'm known as an easy mark, or a pushover, but somehow, in that eighth-grader-itis way, they don't think it's going to happen to them.

Why? Why, with 5 weeks left, with that last week really fluffy fun stuff, why can't they just keep it together? The weather continues to be foggy and dull every day, so it's not as if they're wistfully staring out the windows, wishing they could be in the sunshine. Memorial day isn't even here yet.

I have to go to school now, and fill out the last "progress reports" that go home this year. Their last chance to turn things around, and their parent's last official notification (my frequent phone calls aren't always taken seriously), before the final semester grades go out in June.

Wouldn't it be fabulous if this was the year no one in any of my classes earned less than a "3" for behavior?

A girl can dream, can't she?

rah rah sis boom bah

2006-05-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

I got the award today. It was a PTSA award, not anything fancy or big, but it is fun to be the center of attention for a bit. Mom and sister came to the thing, and we had a good lunch. It was a minimum day, so the students got out early, and here I am, before three in the afternoon, with free time.

Most folks have left school by now, but I still have work to do. What am I doing here then? Well, it's work I don't want to do.

I'm still slogging through the 700+ poems my students turned in, and trying to work out some lessons for The House of the Scorpion.

I took Polski's advice, and have assigned a book and work as independent study to the girl whose mother didn't want her reading The House of the Scorpion. I've given her Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which I've taught in the past. It's a simply written book, and I've never used it for Honor students before, but I have quite a bit of material for it, and a person would be hard pressed to find something offensive about it.

I've talked to the girl one-on-one about how to go about doing her work, and I can see she's torn between doing what her mother says, and what everyone else in the class is doing. I think she'd just like to get through to the end of the year without incident.

This will be an interesting few weeks.

Still figuring it out

2006-05-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks for the advice on my post below. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do, but I still have a few days.

I've won an award. I'm not supposed to know; it's a secret, but I do. It's a long story, but suffice to say that my mother got far more thrilled about it than was necessary. It's one of those awards that everyone at the school gets if they hang around long enough.

The funny thing is, I was dying to earn it the last two school years. I really thought I deserved it. This year though, I've barely even thought about it.

Maybe that's the key.

It's finally happened

2006-05-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

For the first time in my teaching career, a parent has called and demanded that her daughter be given another book to read.

Yesterday, Mrs. I-think-The-House-of-the-Scorpion-is-junk called, and told me just that. That the book was "junk" and worthless. I asked her if she could be more specific, since I wasn't sure just what was giving such offense.

She said she found the book full of verbal and physical abuse and that it was offensive to her. Said her 13-year-old should not be exposed to such, what did she call it? Oh yeah, "trash."

Now, I'm not sure how to deal with this. Of course I was accommodating and told her I'd give her daughter a new book. Which book that is, I haven't yet decided. This will throw quite a wrench into class plans for me; I've been planning to do a lot of Socratic seminars around this book, and use it as the basis for a persuasive essay in a few weeks.

I won't even get into the value of this book. I'm not a parent, and what this mother says goes.

For now though, I'm really stymied. How do I assign a different book, one that is appropriate, and one for which I don't have to make a whole other set of lesson plans?

Did I tell you, this is the first year I'm teaching The House of the Scorpion? So of course, everything is already new for me.

Please folks, fellow teachers, if you have any suggestions, or this has happened to you, please tell me about it. Better yet, any and all advice appreciated!

7 weeks left

2006-04-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

But who's counting?

We continue with the fabulous STAR test next week, along with the abbreviated class periods. Our next unit will be reading a novel (finally!) The House of the Scorpion. I'm thrilled to be doing something other than the HOLT textbook bible. I worked hard last year to get this book added to our district booklist (I was shocked at the amount of work one has to do to get board approval).

However. Being that it's the first year I've taught it, I have no lesson plans. I love the book, and plan on Socratic seminars being the assessment of choice, but the questions for the Socratic seminars do not yet exist. I've done some searching on the Internet, and have found a couple of sites that might help, but if you have any ideas, they are gladly welcome. I know I'm already going to have them write a persuasive essay that will be related to the issues that come up in this book.

Oh, I had the kids check the novel out already... you know, so that they have something to read when they finish the testing early? That was Tuesday, and at least eight of my students had finished the novel by Friday. They liked it that much.

Yahoo!

the last two days

2006-04-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

So.

Testing.

It's driving me batty. The kids are all bringing in massive amounts of food for the testing period. I am proctoring a GATE algebra class, and the teacher of the class, in all her wisdom, is giving extra credit for those kids who bring in goodies. There are 32 kids, and 6 days of testing.

And too much damn food. Doughnuts, cookies, goldfish, gummy bears and juice pouch thingies.

Yesterday, the three boys in the corner got bored and started tossing aforesaid gummy bears at each other. Ms. Vice Principal came in today before the test and lectured everyone on their behavior, then called out the names of the specific culprits.

Today? I was hit in the head with a straw from one of those Capri Sun juices. Right in the head.

Yep, one of the same dorks from yesterday. The future of our country, the best and the brightest.

Then, of course, we have 29 minute class periods the rest of the day, in which kids can't sit still due to being hopped up on sugar, unless it's sixth or seventh period, where they are going through the shakes from withdrawal.

Today, in my reading class, one little seventh grader flipped off an eighth grader. This shocked me, since the seventh grader is usually meek and silly.

Turns out the eighth grader had seen the seventh grader downtown this last weekend, holding his mother's hand as he crossed the street. The eighth grader was gleefully telling any and all this information.

I might have flipped him off too. Not an easy thing to live down.

The latest fad for all my male students is to fart. Loudly or silently, but to pass gas as often as possible. Then of course, to react as if tear gas had been thrown into the room. I'm surprised they don't just throw themselves down on the ground and writhe in agony.

On a good note:
Got my first spring pedicure today. Summer's out there, just waiting for me. I know it...

And the Testing Begins

2006-04-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, bright and shiny, I will have 35 faces, 70 eyeballs staring at me as I read the instructions for their first day of the California State Standards test. Tomorrow and Wednesday will be the English Language Arts portion of the test. Of course, I've signed a statement saying that I will not look at the test, talk about the test, or help any of my students on the test. However, I have to walk around, not looking at the test, but making sure my kids are bubbling in properly, not just filling in the "C" answer for every question.

Wait, these aren't my kids. Oh no. We proctor tests with students other than our own so that we don't get lazy. Make sure we pay attention to the test. No grading homework or lesson planning for me. No siree bob.

Okay, everyone knows how I feel about these tests. They are a fact of life for our kids. I took standardized tests too (way back before they meant anything, but still). My issue is not with taking a standardized test; I think it can be used as a tool for measuring what they students have learned this year. My problem is that it is the ONLY tool used anymore.

See, there are 62 state standards (in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening) in English Language Arts for eighth grade. Only about 26 of the standards are tested, and of those, only the Reading and Writing areas. Actually, as I went over the released test samples last year, the Writing standards are not tested the way the students are taught them. It's really more reading standards.

In addition, and I think nobodyknows over at Reflective Teacher mentioned this, these questions are more often than not trying to trick the students. So, instead of the standard supposedly being measured, we are instead seeing how well the students can figure out convoluted questions and answer choices.

Again, tests are a part of life. Figuring out tricky test questions is a skill. However, is this really the meat of what we are doing?

I had a teacher tell me the other day that since the eighth graders aren't actually tested on writing a persuasive essay (the writing test is only in the 4th and 7th grade), she wasn't going to teach it.

Is this what we've come to? If it's not on the test, we cut it out?

I know I have. Last year we read 4 different novels, performed the play, The Diary of Anne Frank, and held Socratic Seminars at least once a month. Now, there's no time for that.

This isn't the kind of teaching I signed on for.

it gets worse

2006-04-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ew.

This is not the best time of year for me. Quarter progress reports went out last week, and now I'm getting all the calls. I sent home mid quarter progress reports for any students missing work or earning low grades, I called home after that; sixteen phone calls in one day, just to make sure parents knew what was going on, yet some folks are still shocked that their little Tommy or Mary isn't getting an A+.

I got a phone message yesterday from a mother that was very upset that her daughter had earned a B+ from me. She has "never earned anything lower than an A in all her time her at Unnamed Junior High School," and wanted to know what was going on. Her daughter said she had turned in all her work, and was "very upset" about all this.

Okay, so I go back into my grade book, and see the young lady has a couple of large homework assignments missing, and that she's earned a few B's on vocab and chapter quizzes. In the last week, since the report cards went out, her grade has gone up to an A-. I know this girl, and I'm sure she'll earn an A in class, but hasn't so far.

So, I call the mom back, who doesn't answer, and leave a message stating the situation. I come in this morning, and there's another message from Mrs. My-Daughter-Only-Gets-A's:

"Ms. JHS Teacher, I spoke with my daughter and she says she has turned everything in. I believe her. You must have made a mistake. She says she showed it to you and I'm thinking you must have forgotten to write it down. I'm very disturbed about this situation. If she earned an A, it should be an A, and you shouldn't make mistakes like this. It's very upsetting to my daughter."

Now, how upsetting do you think this really is to the girl? No pressure, right? Shit.

This mother, with whom I've not had any conversations with at any point at all this year, is basically calling me a liar, because she can't handle the fact that her daughter wasn't 100% responsible for herself. Notice she never mentioned the B grades earned on the quizzes.

This is the kind of parent that causes ulcers in 16-year-olds.

So, I had to go and dig out this girl's notebook, and figure out if she had completed the missing work. She had. However, she had not come to me and shown me the work. Students know they need to come and show me work on their own time, while I'm at the computer, so I can change the grade right in front of them.

Personal responsibility is something I'm trying to instill in my students. I'm not teaching it to them, nor am I preparing them for high school if I run after them for every missing piece of homework.

So, I have to call Mama back again today. I have to calm down a little bit before I talk to her; I'm so irritated right now I could spit. Gosh, I hope I actually speak to her. It might not come to anything, but I want her to tell me, not my machine, that I'm not telling the truth, or that it must be my fault that her little darling didn't have a perfect grade.

Just not enough Meetings

2006-04-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Since I teach Honors English, all of a sudden I have 20 parents who want their little darlings in GATE classes in high school. That's why there's a test people. Don't ask me to write a letter of recommendation; I'm not an expert in this regard. Yes, your sweet darling has an A in my class, and yes, she is a hard worker... but GATE is about aptitude, not achievement.

