I woke up this morning on the right side of the bed. My iHome didn't know it was s'firah and it woke me up to a great song. I jumped out of bed and sang the entire morning.
I decided that because it was Sunday, I didn't have to bother getting all dressed up. I wore a black skirt and blue oxford shirt to school today. Oh, and my Aerosoles, the "Sew Cute" pair. I looked just right for my age, not a day older than 12.
My co was so not in my nutty mood today. There was a substitute in school today for the first time and she couldn't stop staring at me dancing. I was singing in the teacher's room because I was so excited that the day was almost over. This mind you, was before I had even walked into class.
Class was pretty ok too. I managed to get most of my lesson done, but then, just as I was finishing, the principal came in to talk to the class.
It seems that there was an attempted rape in my neighborhood and the police were sending out bulletins on how to keep safe. Now, you can't really explain to a seventh grade class what a rapist is, but the principal gave very clear instructions on how to stay safe.
R.H. looked at her watch and noticed that this was a perfect opportunity to waste time, so she did. And so did the rest of the class.
The principal also spoke about treating R.S. nicely when she came back. I'm assuming she'll be back tomorrow. I hope it all turns out well.
I asked the principal to do this speech in the other class after recess when I was there because I had way too much time there and I had no idea what to do with it.
I tired to finish up history, but it wasn't happening at all. I'm giving a test on Wednesday, they had better know this stuff by then.
I told the classes about the time a teacher of mine had challenged every girl to write the word million a million times. If any girl had been able to accomplish it, she'd have gotten a year of free tests. Of course no one had manged to do it, and it just proved to us what a huge number a million was. The girls seemd very into my story. I think they just wanted to waste class time.
During recess I was nuts. The eighth graders kept coming to the door for their teacher and I told them she's be available about next year.
I resumed my dancing and singing, and tried to get my co into a good mood.
Finally, when the end of recess bell rang, I ran out of the room and slammed right into the principal. I was so mortified, but then my co got up from the table and pushed it away from her. Then she realized that the principal was there. She was even more embarrassed than I was.
We both came into class laughing away.
The girls could not figure out what was wrong with me. I was so jumpy. I think I forgot to take my Ritalin this morning. J/K
I also tried convincing my co to leave the school and come with me to a new one. I need to have a co like her along. What if I get stuck with someone weird? I'm trying to bribe her into going to this new school (where I don't even have a job yet!). I told her I'd get a car and drive her everyday. (I don't even believe that yet myself!)
Anyway, the day was over soon enough, and I managed to create a test in a very short amount of time. It took only 2 1/2 hours. Then I had to prepare history. Only 5 more lessons left to do!!! I'm dreading getting an eighth grade job and having to prepare all over again. Oh well.
I am totally bouncing off the walls, I think I might have had too much sugar in my rice crispies. Well, at least I had a good day!
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
New School Update
I just got a call from the new school. We arranged a model lesson for Tuesday of this week. That means that either I have to find a sub, or my co, (who is probably reading this now) will take over for me first period.
I'm very nervous, and the principal still has to call me back about the history lesson I have to prepare.
What a way to kill my Shabbos. I will begin obsessing about this approximately.....NOW!
P.S. If you would like to hear what my co has to say about tutoring C.O. yesterday, read the comment she left on "Exhausting Day."
I'm very nervous, and the principal still has to call me back about the history lesson I have to prepare.
What a way to kill my Shabbos. I will begin obsessing about this approximately.....NOW!
P.S. If you would like to hear what my co has to say about tutoring C.O. yesterday, read the comment she left on "Exhausting Day."
Thursday, April 27, 2006
An Exhausting Day
The day started pretty early as far as my mornings usually go. I had to get to my interview by 9:45.
I took a car service and paid him half my salary to get me there. The 20 minute trip cost t me $12. I know how to drive, but my husband takes the car every day, so I'm pretty much stuck as far as transportation goes.
I found the school easily and met with the principal.
I got a little bit of a down feeling talking to her, although she seemed very nice. I'm not going to kid myself. From talking to this principal, I could immediately tell that her school was no less pressuring than mine.
Pressuring is not really the word. I'm trying to say that this school and my school both like to incorporate many new systems in their classrooms all the time. I'm sort of trying to get away from all that, but there are other issues in my school as well. I guess that if this is the only problem I have so far, that's pretty good.
We spoke about what I taught, also about why I wanted to leave the school I was in, and about
setting up a model lesson for me.
I was honest with her and told her that I was very nervous for the model lesson as one lesson in
front of a strange classroom could not compare to what I could to with my students.
She understood, but this is protocol, and we agreed to speak later about setting up a lesson.
Then, I took the city bus back home. It took me a full hour to get back to my end of the world.
That's another thing that bugs me. If I do get this job, I'm not sure I want to travel an hour each way every day.
I'm pretty spoiled as things are now. I roll out of bed, down the block, and into class. I'm too much of a J.A.P. to actually sit on and transfer to city buses just to go to work. My husband isn't at all interested in this. He's dying for me to come to work for him. (He definitely pays more!)
Yesterday, we had the funniest conversation. It seemed funny, because I was very down and nervous about the interview and about a job for next year. I was depressed about the whole thing and for the money I'’m making, it'’s not worth it. I asked my husband if I should just opt out of this business, and he told me that I had better go to that interview today.
We had heard that this school paid well, and my husband told me with a serious face that he wanted me to get accepted here and make at least $18,000 a year. That would be enough to just cover our rent. "Living expenses I can handle," he said, "it's the rent that kills me."
Anyway, I need to think about this a lot more, although the principal already called my principal, and she told me that it seemed very optimistic. The new principal made it sound like she was impressed with me and wanted to give me a job.....I WISH! The job we're talking about by the way is seventh and eighth grade English and history. It means preparing all over for the eighth grade. I just don't know right now.
The classes managed to finish a nice amount of history, and even a chapter in literature. Hopefully, we can finish this book next week. The 7b class is so nutsy these days, I'm just losing it. I'm lost to the extent of having to send L.K. out today, acting very strict, and even calling the principal in to observe the class. (!) Yes, I actually asked her to come in. At this point I could no longer control them.
I was dead tired from my interview and bus rides in the a.m. and this was my second class for the day, and I still was going to the twelfth grade.
I gave them a chapter to read for homework and C.S.A. exploded like hot lava. I ignored it all, but it irks me. I used to think so highly of the kid, and now I can't stand her babyishness. The truth is, she is a year younger than the rest of the class. The class very much matured over Pesach, and she stayed the same if she didn't become more babyish. I'm assuming this has something to do with the age and not the grade. Maybe she'll only mature next year. I sure hope so for her teacher's sake.
The principal spoke to both my co and I about G.S. It seems that since she's switched classes, she's been feeling a little lost and left out by her teachers. We only noticed her so much before, becuase we had to give her negative attention. Now that she's so good, it's hard to notice her. I tried hard to pay more attention to her in class today, and I gave her kudos for getting an answer right. Her face lit up. I was shocked at how such a small thing could make such a big difference.
Twelfth grade was realxing, I just proctored them during an economics test. The kids were killing themselves over this stuff, and I knew it in my dreams. It helps when your husband does this for a livng. The girls were shocked when I was able to explain to them what questions they had gotten wrong. Maybe my husband's right, Maybe I should work for him!
My co went to tutor C.O. today. I wonder how it went.
S.G.L. decided to find out more about me, and she told my co that I went to this elementary school as a kid. She was pretty wrong, although my uniform shirt as a child happened to have been the same color as this school's. Oh well, better luck on her next guess.
I took a car service and paid him half my salary to get me there. The 20 minute trip cost t me $12. I know how to drive, but my husband takes the car every day, so I'm pretty much stuck as far as transportation goes.
I found the school easily and met with the principal.
I got a little bit of a down feeling talking to her, although she seemed very nice. I'm not going to kid myself. From talking to this principal, I could immediately tell that her school was no less pressuring than mine.
Pressuring is not really the word. I'm trying to say that this school and my school both like to incorporate many new systems in their classrooms all the time. I'm sort of trying to get away from all that, but there are other issues in my school as well. I guess that if this is the only problem I have so far, that's pretty good.
We spoke about what I taught, also about why I wanted to leave the school I was in, and about
setting up a model lesson for me.
I was honest with her and told her that I was very nervous for the model lesson as one lesson in
front of a strange classroom could not compare to what I could to with my students.
She understood, but this is protocol, and we agreed to speak later about setting up a lesson.
Then, I took the city bus back home. It took me a full hour to get back to my end of the world.
That's another thing that bugs me. If I do get this job, I'm not sure I want to travel an hour each way every day.
I'm pretty spoiled as things are now. I roll out of bed, down the block, and into class. I'm too much of a J.A.P. to actually sit on and transfer to city buses just to go to work. My husband isn't at all interested in this. He's dying for me to come to work for him. (He definitely pays more!)
Yesterday, we had the funniest conversation. It seemed funny, because I was very down and nervous about the interview and about a job for next year. I was depressed about the whole thing and for the money I'’m making, it'’s not worth it. I asked my husband if I should just opt out of this business, and he told me that I had better go to that interview today.
We had heard that this school paid well, and my husband told me with a serious face that he wanted me to get accepted here and make at least $18,000 a year. That would be enough to just cover our rent. "Living expenses I can handle," he said, "it's the rent that kills me."
Anyway, I need to think about this a lot more, although the principal already called my principal, and she told me that it seemed very optimistic. The new principal made it sound like she was impressed with me and wanted to give me a job.....I WISH! The job we're talking about by the way is seventh and eighth grade English and history. It means preparing all over for the eighth grade. I just don't know right now.
The classes managed to finish a nice amount of history, and even a chapter in literature. Hopefully, we can finish this book next week. The 7b class is so nutsy these days, I'm just losing it. I'm lost to the extent of having to send L.K. out today, acting very strict, and even calling the principal in to observe the class. (!) Yes, I actually asked her to come in. At this point I could no longer control them.
I was dead tired from my interview and bus rides in the a.m. and this was my second class for the day, and I still was going to the twelfth grade.
I gave them a chapter to read for homework and C.S.A. exploded like hot lava. I ignored it all, but it irks me. I used to think so highly of the kid, and now I can't stand her babyishness. The truth is, she is a year younger than the rest of the class. The class very much matured over Pesach, and she stayed the same if she didn't become more babyish. I'm assuming this has something to do with the age and not the grade. Maybe she'll only mature next year. I sure hope so for her teacher's sake.
The principal spoke to both my co and I about G.S. It seems that since she's switched classes, she's been feeling a little lost and left out by her teachers. We only noticed her so much before, becuase we had to give her negative attention. Now that she's so good, it's hard to notice her. I tried hard to pay more attention to her in class today, and I gave her kudos for getting an answer right. Her face lit up. I was shocked at how such a small thing could make such a big difference.
Twelfth grade was realxing, I just proctored them during an economics test. The kids were killing themselves over this stuff, and I knew it in my dreams. It helps when your husband does this for a livng. The girls were shocked when I was able to explain to them what questions they had gotten wrong. Maybe my husband's right, Maybe I should work for him!
My co went to tutor C.O. today. I wonder how it went.
S.G.L. decided to find out more about me, and she told my co that I went to this elementary school as a kid. She was pretty wrong, although my uniform shirt as a child happened to have been the same color as this school's. Oh well, better luck on her next guess.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
New Jobs, and Paper Clips
I spent all morning looking for a new job. Other schools are not very accommodating. The principals don't come in until 12, and that's when I have to go teach. I don't understand how teachers manage to switch schools. You have to be in two places at once to accomplish all that.
