Friday. A bit chilly today in terms of the weather, but I have to admit that today was a minimally stressful day.

12 (out of 23) of my students showed up. Today was also stepping-up day for Pre-K and Kindergarten. Not taking chances, I planned and acted as if today was nothing special, but that did not last. A couple of students went to the stepping-up ceremony, and the drama teacher actual asked if I could do without Motor Mouth Milly for a few hours. This is a girl who can carry on a conversation with a wall. Having about 10 students made them less talkative. Then, my 9:15 prep called to ask if I could change to 1:20. About 9:20, the Art in Education teacher arrived, even though I had called her yesterday evening to let her know that I had science at 9:15. I was annoyed that she did not remember, or was confused, but then, I had to slap myself for being so anal. Her timing was actually perfect. Originally, I had to schedule her art lessons with the lunch period sandwiched in the middle. Now, I had the morning to give her to get her project finished. This art teacher is apart of a nonprofit program that brings art into the classroom. Another stroke of luck was having only about 9 or 10 students to manage a lot of down time. Since the art teacher was really pressed for time, she squeezed my class and another 3rd grade class together. She got my class set up, then moved between my class and the other class. I liked that! I was able to set a better tone of discipline. Also, I was able to guide the students a bit better with the materials. The art teacher's method seemed to have been "here are the materials, we need to finish". One shoving match broke out while the art teacher was gone; I gave both participates a time out. Next year I am going to have to toughen up a heck of a lot. The participates were Chipmunk and Holdover Hanna (the only one to fail in my class). In the end, the shields were finished, and they actually came out nice. The students finished right before lunch. The art teacher stayed in the classroom to do "touch ups" to the shields. At Lunch, I did my own personal lunch detention for a couple of kids (Chipmunk and Pouty Pete). At the last minute, Sneaky Sam was being....well, sneaky, so he joined the other two.

After lunch, the art teacher was just finishing up her "touch ups". She seemed really pleased with the shields. She kept asking the students to come look and see if the shields needed anything. I've been very lucky, I had to admit, I didn't want to lose it. I gave the kids drawing paper, told anyone who got out of their seat would not be able to "help" the art teacher. By the time the art teacher left, it was just about time for my preparation period. And after that, it was just about dismissal time.

Ohhhhhhhh. I almost forgot about my teacher rating saga. I returned to the main office to sign my rating report. Yep, I received the "D" rating with the following handwritten comment:

Keep making a difference!
Have a wonderful summer.

Not exactly the comment that would seem to go with someone who has doubt. What I did notice that put me in a good mood, the appeals process. I just have to write a letter (within three weeks [not counting summer vacation]) to the Office of Appeals and Reviews. After the kids left, I took some photos that will be included in my appeal. Doubtful my a**!!!

If you've seen a teacher's report card (Annual Professional Performance Review and Report), they are not asking for the world. The report has about 23 "check offs" (checking the Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory box) in 4 categories:

A. Professional Qualities
I've never been late (officially) or absent.
I've worn a white button down shirt(with tie), black slacks, and casual dress shoes.

B. Pupil Guidance and instruction (evidence of academic growth)
22 (out of 23) students passed both NYS standardized tests (Math and ELA)

C. Classroom Management (room appearance, routines, and record keeping)
My photos include: student mailbox and sign-out book, class jobs, process charts, portfolio shelves, and bulletin boards.

D. Participation in School and Community Activities
Other than attending PTA meetings, I haven't done much in this area. All school activities are mandatory

Once I saw the categories, I felt better. I am sure I'll win an appeal of the "D" grade.

After a bit of clean up, and set up for next week, I left school. Oh, I almost forgot. A parent stopped by hoping to pick up her daughters report card, but I won't be allowed to hand out report cards until Wednesday, maybe Tuesday.

Oh, another thing. (School)Year-End Party. Everyone was expecting one, but after months of putting up with disrespect, I decided to not have one. I was trying to think of a way to reward those that deserved a party, without giving the others one. I came up with an idea. At my school, we have "funny money" we use as an incentive. Basically, it is play money that teachers can reward the students with, and a couple of times per year, the students can spend the money at the school store. I actually like the idea. Although, there are a few teachers that don't really get the idea. I saw one teacher (who had waited until the day of the school store to open to start handing out the funny money. The kids were practically crawling all over her to get the money.

Anyway, my idea is the convert the funny money into real money (25 cents to the dollar). There are only few who will receive the conversion.

Well, back to my boring evening...

I had MacDonald's for dinner. Since the train was close to arriving, I saved my apple pies. On the way to the Metro-North station, I bought a pint of Haagen Dazs Butter Pecan ice cream. I arrived home about 7:40pm. Just before writing this blog entry, I searched the Internet for a car service.

In the past, I would usually take my stuff home on the trains, a little bit at a time, usually the last couple of days. I learned a long time ago to always back in June as if you are not coming back, you never know. This year, I told myself that I would have everything home, by the second to the last day. On the finally day, I want to be able to walk out the building with nothing in my hands. Well, that idea got squished fairly quickly. Now, I am aiming for a stress-free pack-up. I'm going to call a car service, pack everything (overhead, copy machine, books, my supplies, students' portfolio binders and supplied (I bought), and make one trip. I'm aiming for a Tuesday 6:30pm pickup.

Post Date - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:38pm