“But I want her challenged.”

What they’re really saying is,
“I don’t want her in with the general riff raff.”

Or even more disturbing,
“I don’t want my lily white kid in with those brown kids.”

Am I being overly dramatic? Maybe.

See, we’re supposed to have guidelines in our district about this. GATE was developed as an off-shoot of Special Ed. Yep, most of you knew that, but some of you didn’t, right?

Special Ed. is for students who learn differently from the mainstream population. True GATE identified students do. Learn differently, I mean. It was designed for students in the top 3-5% of IQ levels. Now, I know, IQ tests are not the be all and end all, but… let’s face it. Right now, at my junior high of 1000 students, 300 are in GATE English. I’m not a math whiz or anything, but even I can see that over 25% in GATE doesn’t represent properly. Add to that 200 more students in Honors, and you can see that things are, shall we say, slightly off at my school.

Could it have anything to do with the fact that we have the highest socio-economic level in the district? Could it be that we don’t even have enough students to qualify for Title I finding?

We have rich, white kids. With rich, white parents who are not used to taking “no” for an answer. Who determine their self worth by the grades and awards their off spring produce. Who threaten our district and principals with pulling out their students and putting them into private schools if they don’t get their way.

Well, I’m sorry, folks. Being in a GATE class in high school won’t help if your child isn’t qualified. It will just lower the expectations of the class, and create a situation in which GATE means nothing.

And really, in the real world, what does GATE mean anyway? Nothing. Hard work, loyalty, tenacity, trustworthiness, the ability to be a team player; these are how we are judged.

Not by some label our parents pushed on us so they could brag to their Pilates or golf buddies.

Have I lost you all?

2006-04-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

So, over Spring Break I got off the subject of teaching and on to my own deal. Sorry about that. Won't let it happen again. What was I thinking? Letting it get personal?

Poetry presentations have been going well until today. The group presenting the Sonnet during 5th period were horrid. They hadn't even used the textbook to begin their research on what one was, the example they used to teach a Shakespearean Sonnet wasn't, and their own example didn't have 10 syllable lines. When I jumped in, they had the nerve to say, "we didn't know" it had 10 syllables. As if it was just left out of every definition they looked up on the internet.

Oi.

What is the

2006-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Monbusho English Fellow Program?

Someone thought I was part of it when I taught in Japan, but I've never heard of it.

My teaching in Japan was different from most people's experiences; I taught at a private, Christian, girls' school. Although I was an English as a second language teacher, my official title was missionary.

This was not the bible-thumping, bicycle-riding stereotype, but I was a missionary nonetheless.

I almost quit after the first week because of it.

See, I don't feel that my beliefs have any more justification or "truth" than anyone else's. I don't think I know more, or that I have a closer relationship with God than anyone else. That "Missionary" label really got to me.

However. I changed my mind about leaving for several reasons. One was that the school, not my or any other church, was paying my salary. Yes, the school paid it to the church board, who then paid me, but none of the money from the wooden plates that went around on Sundays was making its way into my pocket.

Another reason was realizing that my job was not to convince anyone of anything. In Japan, about less than 1% of the population considers itself Christian. To be Christian, and therefore, monotheistic, is difficult with the cultural expectation of family obligation. It's a challenge to become Christian, and at the same time, in a way, negate your own family.

Also, Christians in Japan are thought of much the same way as I think of the "Born Again" and conservative, "you're all going to Hell" type of Christians here in the states. It's so difficult to become a Christian in Japan, that those who do, are pretty adamant about it.

I'm not like that. I grew up where most people are Christian. Where the culture and the society is Christian-based. It's not hard or weird or strange to go to church and believe in Jesus in my country.

So, I was an English teacher, but I also saw my role as one of offering another viewpoint. I'm not perfect, and there are a lot of folks who would argue my beliefs aren't "pure." I was approachable though, and quick to say I didn't know all the answers when I didn't. I was a Christian with whom others could actually speak, instead of one who just lectured.

I still don't believe any one religion has all the answers. I don't believe anyone has a closer line to the truth than another. What works for me, may or may not work for you. Yes, there is a line between good and evil, but even that line is wiggly (death penalty?).

If we could just spend less time finding out the faults of others, and instead spent that time improving ourselves, wouldn't the world be an easier place? Even if we didn't always agree?

Back from Paris

2006-04-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

I've been back since the wee hours of Monday night/Tuesday morning, but I've not accomplished much since. Had to get my inner clock back on track, and I'm still getting up at 5 am each morning. Not what I want to do when it's dark, raining, and cold outside.

My house is really a guest cottage, and it's not well insulated at all. When it rains hard, as it had the whole week I was gone, the kitchen floor floods. I came back at two in the morning, after two flights, three time zones, and a two-hour drive from LAX, to find about a half inch of water covering the floor of my elfin kitchen. This has been an on-going problem for the last two winters, but my 80-year-old landlady doesn't want to invest in actually fixing the problem. What she ended up doing last year, was to put down more flooring instead of the carpet that runs next to the kitchen. See, that was getting flooded too, and she would have to spend money to get the carpet cleaners to come and wash it and dry it out.

I know there's mold going on. I have Asthma and lots of sinus allergies, and this can't be helping. The bricks on the fireplace are growing things (even though she painted over them).

This is a big deal, but otherwise, I love living here. My landlady adores me, and hasn't raised my rent. I've told her that I'm concerned, and she said the guys that put in the flooring last spring said there wasn't any mold.

Bull. They aren't the testers. I know the test costs about $300 bucks, and I also am sure they'd find something. If official testers are called in, and they find mold, she will legally have to fix the problem.

And I'm not sure that it can be fixed. Because my place is on a slope. The side that the water comes in from is below ground level. I think when the earth gets saturated, it gets into my house from underneath.

I don't want to move, and I don't want my rent to go up. The problem won't go away, but it has to stop raining sometime, doesn't it? And besides, if it gets fixed, it means that folks will have to come into my house, and see all my mess.

Oi. I wish it would just go away.

"Sunflower seeds and bubblegum, it's not pretty"

2006-03-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Overheard yesterday morning as I passed a cluster of 7th grade boys. Sometimes I wish I had a miniature tape recorder to catch all the things I've heard.

Had to send a boy who's normally a good kid to the office yesterday; he and another boy were throwing an eraser back and forth, I told them to stop, helped another student, and the two first boys kept throwing the thing.
"I can still see you two."

"I can see you too, so?"

This from a boy with whom I've never had any trouble, who's never been rude to me.

"Excuse me? You need to get to work, not take that tone with me." (shades of my mother coming out)

"Just a minute." And he doesn't look up.

"What?"

Now, I'm rather dumb-founded. I know for some of you, this might be an everyday occurrence, but I'm not used to kids just blowing me off like this. This boy is in my reading class, meaning all the kids are at least two years behind in their reading ability. It's full of knuckleheads, and I'm more strict in here than in other classes. If I wasn't, it would just be chaos.

"You know what, you need to go outside until you can act like a student." I have a timer, and set it for two minutes. All the kids know they won't be outside forever; it's a junior high style of "time-out." Sometimes it's just a way to let the kid calm down, and sometimes it's for me, so I don't start yelling at the kid.

"Okay, just a minute." He doesn't look up once, just keeps working in his book. The class has now gotten silent.

This behavior is amazing to me from this boy. He's normally a squirrelly seventh grader, he has a hard time focusing, but this tough guy act is brand new.
"Victor, you need to go out now." and I walk over to his desk. He gets up, strolls out, and under his breath, says,
"Okay, strawberry shortcake."

What the hell? I was wearing a pink sweater, is that where that came from? Is it some weird slang I don't get? What does that mean?

I have to call his mother today.

Oh joy.

Otherwise, the poetry lesson teams are going very well, for the most part. I'm out tomorrow, the day before Spring Break, so we'll see what kind of storm lets loose while I'm gone.

I may not be posting for the next week or two (what else is new?) because I'll be drinking wine, tasting cheese, and hacking up the French language on the streets of Paris!

One more week

2006-03-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Spring break is in one more week. This year we have two weeks for the first time. The kids are thrilled about it, me, not so much. I'm hankering for the summertime and warm weather, and it's just been rain, rain, rain here for the last three or four weeks. I'd rather have a longer vacation in the summer, rather than this longer one now.

Except. I'm going to Paris (where I hear the weather right now is also quite dreary). I've not been since I was backpacking at 22, and this trip will be, shall we say, a bit more sophisticated. I'm going with two friends (one I've had since junior high school, the other since first grade!), and we are going to have a fabulous time. That is, as long as I and one of the friends don't get too bossy. Me? Bossy, you ask?

Yes, I am. Is it the teacher in me, or was it one of the reasons I became a teacher? All I know is that I tend to tell children in Ross to stop running around, I comment on the language of teenagers on the street, and I have to bite my lip more often than not if I see a kid mouthing off to his or her parent.

Maybe I just like good manners.

Anyway, I am still working on my poetry unit. The kids are teaching each other this year, rather than me standing in front of them and lecturing. This is cause for fright, since I don't know how good a job they will do. Our standardized testing, the STAR test, begins two weeks after we return from Spring break, and I want to have this unit done by then.

What do you think of this idea? I'm going to ask each group (there are 7-8 groups in each class, responsible for one type of poetic form such as, Elegy, Sonnet, Ballad, etc.) to contribute at least three test questions for their form. If I do this in all three classes, then I should be able to put together a pretty good test, don't you think?

Gah. It's all about time. We'll be in the library tomorrow and Tuesday, and I've got to make up their schedule for them.

I'm going to go eat breakfast.

Sunday night, not ready for tomorrow

2006-03-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been raining like you wouldn't believe, unless of course you are in California, then of course you'd believe it, but I digress...

Because it's been raining, I've put off going into school until now, which is too late to go into school. I don't have tomorrow well-planned; let's face it, I don't have tomorrow planned.

Eek.

Back in the good old days, before standards and NCLB and drilling and killing my students with tests, I could wing it once in a while. Not often mind you, but I could carry a whole day just on the seat of my pants. No longer.

See, my reading class just goes slogging through the Corrective reading book, so I don't have real planning for that. My Honors classes ( I have three of 'em), now there's another story. We had their mini-research reports last week, and we are all off schedule now. Second period still has two groups that need to present, due to absences. In addition, I've not finished going over their abysmal Theme quiz with them. Of course, the fact that it was the first scan-tron test I've ever given, and the fact that the teacher's key had two mistakes in the first ten questions, and the fact that I didn't check it until after the quiz when almost 95% of all the students got question #1 and question # 5 incorrect, contributed to their terrible scores. Anyway, I'm writing another test for them, but can't give it tomorrow because I've not reviewed it with all of the classes.