I went up to the principal today to show her a DVD that I thought the classes should see. It's called Paper Clips by marimax films. It's a documentary of the class in Whitehall, Tennessee that collected 6 million paper clips for the 6 million Jews that perished in the Holocaust.
The principal and I spoke about it for a while and then she said that she'd look into it.
She then asked me how my job search was going. I told her I was frustrated, and she said that she would let me have time off from school to go to interviews if I needed to. She said that I should definitely use her as a reference.
I walked out a bit confused, and still a little down about my no-job situation.
The big class today was so fantastic. They managed to learn one aim in history, and one entire chapter in their literature books. And the still had time to daven mincha and take a spelling test.
The other class was full of stupid questions and stories, and even with 5 girls absent, it didn't get better. The girls absent were the wring ones. Now, if L.K., R.H., L.O., C.K., and maybe one more were gone, my day would have been a breeze.
In the end, we're about 3 pages behind in literature. I'm keeping my hopes high of getting them even tomorrow.
This happened yesterday, but I forgot to put it in. I told the girls that they couldn't come to my class with their shirts untucked even though it was very hot outside.
L.O. was upset, saying that tucking her shirt in made her look fat.
I laughed and said that they couldn't talk about fat in front of their teachers. "Because when you say 'Oh my gosh!! I'm 85 lbs, I'm a fat pig!!' Imagine what your teacher feels like!"
R.H. piped up and said, "Oh, c'mon Mrs. Teacher, you aren't even 85 lbs so you can't talk!"
I gave it to her on the head. Can you now understand why I wish these kids were absent?
I went up to the principal today to show her a DVD that I thought the classes should see. It's called Paper Clips by marimax films. It's a documentary of the class in Whitehall, Tennessee that collected 6 million paper clips for the 6 million Jews that perished in the Holocaust.
The principal and I spoke about it for a while and then she said that she'd look into it.
She then asked me how my job search was going. I told her I was frustrated, and she said that she would let me have time off from school to go to interviews if I needed to. She said that I should definitely use her as a reference.
I walked out a bit confused, and still a little down about my no-job situation.
The big class today was so fantastic. They managed to learn one aim in history, and one entire chapter in their literature books. And the still had time to daven mincha and take a spelling test.
The other class was full of stupid questions and stories, and even with 5 girls absent, it didn't get better. The girls absent were the wring ones. Now, if L.K., R.H., L.O., C.K., and maybe one more were gone, my day would have been a breeze.
In the end, we're about 3 pages behind in literature. I'm keeping my hopes high of getting them even tomorrow.
This happened yesterday, but I forgot to put it in. I told the girls that they couldn't come to my class with their shirts untucked even though it was very hot outside.
L.O. was upset, saying that tucking her shirt in made her look fat.
I laughed and said that they couldn't talk about fat in front of their teachers. "Because when you say 'Oh my gosh!! I'm 85 lbs, I'm a fat pig!!' Imagine what your teacher feels like!"
R.H. piped up and said, "Oh, c'mon Mrs. Teacher, you aren't even 85 lbs so you can't talk!"
I gave it to her on the head. Can you now understand why I wish these kids were absent?
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Fighting and Suspension
Two of my issues from yesterday carried over to today.
R.S. was still absent and S.G.L. and M.R. took their fighting to the next level.
I spoke to the principal today after a meeting we had about the picture books about R.S. R.S. had been absent for three days now, and the teachers are concerned, if not more than a little curious. I asked the principal if I could call her, and the principal told me what was going on. She had suspended R.S. for the week.
I think it's the smartest thing she's done all year. One thing I did not agree with, she mentioned my history review and that it was a big pressure for the girls. Before Pesach she had been all for it, all of a sudden when a kid explodes, she found me to blame it all on. Peachy.
Talking of eruptions, C.S.A. has been having a tad too many lately. She's an anxious kid in general, but recently she's been blowing up over minor things. If she's doing it for attention she's got to be stopped, and if this is for real, she's got to be helped. Either way, this has got to end.
I spoke to S.G.L. (who by the way, only decided to grace us with her presence during English, and not Hebrew) and spoke with her about her post it notes.
She told me that it was M.R. her self that had told her that she had spread her secrets. I assured S.G.L. that M.R. probably said it just to make her angry. I told S.G.L. that this was all a part of life. Friendships break up every so often, and sometimes secrets get spilled along with them. I told her that she was lucky she had a friend now, and that she should stop focusing on M.R.
I spoke with the principal about which camp S.G.L. wanted to go to, and she said she'd make a call. We're both more worried for M.R. than for S.G.L. at this point.
It seems that M.R.'s mother is involved in this mess, and M.R. is suffering terribly from the entire thing. We agreed that if M.R. should bring up the topic of the fight to my co or I again, we would tell the principal and make arrangements to call her mother.
I gave a double session of computers today. The first 20 minutes were for a math review, and the rest of the time they did their picture book.
That meant that half my girls were roaming the halls. C.O. and S.G.L. were harassing M.R. and spending quality time together in the bathroom.
I'm not going to get into the stupidities of their seventh grade fight, but the two were yelling at each other by the end of the day, and M.R. left in tears. My co and I are not impressed by all the attention seeking going on in our classrooms.
Anyway, my paycheck got lost, but then it was found in the high school office.
And I got a call back from a school I applied to before Pesach. I have a meeting there Thursday morning. Wish me luck!
R.S. was still absent and S.G.L. and M.R. took their fighting to the next level.
I spoke to the principal today after a meeting we had about the picture books about R.S. R.S. had been absent for three days now, and the teachers are concerned, if not more than a little curious. I asked the principal if I could call her, and the principal told me what was going on. She had suspended R.S. for the week.
I think it's the smartest thing she's done all year. One thing I did not agree with, she mentioned my history review and that it was a big pressure for the girls. Before Pesach she had been all for it, all of a sudden when a kid explodes, she found me to blame it all on. Peachy.
Talking of eruptions, C.S.A. has been having a tad too many lately. She's an anxious kid in general, but recently she's been blowing up over minor things. If she's doing it for attention she's got to be stopped, and if this is for real, she's got to be helped. Either way, this has got to end.
I spoke to S.G.L. (who by the way, only decided to grace us with her presence during English, and not Hebrew) and spoke with her about her post it notes.
She told me that it was M.R. her self that had told her that she had spread her secrets. I assured S.G.L. that M.R. probably said it just to make her angry. I told S.G.L. that this was all a part of life. Friendships break up every so often, and sometimes secrets get spilled along with them. I told her that she was lucky she had a friend now, and that she should stop focusing on M.R.
I spoke with the principal about which camp S.G.L. wanted to go to, and she said she'd make a call. We're both more worried for M.R. than for S.G.L. at this point.
It seems that M.R.'s mother is involved in this mess, and M.R. is suffering terribly from the entire thing. We agreed that if M.R. should bring up the topic of the fight to my co or I again, we would tell the principal and make arrangements to call her mother.
I gave a double session of computers today. The first 20 minutes were for a math review, and the rest of the time they did their picture book.
That meant that half my girls were roaming the halls. C.O. and S.G.L. were harassing M.R. and spending quality time together in the bathroom.
I'm not going to get into the stupidities of their seventh grade fight, but the two were yelling at each other by the end of the day, and M.R. left in tears. My co and I are not impressed by all the attention seeking going on in our classrooms.
Anyway, my paycheck got lost, but then it was found in the high school office.
And I got a call back from a school I applied to before Pesach. I have a meeting there Thursday morning. Wish me luck!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Teacher's Folly
Today was awesome. I don't know why, but today turned out great.
I taught the 7a class first, and they were total angels. We got an entire aim in history done and they didn't even freak when I told them that their picture books were due Monday.
I didn't ask the principal when the books were due, I just made it up. I need to get this project over with. And so do the girls.
7b was a little more rowdy than 7a, but totally manageable. Such a relief.
R.S. wasn't back in school yet, and we're all wondering why. I heard that it's because her house is flying; they had all their siblings in from Israel for Yom Tov. I don't believe it because her sister was in school today and yesterday. But we're still not sure. My co said that if R.S. isn't in school by tomorrow, she'll ask the principal if she can call her.
We're all a little nervous about how things are going to turn out.
I had a small issue with my index cards today. M.R. gave me one that said, "Do you think I am right for splitting up from S.G.L.?"
I didn't hesitate to answer her. "You did what you had to do. In life everyone has to make some hard decisions. Not always will everyone agree with what you do. You have to do what you think is right."
Then, I got a note from S.G.L. It said, "M.R. and S.G.L. And one day M.R. comes to school and I realized that she left me. We were friends for 2 1/2 years already, and then she drops me. She doesn't look at or talk at me. She's so mean, because whoever she's friends with she drops them, we know for a fact because she was 5 girls' friends, C.O., G.S., me, E.S., R.H., guess what? She them all, now everyone knows that she drops everybody who she's friends with. So nobody will want to be her friend. Another thing she did to me; after she left me she told me that I can't say any of her secrets. So I said fine, and I didn't. She promised me that she won't either say any of my secrets and she did. She told everything about me to a few people.
""Not only does she drop me, she's making me crazy. If she doesn't want to be my friend, she doesn't' t have to, but why does she have to act like that to me? Every time I look at her she stares at me.
"Now I have a big problem because of her leaving me. Because now I have to be on a waiting list for camp, because we made plans for the summer already to of together. Now we can't. So I'm left to go to camp and there's no room unless there are backouts."
That was her index card. Actually, it was 3 post-it notes.
I asked her if I could take time to answer it. She seemed thrilled with all the special attention, and didn't mind. She just gave me another note asking me not to tell M.R., M.R's mother, or her other. I was allowed to tell my family though. She seriously said that. LOL
I spoke to the principal and I told her that I didn't believe that M.R. was saying secrets about S.G.L. She was too good for that, and besides, she had no one to tell them to. The principal told me to talk to S.G.L. and find out where this was all coming from. It was normal for S.G.L. to feel that M.R. betrayed her, but she needed proof of whom M.R. told. Otherwise, she shouldn't be telling this all to me.
I also told her about her camp situation. I found out that she was trying to go to a certain camp, and I asked the principal to make a phone call to get her in. She needs it badly.
My co and I just figured out that S.G.L. is beginning to tag on to me because of her new friendship with C.O., who was my neighbor. C.O. and my fourth grade sister all of a sudden became the "best of friends." I wonder why.
C.O. is just trying to get close to me. What? These seventh graders really think they can fool us? C'mon.
Now that C.O. is all into me, and because of that, S.G.L. sort of let go of my co and is getting all into me too. My co is relieved and I'm ready to quit. I have to talk to S.G.L. but I have no idea what I'm going to tell her, and I really don't want to get involved in her messes.
Anyway, back to my title, I taught about methods of transportation during the 1800's today. One of the parts of my lesson involved Robert Fulton, the creator of the steam engine. When people had heard his idea for a steamboat, they thought he was crazy. His idea was called "Fulton's Folly." The word folly is very similar to my name, and I was dreading this lesson all year. I knew the girls would have something to laugh about as soon as I said the word folly.
I played it cool though. I laughed with them, and told the girls about how it was when I was a student and my classmates would always make fun of me even though my name didn't mean the same thing as folly and it wasn't even spelled the same way.
The girls got a kick out of it, and I breathed a sigh of relief. But at least I know that my students will never forget this lesson. They learned Fulton's Folly, they'll learn Seward's Folly, and they love their Teacher's Folly!
