I get a week off in the not too distant future.

Anyway, unfortunately, I am going to fly across the country to visit my parents for that week. I want to spend time with them, but I also do not want to travel. Killer layovers, time difference, etc. I will not be rested when I return.

Today was a good one and a rough one. A student I worked with will be out on a medical leave so to speak. Trying to get the family to get him into the doctors for evaluations. Lots of self injury. It is sad that he is tormented. Praying for follow through and information. A great kid, lots of potential and tricky to sort out. Happens with our kiddos sometimes.

Pretty damn miserable.
 

Not a happy camper. Still.

Went to a work dinner tonight but it was mostly managers since only one colleague turned up. The project manager pulled me aside afterwards and told me that at a state board of education meeting, there were complaints still being made about me. I'm "too forceful". The project manager wants me to "soften" my personality. To be "nicer". To just, in general, change my personality.

This complaint goes quite nicely with the only earlier this year, that I "show my face".

Maybe I should forget about doing my Master's and be a backpacker bum around Asia.

Forgot to add, one of my teachers sent me a text message around 5pm saying that she and her two colleagues won't be at school tomorrow. Meaning that the workshop can't be held at her school. Teachers go home at 2.30pm but she couldn't text me then or even earlier.

Good news re discipline in our district. I just heard that they are going to jettison the zero tolerance policy.

Halleluja!

I think I posted this before. The ACLU talking points on the school to prison pipeline. It's old but, unfortunately, it still describes what is happening. http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/s...talking-points

Did anyone see the PBS show last night called Dropout Nation. I haven't yet. It's online now. I am a little afraid to. I heard an excerpt on the radio, and it sounded too obvious to be interesting.

Having been a teacher in so-called drop out factories for five of my seven years of teaching in California, I am kind of sensitive on the subject.

Found out from one of my teachers, that the teacher who sent me an sms yesterday went ahead and informed the other teachers that there probably won't be a workshop today because she and her colleagues will be absent.

Hello?! I think that's MY job.

And, I emailed the Project Manager today and asked to swap schools for next year. There's a vacancy and it shouldn't make any difference to the new person since my schools are in the same general area - well, my schools are a bit more north. He had better bloody say yes.

I am glad the zero tolerance policy is going away! I liked the talking points memo from the ACLU that you posted.

Funny for me, I work in a zero tolerance school, that doesn't really do consequences. And that drives me crazy. Both parts. Have policy, don't follow it. What? Well I should ammend that to say follow it only if the student is poor or non white. grrr!

Zero Tolerance = Maybe - Maybe not....

Well, the good news, sort of, is that I'll have a different batch of schools next year. Closer to where I live but I'll have to deal with local traffic rather than highway traffic (not my idea of a good time). Plus, teacher from these schools warned that I was a "spy" for the state board of education officer for primary school English. :|

Oh yeah, and I have to go halves on a new phone to replace the one that I lent to my colleague (an American elementary school teacher) and she returned in shit condition without the battery recharger.

I wonder what would happen if you asked for a porta potty or one of these for your room?
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...wxEiRQ67nSbxpl

I suppose they would call you needy. Just like they do when you ask for chairs.

I am teasing of course. More than a little irritated with "working conditions".

Have a fridge, microwave, a place to lie down...give me the porta potty and a copy machine...no need to ever leave Dante's Lair...lol.

I recommend putting in a PO just to see what happens. It may actually come.

I'm sure there are other places to put this link as well, but thought it would be a great one for teachers. A news anchor (I think she's a news anchor) was criticised by a viewer for being fat. Here's her come-back on bullying:

http://jezebel.com/5948276/the-best-...called-her-fat

And a weekly chair massage!

If message chair and alcohol drink vending machines are not on the vendor list I just don't know if you can continue to work there... I mean as a professional you must have standards. :)

Well absolutely, low bid is just fine. It is public education and all! :)
BK have a great day!

Wednesday is meeting day. I have an 8:30, 11:30 and 3:30 meetings today. And this is a light load on meetings. Rolling eyes.

Well I've been checking progress on the students I work with. They are sailing along! Making gains. One more data point and the graphs will be fun to show them. Even with 2 data points they are going to start to make sense of them. The progress monitoring makes so much sense to them once they can see the graphs. We've been using example graphs to share the idea... but as 2nd graders they relate better to their own. I love this part of being a special education teacher. Talking about their brains, their strategies, their strengths and how to ask questions for their learning.

I also spent an hour with the unified arts teachers (music, art, library, pe, technology) updating them on students I case manage and accommodations. I do believe they left with a better appreciation of the students as people. They seemed to have a handle on what works for them and individual students in there classes. I heard lots of ideas from them about the kids. Now that was awesome!

Ok, just finished writing my arse-kissing licking and begging letter. Let's hope I get to keep my job.

But, I think I have to seriously consider if working in Asia is the place for me and my personality. I also think that that considering is probably long overdue. And, I wonder if this kind of teaching is really what I'm good at ...

So many things to think about. And to think, when I was in high school I thought that maybe I'd become a kindergarten teacher because I wasn't smart enough for anything else - yeah that's often the prevailing attitude about kindergarten teaching unfortunately.

I teach in a community homeschool group one day a week. Such a difference. I've gotten my teaching degree and dabbled in a few private and public schools. I don't know how y'all do it. One private school I was in was wonderful, kind of a three room school house for kids 5-18 years old, separated by learning style. That was about 15 years ago and the school closed down about 10 years ago for various reasons.
Now I have a group of 25 kids, aged 3-17. I teach health, nutrition, and cooking with them. Love it.

Not too shabby a day today. Did three observations. The first one, well could have been a lot better, but at least he doesn't get defensive and blame the kids for his teaching inadequacies.

Went on to my Chinese school and the Head of English ROCKED her lesson! Was damn fabulous especially because she had surgery for appendicitis only a few weeks ago. She did a language arts lesson based on the Hare and the Tortoise and what was even lovelier for mepersonally, is that later she said that although this is a lesson she taught last year, she got some additional ideas from me. :tea:

Quite nice after being told last week that the teachers haven't learnt anything from me. Quite frankly I think the local educational officer for Primary School English is playing games. A couple of weeks ago she said at a state meeting, WITH my boss in attendance that my teachers find me forceful. Funnily enough she was talking about comments made at the beginning of this year by teachers at one school still (insert adjective of choice) about how they felt last year.

I have never done this, but I have always had small classes, so enough time to talk to parents. I love meeting them. Always a surprise or two on Open House.

Yes..approved vendor a must. Now just have to ensure it's an allowable expense!