Do I sound a bit manic? I feel that way. Two weeks until Spring Break, two weeks of freedom, then two weeks until the STAR testing. Am I going to get everything they're supposed to know in by then? No, not if I'm winging it.

Okay, so my fourth period class did finish all the presentations, but need to go over the quiz too. My sixth period, now there's a great bunch of kids. They have just one presentation to do, but have finished going over the quiz.

What can I plan to bring it all together? I know the quiz will be Tuesday, so I need to get it written, but what do I do tomorrow?

Next up is poetry and poetic forms. It's going to be different from how I've usually done it.

(Thanks to nobodyknows over at reflective teacher.)

I'm evil I tell you, evil!

2006-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm at school, and I've figured out how to get to my blog. It's a terrible thing, because I will now be checking my blog and writing on my blog at school.

It is after 4pm right now, and all the little darlings have left for the day.

I lost my temper this morning with my first period class. See, we're working on a mini-research project; five students to a group. It's a way to get them ready for a real research report, what with paraphrasing, summarizing, adding in originality, and citing works used properly. Tomorrow is their "presentation" day.

Each student is required to write one paragraph, and cite at least two sources they used. We spent last Tuesday in the computer lab, last Friday in the Library, and yesterday and today they had class time to work on this. Today, one of my charmers said with frustration,
"You didn't give us enough time! It's not fair!"

huh.

So, the two-week schedule I handed out last Monday will all assignments, homework, and due dates on it wasn't enough? All the time in the computer lab, library and in class wasn't enough? You didn't see the daily agenda every day, also spelling out what you should be doing? You didn't hear me say, "Stop chatting and get to work."? Yesterday, what did you do all period?

It's not fair that one student can rile me up so. I'm worried though that I'm not preparing them properly for high school. They need to step up and take responsibility for themselves, and yet they still want to whine and blame me when I don't remind them three thousand times, or give them an engraved invitation to be quiet or sit in their seats.

I have a running joke with one student. Almost every time I ask him to do something, or even call his name, I have to say it three times before he acknowledges that I've even addressed him. I've asked him if his mother doesn't mean it unless she says something three times. He laughs, but still ignores me.

My problem is that I'm at a loss as to how to deal with this. I've told my students that I don't want to have to get angry to have them listen or take me seriously, but that sometimes it seems that's the only thing that works. What do you do when just waiting patiently for them to shush up doesn't work? When physical proximity means nothing? When the hand signal of raising my hand goes unnoticed? When I say quietly, "if you can hear me now, clap your hands once," and only two girls even try to follow my directions?

p.s.
please don't tell me to get one of those long hollow sticks with beads inside, a rain stick or something, I think it's called. Too hokey, and I can just imagine one of my boys pretending to be Luke or whoever-it-is-now Skywalker with it.

Any advice?

2006-03-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

I'm applying to help write the STAR test questions in English. I am, shall we say, less than thrilled with the test questions so far (not that I have ever even peeked at any of them, I'm just talking about the released sample questions, of course), and this is an opportunity for real teachers to become involved. Only 26 of the 62 state English standards are tested on that silly test, and of those, it's mostly reading. The writing portion of the test is not actual writing in the 8th grade, it's reading other people's writing, and finding the mistakes or the "thesis statement." The test is ridiculous.

On a side note, our district has just come out with new recommendations for English class placements, based on test scores. Here's just one: if a child scores between 350 and 365, considered "proficient" by the state (the low end of proficient, but proficient nonetheless), that student must be placed in a two-period "bridge" English class at their grade level, rather than the traditional single period that most take now. It's got all of the principals in a tizzy, and we English teachers too. There's nothing in the recommendation about student's grades or effort or anything other than their scores. In addition, English Language Learners can not be transitioned out until they score higher than a 365 on the English portion of the STAR exam.

argh.

Anyway, back to my plea. I have to get in a letter of application and... Horror of horrors... a resume. I haven't written a resume in almost 10 years, and don't even know where my last one went. I'll be doing a web search for how to do one, but I know teacher resumes don't look the same as they used to. New teachers, you probably know best what's out there.

It's first-come-first-served with this application process, so time is of the essence. I'm trying to draft something together this weekend; we'll see how far I get.

Always better to try to effect change from within, rather than complain and do nothing.

Hey, my first Meme!

2006-02-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

nobodyknows over at The Reflective Teacher tagged me. Thanks. I feel like a real blogger now.

Four Jobs I’ve Had:

* Clerk at 7-Eleven the year after getting my English degree
* Poured wine at a winery in the Santa Barbara foothills
* Apartment manager
* Assistant Lifeguard at Camp Pilgrim Pines

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:

* The Princess Bride
* The Philadelphia Story
* My Dog Skip
* It’s a Wonderful Life

Four Places I’ve Lived:

* Hampton, New Hampshire
* Goleta, California
* Nishinomiya, Japan
* Santa Barbara, California

Four TV Shows (which I like…)

* China Beach (will this ever come back in reruns?)
* Deadwood
* Queer as Folk
* Law and Order, SVU

Four Places I’ve Vacationed:

* Montreal, Canada
* Naxos, Greece
* Koh Samui, Thailand
* Hong Kong (before it went back to China)

Four Places I Plan to Visit:

* Washington, D.C.
* Giverny, France
* Edinburgh, Scotland
*Auckland, New Zealand

Four Favorite Foods:

* Chicken Penne Pasta from The Palace Café
* Gorgonzola Gnocchi from Trader’s Joe’s
* Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
* Thanksgiving Turkey with all the trimmings

Four Blogs I read daily, or places I visit online:
(this is a problem, because I can’t access blogs at work)

* Education Wonks
* Weightwatchers.com (I’ve lost 34 pounds so far!)
* iwin.com (love to play Tangleword)
* fatwallet.com

Four Places I’d Rather Be Right Now:

* On a beach in Cabo San Lucas
* On a beach in Maui
* On a beach in Thailand
* At the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas

Four Bloggers Tagged:
(Let’s see if anyone is reading this)

Graycie from Today’s Homework
Mamacita from weeklyscheiss
Pigs from A Pig’s Tales
Ms. Cornelius from A Shrewdness of Apes

Doing the dance of joy,

2006-02-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

and singing the Doxology.

It might be sacrilegious, but it's what I've been doing since last Friday.

See, that horrible situation I was in with the parent? You know, with the psychotic kid?

Well, something happened, and they withdrew him from school on Friday.

We don't really know what happened. All I know now is that the child will hopefully get the help he needs, and I personally will not have to deal with his crazy mother or his "educational therapist."

The last conversation I had with her, the therapist, had to do with my student's missing work. I sent an email to her last Monday, a holiday mind you, stating that I needed to check the student's work, and that I hadn't received his response to literature essay that had been due 5 weeks earlier. I had given him three extra weeks, but still, nothing.

I got a call from her Tuesday morning:
"Hello Ms. Teacher, I was just calling to make sure psychotic student has completed all his work."
"Oh, hello ridiculous excuse for a tutor. Didn't you receive my email yesterday?"

"Yes, but I think he's finished everything."
"Okay, but I'll need to see it so I can enter it in my grade book. Did he finish that essay?"
"What essay is that?"

You get the picture. I needn't go on.

Because as much as I feel for the boy, I can't even come up with words to express my happiness and relief for not having to deal with his other adults anymore.

Now if I can just get caught up on grading.

Cheers.

On being noble

2006-02-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not. Noble that is. I am a teacher because it's what I do best. I don't tune pianos or fix broken teeth or help people get loans for a new house, because those are not the things I do best.
Reading EdWonk's post about an ad for NYC teacher recruitment got me thinking. Whenever I tell folk I'm a junior high school teacher, they tend to look at me with a bit of awe. Sometimes they pat me on the back, and tell me how much we need good teachers. Sometimes they tell me how they could "never do it" and don't know how I can. Some make remarks about how difficult it must be and how I must have so much patience. I have one friend who keeps telling me I should teach at the local community college, because all my knowledge is being wasted on the thirteen-year-olds.

Running through all of this is the thread that what I do is somehow in-between real work and volunteerism. This idea that I'm sacrificing somehow.

I hate that.

I really hate that. I know, most people think they're giving me a compliment, but what's going on underneath is that idea that teachers are a special breed. One that gets its satisfaction not from money or wealth, but from doing good deeds in the world. By thinking of teaching as a "calling" rather than a profession, we are more put into the ranks of nuns and missionaries, rather than highly trained professionals. Isn't there a vow of poverty that most people "called" to the church take? I didn't take any such vow.

I love my job. I'm good at it. But my job is not to impart knowledge. My job is to help my students think. To help them learn. To engage them in higher order thinking skills.

This part will sound corny, so bear with me. My job is one I believe in (even with the stupid NCLB, politicians who have a voucher agenda, and parents who treat me like a servant). I like my job. I don't question the ethics of what I'm doing. I'm never bored. I worked hard to get where I am. I'm still paying off students loans that were more than my first year's paycheck (and I went to a state university). I laugh almost every day. I get to be the center of attention much of the time.

All good things. Everyone should have a job they like as much as I do.

But. Just because I like my job, and it engages me, does that mean I have to give up the financial rewards other professionals earn in other careers?

Where does it say that one doesn't have to make as much money if one has a job one believes in?

How to deal with this

2006-02-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

So sorry for my absence. I've been overloaded with responsibilities the last two weeks, and I've not had the energy once home to write about it.

They got it wrong. February is the cruelest month.

I have a psychotic student. I'm not exaggerating, the boy is on enough pills (including anti-pyschotics) to stock a small pharmacy.

Still, I could deal with him and his staple chewing if his mother and his "educational therapist" didn't expect me to answer their every demand. They are taking up 2-3 hours of my time a week, with their phone calls, emails, meetings and what they are requiring me to do for this student. Who, by the way, isn't even classified Special Ed... he has a very limited 504 plan, which I follow... no wait, which I go far above in my accommodations for this troubled kid.

It's mostly this, plus a rotten cold that had me in bed by 8:30 most nights, what's kept me from writing these past few weeks. I have asked that he be removed from my class, something I've only done once before in my nine years, simply because I can't deal with the adults involved. For a full week now, mom has decided to "think about " it. And he's still in my class, and his "educational therapist" keeps calling me with questions like "could you read his vocabulary words to me over the phone? He doesn't have his textbook."