I taught the 7a class first, and they were total angels. We got an entire aim in history done and they didn't even freak when I told them that their picture books were due Monday.
I didn't ask the principal when the books were due, I just made it up. I need to get this project over with. And so do the girls.
7b was a little more rowdy than 7a, but totally manageable. Such a relief.
R.S. wasn't back in school yet, and we're all wondering why. I heard that it's because her house is flying; they had all their siblings in from Israel for Yom Tov. I don't believe it because her sister was in school today and yesterday. But we're still not sure. My co said that if R.S. isn't in school by tomorrow, she'll ask the principal if she can call her.
We're all a little nervous about how things are going to turn out.
I had a small issue with my index cards today. M.R. gave me one that said, "Do you think I am right for splitting up from S.G.L.?"
I didn't hesitate to answer her. "You did what you had to do. In life everyone has to make some hard decisions. Not always will everyone agree with what you do. You have to do what you think is right."
Then, I got a note from S.G.L. It said, "M.R. and S.G.L. And one day M.R. comes to school and I realized that she left me. We were friends for 2 1/2 years already, and then she drops me. She doesn't look at or talk at me. She's so mean, because whoever she's friends with she drops them, we know for a fact because she was 5 girls' friends, C.O., G.S., me, E.S., R.H., guess what? She them all, now everyone knows that she drops everybody who she's friends with. So nobody will want to be her friend. Another thing she did to me; after she left me she told me that I can't say any of her secrets. So I said fine, and I didn't. She promised me that she won't either say any of my secrets and she did. She told everything about me to a few people.
""Not only does she drop me, she's making me crazy. If she doesn't want to be my friend, she doesn't' t have to, but why does she have to act like that to me? Every time I look at her she stares at me.
"Now I have a big problem because of her leaving me. Because now I have to be on a waiting list for camp, because we made plans for the summer already to of together. Now we can't. So I'm left to go to camp and there's no room unless there are backouts."
That was her index card. Actually, it was 3 post-it notes.
I asked her if I could take time to answer it. She seemed thrilled with all the special attention, and didn't mind. She just gave me another note asking me not to tell M.R., M.R's mother, or her other. I was allowed to tell my family though. She seriously said that. LOL
I spoke to the principal and I told her that I didn't believe that M.R. was saying secrets about S.G.L. She was too good for that, and besides, she had no one to tell them to. The principal told me to talk to S.G.L. and find out where this was all coming from. It was normal for S.G.L. to feel that M.R. betrayed her, but she needed proof of whom M.R. told. Otherwise, she shouldn't be telling this all to me.
I also told her about her camp situation. I found out that she was trying to go to a certain camp, and I asked the principal to make a phone call to get her in. She needs it badly.
My co and I just figured out that S.G.L. is beginning to tag on to me because of her new friendship with C.O., who was my neighbor. C.O. and my fourth grade sister all of a sudden became the "best of friends." I wonder why.
C.O. is just trying to get close to me. What? These seventh graders really think they can fool us? C'mon.
Now that C.O. is all into me, and because of that, S.G.L. sort of let go of my co and is getting all into me too. My co is relieved and I'm ready to quit. I have to talk to S.G.L. but I have no idea what I'm going to tell her, and I really don't want to get involved in her messes.
Anyway, back to my title, I taught about methods of transportation during the 1800's today. One of the parts of my lesson involved Robert Fulton, the creator of the steam engine. When people had heard his idea for a steamboat, they thought he was crazy. His idea was called "Fulton's Folly." The word folly is very similar to my name, and I was dreading this lesson all year. I knew the girls would have something to laugh about as soon as I said the word folly.
I played it cool though. I laughed with them, and told the girls about how it was when I was a student and my classmates would always make fun of me even though my name didn't mean the same thing as folly and it wasn't even spelled the same way.
The girls got a kick out of it, and I breathed a sigh of relief. But at least I know that my students will never forget this lesson. They learned Fulton's Folly, they'll learn Seward's Folly, and they love their Teacher's Folly!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Depression
Ok, it's the last night of Pesach vacation. My co and I are arguing over who is more depressed.
Pesach was long, and it was the best thing for my frazzled nerves. I relaxed, ate matzah, slept, ate matzah, enjoyed myself, at matzah, and basically, ate more matzah. Notice that I did not mention anything about school in all of this.
I had to get two emergency fix-ups in my mouth. I needed a root canal after all, and then I needed to finish up my other botch-ups. I still have to go back, and let's hope that'll be the end of dentists for a very long time.
I met a bunch of students over vacation. They all seemed thrilled to see me, except for T.K. of course.
I spent some time looking through the review sheets the girls had given me hell over, and they didn't do so bad. It was the "attitude" cases that didn't bother to fill in a word. Namely T.K., C.K., and S.G.L. R.R. was pretty bad too. I have zero patience coming back to school.
I cannot go into class tomorrow and pick up where I left off. I already made up my mind to forget about chapter ten in history. I'm not going to give their sheets back, and I won't make an issue of it. I will give them a lot more homework in their books though. They are totally not comfortable with reading a textbook. That has to change.
I don't believe that I will finish my curriculum in history this year. Whether it's my fault for going too slow at the beginning of the year, or the school's fault for assigning too much, it doesn't matter. It's not getting done. I refuse to feel guilty for all of it. $6,000 isn't near enough money to guilt me into a nervous breakdown.
Literature? Forget about it. If I ever finish this Early Thunder piece, I will have to make a seudas hoda'ah. I'm not even aiming to get any other literature done. I just want to get this off my head.
And the picture book? You know how I feel about that!
My co told me that at this time of the year the kids have no patience either. I'm still a kid myself, I know that better than anyone. I need to give them more homework though. Journal entries, spelling definitions, history questions...they have to become more responsible.
What is it? 8 weeks left to school? I should just start a countdown on this blog. I'm more excited for summer vaca than the kids are.
And a new job? I'm more than just depressed. I have no idea how to get a new teaching job, where I want to go teach, and when I'm going to have time to pursue it all. I want to get another seventh grade job because I really don't want to prepare all over again. I know that being picky isn't a good thing, but it worked for me last year.
If any of my readers have connections with a good girl's school out there that's not chassidish, pays decent, and treats their teachers well, can you please recommend me? I'm davening hard and keeping my fingers crossed.
Pesach was long, and it was the best thing for my frazzled nerves. I relaxed, ate matzah, slept, ate matzah, enjoyed myself, at matzah, and basically, ate more matzah. Notice that I did not mention anything about school in all of this.
I had to get two emergency fix-ups in my mouth. I needed a root canal after all, and then I needed to finish up my other botch-ups. I still have to go back, and let's hope that'll be the end of dentists for a very long time.
I met a bunch of students over vacation. They all seemed thrilled to see me, except for T.K. of course.
I spent some time looking through the review sheets the girls had given me hell over, and they didn't do so bad. It was the "attitude" cases that didn't bother to fill in a word. Namely T.K., C.K., and S.G.L. R.R. was pretty bad too. I have zero patience coming back to school.
I cannot go into class tomorrow and pick up where I left off. I already made up my mind to forget about chapter ten in history. I'm not going to give their sheets back, and I won't make an issue of it. I will give them a lot more homework in their books though. They are totally not comfortable with reading a textbook. That has to change.
I don't believe that I will finish my curriculum in history this year. Whether it's my fault for going too slow at the beginning of the year, or the school's fault for assigning too much, it doesn't matter. It's not getting done. I refuse to feel guilty for all of it. $6,000 isn't near enough money to guilt me into a nervous breakdown.
Literature? Forget about it. If I ever finish this Early Thunder piece, I will have to make a seudas hoda'ah. I'm not even aiming to get any other literature done. I just want to get this off my head.
And the picture book? You know how I feel about that!
My co told me that at this time of the year the kids have no patience either. I'm still a kid myself, I know that better than anyone. I need to give them more homework though. Journal entries, spelling definitions, history questions...they have to become more responsible.
What is it? 8 weeks left to school? I should just start a countdown on this blog. I'm more excited for summer vaca than the kids are.
And a new job? I'm more than just depressed. I have no idea how to get a new teaching job, where I want to go teach, and when I'm going to have time to pursue it all. I want to get another seventh grade job because I really don't want to prepare all over again. I know that being picky isn't a good thing, but it worked for me last year.
If any of my readers have connections with a good girl's school out there that's not chassidish, pays decent, and treats their teachers well, can you please recommend me? I'm davening hard and keeping my fingers crossed.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Off the Handle
Today was supposed to be a babysitting day. It was the last day before Pesach vacation for the seventh grade and I planned a very light day. I had planned on giving the girls time to do their picture books, and then I prepared an open-notes history review. I didn't tell them about it, because I didn't want them to study. It wasn't even going to be marked as a test.
But my plans were ruined.
The Hebrew principal's father passed away, and she was sitting shiva. The school arranged for the students to go and visit her. Believe it or not, it snowed today, in the middle of April! I was panicking about having to walk out in the snow and slush, but the school finally arranged a bus to take us to where the Hebrew principal was sitting shiva.
It was a little uncomfortable for the girls to sit with her, but they handled it very nicely.
S.G.L. was back in school after playing hooky for 3 days, and the principal gave her some extra special attention.
When we came back to school, I did current events for 10 minutes while my co read an article to the other class. We switched off until recess.
After recess, I gave both classes my review.
The 7a class was slightly upset, but the 7b class was furious. They were so bad, they didn't even let my co give out the papers.
I went into the class, told them to shut up, and gave them out. I threatened to mark the papers as a test if they didn't cooperate, and they got even edgier.
T.K. burst into tears, so I sent her out so I could talk to her privately.
As I went into the hallway, I met the principal. She was coming into the class to give out the honor roll certificates. I stopped her and explained the situation in the classroom. She was pretty upset. She went in and spoke to them while I dealt with T.K. outside. I sent T.K. in after she washed the floor with me, and then I walked in to hear what the principal was saying.
She was telling the class that this was classwork and that I had every right to give it to them. She actually stuck up for me.
R.S. was telling her that whenever she took tests she became stressed and that her mother didn't want her that way.
"Well I know you mother pretty well," the principal said, "and I know that she wouldn't like your tone of voice either."
R.S. then crumpled up her paper and threw it at the principal. She kept throwing paper after paper and then she began screaming at the principal. "Everything is an assignment. Your stupid picture book is a stupid assignment, it's not! It's a project! You all lie to us, and you put us under so much pressure!"
The principal tried calming her down, but by this time the class was involved, some girls were laughing, others were scared.
At that time, R.S. yelled, "I hate you! Get out of here! I never want to see you and your stupid ugly suit again!" She grabbed the principal by the hand and twisted her wrist. I took the initiative to send the class to the other classroom to continue their tests.
As the class filed out, the principal acme over to me and asked me to have the secretary call R.S.'s mother. R.S. came up behind the principal and grabbed her by the jacket and shook and pulled her. I settled the class in the 7a classroom, and had the secretary call Mrs. R.S.
The secretary wanted to know whether the mother should one down to school, and I went back to the room to ask the principal.
You were able to hear R.S. screaming down the hallway. She was yelling at the principal to leave her alone and to leave the classroom. She kept screaming, "I let go of you, now get out!" She threw books across the room as she continued to yell.
When the principal kept trying to talk to her, R.S. began hitting her.
The principal left the room to talk to me, and then she asked me to watch R.S. to make sure she didn't hurt herself. R.S. stood blocking the door and I stood outside in the hallway.
