Skip to main content

As Time Goes By

Why has a month gone by since I've posted? This school year has become so busy, it's almost like first year all over again!

  1. Due to a staff member leaving last year, I'm now the Honor Society Advisor. Sadly, this position does not pay actual money. It does carry quite a bit of responsibility at the moment as we begin the annual food drive. Next weekend, is our auction and I'm a tad worried about having something to auction. So far, I've received promises for a nice pen set.
  2. I am getting paid to do Home Hospital for an ill student. Lots of running around gathering assignments and phone calls. At least this pays.
  3. I started my Pro-Cert program. I initially had thought to do a program that only took a year... luckily I changed my mind and went with one that is much more flexible on scheduling. However, the first class started with a bang and I spent quite a bit of time working on initial assignments.
  4. I have a dog and house, both of which require a lot of time. Walking, picking up poop, mowing. Mental Note: must remember to get those daffodil bulbs in soon.
  5. I doing physical therapy twice a week for "tendonitis." So far, my insurance company has paid a bit of money, but I'm not seeing any real improvement. It's pretty much the same as always. On the plus side, I have met some nice people and made new friends.
  6. I'm working on a project that probably should be taking more of time, but spends much of the time on the back burner.
  7. AP classes, while fun, are a HUGE amount of work. Half the time, I feel like I've no idea what I'm doing and the students all know it. Plus, I'm drowning in paper.

Friday started our annual food drive. Now, lots of schools do food drives during this time of year. I remember my mother scouring our cupboards for weird cans for me to bring in and the little pile in front of the school office. Oh, for those simple days. Our local food drive is intense! This year's goal is over one million pounds between competing schools (last year was just shy). Each dollar counts as 10 pounds, so thousands of dollars go to the county food banks. Everyone in area participates and nary a soul dares to turn away a request.

Last night was the staff talent show - or rather, the lack of talent show. I sang the Oscar Meyer Bologna song (video may appear soon!) and apparently the students loved it. I think they loved watching me make an idiot of myself and all I can say is when the Sunday paper featured the show on the front page, I was grateful to not to be featured. Pigtails haven't looked good on me since I was 8.

Comments

Ryan said…
ProCert...ugh. I did mine through Eastern Washington U, and it did absolutely nothing to help me be a better teacher. It did leave me several thousand dollars poorer for the experience, though.

Last year Terry Bergeson pushed hard to get a pay raise for teachers who have ProCert, similar to the one we get for having a Master's degree. I'd like to see that happen.
2:44 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“They Don’t Get It”

I hear that a lot these days. It used to be mostly from various teens trying to negotiate the drama unfolding in their lives as they wandered into that no-man’s land between adult and child. These days it’s from adults trying to navigate the education scene these days. So many people talking and no one listening. The other day I was reading a post by a blogger I’ve been following for several years. Before there was such a thing as “blogging.” We all know spring is IEP review season. This blogger wrote about his daughter’s. Among the various elements, there was the discussion about the state assessment tests. She did not pass. There was discussion about what this means… and why said student needed to pass this test. Would she be taking a modified test? While reading, all I could think about was what would happen to that child as she entered middle school and high school. A history of not passing the assessment test vs. teachers who will now be evaluated on how many students pass t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Cruelest Month

I know T.S. Eliot favored April as the most cruel, but we teachers know that May is… even more so these days. Most importantly, it is the final testing month. National ‘assessments, state ‘assessments’, district ‘assessments’, school ‘assessments’… on and on. It’s impossible to actually get anything done. Toss in graduation activities, planning for the upcoming year and the 2011 bonus, lay-offs and transfers, and you have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to save money by simply shutting down school entirely except for a few test proctors. Meanwhile, there seems an air of hopelessness permeating the education world. Plans to lay-off thousands are coming to fruition. Schools are being closed, despite protests. Charters are increasing where they can whether they should not. Unions have lost a lot ground and teachers are trying to decide if it’s even worth it any more to continue talking about education . ( not that I blame anyone for that, we all have lives to live ) For myself, I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Campaign Promises

While purusing the Sunday paper, I came across an article describing some local candidate forum held over the weekend. Apprently they either weren't able to say a lot or what they said was pretty boring because the article was skimpy on specifics. What caught my eye was a position of Randy Dutton. He wants "higher standards for teachers." My interest was piqued... what kind of standards? In looking at his website, apparently those standards will be raised by carrying a gun to school, finally; "full days of school"-whatever that means - personally I'd love to put in business hours. No more 5 am wake ups; increasing the number of k-8 schools - because those kindergartners don't swear enough; sending disruptive students to placed like Habit for Humanity - babysitting is what people volunteer for; and teaching more American History- too bad that with all the testing, no one ever gets past the Civil War... I'm not sure how any of these apply to teachers, ...
Post a Comment
Read more