I cringe when I see the red light blinking on my classroom phone, I cower when I open my school email account.

This isn't right.

But I don't wanna!

2006-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

This is it. The moment of truth. I have to go in to the classroom today, even though it's a holiday, and finish grading those $%#$@#! papers. Every year it gets worse. I try to streamline it, but end up procrastinating until the end. I also have to call home and let annoying boy's mother know that he is going to flunk this semester. I've been letting her know all along that he's missing work, but she doesn't seem to have followed through with him.

This is disappointing. He shouldn't be flunking. He's just simply refused to do either one of the bigger writing assignments we've done.

Hey NCLB, how do you suggest we approach students like this?

I know it's a drag, but please...

2006-01-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

Friday I had a substitute. I was at a Writer's Project Renewal. I hate being out of my room; I conceitedly feel as if no learning or work can be done while I'm gone. I'm going to be gone again, on Wednesday, because Mom's having oral surgery, and it's going to take four hours. I need to take her there, and be ready to take her home and play nursemaid to her. I love my mom, but I'm not looking foreward to it.

Now, I've heard horror stories from subs who talk about teachers who leave no lesson plans. Horror stories of rotten children who appear to be the spawn of Satan. Horror stories of all kinds. I've never subbed, but I feel for the subs. Walking into a room cold, particularly a room of hormones in sneakers, which is what my eighth graders are most of the time, can't be fun.

However. You don't have to sub. Most people don't. We have only two subs this year we can count on. Most of the time, we are subbing for each other, because our district doesn't see fit to pay as much as the other two districts in our area. I've also been told that although there's money for in-services and teacher training, we can't get enough subs to cover teachers who want to attend. How lame is that?

What I'm saying is, I know how hard it is, even if I am not a substitute teacher.

But. We are in this together, Mr. and Ms. Substitute. We have to work together. What follows is what I do for you when you are present in my absence, then a list of what I'd like back from you. If you think, dear substitute, or any other dear reader, I've left something out, please feel free to add it in.

Here goes:
I will leave you clean and clear seating charts on clipboards. I will leave them in a centrally located area, and tell you where that area is. I will also leave overhead transparencies on the top of the seating charts, so you can easily mark students who are absent, or acting up, without trying to figure out names to write down.

I will leave you a detailed lesson plan, all handouts marked with post-its, and any other information you will need in a letter left on my desk.

I will leave an overhead transparency on the projector, with an agenda of the day's activities for you to show the students.

I will list the names of students who tend to act up, and also the names of students who you can ask for help.

I will have asked the "helper" students in advance to assist you.

I will leave clear instructions about how students should turn in homework, and whether or not they may use the hall pass to "go to the bathroom" etc.

I will always thank you.

Okay, Your turn:

Please do not bring your guitar and play for the students instead of following the lesson plan. None of them have contacts in the music industry.

If I've asked you to play a tape-recorded version of The Pearl, for the students to follow along to in their own reading books, I don't mind if you stop the tape for a moment now and then to clarify something. However, please make sure that in 45 minutes, you've gotten past the first page.

Don't yell at the students. Yes, they can be rude, but that shouldn't be a surprise. I mean, they are 13 you know.

Don't come in with a cold and threaten them with "Be good or else I'll breathe on you."

If they students are watching a movie, please don't hand out pencil cap erasers. I'm still finding bits of them around the room, 13 weeks later.

Try and notice if erasers, crayons, playdoh or what not are being thrown around the room. Stop it if you see it.

Please don't leave me a note, like my sub did Friday, "periods 1-4 were great. A number of kids in period 5 were talkative and disruptive, all period." If you don't tell me their names, or at least mark them on the seating chart, I can't do anything about it. Should I punish the whole class?

Please don't ignore my notes or rules. If you're worried about being a "cool sub" you're still too young to be doing this.

Have I left anything out?

Left out of the Clique

2006-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

So, how come everyone seems to be linked over there at The Education Wonks except me? What do I need to do to become one of the popular kids?

(I'm regressing back to junior high, when Cathy Brown made fun of me and threw my books out the bus window.)

A good day

2006-01-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

So, my recharged batteries worked today. I didn't get angry, or have to raise my voice at all. I've been reading Conscious Classroom Management by Rick Smith. As a BTSA support provider, I get all the books the new teacher gets. I took this one home and set it on the floor in the bathroom.

Too much information? Sorry. I live alone, and have those secret single person habits.

Anyway, I've been reading through it, and although it's written for new teachers, it's never too late for this old dog to learn a new trick or two.

Discipline in my classroom has always been a bit loose, to say the least. I am usually comfortable with it, but when I have a group, like this year's third period class, my "personal style" doesn't work too well.

Let's see, out of 32 students, 22 are boys. That's highly unusual in an eighth grade English class, but I have to deal. In addition, I have five particular boys whose goal in life is to get me off task. They attempt this (more often than not successfully), by asking me slightly-related-but-irrelevant-to-the-task-at-hand questions, arguing with a statement I've made, or by making comments to others in the class. They often also need to go to the bathroom, to sharpen their pencil, a sheet of paper, or to tell me that Lucy is chewing gum.

They drive me nuts.

So, after reading Mr. Smith's book, I've instituted some changes as of the new year. Number one is, No Arguing With The Ref. It means I will not accept arguing as a good use of class time. If I am wrong, which is possible, the student may meet with me after class. If it's not important enough for him or her to stay after, it's not important enough to argue about.

The second rule is No Student Lawyers In Class. That covers Billy's friend who wants to "stick up" for him, and explain to me that it wasn't Billy who was doing the talking, he was just answering a question...asking what time it was...blah blah blah, time wasted time wasted time wasted. Instead, I announced I have office hours with "Student Lawyers" on Fridays at 4 pm. Again, if it's not important enough to come see me, it's not important enough to take class time.

It seemed to work well today. Could be because it was novel, or that most kids were comatose because their parents didn't remind them to get to bed before midnight last night, but it did go well.

I add my own touch to these rules. I have a timer in my room, and in the past few years, when we've started to veer off the subject, I've set the timer for two minutes and let the students know that they only have that amount of time for off-topic talk. It works well. Sometimes they just need to speak, and sometimes the off-topic talk has a purpose.

Today, I set the timer at the beginning of the class, and told them they could use the extra two minutes at any time during the lesson. Every time my John Candy wannabe started up, I'd say, "okay" and start the timer. The other students themselves would tell him to stop, and poof, I'd turn off the timer.

They did all the work, I didn't get worked up, and I got the best compliment from a student later in the office,
"That timer thing really worked. We should do it all the time."

This from a quiet little girl who usually says nothing. I know it's been bugging her and others, this obnoxiousness I've allowed. I am just as guilty as these noisy boys, and it's my job to get the class back on track.

So far, so good.

Back to reality

2006-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

So, tomorrow morning, bright and shiny, we're all going back. Well, not all of us. In the vast wisdom of our school district, the elementary students have three weeks, and the secondary students have two.

Why, do you ask?

Beats me. I'm just a teacher here. No one asked for my opinion. Wait, they did...let me rephrase that.

No one listened to my opinion. Others have written about this; their administration's tendency to ask for input, so that teachers will have ownership of whatever decision is made, then going right ahead and doing whatever it was they intended in the first place.

I feel like Charlie Brown sometimes,

"Maybe this time, just this once, Lucy won't snatch that ball away from me at the last minute."

But of course, just like Mr. Brown, I'm always kicking at thin air.

Anyway, I don't want to complain.

I'm ready to go back to school, even if a third of my kids will be out. What did you expect? If my younger brother or sister is out of school, and we've gone to Mexico, or Vail or Maui, my whole family is going to come back just for me? I know, there's only three weeks left of the semester, but I'll just make it up. If I get a bad grade, my parents will pressure the principal to make the teacher give me more time or extra credit or just change the grade.

Still complaining, aren't I?

Anyway, it's raining buckets outside, and my kitchen floor has sprung a leak. Last year my landlady got tired of having the carpet cleaned because of the leak (something about rain coming in underground, through the fireplace bricks or something. She didn't fix the problem, just replaced the carpet in front of the fireplace with fake tile. You know that plastic-y stuff? Yep.

So, I walked into the kitchen this morning, in my socks, and well... you can guess what happened. Why is it that stepping into water whilst wearing socks is so horrific? It's just water.

I haven't told her yet, just mopped it up. My house is a mess, and I don't want anyone in here until I can get the rest of the Christmas extravaganza cleaned up. Besides, she won't do anything about it anyway.

I just hope that mold is not growing under there. I don't see how it isn't. But I can dream, right?

Alright. Back to the salt mines. I have a pile of essays to grade, and I'm still in my jammies.

Well poop.

2005-12-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

I know it's only Thursday, but I have 88 essays to grade and lesson planning to get done. It's supposed to rain buckets this weekend, and I don't want to have to go into the classroom in a downpour.

So really, my vacation is ending. Our plan was to go camping over New Year's... not really camping... we'd all stay in RV's. Yes, I'm so old now that lots of my friends have RV's and campers. I don't, but was invited to bunk with some girlfriends. If it rains as much as it's supposed to, we aren't going. If that happens, it will be the second year in a row that rain will have crapped out our plans.

I don't have a back up plan either. I'm not one to go to the bars, and most of my friends are coupled up anyway. Shoot.

Back to school. Three weeks left of the semester, actually two weeks and 4 days, one of those days a minimum day... argh.

Then, February, the month of holidays and conferences. oi.

I gotta go get some work done.

Crummy contracts

2005-12-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

Unions are a funny thing. I come from a very anti-union family, yet here I am, a card carrying member of the CTA.

It means that instead of losing $1200 this year out of my paycheck, I'm only going to lose $500. Yes, I will actually be grossing less than I did last year, because of the increased health care costs our school board so graciously passed on to us.

It also means that the board can't just add a half hour to our work day (with no pay increase, mind you) because they think it's a good idea. And the union bargaining unit is made up of the people who got the extra six hours of adjunct duty a year (again with no compensation) off the contract.

It also means that I hand over $77 each month to an organization with whom I don't always agree.

Our school board is particularly disrespectful of the teachers in our district. I know there are other districts where this isn't so. Their audacity is illustrated best by a comment made several years ago, when teachers were picketing before school hours. Not striking, not working to rule, just picketing. Of course it was a contract problem. This was in December, and the contract had still not been settled, even though we start working in August.