I switched off with my co so that I could answer some questions the girls had, and they were more than a little wacky because of the event that was taking place.
The principal came in later and spoke to the girls to explain to them the situation, and to tell them not to judge their friend for having a temper problem. I thought that was very good of her.
She also calmed down the girls by telling them again that classwork was totally fine, and that I would be very lenient in marking them.
About a half hour to dismissal, I asked the girls to pass up their papers even though they weren't finished. R.H. put up a huge fuss, and I almost had a panic attack as well.
I finally got them all together, and had them all clean up their desks and put away their books for Pesach.
While the girls were busy, a few of them crowded around my desk to talk. I didn't mind, and we had a good talk on what to do when the class gets rowdy. They all agreed that as soon as I said that they were too rowdy they would stop. They didn't want me to get strict with them.
They also asked me to move up to 8th grade with them. LOL
C.K. wanted to know why I only called on certain girls all the time. I explained to her that it was the girls that constantly contributed to the lesson that I wanted to hear from. If C.K. didn't add to my lesson, she certainly shouldn't feel like I was obligated to call on her every time she raised her hand.
Anyway, The girls mainly left happy, and my co and I spent time in the teacher's room talking about R.S.'s incident, and then my co put two and two together. "Is R.S. the girl that wrote on her index card that she went to anger management classes after school?"
My co is good!
I am so shocked at the whole incident. I knew she had a problem, but to come out like this? It bowls me over.
S.G.L. was finally in school and really acting weird. She began this thing again where she kept turning around and facing backwards when the teacher was in class. She was on the steps today when I walked upstairs, and when she saw me, she gave a little shriek and made a show of running up the stairs and "escaping" from me. Her new friend C.O. was downstairs laughing at the whole thing. It just got me nervous.
My co had to tutor her after school, I'm just glad it's not me.
..And I'm more than glad that Pesach vacation is here, which means that I don't have to go back to school until April 23.
Ahhhhhh....Relief!
But my plans were ruined.
The Hebrew principal's father passed away, and she was sitting shiva. The school arranged for the students to go and visit her. Believe it or not, it snowed today, in the middle of April! I was panicking about having to walk out in the snow and slush, but the school finally arranged a bus to take us to where the Hebrew principal was sitting shiva.
It was a little uncomfortable for the girls to sit with her, but they handled it very nicely.
S.G.L. was back in school after playing hooky for 3 days, and the principal gave her some extra special attention.
When we came back to school, I did current events for 10 minutes while my co read an article to the other class. We switched off until recess.
After recess, I gave both classes my review.
The 7a class was slightly upset, but the 7b class was furious. They were so bad, they didn't even let my co give out the papers.
I went into the class, told them to shut up, and gave them out. I threatened to mark the papers as a test if they didn't cooperate, and they got even edgier.
T.K. burst into tears, so I sent her out so I could talk to her privately.
As I went into the hallway, I met the principal. She was coming into the class to give out the honor roll certificates. I stopped her and explained the situation in the classroom. She was pretty upset. She went in and spoke to them while I dealt with T.K. outside. I sent T.K. in after she washed the floor with me, and then I walked in to hear what the principal was saying.
She was telling the class that this was classwork and that I had every right to give it to them. She actually stuck up for me.
R.S. was telling her that whenever she took tests she became stressed and that her mother didn't want her that way.
"Well I know you mother pretty well," the principal said, "and I know that she wouldn't like your tone of voice either."
R.S. then crumpled up her paper and threw it at the principal. She kept throwing paper after paper and then she began screaming at the principal. "Everything is an assignment. Your stupid picture book is a stupid assignment, it's not! It's a project! You all lie to us, and you put us under so much pressure!"
The principal tried calming her down, but by this time the class was involved, some girls were laughing, others were scared.
At that time, R.S. yelled, "I hate you! Get out of here! I never want to see you and your stupid ugly suit again!" She grabbed the principal by the hand and twisted her wrist. I took the initiative to send the class to the other classroom to continue their tests.
As the class filed out, the principal acme over to me and asked me to have the secretary call R.S.'s mother. R.S. came up behind the principal and grabbed her by the jacket and shook and pulled her. I settled the class in the 7a classroom, and had the secretary call Mrs. R.S.
The secretary wanted to know whether the mother should one down to school, and I went back to the room to ask the principal.
You were able to hear R.S. screaming down the hallway. She was yelling at the principal to leave her alone and to leave the classroom. She kept screaming, "I let go of you, now get out!" She threw books across the room as she continued to yell.
When the principal kept trying to talk to her, R.S. began hitting her.
The principal left the room to talk to me, and then she asked me to watch R.S. to make sure she didn't hurt herself. R.S. stood blocking the door and I stood outside in the hallway.
I switched off with my co so that I could answer some questions the girls had, and they were more than a little wacky because of the event that was taking place.
The principal came in later and spoke to the girls to explain to them the situation, and to tell them not to judge their friend for having a temper problem. I thought that was very good of her.
She also calmed down the girls by telling them again that classwork was totally fine, and that I would be very lenient in marking them.
About a half hour to dismissal, I asked the girls to pass up their papers even though they weren't finished. R.H. put up a huge fuss, and I almost had a panic attack as well.
I finally got them all together, and had them all clean up their desks and put away their books for Pesach.
While the girls were busy, a few of them crowded around my desk to talk. I didn't mind, and we had a good talk on what to do when the class gets rowdy. They all agreed that as soon as I said that they were too rowdy they would stop. They didn't want me to get strict with them.
They also asked me to move up to 8th grade with them. LOL
C.K. wanted to know why I only called on certain girls all the time. I explained to her that it was the girls that constantly contributed to the lesson that I wanted to hear from. If C.K. didn't add to my lesson, she certainly shouldn't feel like I was obligated to call on her every time she raised her hand.
Anyway, The girls mainly left happy, and my co and I spent time in the teacher's room talking about R.S.'s incident, and then my co put two and two together. "Is R.S. the girl that wrote on her index card that she went to anger management classes after school?"
My co is good!
I am so shocked at the whole incident. I knew she had a problem, but to come out like this? It bowls me over.
S.G.L. was finally in school and really acting weird. She began this thing again where she kept turning around and facing backwards when the teacher was in class. She was on the steps today when I walked upstairs, and when she saw me, she gave a little shriek and made a show of running up the stairs and "escaping" from me. Her new friend C.O. was downstairs laughing at the whole thing. It just got me nervous.
My co had to tutor her after school, I'm just glad it's not me.
..And I'm more than glad that Pesach vacation is here, which means that I don't have to go back to school until April 23.
Ahhhhhh....Relief!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Surprise Visitor
My sister came to visit school today. I was supposed to have computers for an hour and a half straight and that would've been a perfect time for her to drop in.
Knowing this school and my luck, nothing ever turns out perfect. Computers was pushed off at the last minute. It seems that every teacher is anxious to finish their picture books before Pesach, and computers was over booked. I try to be good, so I let my slot be pushed to after recess.
My sister had already left the house, and she was actually in the school building by the time the schedule was fixed. She ended up sitting in my class (7b) while I tried to teach a bit of literature.
Of course, they were all jumpy and annoyed at the schedule mess-up and my sister was shocked at their behavior. I was just embarrassed.
Of all days, the principal chose this one to walk into my class uninvited. She noticed my sister sitting in the back, and saw it fit to challenge me in front of my own students.
"Who is this?" She asked.
I played it cool. "Oh she's my sister. She got bored with peeling potatoes, so she came to visit. We were supposed to have computers so it wouldn't have been a problem, but the system was messed up so it turned out wrong." I tried to make it seem like it was the school's fault everything was wrong in my life.
I mean, that's what she does to me. She blames me for all her problems...
She didn't say anything else, but I had the feeling that this wasn't the end of it all. I hopes I could get just as far as Pesach and then hopefully she'd forget over vacation.
The other class was jealous that my sister didn't sit in their class, but she did pop in while they were at computers. Then, being the good girl that she is, my sister had to go back home to peel apples. You can tell we're very different. LOL
This day was a huge mess, and I'm counting down the hours until school is out.
I realize that I'll be leaving for Pesach with a bunch of unfinished projects. The picture book is nowhere near done, and neither is literature. I'm kinda stressed, but I'm working on not letting the pressure get to me.
One more afternoon and then....LIBERA!!
Knowing this school and my luck, nothing ever turns out perfect. Computers was pushed off at the last minute. It seems that every teacher is anxious to finish their picture books before Pesach, and computers was over booked. I try to be good, so I let my slot be pushed to after recess.
My sister had already left the house, and she was actually in the school building by the time the schedule was fixed. She ended up sitting in my class (7b) while I tried to teach a bit of literature.
Of course, they were all jumpy and annoyed at the schedule mess-up and my sister was shocked at their behavior. I was just embarrassed.
Of all days, the principal chose this one to walk into my class uninvited. She noticed my sister sitting in the back, and saw it fit to challenge me in front of my own students.
"Who is this?" She asked.
I played it cool. "Oh she's my sister. She got bored with peeling potatoes, so she came to visit. We were supposed to have computers so it wouldn't have been a problem, but the system was messed up so it turned out wrong." I tried to make it seem like it was the school's fault everything was wrong in my life.
I mean, that's what she does to me. She blames me for all her problems...
She didn't say anything else, but I had the feeling that this wasn't the end of it all. I hopes I could get just as far as Pesach and then hopefully she'd forget over vacation.
The other class was jealous that my sister didn't sit in their class, but she did pop in while they were at computers. Then, being the good girl that she is, my sister had to go back home to peel apples. You can tell we're very different. LOL
This day was a huge mess, and I'm counting down the hours until school is out.
I realize that I'll be leaving for Pesach with a bunch of unfinished projects. The picture book is nowhere near done, and neither is literature. I'm kinda stressed, but I'm working on not letting the pressure get to me.
One more afternoon and then....LIBERA!!
Monday, April 03, 2006
Too Tired
I was up until 5 last night.
My nephew got married and the wedding ended really late last night. (Or really early this morning depending on how you look at it!)
I had arranged with my sister to sub for me in case I'd be too tired to teach today. She was a little hesitant, and I felt bad making her go if she didn't want to, so I got up to teach today.
It turned out that the girls had scrapbooking again today, and that took care of 45 minutes n each class. The other 45 minutes were spent finishing chapter 10 min history, and that was my entire day.
I'm sure there must have been more to it, but I'm too tired to remember all of it.
I called my sister up to tell her what an easy day it was, and she agreed to sub for me tomorrow if I needed her. Remember the dentist appointment last week? Well, it turns out they botched me up. I spent the past 4 days on Advil, and I made an emergency appointment for tomorrow morning. Hope that works out well.
...And if it doesn't I (hope) I can rely on my sister!
My husband and I were invited to the sheva berachos tonight, and I had better take a nap if I want to function tomorrow.
My nephew got married and the wedding ended really late last night. (Or really early this morning depending on how you look at it!)
I had arranged with my sister to sub for me in case I'd be too tired to teach today. She was a little hesitant, and I felt bad making her go if she didn't want to, so I got up to teach today.
It turned out that the girls had scrapbooking again today, and that took care of 45 minutes n each class. The other 45 minutes were spent finishing chapter 10 min history, and that was my entire day.
I'm sure there must have been more to it, but I'm too tired to remember all of it.
I called my sister up to tell her what an easy day it was, and she agreed to sub for me tomorrow if I needed her. Remember the dentist appointment last week? Well, it turns out they botched me up. I spent the past 4 days on Advil, and I made an emergency appointment for tomorrow morning. Hope that works out well.
