Back to the salt mines. My plan was to be up by 7 and out the door by 8am. Today was technically the last day of my vacation, but I wanted a bit of a headstart with setting up. I had a bit of trouble moving this morning. My body just wasn't used to getting up before 9am. So, today was a good day to go to work, I looked at today like a "dry run". I left my apartment at about 9:15am.

I arrived at school about 10:15am. In the main office the principal was having a conversation with (I later found out) the principal of the charter school that will be sharing our building. My principal mentioned arriving a little while ago. She vacationed in the Dominican Republic. After finishing her conversation with the charter school principal, my principal called me into her office. She explained in a pleasant hushed tone how due to last minute changes, I would have to move out of my room. Since I came earlier than I needed to, I could choose the room from rm. #233 or rm. #236. I chose rm.#233. Both rooms are at the end of the second floor. Room #236 is at the very corner on the left side of the hall with Room #234's door about 6inches away from rm. #236's door. Yes, 6inches away.

Next up was packing. I was told (by the principal) to remove everything from the closets and box up the items. Teachers often have a bad habit of hording and cramming things into their closets, emptying a closet can be a serious job. But, since my classroom a very organized, packing was not a problem for me, tedious yes, but not difficult. My apartment may be a pigsty, but not my classroom.

Anyway, I finished about 3:10. Having given up a day from my vacation, I did not feel that I should stay a minute past. I didn't succeed with my 3pm deadline, but I did come close. I went to the assistant principal to let her know that I was finished emptying out the closets and cabinets.

AP2 - Oh, you finished moving all of those boxes already.
Me - No, I was told to only pack the boxes, someone else is suppose to move them.
AP2 - I don't know who, but I know I won't. And the custodians don't move furniture.
Me - I was told that I wouldn't have to move the boxes.
AP2 - By who?
Me - The principal.
AP2 - You better go ask her about the boxes, just to make sure. I know I'm not moving boxes. She is smiling and is laughing that forced laugh. She isn't telling me to stay and move boxes, but she is hoping I pick up the hint.

Normally, (other teachers have told me that teachers tend to move materials and yes boxes when moving from room to room). But that's in June. With students' help. They laugh when I said that movers would come to move the stuff. I was in no mood to be moving boxes in August. June yes, but not August...on a day I should not even be in school. 3 days before I technically get paid. Officially(I was told), teachers are supposed to return to school August 31st. In other schools, the principals make a budget to allow teachers to get paid for these 3 days. Whether I got paid or not, I don't think I could satisfactorily set up my classroom in 2 days.

I went to the principal, and she said yes, movers would be moving the stuff. And the AP2 should call the BOE downtown to find out when the movers would come. I relayed the message to AP2. She made a face, made a few comments...I didn't care, I wanted to get out of there a quickly as possible. I was out the building by about 3:20pm. Next stop....BOE HQ!

Before heading downtown to the Board of Ed. I stopped by Staples to photocopy my letter of appeal, and copies of my evaluations from about 10 years ago. I arrived at the BOE HQ at about 4:20pm. While waiting on line to show my ID card, I hear that services are closing. Long story short, I could not change my ID because the line was too long. There were about 7 or 8 people waiting. I guess they wanted to be finish promptly at 5pm. I went up to drop off my letter of appeal, and was told (at first) that there is no appeals for "D" ratings. Then, I was told that to file a grievance against my principal for the rating that I received:

1. I would have to file through the teacher's union.
2. a hearing would scheduled (attended by myself, the principal, her rep and my union rep.)
3. The principal would need an opportunity to address the charges.

After that, with me explaining why I thought I did not deserve a "D" doubtful rating with perfect attendance, professionally dressed, compliments etc... nothing noted on my evaluation, but "Keep making a difference. Have a great summer! Being told that I received the "D" rating because I wasn't a team player. Then, I was told that even though I have 3 years with the BOE, I didn't have tenure. So, the principal was within her right to give me a "D" rating. But he did seem to also think it was strange that I would be given a "D" rating. He suggested that if the principal was out to get me, then I needed to be careful, because (according to him), she could then set her sights on giving me a "U" rating next time.

So in the end, I decided to give up. In the past, I have walked away for 1 or 2 jobs because I did not like how something was being done, even when everyone around me said that the issue was silly and minor, but now I am getting older, and I am losing the energy to ride this nonsense merry-go-round.

Moving on. I will have to return tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to return to the BOE to change my ID, providing I arrive before 4:30, even though, business hours are suppose to finish at 5pm. I think they should either change the stated hour to 4:45 or post a sign that tells the time services are cut or finished for the day.

Having left empty-handed, I forgot to return to the teacher's store to buy some bulletin board paper. I only had red, green, orange, and black BB paper. It wasn't until I was on the train that I remembered about the paper. I decided to get off the train at 116th and Broadway and walk to the Teacher's College bookstore. Unfortunately, they were closed. They closed at 5pm. I arrived at 5:50pm. They are still on the summer hours. If I remember correctly, I think the last couple of days before school starts, they stay open later.

I returned home, and started walking to my building when I saw the UPS guy with a box coming from my building. I asked him if that box was for me. It turns out the box wasn't for me, but he did have a box for me (my keyboard dust cover). The driver was about the take my package back, because the company didn't include a building name, or apartment number. When a business does sells something on Amazon.com, all they have to do is cut and paste the contact information (including the address of the customer) from Amazon's files. Customers don't need to resend information. All the information is automatically sent with one click. I think Amazon has even patented the one-click operation. Anyway, for some reason, some companies have a bad habit of leaving off the apt. So noooo, I didn't forget to put my apt. building's name and apt. #. My amazon contact information is complete, I even have my phone number. How is my phone number shown on the box -- (000)000-0000.

Oh, I almost forgot. I received an e-mail from that online professional developement company. They sent out a mass e-mail to the students that had taken an online course this summer. According to them, they will review the course materials of the students in the order that they received them. However, it will be the boad of education that will probably take about 12 weeks to process and send the cerificate of completion. Strange, I received my certificate of complete from the computer course in about 3 days. I wonder why? :)

Well, I think that's it for now. Tomorrow is suppose to be an all day train for the new reading program at my school. Oh, today I also found out the school will have a new Math program, and a new Science program. New programs are good, I just hope this (school) year is better than the last one. Oh, and I forgot to let you know that I will be receiving a third grade class this year. My main reason for wanting third grade was because I had the grade last year. I was hoping that I would be able to use some of the materials from last year, but so far, that does not seem to be the case.

Post Date - Monday, August 27, 2007 9:53pm