Board member X:
"We don't need to pay teachers here more. They get to live here. If they don't like it, there's at least five people waiting in line for their jobs."

Oh, about what exactly were the teachers disgruntled? The second year in a row of pay cuts. They were picketing not for a raise... oh no, they were picketing because they were earning less money than they were two years earlier.

I love teaching. I hate the politics of it.

A cold and three million meetings

2005-12-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

My school got slammed last week. A stomach flu and some viral cold were making the rounds before Christmas. 100 kids, 10% of our students were out last week, and that's not including the ones that left early to go skiing in Vail.

I made it in every day, but barely. Got the head cold. These mini teenagers have no mercy. The week before winter break it's even worse.

Tuesday night, after eight hours of mediation with the state, our union and school board reached an agreement. We will continue to pay $105 out of our paychecks monthly for increased insurance costs, but we get a 3% raise. Oh, I know, it's not quite $105 a month. Yes, it means I'll be making less money than last year. Did I tell you the really charming part? We don't get this raise until the 30th of March. So really, I'll be making about $750 less this year.

Oh, and they added six hours of adjunct duty a year. And a second back to school night in the Spring we are now required to attend.

And my mother was bitching that her Holiday bonus was only $350 this year. What the hell is a bonus? I'm lucky if I get two or three homemade cookies from a student.

Ain't it grand being a teacher?

Coming late to the Japanese Education party

2005-12-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

I know, it's last week's news, and really older news than that. Brent Staples editorial on 11/21 suggested looking to Japan to improve our own schools here in the United States.

When I left you, I had just gotten off the plane in Osaka, a bright-eyed 24-year-old woman, looking for adventure and the exploration of a new culture.

I'm a blonde, blue-eyed, rather blunt person; all qualities that may be appreciated here, but made me stand out in a big way there. Of the hundreds of people in the baggage claim area, I was pretty easy to spot by the dean of the school and the English chairperson with him. I was greeted and whisked away to a Chinese restaurant for my first meal. Shark-fin soup is mucky, and slimy, but I ate it to be polite.

I started teaching three classes of 48-50 students each, ten days later. There were four American English teachers at our school, and about eight Japanese English teachers (we'll just call my school "Japanese Junior/Senior High School," or JJSH for short, okay?).

Classes were not held every day; they were in a block schedule, like at the university. Classes were on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule, with electives on Fridays. Students stayed with the same group for the most part; I taught the J3's. These were the equivalent to our ninth graders. The three classes were the A's, B's and C's. This had nothing to do with tracking or their ability, it was just the way the groups happened to be organized.

I'll get back to the tracking/ability issue later.

The students had their own classroom; the teachers were the ones moving from class to class. The English department at our school was the largest one, and we had the largest office. We even had our own secretary. Each teacher had their own desk in the room, but all supplies and so on were shared. There were no cubicles or walls separating the desks. The French and German teacher also had desks in our room. It could be a very noisy place at times, and there was absolutely no privacy.

This was also before computers, so anything that needed to be written up was done by typewriter. There was only one phone in the room, and again, no separation from anyone else when one was using it. Again, this was 1988-1991, so I'm sure things have changed somewhat.

Brent Staples talked about "Teacher focus groups" and study groups, but that didn't happen at our school. Of course, I was an outsider, but my experience was that we were told what to teach, and expected to do it with the resources available. Hmmm... kinda the same way things are done here. I didn't see a lot of collaboration, except when writing the final exam. All the students took the same test, so we did create that together.

I'm going to talk about the student teachers I observed in Japan next time.

sorry been gone so long

2005-12-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving and the last several days have whupped my behind.

And, I see that I'm far far behind the pack on the Japan topic started almost two weeks ago.

Right now I'm freezing in my house. I'm going to go take a hot shower, and then head off to school to grade essays.

Oh joy.

Teaching in Japan

2005-11-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

I love EducationWonk. He puts links together so we don't have to. Go over and read this, and all the linked pieces as well.

See, I feel I can actually speak to this, being that I taught in Japan for three years. From 1988-1991, I taught at a junior/senior high school in-between Osaka and Kobe. (I'm not going to name it here, because... well... the whole anonymous thing).

I am not an educational researcher; I don't understand it all. No, I'm a classroom teacher. I've been teaching for 18 years, and plan to do so for the next 18. I hope.

When I got off the plane at Osaka airport, I was 24, and other than "Domo Arigato" I didn't know a word of the language. I had signed a three-year contract with a private and very prestigious girl's school, and I was thinking "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

Several times over the next three years, that thought would go through my head.

Many people have heard of the J.E.T. program, but I wasn't a part of that. I actually was credentialed by the Japanese government to teach English as a foreign language. Most westerners can only stay a year; I had a 60-month visa. Don't ask me how I got it. The school I worked for hired me in Chicago, took my passport, and it came back to me with the visa magically inside.

I digress.

Actually folks, this might be a bit of a story. I'm not going to get to it all tonight. I'm bushed.

I'll write again tomorrow.

There's this woman at work

2005-11-18T06:15:00.000-08:00

We've known each other for several years; went to the same credential program. She was an elementary teacher, but is now teaching social studies and English at Unnamed Junior High School. She teaches a block of each subject twice a day with an extra social studies thrown in at the end. She has to teach this way (combined subjects) because of her multiple subject credential.

Anyway. I've written before how the top guns are pressuring the English department to all teach the same thing at the same time and the same way. We must have common assessment you know. And how could we do that if we dared go off and teach allusion and figures of speech with our own chosen story, rather than Raymond's Run on page 377 in the Holt Literature book?

The members of my department agree that this is ludicrous, but also realize that we have to address it (placate our administrators).

Not Ms. G. Nope. She's going to do her own thing, damn it. No working together at all. Yesterday the eighth grade English teachers met to discuss what we would cover during the last part of this semester. We have a basic overview of the standards we address each quarter specifically, but that's not enough for our bosses this year.

What we all but Ms. G. decided was that no matter how we teach Response to Literature, or Literary Devices or whatever, we will use the short, multiple choice quiz from the Holt book for each section. These quizzes are written in that same weird-ass way the STAR test is written (you know, testing the writing standard by having the students proofread an essay? Like that makes a lot of sense), and they are short enough that they don't take away from our teaching too much.

And it makes Mr. Principal and Ms. Vice Principal happy. It's not a bad way to make sure we are all teaching the same thing, even if we do go about it in different ways.

Ms. G. is having none of it. "I teach Response to Literature" all the time. I don't need to do an assignment from the book or give them a test to know what I'm teaching."

I know how she feels, but on the other hand, after reading the quiz questions, I know that there have been some holes in terms of how I teach particular standards. Writing a Technical Document? I kinda skipped over that one most of the time. Idiomatic phrases? I'd talk about them as figures of speech and similes and metaphors, but did I use the term "Idiomatic Phrases"? Probably not.

There is a good thing in all of this, and that's making sure that no matter which teacher a student has, no matter what texts are used, we as teachers can cover specific standards, using the same language in each of our classrooms, and use these little 20 minute quizzes to inform our teaching.

Problem is, it's not enough for the top brass, and asking too much of our creative "don't fence me in I'll do it my own way" teachers.

The year of the Meeting

2005-11-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

I have another one this morning before school starts at 7:45. I should get going.

Is there a school district in California which actually cares about its teachers?

2005-11-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

COLA is 4% this year.

Our district would not even begin discussing contract items until November 1st. Said they hadn't figured out their "budget" yet, so couldn't bargain.

So we waited. Of course, they had no problem immediately withdrawing $105 a month from every single employee's paycheck for "increased health care costs." And, of course, even though I'm a department chair, that stipend has been missing in action for the first two paychecks of this school year.

Okay, so they came to the table finally this month. Offered, get this, 0% pay increase, and a 1% increase in what they pay for our insurance. Which means instead of a $105 decrease in our salary, it would be reduced to a $95 decrease.

Oh, and they want to change some contract language. Add an additional required night of duties (we all must attend back-to-school night), for a "Spring Open House" and add 6 adjunct hours of duties for the individual school administrations to assign in any way they see fit.

There's more. Special Ed. and ELL have teacher's aides built into the contract. Now the district wants to take the required number of hours and aides away. Let the individual school decide if the funds could be better spent somewhere else.

Have you ever been in a special ed class? I was an aide for seven years before I became a teacher, and it was all in special ed. Monday I observed a so-called "resource" class. There were 14 students, a teacher and 2 aides, and it was still mayhem. None of the students are at the same level, so some are working on algebra while others are trying to add negative and positive numbers. In addition, some of the kids were emotionally disturbed, some with learning disabilities, and others, well, I don't know. Tell me, how is that teacher supposed to meet her students' needs if the school decides it can't afford the aides?

So, here we are. November 16th. No contract, no raise, nothing.

Every year it's the same thing. We end up having to fight, and attend board meetings, and call people and walk around with signs... just to get what the state has already sent down for us.

Why oh why are teachers the last priority when it comes to this?

Spelling errors, their corrections and keeping a straight face

2005-11-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

English teachers (and, I suppose, other teachers) have stories after a few years of spelling and word choice errors made by their students.

I taught in Japan for three years in the late 1980's, and I got some whoppers of mistakes. One that charmed me was a student's attempt at"enthusiasm" on a spelling quiz.

She wrote on line 6, "Susie Adams" (who was another American teacher at our school.)

Another student wrote this sentence for "volunteers":

"I had many fallen tears when I took the English test."

So cute.

The winner of all time however was not in one of my classes. Oh no, it was a seventh grade honors class, taught by a friend of mine. The students were writing autobiographical narrative essays. Ms. HK was working hard with them to put action in their writing, showing not telling and all that.

Well, one girl wrote about falling off her bike and cracking her head open. In the paragraph describing the actual fall, she wrote of the cement "rushing up and then slamming" into her face.

Except, she wrote "Cement" with an "S." And then spelled-checked it, and then clicked, "Replace" with the word spell-check suggested (have you guessed it yet?).

So, the kids are peer-editing, and this girl's partner is frantically waving her hand;
"Ms. HK, I don't think this is right... is this right?"

Ms. HK is dying, trying to stifle her laughter, as she reads what has been written. The two girls know something is odd, but aren't quite sure what's up. Ms. HK just scribbles out the word with her purple pen (because red has such negative associations) and spells the word correctly.