...And if it doesn't I (hope) I can rely on my sister!
My husband and I were invited to the sheva berachos tonight, and I had better take a nap if I want to function tomorrow.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Projects in Progress
We moved the clock last night, so it meant one less hour of sleep for me. Considering that I went to bed at 2, which turned out to be 3, and had to wake up at 7, that really didn't leave me a lot of zzzz time.
School wasn't so bad. We spent the entire morning collating the paper. We had problems with our stapler, but in the end it turned out fine. I really wanted the paper to be spiral bound, but so far the school didn't approve. I have to keep working on it.
I was missing 5 girls in one class and 3 in the other. We always have kids coming late on Sunday, but now, because we moved the clock, we had more than our usual share.
The teachers are trying to convince the principal to cancer school on the Sunday after Pesach. No other school begins on Sunday. And we teachers do not want to get out of bed that early.
We'll keep trying!
School wasn't so bad. We spent the entire morning collating the paper. We had problems with our stapler, but in the end it turned out fine. I really wanted the paper to be spiral bound, but so far the school didn't approve. I have to keep working on it.
I was missing 5 girls in one class and 3 in the other. We always have kids coming late on Sunday, but now, because we moved the clock, we had more than our usual share.
The teachers are trying to convince the principal to cancer school on the Sunday after Pesach. No other school begins on Sunday. And we teachers do not want to get out of bed that early.
We'll keep trying!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Spring Break
It is so nice to have a co you can rely on. I called her emergency this morning to take over for me today. She had no problem.
I had a dentist appointment this morning, and instead of the cavity they were supposed to fill, they discovered that I had 4 more. 4 cavities, and one possible root canal. I flipped. I wanted them to fill them all and get it over with so that the numbness would go away in time for school, but there was a problem.
I had chemotherapy a few years ago, and it left a minor amount of scarring on my heart. It doesn't affect me at all, except for when I go to the dentist. Supposedly, I have to warn them that I have something with my heart.
Today I found out why. If it comes a time when they have to expose me to chemicals or touch a nerve, I need to take meds an hour before. This would only be a problem if I were to go have a cleaning/bleaching or a root canal.
I wanted to take care of it, and right away, so I got the prescription and ran to the pharmacy. I knew though, that if I had to wait an hour after taking meds to do the procedure, and I still had to have a root canal done, I would never make it in time for school.
I called my co frantically, and she was a doll. She agreed to take over for me no problem.
I ran around trying to get food to take my 4 pills of amoxycilin with. That was a long story. I took the pills at 11, and I had to wait until 12 to have anything done. Turns out that my co lives across the street from the dentist, and I spent the hour at her house going over some papers I had typed up for a friend in seminary. She had given me questions that she needed two teachers to answer. Her 8 questions took 4 pages for me to answer. I know, I know, I talk too much. LOL
I finally went back to dentist and guess what? I didn't even need a root canal in the end. I spent my month's paycheck paying for the cavities they filled, and I was out of there by 12:30. The truth is, I could've gone to school, but I was terribly numb.
I decided to enjoy my day off.
2:30 I was speaking fine again, and I debated going to school and taking over for the hour and half after recess, but my husband convinced me otherwise.
It was a good thing, because then the pain hit. Advil didn't kick in until about 4:30.
During the time I was in agony, L.K. called me on my cellphone to ask what to do about her cover for the ET newspaper. I decided to go over to school and help out.
I ran over after school was over, and got the papers. I guess I'll take care of it, and then fax it to L.K. to give in to print tomorrow.
While I was in school, I spent time talking to my co. She was supposed to go tutor C.O. right after school, but when she told the principal about it, the principal insisted that she back out of it until after Pesach. She wanted time to asses the S.G.L. and C.O. situation. She feared that the tutoring business was becoming a "shtick" between the girls. She also didn't want my co to be put in between the triangle of S.G.L, C.O., and M.R. My co and I had to agree with her. For once LOL!
I'll be subbing in another school tomorrow. I'm taking over my niece's class. I really don't want to waste my Friday, but I do want to get a job in that school, so it's worth a try.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
I had a dentist appointment this morning, and instead of the cavity they were supposed to fill, they discovered that I had 4 more. 4 cavities, and one possible root canal. I flipped. I wanted them to fill them all and get it over with so that the numbness would go away in time for school, but there was a problem.
I had chemotherapy a few years ago, and it left a minor amount of scarring on my heart. It doesn't affect me at all, except for when I go to the dentist. Supposedly, I have to warn them that I have something with my heart.
Today I found out why. If it comes a time when they have to expose me to chemicals or touch a nerve, I need to take meds an hour before. This would only be a problem if I were to go have a cleaning/bleaching or a root canal.
I wanted to take care of it, and right away, so I got the prescription and ran to the pharmacy. I knew though, that if I had to wait an hour after taking meds to do the procedure, and I still had to have a root canal done, I would never make it in time for school.
I called my co frantically, and she was a doll. She agreed to take over for me no problem.
I ran around trying to get food to take my 4 pills of amoxycilin with. That was a long story. I took the pills at 11, and I had to wait until 12 to have anything done. Turns out that my co lives across the street from the dentist, and I spent the hour at her house going over some papers I had typed up for a friend in seminary. She had given me questions that she needed two teachers to answer. Her 8 questions took 4 pages for me to answer. I know, I know, I talk too much. LOL
I finally went back to dentist and guess what? I didn't even need a root canal in the end. I spent my month's paycheck paying for the cavities they filled, and I was out of there by 12:30. The truth is, I could've gone to school, but I was terribly numb.
I decided to enjoy my day off.
2:30 I was speaking fine again, and I debated going to school and taking over for the hour and half after recess, but my husband convinced me otherwise.
It was a good thing, because then the pain hit. Advil didn't kick in until about 4:30.
During the time I was in agony, L.K. called me on my cellphone to ask what to do about her cover for the ET newspaper. I decided to go over to school and help out.
I ran over after school was over, and got the papers. I guess I'll take care of it, and then fax it to L.K. to give in to print tomorrow.
While I was in school, I spent time talking to my co. She was supposed to go tutor C.O. right after school, but when she told the principal about it, the principal insisted that she back out of it until after Pesach. She wanted time to asses the S.G.L. and C.O. situation. She feared that the tutoring business was becoming a "shtick" between the girls. She also didn't want my co to be put in between the triangle of S.G.L, C.O., and M.R. My co and I had to agree with her. For once LOL!
I'll be subbing in another school tomorrow. I'm taking over my niece's class. I really don't want to waste my Friday, but I do want to get a job in that school, so it's worth a try.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Scrapbooking and a Nice Day
I decided to take my husband's advice and just chill. This morning I didn't get out of bed until it was almost 11. I was so calm, it scared me. Then, when I finally got dressed and spent a couple of minutes on schoolwork, we decided to go out for "brunch".
My husband and I celebrated his birthday by getting iced coffee and driving around the neighborhood.
I made it to school at a quarter past 12 and I was still cool. I got things done once there, and then I went down to monitor lunch. Half of the grade was not there because my co had taken the 7b class to the roof for finally winning their clean up contest. It was a pleasure.
I got a message that the principal wanted to see me, but then she told me to come to her recess time.
Believe it or not, I was still calm as anything.
I took the 7a first because 7b was still on the roof. We did a spelling test, and then the secretary came in to ask me if now was a good time for the art teacher to take over for 45 minutes and do scrapbooking with the girls.
I was so thrilled at the unexpected surprise.
I used the time to mark spelling tests and then after the class, I managed to teach an entire history aim in 15 minutes.
The same thing happened in the other class.
Turns out the principal also changed her mind about needing me so that was good too. Also, the secretary arranged for me to get paid for my ink cartridge.
My day was just great.
I spoke with my co after school, and she told me about G.S. Two girls in 7b, I believe it was C.C.K. and C.S.A., came over to tell my co that they thought that we were being too hard on G.S. They said that G.S. never really meant to do things to annoy the teachers, she was just naturally curious and that got her in trouble. When she got in trouble, she would do something else to prove that it didn't bother her when it actually did bother her very much. And that led to a cycle of misbehaviors.
I didn't mind going easy on her, but I thought that it was awful cute of those two girls to take responsibility for G.S.'s well being. Very cute.
S.G.L. and M.R. broke up and now C.O. became S.G.L.'s new friend. We are all against this friendship, but we agree to give it time to play out.
M.R. was the one who dumped S.G.L. I think she was right in doing so, even though it was probably her mother behind it all.
Problem is, now C.O. and S.G.L. are really antagonizing M.R. and turning the situation into big politics. My co is caught in the middle of all this.
My co tutors S.G.L. and recently began doing M.R. Tonight, Mrs. O. called my co to ask her to tutor C.O. My co was not happy, but agreed to do it once on a trial basis.
We have a huge feeling that C.O. is only doing this because of S.G.L. She is not a stable girls and tends to copy her friends. Her problem is that she has a new friend every 6 weeks.
We spoke to the principal, and my co brought up that S.G.L. was only hooking onto C.O. so that she could get close to C.O.'s friend M.L. who is part of the g.o. and a wonderful girl in general. The principal was not for the friendship, but agreed to let it ride for a bit.
She asked us to keep an eye on what was going on as well as the situation we had with the crushes girls were having on boys. C.O. was in the middle of all of it, she crushed a boy in a well known choir, and it became a class joke. The principal didn't want to make an issue because the thrill had died down a bit. She preferred to have us keep an eye out for it.
All in all, I had a cool, calm, and collected day.
Looking forward to many more!
My husband and I celebrated his birthday by getting iced coffee and driving around the neighborhood.
I made it to school at a quarter past 12 and I was still cool. I got things done once there, and then I went down to monitor lunch. Half of the grade was not there because my co had taken the 7b class to the roof for finally winning their clean up contest. It was a pleasure.
I got a message that the principal wanted to see me, but then she told me to come to her recess time.
Believe it or not, I was still calm as anything.
I took the 7a first because 7b was still on the roof. We did a spelling test, and then the secretary came in to ask me if now was a good time for the art teacher to take over for 45 minutes and do scrapbooking with the girls.
I was so thrilled at the unexpected surprise.
I used the time to mark spelling tests and then after the class, I managed to teach an entire history aim in 15 minutes.
The same thing happened in the other class.
Turns out the principal also changed her mind about needing me so that was good too. Also, the secretary arranged for me to get paid for my ink cartridge.
My day was just great.
I spoke with my co after school, and she told me about G.S. Two girls in 7b, I believe it was C.C.K. and C.S.A., came over to tell my co that they thought that we were being too hard on G.S. They said that G.S. never really meant to do things to annoy the teachers, she was just naturally curious and that got her in trouble. When she got in trouble, she would do something else to prove that it didn't bother her when it actually did bother her very much. And that led to a cycle of misbehaviors.
I didn't mind going easy on her, but I thought that it was awful cute of those two girls to take responsibility for G.S.'s well being. Very cute.
S.G.L. and M.R. broke up and now C.O. became S.G.L.'s new friend. We are all against this friendship, but we agree to give it time to play out.
M.R. was the one who dumped S.G.L. I think she was right in doing so, even though it was probably her mother behind it all.
Problem is, now C.O. and S.G.L. are really antagonizing M.R. and turning the situation into big politics. My co is caught in the middle of all this.
My co tutors S.G.L. and recently began doing M.R. Tonight, Mrs. O. called my co to ask her to tutor C.O. My co was not happy, but agreed to do it once on a trial basis.
