TGIF!!!!!!!!!!

Thank God it’s Friday because:

·        It’s not Thursday (a la Ground Hog’s Day) (4/16/10)

·        Only 9 more left (including today) and tomorrow I get to watch my son race his pinewood derby car with the big boys ;) (4/23/10)

Another One in the Books

Tonight was Open House, one of the true “joys” of teaching. This year I have had the absolute pressure, I mean pleasure, of teaching a reading intervention class to struggling readers. One class is my saccharin class, sweet and low. Another class is my future felon’s class. Usually, at an open house only the students who want their parents to see how they are doing show up. Tonight a student and his parents showed up who I’m sure he did not want them to see how he is doing. To his parent’s credit, they showed up and expressed sincere concern. The boy sat down and put his head in his hands. I almost felt sorry for him. Usually the block head doesn’t fall far from the tree. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.


The rest of the evening I caught up on some house cleaning issues and finished some reading. Not bad for a necessary evil.

21 Forever? Doesn’t Look Like It

I suppose everybody knows someone who fails to come to grips with the reality of aging. My school has one. She is obviously 50 something and enjoys dressing like a 20 something year old barfly. I think it is apparent that she also employs certain devises to attempt to defy the laws of aging and gravity.


She is a teacher’s assistant by job title only. Everyday when I arrive at work she is in the attendance office using a school MacIntosh computer to look up sites on Latino boxers or trying to find deals on clothes for twenty something year olds who are 50 something year old broads.



In the classroom she does 0 ÷ 3, on a good day. She complains that the students don’t respect her and are very bad; unaware that they think she’s a joke.



I share a room with a teacher who suffers with her services. The few times I went into the room while my fellow teacher was in there, she was sitting at the teacher’s desk, you guessed it, using a school computer to look up sites on Latino boxers or trying to find deals on twenty something looking clothes for 50 something broads.



Twenty something…divided by at least two.

A Bit Jealous

Sometimes it is hard being both a parent and a teacher. I work in an urban school district. Most of the students come from families of modest means. I live in a nice community with nice schools. This week, at my children's school, it is teacher appreciation week. I think it’s flax jacket week at my school. So, I admit, I’m jealous! This is what the week will look like for my son’s teacher.



Monday: Receive thank you note with a nicety attached. (I may send out detention notices.)



Tuesday: Receive flowers. (I received flowers once from a family, but I think they thought they were coming to my funeral.)



Wednesday: Receive something movie related such as popcorn, candy, or movie tickets.

(I can look at the acceptable use policy for movies if I want something movie related.)



Thursday: Receive something Disney related. (I could take my family to Disney and shell out hundreds of dollars.)



Friday: Receive something timeshare related. No, seriously, receive a gift card.



What can I say? I’m just a bit envious.

Why Keep Me? Can districts, should districts save us all?

I have a question. The district I work for has been losing students, also known as a decrease in enrollment. The number is vague but it looks like at least 10%. I am not worried about where they are going, because they probably moved out of state (like my wife wants to do). My question is this: Why keep teachers for students the district no longer services?


Before I became a teacher I worked in construction, sales, and restaurants. In business profits are controlled by costs and costs usually consist of supplies and labor. A business, if it wants to be successful and profitable, does not purchase supplies or labor it does not need or use. The cost of running a school district is directly, if not mostly related to the cost of labor, also known as teacher salaries. So, my question becomes this: If the district has lost 10% of their students which, via ADA (Average Daily Attendance) supplies the funds for teacher salaries, have we reduced our teaching force in due manner?



For fun, let us just say over the last 5 years we lost 100,000 students. Even if we assume a ratio of 30:1 that would mean about 3,333 teachers are no longer needed. If the teachers are not let go what does the district do with them? If the district holds on to said teachers to provide smaller classroom sizes many would believe that to be a good idea. How small do we go? Can the district afford to do such a magnanimous gesture (to the teachers or the students)? What might get sacrificed to allow this option?



My fellow teachers and I just agreed to a form of a pay cut. The result was that thousands of teachers were not let go. Sounds nice, but if there are not students for them to teach, why keep them? Why keep you? Why keep me?