Sometimes I do love my job.

Go and read this if you haven't already

2005-11-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

Just found it tonight: NCLB in your face.

I wish I could be that eloquent.

Another productive in-service

2005-11-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday was another minimum day. The teachers had a "luncheon" in the cold cafeteria (yes, it even gets cold in California, especially when the heat is not turned on. It was about 60 degrees in my room yesterday and closer to 55 in the cafeteria for lunch). I've emailed and called about the heat in my room not working, as have several other teachers, but no answer. This goes along with the fan system (no AC for us) that also wasn't working when it was 92 degrees in my classroom in September. Ah, it should toughen us up, right?

Anyway, we had an in-service after lunch. Which was held at school to keep us from actually leaving campus, eating at a real restaurant, and perhaps coming back three or four minutes late. I've heard from Mr. Principal, "I don't want to see you parking at one o'clock, I want you in this room and seated at one o' clock."

Whatever.

So, it was an in-service from NCCJ, which used to be the National Conference of Christians and Jews, but is now the National Conference of Community and Justice, or some other more politically correct name. Mr. Principal found it this summer (It's been around since 1927), and has now decided all his teachers should take part in it.

Actually, as a teenager, I was quite involved in NCCJ. Went to the national convention when I was 16. I told Mr. Principal that, and was informed that I should have gone to the conference this past summer. I told him I would have liked that. He told me that an email was sent to every one about it and frowned at me.

um. No it wasn't. No one on staff got it. Of course, we all got 34 copies of the November faculty meeting agenda, because Mr. Principal doesn't understand that he doesn't have to hit "send" more than once when emailing us, and that, just like an elevator, it doesn't make the email go out any faster.

This is the same person to whom I made several telephone calls to last July, after I found out about a conference about equity in the classroom that was being given a few towns over. Not only would the county ed office pay for it, they would actually give stipends to teachers who attended. Did Mr. Principal know about that one? No. Did he get back to me? No. Did I miss the conference? Yes.

grr...

So, we're having the NCCJ meeting in the quads, all 49 teachers plus assorted aides and counselors, and we are all still cold. Heat doesn't work over there either. We watch a video on a detracked ninth grade class in Los Angeles. They read and then have great discussions about literature and what it means. The "low" kids and the "high" kids are all given equal voices in the class. It's great, but...

We are the English department that has been told recently that we don't have time to teach novels. We don't have time for discussion of students' personal connections to literature, because it's not on the test. Who cares what they think? Critical thinking skills? Can't test those. Listening to other points of view? Well yes, of course that's important, but not as important as our API score or whether or not we hit our AYP.

For the first time yesterday, since I started teaching, I lost hope. Just briefly. The thought that I don't want to be doing this anymore passed through my mind.

I became a teacher because I love learning. I love the kids, I love teaching, but I love learning the most. Finding new things to understand and new ways to understand them. If I can help others learn to form their own opinions and then articulate them, in both the written and the spoken word, what more could I ask for?

But that's being discarded and forgotten about. Now it's about what is being tested. Can he identify a subject and a predicate? Does he understand the poetic form of a ballad enough to identify it? And can she pick the least necessary detail in a narrative she's read from a list of 4 choices?

We get the message again and again that we as teachers need to "step up" to this challenge. What challenge? We're going in the other direction my friends.

A good day

2005-11-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, I have a good teaching day. The planets align or something, and not only am I planned out well, can find everything on my desk, and attend every meeting I'm supposed to, but the kids actually seem to be able to articulate that they are learning something.

We used Transparency 5 in the "Fine Art Transparencies" book. A Speculation on the Possibility That There Might Be Another Earth Out There, or something like that. We read "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Bradbury last Friday, and so we were comparing it and it's tone to the artwork. I love when I'm not sure about something, and it gets pulled off.

Of course, it wasn't a perfect day. I think I scared my student teacher to death.

See, I have a teacher friend, Ms. C., who is always calling me with funny voices, pretending she is a parent with a complaint. This morning, while I was trying to unjam the copy machine, and instead shredding the paper that was stuck, and subsequently getting yelled at by the school receptionist, who I'm supposed to get before trying to fix the damn machine on my own, my cell phone rang.

I heard a very faint and cracky voice.."Ms. X? Hel---o?"

Meanwhile the chastising from the secretary is continuing, the other copy machine is chugging away, and I can't hear a thing.
"What?!" I say, irritated. I hear something, and realize it's Ms. C,
"What do you want? What is it? Catherine!" I go out into the hallway to hear her.

Except it wasn't Catherine. It was my poor little student teacher who sounded like she has strep throat, calling me to tell me she was sick and not coming in. Boy. What an evil woman I am.

Whatever she's got, I hope it's not catching.

Put on a Happy Face

2005-11-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

Lots of folks at school have been commenting on my attitude this year. They say I'm positive, and full of enthusiasm.

I bet they think I'm on drugs.

Although I do like my Vicoden, that's not it. And it's not that I am not riled up at least once a day. I am still just as pissed off about what's happening to education because of standardized tests as the next thinking person.

What's changed is the sight and sound of me banging my head against that stone wall.

Mr. Principal doesn't have a clue about curriculum, and never will. He would like us to teach out of the Holt Rinecourt and Winston textbook, and be on the same page at the same time.

He doesn't get it. I try my best, but I'm not going to be the one to bring him around. His brain is not big enough to get around the idea that a good English teacher, doesn't need to teach "Broken Chain" by Gary Soto, to teach plot structure. Even though that's what our textbook uses.

The latest was last week when we all started drooling over the new novels that came in. Another teacher and I worked our butts off to get them approved by the school board. The librarian ordered them at the beginning of September. Ms. Second year teacher and I were discussing how we could both use The House of the Scorpion at the same time (not enough class sets for that), when we were overheard by Ms. Assistant Principal.
"How are you ladies going to fit that in with all the other work you have to do with your classes?"
"uh... we're going to use it to teach Response to Literature... yeah... that's it."
"Isn't there already an example in the textbook for that? I'm not sure you have enough time for a novel."

(silence.)

So no, I'm not happy happy joy joy about all this. But, I'm going to bide my time. Teach from the textbook (mostly anyway), so that next year, I'll know exactly what is expected in each unit in the textbook, when I go back to actually creating some of the lessons that I teach.

I did however, point out to Mr. Principal, that at our district meeting for "best practices" we all shared our best practices with each other, and at the same time, realized that they didn't fit in with the "Year-at-a-glance" Teacher's mapping guide that came with our textbooks.

At the same time they are demanding excellence, they are taking away our ability to demonstrate it.

Candy High

2005-11-01T06:03:00.000-08:00

Will any work get done today? I don't know. Remember how your parents used to ration out your candy after Halloween? Make sure you didn't eat a pound of it for breakfast?

Me neither. Yesterday was fun with all the costumes, but it was just a prelude to the craziness of today. No candy in class is the rule, but they all sneak it anyway. Wrappers magically appear on the floor under desks, and suddenly no one can answer me without rearranging the contents of their mouth.

"noh, ah don hab anee caadee, mizz X"

Then there's furious chewing and swallowing, and then the sticking out of the tongue,

"See?"

sigh...

Tired puppy

2005-10-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am out of energy.

How do teachers with families do it? I was at school this morning at 7:45 for a department meeting, taught from 8:30 to 3:20 with a 33 minute lunch and a 49 minute prep period, then had a BTSA meeting from 4-7 pm.

All I have is a dog. And I feel guilty for neglecting him. I don't know what the heck I'd feel about balancing a family life with my career.

And tomorrow's the end of the quarter. All of a sudden, kids who haven't been doing their homework now care. And so do their parents. How many times do I have to explain that, no, their child cannot make up the vocabulary homework from the beginning of September, because the test that was based on that vocabulary was already given 5 weeks ago? Some parents are great, and some are not. Right now I'm really seeing apples and trees. You know, all of a sudden the child cares, just like all of a sudden, the parent cares.

Hmm...

Don't get me started on the parent who keeps asking me for a syllabus. For her behavior disordered son who has been placed in my developmental reading class. Incorrectly I might add. But who am I? Just the classroom teacher.

This is junior high, remember? I do plan things out, but not classwork and homework assignments for the entire semester. Ugh. And yet, she just keeps asking.

I can't be witty or pithy or even sarcastic tonight. I'm just plain beat.

A "special" week

2005-10-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

My starry-eyed student teacher joined us today. She's only here for eight weeks, and only three days a week at that. Oh, except for the two weeks she's going to take over the class between the Thanksgiving and Winter holidays.

Oh dear. She already has big dreams about how class is going to run while she's here. She doesn't understand that we have to have "common assessments" and that Mr. Principal doesn't give a shit how creative and engaging her lesson plan is if progress can't be measured with the same exact stinking tool that everyone else uses.

She'll learn.

Tomorrow I have a half day of training, so a half day of substitute teacher. Of course writing a sub plan for two classes takes just as much time as five classes. Wednesday is a minimum day, which ends up being rather pointless; the classes are all 26 minutes long, and we end up with just an extra hour and a half for in-service. This time we're supposed to be meeting with the other teachers in the district in our respective departments to "align curriculum." Should be easy since we all use the Holt textbook now. And the Holt support materials. And the Holt tests and assessments. And the Holt spelling materials. And the Holt language and sentence structure materials.

Actually Holt isn't so bad. I'm just nervous about the mentality that has finally hit our school.

Thursday it's Late Start day, which always makes the parents so happy after a minimum day, and then Friday, I'm off to San Francisco. I can't wait.

Well, I can. I have more sub plans to write.

Cheers.

A week of meetings

2005-10-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

I think I hit a new record this week:

Monday:
During my prep period - a meeting with Mrs. R., a parent concerned about her daughter not liking to read. She then shot down every suggestion I had. This girl has an "A" in my Honors English class.

Tuesday:
8:00am - before school started, a SDAIE meeting. I had to point out that the scripted program mandated by the district for my reading classes, uses absolutely no Specifically Designed Academic Instruction in English strategies, and there was no place to fit them in to the class (being that it is scripted).

3:30pm - Faculty meeting. We all had to get into groups by department, and write lesson plans for the 35 "character education" topics our school has. In an hour and a half. Total bullshit. Each week we are supposed to take one of these topics, such as "honesty" or "tolerance" and teach a 10-minute lesson on it in our homeroom. That's except for last week and this week, which was used to promote the selling of entertainment books by our students to raise money for our school.