We have a huge feeling that C.O. is only doing this because of S.G.L. She is not a stable girls and tends to copy her friends. Her problem is that she has a new friend every 6 weeks.
We spoke to the principal, and my co brought up that S.G.L. was only hooking onto C.O. so that she could get close to C.O.'s friend M.L. who is part of the g.o. and a wonderful girl in general. The principal was not for the friendship, but agreed to let it ride for a bit.
She asked us to keep an eye on what was going on as well as the situation we had with the crushes girls were having on boys. C.O. was in the middle of all of it, she crushed a boy in a well known choir, and it became a class joke. The principal didn't want to make an issue because the thrill had died down a bit. She preferred to have us keep an eye out for it.
All in all, I had a cool, calm, and collected day.
Looking forward to many more!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Ink, Approvals, and Two Weeks Notice
I spoke to the principal about getting paid for the ink cartridges I used for the newspaper, and surprisingly, she agreed with me completely.
While she was in a good mood, I spoke with her about S.G.L. and her test and the letter I was giving her. She gave me her two cents, and then, as I was about to leave, she asked me what my plans were for next year.
To tell the truth, I was unprepared to answer her. I knew what the answer would be, but I didn't know how to say it.
"The truth is," I told her, "the sixth grade only has one class. That means that I'll be teaching only for an hour and half a day next year. I do have to begin looking around for a job that would fill the other part of my day."
She nodded and told me that she didn't expect anything else. I told her that I didn't know whether I'd be able to find a job for just an hour and a half or if I would maybe find a full day job. The principal said that she understood and asked if she had permission to begin looking for a replacement just in case.
I'm planning to leave no matter what, and I think she knows it, even though I didn't say it. I said that she had every right to go out and look for someone for next year.
It's a relief to know that I got that over with. I had worried about what it would be like to tell her that I was looking for another job, and it turned out quite well.
The day itself was pretty decent, the newspaper was copied, and now I'm back home typing.
It's actually my husband's Hebrew birthday tonight, and I'm really taking the night off!!
While she was in a good mood, I spoke with her about S.G.L. and her test and the letter I was giving her. She gave me her two cents, and then, as I was about to leave, she asked me what my plans were for next year.
To tell the truth, I was unprepared to answer her. I knew what the answer would be, but I didn't know how to say it.
"The truth is," I told her, "the sixth grade only has one class. That means that I'll be teaching only for an hour and half a day next year. I do have to begin looking around for a job that would fill the other part of my day."
She nodded and told me that she didn't expect anything else. I told her that I didn't know whether I'd be able to find a job for just an hour and a half or if I would maybe find a full day job. The principal said that she understood and asked if she had permission to begin looking for a replacement just in case.
I'm planning to leave no matter what, and I think she knows it, even though I didn't say it. I said that she had every right to go out and look for someone for next year.
It's a relief to know that I got that over with. I had worried about what it would be like to tell her that I was looking for another job, and it turned out quite well.
The day itself was pretty decent, the newspaper was copied, and now I'm back home typing.
It's actually my husband's Hebrew birthday tonight, and I'm really taking the night off!!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Meetings and Messes part 2
I'm back, and I'm so upset at S.G.L. I had given her a chance to retake a test she had failed, and after spending an hour outside of my classroom today, she handed in an empty paper.
I didn't look at it until now, and I'm shocked. I honestly thought that she would do well. She wrote a long note about how she called her parents from school and that they told her not to take the test. I have no choice but to fail her, and her parents are encouraging it.
I wrote her a letter telling her that I am disappointed because I knew she could do well. I hope it gets to her. She wanted to know how upset I was about her not retaking the test, so I wrote in the letter that she had missed the point.
I can't believe that S.G.L. is so out of touch with reality that she thinks I wanted to give her this test. I explained to her that I only let her retake because I wanted her to do well.
I'm taking the night off because my husband yelled at me for killing myself over school. He wants me to chill out a bit and leave all the unimportant things for later.
I believe he's right. I must learn to "chill out" a little. I haven't been taking much time for myself lately. I'm going to take a break.
I didn't look at it until now, and I'm shocked. I honestly thought that she would do well. She wrote a long note about how she called her parents from school and that they told her not to take the test. I have no choice but to fail her, and her parents are encouraging it.
I wrote her a letter telling her that I am disappointed because I knew she could do well. I hope it gets to her. She wanted to know how upset I was about her not retaking the test, so I wrote in the letter that she had missed the point.
I can't believe that S.G.L. is so out of touch with reality that she thinks I wanted to give her this test. I explained to her that I only let her retake because I wanted her to do well.
I'm taking the night off because my husband yelled at me for killing myself over school. He wants me to chill out a bit and leave all the unimportant things for later.
I believe he's right. I must learn to "chill out" a little. I haven't been taking much time for myself lately. I'm going to take a break.
Meetings and Messes
The first thing I had to do this morning was call the reading specialist. I left a message for her on her cellphone and prayed she wouldn't call me back, but she did.
Then I had to call the principal so that we could give my class computers when I met with the specialist. My day was already a mess.
In school, I rushed around, doing a millon things before class. I had to prepare a lesson, fill in my plansheets, and I also had to put a question in the newspaper "question box." Really, students are supposed to put their questions in there for the Editors to answer, but for some reason, no one wants to volunteer. I had to do it instead.
I wrote a note telling the Editors that my teachers hated me and I didn't know what to do about it.
When the Editors came to tell me that they got a note, they told me it was about a girl trying to get on the honor roll, and she thought her teacher didn't notice. Funny, how creative these girls can get when it comes to hiding the truth from a teacher.
The 7b class drove me nuts today with all their questions. No matter what I said or did, they refused to understand the Marbury vs. Madison courtcase. I was ready to bang my head into the wall.
L.K. was talking again. New seat didn't do anything. L.O. is also giving me problems. I need to go back to Florida.
We sped through some literature, and then I realized that the girls didn't understand a word I said. I asked them why they didn't ask me questions and they told me that they were embarrassed to. One smart aleck told me that all their teachers told them that they ask too many questions. I need to explain to them that constantly asking me to leave the classroom ro when their picture books were due, were not the kind of questions I meant.
Seventh graders!!!!
I sent my newspaper pages to print, and then I got two of them back with mistakes. Yay.
After recess, I taught history, and then I shipped the girls off to computers where they were able to use Print Shop to look for pictures for their picture books. The girls were fuming! They were so angry at the school for only letting them work in school and then still having them have it done before Pesach. I'm angry too, but I can't vent my frustrations on the principal the way they vented on me.
During computers I met with the reading specialist. It was nothing new, but it was good to hear some strategies anyway. It was such a pleasure meeting with a person who ended punctually. The principal could definitely take a lesson.
I gave the classes history questions for homework, and dismissed them.
At home I typed for newspaper again, and now that my husband walked in, I think I'll sign off and go make supper.
Don't go anywhere, there's more to my day.
Then I had to call the principal so that we could give my class computers when I met with the specialist. My day was already a mess.
In school, I rushed around, doing a millon things before class. I had to prepare a lesson, fill in my plansheets, and I also had to put a question in the newspaper "question box." Really, students are supposed to put their questions in there for the Editors to answer, but for some reason, no one wants to volunteer. I had to do it instead.
I wrote a note telling the Editors that my teachers hated me and I didn't know what to do about it.
When the Editors came to tell me that they got a note, they told me it was about a girl trying to get on the honor roll, and she thought her teacher didn't notice. Funny, how creative these girls can get when it comes to hiding the truth from a teacher.
The 7b class drove me nuts today with all their questions. No matter what I said or did, they refused to understand the Marbury vs. Madison courtcase. I was ready to bang my head into the wall.
L.K. was talking again. New seat didn't do anything. L.O. is also giving me problems. I need to go back to Florida.
We sped through some literature, and then I realized that the girls didn't understand a word I said. I asked them why they didn't ask me questions and they told me that they were embarrassed to. One smart aleck told me that all their teachers told them that they ask too many questions. I need to explain to them that constantly asking me to leave the classroom ro when their picture books were due, were not the kind of questions I meant.
Seventh graders!!!!
I sent my newspaper pages to print, and then I got two of them back with mistakes. Yay.
After recess, I taught history, and then I shipped the girls off to computers where they were able to use Print Shop to look for pictures for their picture books. The girls were fuming! They were so angry at the school for only letting them work in school and then still having them have it done before Pesach. I'm angry too, but I can't vent my frustrations on the principal the way they vented on me.
During computers I met with the reading specialist. It was nothing new, but it was good to hear some strategies anyway. It was such a pleasure meeting with a person who ended punctually. The principal could definitely take a lesson.
I gave the classes history questions for homework, and dismissed them.
At home I typed for newspaper again, and now that my husband walked in, I think I'll sign off and go make supper.
Don't go anywhere, there's more to my day.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Seating Change, Gym, and Other Headaches
The first thing I had to take care of as soon as I walked into class, was a seating change. Usually, my co and I will wait until after class to put one up so that we don't have to deal with complaints, but this was an emergency. The 7b class was so unbearable, that we had to sit down Thursday night to make up a new chart.
I gave them a speech the first thing in the morning, even before davening. I told them that of course, there would be no complaints until after Pesach, and that the seats were not up to them, it was something that both teachers had come up with. I made sure they understood that the next seating change for a girl would be for her to spend a day in the 5th grade.
I didn't really have the permission to say that I would punish someone in a another grade., I had to ask the principal first.
I caught hold of her in the hallways while my class was still davening. I told her that I had made a seating change because some girls were acting out.
She immediately accused me of not having a handle on things. "Why didn't you come to me when you were having the problem? Why do you only wait until you're at the end of your rope?"
I was surprised and said, "I've been speaking to you about these girls since September! I'm not at the 'end of my rope' but a seating change was due anyway, so we did it now instead of later, and we're hoping that it'll help the situation here."
She kept going for a while, and then I asked her permission to punish girls in other classes. She didn't like the idea. She has two methods that she sticks to. Either she takes the girl into her office and psychologizes her, or she has the girls move her desk all the way to the blackboard and isolate her from the rest of the class.
I was more than just familiar with the first method, and I hated to shatter her beliefs, but they did not do a thing. The girls would always come back into class laughing, and they were misbehaving again within a matter of minutes.
As for the second of her strategies, I was disgusted. In a school where they catered so much to students how could they even think of doing something that could literally shatter a girl? Going into another class is embarrassing, but to be punished in the front of all your friends? That's terrible for a child's emotional well-being!
I insisted on my form of punishment, even though she kept saying it wouldn't be that effective, and eventually I got the permission. That If I should have to punish any student, I could send her to the 5th grade next door.
I liked the new seating plan a lot. We really managed to isolate the girls we needed to. I took L.K. away from the wall so that she'd be forced to sit straight. T.K., to her horror, was put in the front.
T.K. has been making a big show of sulking during my classes. My co says that she's a doll by her. I'm pretending I don't care. I can't run after her every time she needs attention. I also think that by ignoring her "kvetchyness" it drives her even more nuts. LOL
R.H. is all the way in the back, and G.S. as well. It's hard to keep my fingers crossed while I'm typing, but I'm hoping for it to work out.
It worked nicely in school today, but that could just be because they were getting used to their surroundings. My co said that after recess they were a bit more hyper.
My lesson went so smoothly, I was pleasantly surprised. It hasn't been so easy to deal with this class in a long time.
After recess both classes had gym. I kept busy taking care of newspaper things, but then my co and I joined the game. I gave a plus one to C.O. for getting my co out, and then another plus to C.C.K. for getting me out. It was fun to play with them.