5:15pm - meeting with Ms. Assistant Principal, and Ms. Department Chair. We have a Holt textbook training next week, but can't afford enough subs for all the English teachers. The solution is to have six teachers attend half of it in the morning and five attend in the afternoon. That way, we only have to get seven subs instead of eleven. Except...
The morning people were going to be trained for three hours, get an hour break, and then teach two classes. The afternoon people (of which I was one) were going to teach four classes, get no break, and go to three hours of training. Training that would go a half hour over our regular school day. Training that would go over the time I have my afterschool tutorial class (and for which I get paid extra to teach).
When I pointed out these discrepancies, Ms. English Chair said, "Well, you know, you can always eat your lunch during the training." and Ms. Assistant Principal asked, "Can't you get someone to cover your afterschool class?"
I left angry.

Wednesday:
8:00am - meeting for co-operating teachers. I have a new student teacher coming in Monday, about whom I know nothing, but her name. I thought the meeting was to be introduced to each other, and all that, but no. I was handed a list of my responsibilities, and a pretty green folder which was supposed to have a letter in it from the student teacher, but "we don't have all of the letters yet." This year, the second quarter student teachers will only be at school Monday through Wednesday, but will need to complete an 8-day takeover at the end. Good god. How?

Thursday:
8:00am - English Department meeting. We don't have any money, so we are on our own for supplies this year. Make sure your kids sell lots of those entertainment books so we can afford overhead transparencies. We have to give common assessments. Ms. English Chair suggests we all just us her rubric for all writing assignments. We then decide to perhaps ALL bring our rubrics to try and come up with a basic one for the department. She leaves out that we all already use the California State Standards Rubric for writing assignments. I try to point that out, and I am ignored.

8:30 - Late start Thursday faculty meeting. After being berated by Mr. Vice Principal for not all being in our seats at 8:30, we are given the breakdown of test scores for each individual student. We then cluster into department/grade level groups to look at the scores, and figure out what we are doing wrong... I mean, what our focus should be to improve our scores. Mrs. B, a teacher in our department has a bug up her butt the whole time we are talking. Rolling her eyes, huffing and sighing, starting to say things, but not finishing her sentences. She teaches both history and English, and is being pressured because she's not "following the English Curriculum" in a way the administration would like to see (she actually is teaching English alongside the history curriculum... in a very creative way, but that's not allowed).

4:00-7:00pm - Another fascinating BTSA meeting. One in which all the information I received at the all-day training last Tuesday was repackaged and redelivered. There was a veggie platter and bottled water though.

Friday:
2:35 pm - meeting with a parent of a mainstreamed special Ed student, his case manager, and his school counselor. The father was concerned that I wasn't being sympathetic to his child's special needs. I told him that I understood, but that making farting noises, standing up and actually farting in the middle of class, and calling out curse words when he didn't like the directions given, wasn't working very well for the other 31 students in his son's class. It's an Honors class for goodness sake. This boy has Asberger's or Tourette's or something, but the parents refuse to have a diagnosis made. He's been suspended already for threatening another student's life. Love these situations.

4:00 -6:00 - meet with my BTSA participating teacher and Ms. Second year to plan out the second quarter of eighth grade English. We met at a coffee shop, so it counted as socializing too. Didn't it?

The "Team Player"

2005-10-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

How many times do we hear that from our administration?

And what it really means is "Don't complain, even if it's unfair."

Here's the deal. There's a big push right now for common assessments in all classes. Of course, there's no extra time, or money to pay us for the extra time, to get together and create these common assessments. Well, why should we? Why reinvent the wheel for goodness sake? Holt, Rinecourt and Winston have already done it for us. And they are aligned with the State Standards! How wonderful is that? You don't have to create anything. You don't even have to think. Just do what it says according to the teacher's edition of the textbook. They've even mapped out the whole year.

Wow. Think of it. All students all across California, on the same page on the same day. Every one getting exactly the same thing. Delivered in the same way. Talk about equal access. It's fabulous.

Uh huh. Really, it is. Don't frown. Com'on, don't be a grouch. You can throw out all your own lessons. Novels? There's no time for them now. Don't worry, the HRW people have chosen a wide cross section of multi-cultural selections.

Time? Oh, I know that the state mandates about an hour and a half a week more of language arts instruction than we have here at Unnamed Junior High School, but with talented teachers like yourself, I know you can do it. What's that? You want to have a Socratic Seminar in your class? You feel it engages even the quiet students? Is it on the CAT-6? Is it on the STAR test? Well then, you'll just have to save it until after the tests in April. You can have more freedom then, after the test. A poetry portfolio? There's no standard about writing poetry. You need to get focused Ms. X. These kids need to know the difference between an elegy and an ode. That's something that can be tested. They don't need to "have fun" at school. They need to do well on the tests. I know, our API is 814, but that's not the point. We have to keep improving every year.

Fuck.

a question

2005-10-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

How is it that my students can notice if I painted my toenails, but still don't know the difference between an adverb and an adjective?

I can't even count any more

2005-10-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

So, the teachers went back to school on the 23rd of August, and the kidlets came back on the 29th. I'm trying not to count weekends or holidays, so I think today is day 29. But I said that Friday was day 29.

Whatever, it's the beginning of the seventh week of school.

The students were supposed to bring in their rough drafts today. They're writing narrative essays, and these are to be autobiographical. We've been pre-writing and outlining for a week.
First period, CA and KB don't have their essays. We peer edit these rough drafts, and those kids who don't have their papers really get behind.

"But my mom can do it."

"Yes, but she already went to eighth grade now, didn't she?"

I spent three hours at school yesterday, Sunday, to get the peer editing worksheets done. You know, "highlight all the sensory words used" and "underline all the transitions." "Put a box around the statement that tells why the event was significant to the writer."

I feel strongly about peer editing. It's not peer grading, I make that very clear, it's peer editing. Students helping each other become better writers. We always find other's mistakes better than we find our own. Students get to pick their partners, and it's low risk. There's no competition in it, yet everyone wins. Everyone that is, except the kids that don't bring their rough drafts.

Five more in third period and another five in fifth period don't have their essays.
"I left it in my printer."
"I forgot."
"My mother made me go to bed."
"I was in Bakersfield all weekend and couldn't get to it."

That last one was my favorite. It was assigned on Wednesday, and I gave them the weekend as a gift. I really wanted them to bring it in Friday. But still, out of 91 students in English 8H, twelve didn't do their work. That's not a good ratio.

I don't know what to do to make these kids figure this out. It's not a little 5-point homework assignment; this essay is worth 100 points when they are all finished with it.

So, today, the rest of the students were editing each other's papers. Tonight, they are to go home and make corrections for a second draft. Tomorrow, they will have a much shorter basic proofreading/polishing form with which to help each other. It's the grammar/punctuation/spelling/did you indent your paragraphs properly? form. Then, Wednesday, the final draft.

The kids that didn't get their rough drafts done on time are in a pickle. They'll have to have their mom or dad or someone proofread it at home (for which they earn no credit), and then go right into the second draft. Oi.

Any bets on how many papers are missing tomorrow?

Day 29

2005-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

I love Fridays.

I used to get lots of work done on Friday afternoons. The kids make themselves scarce much more quickly than during the rest of the week, and most teachers cut out as soon as they can. My room is quiet, I can get work done, and the copy machine in the office is available (no student teacher making 60 stapled packets of nine, two-sided papers).

However, ever since I got a dog, I feel guilty staying at work much later than 5:00. Sure, I could run home and bring him back with me; sometimes I do that on the weekends. No, if I go home, I really don't want to go back to school.

Progress reports got home yesterday, and I had five emails and four phone messages today. They won't be the last. I teach three "Honors" level classes, which really just means the students in that level have parents that make them do their work. What else it means is that I have some overbearing parents to deal with much of the time.

"Dear Ms. X,
I'd like to know why you left the academic grade area on CJ's progress report blank. Is that normal?"

Well sir, yes it is. This is a mid-quarter, progress report. I only send them home if a student is doing poorly, or has citizenship problems. Which, if you didn't notice, your son has. Why does he continually interrupt others? Why does he keep speaking, just more loudly, when it's clearly another student's turn? It's as if he doesn't realize, that when I'm leaning over and helping someone with his or her work, I am focusing on that particular student. He will constantly repeat himself, "Ms. X, I have a question. Ms. X? Ms. X, I need your help. Ms. X? Ms. X?"

Has he never learned to wait his turn at home? Do you and the Mrs. answer his every request?

Okay, so that was all on the inside. I am known at school as someone who has good "parent-communication skills." That means I'm talented at sucking it up, and giving the most polite reply at all times. I may be exploding at times, but I'm polite.

I did remind Mr. CJ's dad that I post the grades on line every week; so he is able to view them at any time he would like.

Every year, our principal gives us more required things to do. He calls them the "Unnamed School Agreements" and touts them at all times. What he always leaves out is that no one at our school ever agreed to them. He decided what they would be, talked to us about it, acted like he listened, and then adopted them as gospel.

This year it was requiring all teachers to post grades on line. Last year, it was to make our emails accessible to all parents. Neither one of these is a bad idea, nor does either take a huge amount of time, but he was the only one who "agreed" to them.

Email. It's convenient, but can be very impersonal. There's no human voice and intonations to hear what the other person is saying. I've been ordered to do several things by email (ex: "Ms. X, Notify me immediately if CZ's grade is anything but a straight A. CZ's Mom").

Really, no salutation, no closing, just the order. As if I really have time to notify her that her son has an A- instead of an A. It's as if I'm a huge corporation, and people use their "business writing skills" to write to me.

Another parent, last year, would email me 2-3 times a week and ask me to email her son's work to her. He wasn't sick or absent, he just never did his work. This was an Honor's class, remember? He would actually refuse to do work in class with everyone else. I never could prove it, but I was sure his mother was doing it for him at home. Now, I realize she was trying to help him, but a 14-year old boy needs to start taking some responsibility for himself.

And there's the problem. These kids are 13-14 years old. They aren't old enough to make responsible choices all the time. They are old enough to make them some of the time.

I don't have an answer. I'm not a parent, just a teacher. Yes, these students are with me all day, but at the end of nine months, I give them back. Most I never see again. How do I know when to hold them up, chase them around with their work until they do it, or when to let them flounder, and figure it out on their own?

day 26

2005-10-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

So, this idea of posting every day was quite the pipe dream... but at least I can write once in a while.

I missed my second day of class today; I had to go to an all-day BTSA training. See, I'm a "support provider" teacher, and I can't just give advice, I have to be trained to give advice. This was the second seven-hour training in two weeks. I can choose to go to afterschool trainings, Saturday trainings, or release day trainings. None are great choices. I would like to have a life after school, I really don't want to give up Saturdays, and having a sub is always more work than it's usually worth. I have not had a sick day in the last two years; because our sub list is so small, and it's usually easier to just come in and teach than try to set things up for someone else.

So, BTSA. A friend of mine calls it "Shitsa" because she hates it so much. It's required now in California for new teachers; they can't get their clear credentials until they have completed the two year program. I lucked out; BTSA existed on a much smaller scale when I was a new teacher, and our district didn't participate in it. I was thrown in to the water of the classroom, and I didn't sink.

Not that I was a strong swimmer most days, but I figured it out.

Anyway, a first or second year teacher is just trying to keep his or her head above water, and now they've added another hoop for each to jump through. My "participating teacher" as she's called, has to meet with me at least once a week, has assignments to complete, has her own trainings to attend six times this year, and attends a monthly BTSA meeting with me as well. I have to do observations of her classroom teaching, and she has two days in which she is to be observing other teachers.

In theory, the idea of a mentor teacher is a good one. In practice, it's full of forms and papers that must be filled out and signed. We are supposed to have a choice whether or not we want to participate in the program as "support providers," but when asked in front of the new teacher, during a department meeting, and told "you are the only one who can do it," and are reminded that she has to complete this program to get her clear credential, well, what are you supposed to do? Say no?

I will get $1100 for doing this. For the year. I worked it out with the hours involved; it's about $15 an hour. It eats up so much time.

Add to this the time spent as the reading co-ordinator, and my after-school tutorial program, and the Diversity Committee I'm on... When do I lesson plan?

I don't teach at the university, so why do I feel so compelled to take on all these other responsibilities?

Grr... I just want to teach.

The day after Day 19

2005-09-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

I was right about H.D. We finally got the records from his old school, and he's supposed to be receiving special ed. services. We have another student, S.S., whom we suspect the same of, but we can't seem to get his old school to release his records. S.S.'s mother says he's not special ed, but there is something definitely different about him.

Classes have finally settled into a rhythm now, the students have their textbooks, my reading students are properly placed, and we just finished reading Flowers for Algernon. we used to spend two or even three weeks reading that story, talking about it in class, and there were several writing assignments I gave students that connected their own lives to the story. No more. The textbook only allocates one week for this unit, and all my own writing assignments are out the window.

I've said before, the standards are basically a good idea; it's the "accountability" factor that messes things up. We have to give the same tests to all students, or we won't know who's teaching what properly, and who's not. Even though I'm very well versed in the 62 state standards, no one cares about my or any other teacher's expertise. We have the text book, which provides common assessment, therefore, that's what we're going to use.

I love my job when I'm with my students and I love my job when I'm planning out lessons. I get to use my brain, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. It feels like some of that is being taken away each year, until one day I worry I'll wake up, and just be a living tape recorder, playing back the script of pre-packaged lessons.

Day 10

2005-09-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

I'm so tired today.

The third week of school, and I have meetings coming out of my ears.

I was there until 7pm tonight. Whoever thinks teachers get out at three and have summers off, so they must have a cushy job need an adjustment in their thinking.

Things are going well, if I can just keep up with all the extras.

Day 6

2005-09-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

So, my idea about writing every day this year has already been shot to hell. I'm just so frigging tired after work.

I got a new student in my reading class today. I have a bad gut feeling about H.D. He kinda snuck into the room after the bell rang, sat in the very last row in the corner seat behind someone, and said nothing. Another student had to point out there was a new kid in the class.

I don't always know there's going to be a new kid until one shows up. There's all kinds of changes happening right now, because of schedule changes and so on. H.D. was on vacation last week. He's an eighth grader, but didn't go to our school last year.

I went to him, and introduced myself, stuck out my hand to shake his, and he just looked at it. I said, "How are you?" and tried again. He graced my fingers with a brief limp hand, and was silent. What's your name?" I asked.

"mumble"

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, what?"

"mumble"

"I can't hear you so well, could you say it again?

"H---D---"

I tried another route.
"Do you have your class schedule with you?" I figured I could get his name off of that.
He shook his head "no."
"Oh, did you transfer from Mr. J.'s room?" He's the other reading teacher, it was possible that he just switched over.
He shook his head "no."
Oh, so is this your first day back to school?"
A small nod of the head.
"Can I see your schedule then? I need to write your name and student number down."

He looked at me then, with pissed-off eyes under bangs that needed to be cut. He shrugged his shoulders as if I was speaking Greek.
"You know, it's blue, it lists all your classes, teachers and room numbers?"

He rooted around in his pocket.

"You must've used it to find this room. How did you know to come here second period?"

Finally the paper was retrieved.

What a little shit. I don't usually say that so quickly, but there was something about this child that really bothered me. Something is raging inside him. And it scares me.

I'm hoping he tests into Mr. J.'s class tomorrow.

Day 2

2005-08-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Not too bad a day today, although the crummy student lunch went up to $4.31 for a teacher. See, the students lunches are subsidized, but not when I buy the same thing. I guess it's fair, but I'd certainly rather have a double Cheeseburger meal at McDonald's for one cent less, than the dried up chicken breast, roll, and several pieces of lettuce that constituted my lunch today.

Live and learn.

C. A. has more than just Asberger's, methinks. I was in the counselor's office during my prep period, trying to figure out if all my reading students were properly placed. This entails not only looking at their California Standards Test scores, but also their scores from the last few years. It's tedious.

C.A came in with balled up fists and tears in her eyes. My friend R, who is a special Ed teacher said to C.A., "why don't you talk to Ms. M? She's a good listener." and then R. shot me an evil grin and walked away.

C.A. said she was mad at all the kids at school and that they all needed to die. That she wanted to kill them all. That she hated them. I asked her what happened to make her feel this way (at the same time trying to see if the school psychiatrist was hearing this from her office a few feet away). She then went into a rant about how her father tried to kill her mother and how she herself had set fire to the skirt of some girl that was teasing her and well, it was hard to get a clear comment out of her.

I've worked with kids and adults with Asberger's for over 15 years; I've never seen this kind of thing before. At this point, one of the counselors came and walked her over to Doctor B's office.

She's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

I love when these kids are put into my classes, and I'm told nothing about them. So wonderful for both them and me.

Day 1

2005-08-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, other than getting my period in the middle of my second class, things went smoothly today.

I don't know all the kids' names just yet, but some are already standing out to me:
C. A. - She has Asberger's and makes jokes about things so esoteric that no one gets them. Then she gets mad. She's into Edgar Allen Poe. I know her from last year when I worked in the library at lunchtime.
M. C. - He's a loud mouth. Spoke out several times and looked at his crew for encouragement. He's about 6 feet tall, and looks like he's 17. I suspect he's going to be a handful.
Z. J. - I gave him an information card to fill out, and by the time I had handed them all out, he had folded it in half, and crumpled it. I had to give him another one. He was pissed off he was in the remedial class, I think. I called his counselor, and found out he had been misplaced. Would have been helpful if he had said something instead.

It's frustrating that the loud/strange/obnoxious ones are noticed first. The squeaky wheel does get the grease.

Good news. VP has decided to stay after all. Tears came to my eyes when he told me. Oh happy day. And, I got the extra tutorial center gig. Pays quite a bit extra, and very easy to do. It was between me and one other teacher, who also happens to be my friend. I won the coin toss.

I'm tired and hot. And I have lesson planning to do.

Less than an hour left

2005-08-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

And we're off! No kids today, just a massive all-district meeting. We're supposed to be having "light Breakfast" from 7:45 to 8:30... which means we don't have to be there until 8:30, but Principal will have a cow if we aren't there by eight.

So, wish me well, because it all begins today.

about 34 hours of summer vacation left

2005-08-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here it is. One full day left before I report back to school. I'm sad, excited, grumpy, anxious, and not ready. I'm never ready. Just like no one is ever really ready for anything important.

I still don't have my class schedule, or know with whom I'm sharing that corner room, or know what my prep period will be. I've been in to the classroom three times over the last two weeks, and all my furniture is still piled up high in one corner of the room. I can't move it, and for some reason the custodians who put it there don't feel the need to put it back. I kept waiting, finally going in search of the guys on Friday; they were in a meeting downtown. Darn it. This isn't just moving a desk a few feet, when I say "piled" I mean piled. Everything all jumbled up and on top of other things. I don't think only one person could do it, let alone weakling me (who, by the way, hurt her back badly a few years ago when attempting to not "be a bother" in almost the same situation).

Another cause for worry is that Vice Principal just left last week for greener pastures, and he was wonderful. He kept high-strung Principal from getting too crazy and anal, and now we have to find a new VP. VP and I have known each other for 10 years, and he will be very missed. This is part of how it goes at Unnamed Junior High School. Teachers come and go very quickly sometimes. It's almost as if we keep our distance a bit from the newbies, at least on a social level, until we know they'll be here for a while. The probationary period lasts two years; any one can be asked not to return with no reason at all. It's a bit shitty, but it's the way it works. Just last year, someone who had been at our school for two years, had been in several classrooms over that time, and had taught several levels, was let go. It's all whispers too when this happens, and no one knows exactly why.

I don't worry about this myself, I feel pretty secure in my position. Principal knows I'm a good teacher, and knows I care deeply about my students, I think he also wishes I didn't have to be so damn argumentative. He's from the school of "Being a team player is everyone doing it my way without any questions." He can be difficult. We've had a hard time of it, but I believe there's grudging respect there too.

On Tuesday, the teachers all go back and sit through silly beginning of the year meetings, when really we're all itching to get to work in our classrooms. There are lessons to plan and class rosters to create, and rooms to dust and spruce up (mostly with our own money).

The latest I heard was that our supply budget, (which hasn't changed in the last 10 years, mind you), was going to be reduced by 40%. I should have just enough this year for a black ink cartridge for my computer and a couple dozen number two pencils.

Office supplies. My brother gives them to me every year for Christmas because he's a teacher too. It's sad how excited I get over them. But, other than the lack of money, and respect, and support from our federal and state government, and the ridiculous pressures of mandatory testing, I love my job.

Let's see how this year goes.