The second class went by ok, even though by that time I was starving. I hadn't had breakfast and by that time I thought I was going to eat some of my students.
I ran to the teacher's room, but they had no food, so I drank water and went to the principal to approve the newspaper writings.
She had something to say about everything. When I say "something to say" I think it's self understood that she didn't always have good things to say.
I got out of there, ran home, and spent the entire afternoon typing and formatting the paper. By the entire afternoon, I mean from 1-5:30 pm. I didn't even get up from my chair in the middle.
At 5:30 I had a phone conversation with my co for about half an hour, and then I continued typing until 7.
Besides for having no life, I also have no ink left in my printer. I replaced the cartridge last Tuesday. I'm not getting paid for this job, the least they could do is compensate me for my ink. These things cost about $30 a cartridge!
Back to my co, she told me that the girls in 7b stayed after school to talk to her about how she and I treated their class. Now I was added to their list of class haters. Seventh grade minds... My co promised to talk with me about it. So we did. But I don't really believe that these girls would recognize that we liked them if we waved it in front of their noses. I can't knock myself out trying to please everyone.
I'm far from laid back about this issue, but to kill myself trying to please 16 seventh graders when I am already giving up shopping in Manhattan to type their paper...Please. When my husband heard that I was giving up buying new shoes for the paper he was fuming. I would document this even if I weren't doing a blog, my husband would rather go shopping for shoes in Macy's with me than watch me get carpal tunnel syndrome typing. Awwww.
I thought my school day was over when I left the house to go to a wedding, but when I got back, there was a message on my machine from the principal. She wanted me to call the reading specialist in school so that she could teach me techniques that I would be able to use with S.G.L. I am miserable.
I called my co, but she hadn't gotten a call. This was a special form of torture meant just for me.
So in addition to making Pesach, typing the newspaper, teaching, my nephew's wedding, and just plain dealing with school, I also have to do reading lessons.
Help.
I gave them a speech the first thing in the morning, even before davening. I told them that of course, there would be no complaints until after Pesach, and that the seats were not up to them, it was something that both teachers had come up with. I made sure they understood that the next seating change for a girl would be for her to spend a day in the 5th grade.
I didn't really have the permission to say that I would punish someone in a another grade., I had to ask the principal first.
I caught hold of her in the hallways while my class was still davening. I told her that I had made a seating change because some girls were acting out.
She immediately accused me of not having a handle on things. "Why didn't you come to me when you were having the problem? Why do you only wait until you're at the end of your rope?"
I was surprised and said, "I've been speaking to you about these girls since September! I'm not at the 'end of my rope' but a seating change was due anyway, so we did it now instead of later, and we're hoping that it'll help the situation here."
She kept going for a while, and then I asked her permission to punish girls in other classes. She didn't like the idea. She has two methods that she sticks to. Either she takes the girl into her office and psychologizes her, or she has the girls move her desk all the way to the blackboard and isolate her from the rest of the class.
I was more than just familiar with the first method, and I hated to shatter her beliefs, but they did not do a thing. The girls would always come back into class laughing, and they were misbehaving again within a matter of minutes.
As for the second of her strategies, I was disgusted. In a school where they catered so much to students how could they even think of doing something that could literally shatter a girl? Going into another class is embarrassing, but to be punished in the front of all your friends? That's terrible for a child's emotional well-being!
I insisted on my form of punishment, even though she kept saying it wouldn't be that effective, and eventually I got the permission. That If I should have to punish any student, I could send her to the 5th grade next door.
I liked the new seating plan a lot. We really managed to isolate the girls we needed to. I took L.K. away from the wall so that she'd be forced to sit straight. T.K., to her horror, was put in the front.
T.K. has been making a big show of sulking during my classes. My co says that she's a doll by her. I'm pretending I don't care. I can't run after her every time she needs attention. I also think that by ignoring her "kvetchyness" it drives her even more nuts. LOL
R.H. is all the way in the back, and G.S. as well. It's hard to keep my fingers crossed while I'm typing, but I'm hoping for it to work out.
It worked nicely in school today, but that could just be because they were getting used to their surroundings. My co said that after recess they were a bit more hyper.
My lesson went so smoothly, I was pleasantly surprised. It hasn't been so easy to deal with this class in a long time.
After recess both classes had gym. I kept busy taking care of newspaper things, but then my co and I joined the game. I gave a plus one to C.O. for getting my co out, and then another plus to C.C.K. for getting me out. It was fun to play with them.
The second class went by ok, even though by that time I was starving. I hadn't had breakfast and by that time I thought I was going to eat some of my students.
I ran to the teacher's room, but they had no food, so I drank water and went to the principal to approve the newspaper writings.
She had something to say about everything. When I say "something to say" I think it's self understood that she didn't always have good things to say.
I got out of there, ran home, and spent the entire afternoon typing and formatting the paper. By the entire afternoon, I mean from 1-5:30 pm. I didn't even get up from my chair in the middle.
At 5:30 I had a phone conversation with my co for about half an hour, and then I continued typing until 7.
Besides for having no life, I also have no ink left in my printer. I replaced the cartridge last Tuesday. I'm not getting paid for this job, the least they could do is compensate me for my ink. These things cost about $30 a cartridge!
Back to my co, she told me that the girls in 7b stayed after school to talk to her about how she and I treated their class. Now I was added to their list of class haters. Seventh grade minds... My co promised to talk with me about it. So we did. But I don't really believe that these girls would recognize that we liked them if we waved it in front of their noses. I can't knock myself out trying to please everyone.
I'm far from laid back about this issue, but to kill myself trying to please 16 seventh graders when I am already giving up shopping in Manhattan to type their paper...Please. When my husband heard that I was giving up buying new shoes for the paper he was fuming. I would document this even if I weren't doing a blog, my husband would rather go shopping for shoes in Macy's with me than watch me get carpal tunnel syndrome typing. Awwww.
I thought my school day was over when I left the house to go to a wedding, but when I got back, there was a message on my machine from the principal. She wanted me to call the reading specialist in school so that she could teach me techniques that I would be able to use with S.G.L. I am miserable.
I called my co, but she hadn't gotten a call. This was a special form of torture meant just for me.
So in addition to making Pesach, typing the newspaper, teaching, my nephew's wedding, and just plain dealing with school, I also have to do reading lessons.
Help.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Spring Fever
I spent the morning applying to other schools. I faxed my resume to any school that would take it. I got a comment from a friend of mine, N.Y.F., about my first post on this blog. My friend was saying how my views had changed so much since the beginning of this year. At first I was all idealistic, I was teaching for heart and not for money, and now all I talk about is how little I get paid LOL. N.Y.F. is right. My ideals have changed. But not all the way.
I still believe that teaching is all about heart, and not about the amount you get paid. But now the issue that I'm really angry about is the respect we teachers get. Or maybe 'don't' get' is more correct.
You would think that parents would respect the people who mold their kids' minds just a bit more. We have to put up with so much today that teachers didn't have to in the past. The attitudes of the kids and parents, the idea that teachers are disposable... The money was never an issue until I realized that for everything I go through for these kids, I deserve a little more recognition.
I have a huge feeling that it has a lot to do with the school I'm teaching in.
Of the schools I applied to today, when I asked about salary, the lowest quote I got was $15,ooo. That's more than double the amount I make now. This is not to say that $15,000 is a lot, but it's better than $6,000. The people I spoke to were also so much nicer than anyone I've heard for the past couple of months.
Lately, I've been a lot more anxious about this whole school situation. I even convinced my co to begin applying to other schools. Maybe it's just spring fever.
Talking about spring fever, my students have it bad.
The 7a class had won a clean-up contest with my co, so she bought them pizza and they had lunch on the roof. The 7b class was out to kill.
Just my luck, I had them first today. They were so jumpy and annoying, it was a wonder I kept my cool. R.H. took her time distracting the class by calling out during literature about newspaper things she had to do. I sent her out to take care of them.
When she came back into class, she made a huge deal about having missed 3 lines in her notes. What did she think? I was going to wait for her? She then spent a nice portion of time cutting out circles of purple paper for my co's class. I stopped the entire lesson to put her in her place.
Then L.K. started up. At least twice a week L.K. tells me as soon as I walk into class about something hurting her. Usually not something can do anything about. Recently, I began asking her if a kiss would make it go away. It works like a charm on my 4 year old brother. She turned red and since then she's slowly stopping to to interrupt my class with all her stories.
But today was a nightmare. She got up in the middle of class to get something from R.H.'s desk. R.H. sits 3 seats behind her. She's always turning around to talk to M.P. or someone, and I can't stand it. I really gave it to her.
T.K. was bothering me so much today. She also has this thing everyday when I come into class, she complains at how cold it is. It could be 100 degrees outside, but she'll need to put up this show of being cold. It kills me.
She also has to go out of my class about 4 times every day.
Today I refused to let her out of class during literature. I didn't let anyone go out of class during literature today. In two minutes she raised her hand 4 times. "Can I go out now?" Ohhhh, if looks could kill...
I let only the newspaper girls out. When I sent L.K. out to finish her covers for newspaper, T.K. asked if she could join her. I put my book down for a minute and looked at her. Then I said quietly, "There is a difference between leaving class, and being made to leave. Don't make me teach you the difference."
After literature, when I began writing, I started letting girls out. T.K. refused to raise her hand. She just whispered loudly to the girls around her, "She's ignoring me on purpose... She knows I want to go out!"
I ignored her until she raised her hand.
It was such a relief to get out of there.
I gave out the finally developed Purim pictures to the girls. They were all thrilled with them, but it really added to the spring fever mood.
The other class was quieter, yet, they're also "spring fevering." C.O. was not sitting still all day. Lately, she's becoming friends with S.G.L. and they've taken to whispering across the classroom. My nerves are fraying little by little.
At the end of the day, the girls showed me a bunch of baby pictures they'd brought in and made me guess who was who. I'm terrible at this, but I looked at them anyway. I had actually brought in my own baby picture for my co so that she could play this game with the girls during their special lunch. She said that they really enjoyed it.
The twelfth grade was so immature. I can't believe that they're only a year younger than I am. I was showing them a presntation called Inspired and there were some girls who were giggling at one part. They make me feel so much older than 18 and a half.
Ok, I'm almost 19 by now. Two months left to go. But still, there's no reason 18 year olds should be acting so immature.
I spent a lot of time typing for newspaper. There are no articles coming in, and I have a feeling that this paper will be a disappointment to the girls. They thought that just because they were able to get a paper done in a week, having three weeks would be a breeze. But quite the contrary, it's far from it!
Especially, when I'm left doing all the work.
But at least it looked good on my resume. I made sure to write that I took care of publishing the school newspaper.
I also enrolled in a college course for creative writing. That's one thing I'm excited for.
The other thing I'm excited for is going to bed. It's about 1:30 am.
I still believe that teaching is all about heart, and not about the amount you get paid. But now the issue that I'm really angry about is the respect we teachers get. Or maybe 'don't' get' is more correct.
You would think that parents would respect the people who mold their kids' minds just a bit more. We have to put up with so much today that teachers didn't have to in the past. The attitudes of the kids and parents, the idea that teachers are disposable... The money was never an issue until I realized that for everything I go through for these kids, I deserve a little more recognition.
I have a huge feeling that it has a lot to do with the school I'm teaching in.
Of the schools I applied to today, when I asked about salary, the lowest quote I got was $15,ooo. That's more than double the amount I make now. This is not to say that $15,000 is a lot, but it's better than $6,000. The people I spoke to were also so much nicer than anyone I've heard for the past couple of months.
Lately, I've been a lot more anxious about this whole school situation. I even convinced my co to begin applying to other schools. Maybe it's just spring fever.
Talking about spring fever, my students have it bad.
The 7a class had won a clean-up contest with my co, so she bought them pizza and they had lunch on the roof. The 7b class was out to kill.
Just my luck, I had them first today. They were so jumpy and annoying, it was a wonder I kept my cool. R.H. took her time distracting the class by calling out during literature about newspaper things she had to do. I sent her out to take care of them.
When she came back into class, she made a huge deal about having missed 3 lines in her notes. What did she think? I was going to wait for her? She then spent a nice portion of time cutting out circles of purple paper for my co's class. I stopped the entire lesson to put her in her place.
Then L.K. started up. At least twice a week L.K. tells me as soon as I walk into class about something hurting her. Usually not something can do anything about. Recently, I began asking her if a kiss would make it go away. It works like a charm on my 4 year old brother. She turned red and since then she's slowly stopping to to interrupt my class with all her stories.
But today was a nightmare. She got up in the middle of class to get something from R.H.'s desk. R.H. sits 3 seats behind her. She's always turning around to talk to M.P. or someone, and I can't stand it. I really gave it to her.
T.K. was bothering me so much today. She also has this thing everyday when I come into class, she complains at how cold it is. It could be 100 degrees outside, but she'll need to put up this show of being cold. It kills me.
She also has to go out of my class about 4 times every day.
Today I refused to let her out of class during literature. I didn't let anyone go out of class during literature today. In two minutes she raised her hand 4 times. "Can I go out now?" Ohhhh, if looks could kill...
I let only the newspaper girls out. When I sent L.K. out to finish her covers for newspaper, T.K. asked if she could join her. I put my book down for a minute and looked at her. Then I said quietly, "There is a difference between leaving class, and being made to leave. Don't make me teach you the difference."
After literature, when I began writing, I started letting girls out. T.K. refused to raise her hand. She just whispered loudly to the girls around her, "She's ignoring me on purpose... She knows I want to go out!"
I ignored her until she raised her hand.
It was such a relief to get out of there.
I gave out the finally developed Purim pictures to the girls. They were all thrilled with them, but it really added to the spring fever mood.
The other class was quieter, yet, they're also "spring fevering." C.O. was not sitting still all day. Lately, she's becoming friends with S.G.L. and they've taken to whispering across the classroom. My nerves are fraying little by little.
At the end of the day, the girls showed me a bunch of baby pictures they'd brought in and made me guess who was who. I'm terrible at this, but I looked at them anyway. I had actually brought in my own baby picture for my co so that she could play this game with the girls during their special lunch. She said that they really enjoyed it.
The twelfth grade was so immature. I can't believe that they're only a year younger than I am. I was showing them a presntation called Inspired and there were some girls who were giggling at one part. They make me feel so much older than 18 and a half.
Ok, I'm almost 19 by now. Two months left to go. But still, there's no reason 18 year olds should be acting so immature.
I spent a lot of time typing for newspaper. There are no articles coming in, and I have a feeling that this paper will be a disappointment to the girls. They thought that just because they were able to get a paper done in a week, having three weeks would be a breeze. But quite the contrary, it's far from it!
Especially, when I'm left doing all the work.
But at least it looked good on my resume. I made sure to write that I took care of publishing the school newspaper.
I also enrolled in a college course for creative writing. That's one thing I'm excited for.
The other thing I'm excited for is going to bed. It's about 1:30 am.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Picture Books, Attitudes, and Voicemail Systems
Today I spent the entire day on the revision of the girls' picture books. I taught them the 5 questions of revision, (Who, What they want, But, So, and Then what?) and I gave back their drafts so that they could revise.
7a were dolls about the whole thing. We had such cute discussions about different books that were written terribly. E.F.G. was especially interested here. She had a ton to offer on the topic.
The girls were on the edge of seats, waiting to get their drafts back, but I refused to give them back until the end of the lesson. I basically remembered the different plots of the girls, and the were thrilled whenever I made a reference to their books.
When I gave the drafts back, the girls began working on them right away.
In the 7b class, all I got was opposition. They kept interrupting my lesson, and when I finally gave the papers back, you had to hear the commotion going on as the girls began complaining about the amount of work they'd now have to put into revising their books.
L.K. especially, had such an attitude, that I was horrified. She began yelling at me about how her mother was going to call the principal to complain.
I lost it then. I got up and told them that if I had to keep dealing with this type of attitude, I was going to give them the entire thing to do for homework. I didn't come to school every day to deal with this.
I told them that if they thought calling the principal was the right thing to do, they were more than welcome to do so. Not that they needed my permission, they did it anyway. I asked L.K. if she thought she was threatening me by telling me this. I asked her if she thought I still had no clue that her mother called school on almost a daily basis.
She tried to have a staring contest with me, but I was the founder of the "staring teachers down" idea, so she didn't get anywhere far.
The class was shocked at my speech.
R.H. said that it wasn't fair that they weren't given all the lessons at once. They kept hearing things in bits and pieces. I told them honestly that I got the lessons in pieces and that I was just as confused as they were. I was honest, I told them that I didn't have all the answers all the time, and that if they had a question that I couldn't answer, they should take it to the principal. The girls were so shocked that I was so calm about them going to the principal. They were totally caught off guard.
They quickly turned the complaint into, " but we can never get through to the principal! She's always so busy!"
They got into the talk of having a voicemail system to get through to all the important people out there. I explained to the girls how a voicemail system worked.
When they asked how I knew so much on the topic, I told them that that's what my father did for a living and that my parents had one in their home.
They asked for the number so that they could call. I refused to give it to them, but I promised that if they would work on revising now, I would show it to them after class.
As soon as 4:15 came, I took out my cell-phone and called. The girls got a big kick out of it.
Now I'm waiting for the calls from the parents to come.
7a were dolls about the whole thing. We had such cute discussions about different books that were written terribly. E.F.G. was especially interested here. She had a ton to offer on the topic.
The girls were on the edge of seats, waiting to get their drafts back, but I refused to give them back until the end of the lesson. I basically remembered the different plots of the girls, and the were thrilled whenever I made a reference to their books.
When I gave the drafts back, the girls began working on them right away.
In the 7b class, all I got was opposition. They kept interrupting my lesson, and when I finally gave the papers back, you had to hear the commotion going on as the girls began complaining about the amount of work they'd now have to put into revising their books.
L.K. especially, had such an attitude, that I was horrified. She began yelling at me about how her mother was going to call the principal to complain.
I lost it then. I got up and told them that if I had to keep dealing with this type of attitude, I was going to give them the entire thing to do for homework. I didn't come to school every day to deal with this.
I told them that if they thought calling the principal was the right thing to do, they were more than welcome to do so. Not that they needed my permission, they did it anyway. I asked L.K. if she thought she was threatening me by telling me this. I asked her if she thought I still had no clue that her mother called school on almost a daily basis.
She tried to have a staring contest with me, but I was the founder of the "staring teachers down" idea, so she didn't get anywhere far.
The class was shocked at my speech.
R.H. said that it wasn't fair that they weren't given all the lessons at once. They kept hearing things in bits and pieces. I told them honestly that I got the lessons in pieces and that I was just as confused as they were. I was honest, I told them that I didn't have all the answers all the time, and that if they had a question that I couldn't answer, they should take it to the principal. The girls were so shocked that I was so calm about them going to the principal. They were totally caught off guard.
They quickly turned the complaint into, " but we can never get through to the principal! She's always so busy!"
They got into the talk of having a voicemail system to get through to all the important people out there. I explained to the girls how a voicemail system worked.
When they asked how I knew so much on the topic, I told them that that's what my father did for a living and that my parents had one in their home.
They asked for the number so that they could call. I refused to give it to them, but I promised that if they would work on revising now, I would show it to them after class.
As soon as 4:15 came, I took out my cell-phone and called. The girls got a big kick out of it.
Now I'm waiting for the calls from the parents to come.
Pay Raise
I got to thinking. I'm working really hard, and to tell you the truth, half of what I'm doing wasn't even outlined in my contract. For example, the newspaper.
My contract was exactly two lines long. It said nothing about newspaper, nothing about dress code, and nothing about dealing with an idiot of a principal. I really have every right to demand a pay raise.
But I have no guts. And besides, what'll I get anyways, an extra $25 a month? For that kind of money, I'm not going to bother asking. But then again, do I want to keep working like this for nothing?
I spoke to the other teachers about this and they all agreed that I better ask for a raise.
But don't be fooled by the title. I'm not getting a raise any time soon. I still have to work up the nerve to ask.
I had an amazing lesson in the 7a class. I flew through history, and I got half of chapter eight done in the novel we're reading.
I was worried about getting it all done in 7b, but I did it. Whew. But I don't think I'll get my hopes up for tomorrow.
Tomorrow I plan on doing writing all day. Between a minilesson on revising and having them actually revise, I think it'll take up a lot of time. Whatever time I have left, I figure I'll do a history review.
The newspaper girls are hard at work on their next issue. I'm already dreading all the typing. But slowly I'm learning that I can't control everything and everyone. The girls will hand in the articles next Tuesday, and until then, worrying won't get me anywhere.
"Worry is like a rocking chair; it keeps you going, but gets you nowhere."
I need to put that in big, bold letters in every room of my flat. I should listen to my own advice once in a while. LOL
I haven't had a moment to breathe ever since I got home today. Between preparing new lessons, making up the "easy" history test, making supper, running out to a wedding, helping out another teacher, and blogging, I'm starting to feel just a tiny bit drained.
Having my first cousin's wedding tomorrow, an all night affair, doesn't make things any easier for me.
I think I need to take a lesson from my computer.
It's 12:30 am now, I'm gonna crash.
My contract was exactly two lines long. It said nothing about newspaper, nothing about dress code, and nothing about dealing with an idiot of a principal. I really have every right to demand a pay raise.
But I have no guts. And besides, what'll I get anyways, an extra $25 a month? For that kind of money, I'm not going to bother asking. But then again, do I want to keep working like this for nothing?
I spoke to the other teachers about this and they all agreed that I better ask for a raise.
But don't be fooled by the title. I'm not getting a raise any time soon. I still have to work up the nerve to ask.
I had an amazing lesson in the 7a class. I flew through history, and I got half of chapter eight done in the novel we're reading.
I was worried about getting it all done in 7b, but I did it. Whew. But I don't think I'll get my hopes up for tomorrow.
Tomorrow I plan on doing writing all day. Between a minilesson on revising and having them actually revise, I think it'll take up a lot of time. Whatever time I have left, I figure I'll do a history review.
The newspaper girls are hard at work on their next issue. I'm already dreading all the typing. But slowly I'm learning that I can't control everything and everyone. The girls will hand in the articles next Tuesday, and until then, worrying won't get me anywhere.
"Worry is like a rocking chair; it keeps you going, but gets you nowhere."
I need to put that in big, bold letters in every room of my flat. I should listen to my own advice once in a while. LOL
I haven't had a moment to breathe ever since I got home today. Between preparing new lessons, making up the "easy" history test, making supper, running out to a wedding, helping out another teacher, and blogging, I'm starting to feel just a tiny bit drained.
Having my first cousin's wedding tomorrow, an all night affair, doesn't make things any easier for me.
I think I need to take a lesson from my computer.
It's 12:30 am now, I'm gonna crash.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
