Work Week (Brief) Review

Made it to another weekend. Today I'm joining a social networking group to see the movie "Wolverine". Normally, I hate going to a crowded movie, but I have a procrastination problem. I've missed a lot of movies by waiting until the last minute to do something or go somewhere. Mainly, going (despite the crowd) is to get out of the apartment this weekend.

I'll try to do a quick end of the work week summary.

Thursday - After another irregular bed time, I was up and moving slow, so again it was a taxi ride part of the way to work. Problem? I seem to have a "crazy cloud" above my head that seems to (on occasion) to attract craziness to me. The taxi ride was uneventful until the driver missed to "regular" turnoff of the expressway. When I tried to tell the guy the way, he starts yelling at me about knowing how to get there and about the traffic. Well, his way put us right into morning traffic down a very busy street. After a few blocks the street was blocked with school buses and firetrucks, so the taxi driver had to turn off the street. But, instead of going just two blocks and then resume heading south, he passes the street to keep going. Again, he starts yelling at me. Me telling him, I've taken a certain route every day this week (including yesterday), had no affect. Also, telling him I've taken this route many times in the two years I taken the taxi route to work had no affect. The problem is that I tend to get time down to a science -- its that crazy cloud above my head. As long as there is no change in the "regular routine" I tend to arrive on time. I have a bad habit of figuring out the exact (or nearly the exact) arrival time, it then gets locked in my head. I get too comfortable with routines once established. I'm getting sidetracked.


Anyway, The guy refused to change his course. Finally, I had to offer a $20 challenge. I told the guy that if he went my route, and I was wrong, then I would give him a $20 tip. The driver was reluctant at first, but eventually accepted complaining and mumbling the rest of the way...until he realized that he was wrong. Then he was very quiet and fairly polite. Needless to say, my day did not start off nicely.

Thursday was also the day of our school's show. The show was from 5pm to 8pm including a dinner at the end. Since I'm not a party person, I volunteered for the clean up committee. Since I had about 5 hours to kill, I told myself that I would use that time to get organized. However, I quickly realized that since I usually finish shuffling papers about the same time, I really didn't have a lot of extra time. And sure enough, after shopping, classroom set up, and grading papers, there wasn't anything extra done.

Oh, why did I go shopping? My plan is to stop eating those school lunches that do not have some healthy component to it. That means avoiding Pizza Day, Taco Day, Hamburger and potato wedges, etc... I spent $40.11 to have some healthy alternatives for those days, I skip paying for the school lunch. With my mini fridge, I now have more options. Next school year, I plan to buy a small microwave for my classroom. The microwave for the teachers is way at the opposite side of the floor. Even though it is about a minute from my door to the teacher's room, it is often running a gauntlet of distractions. A minute walk often turns into a 5, 10, 15 minutes walk (or longer) after stopping to talk to this person, being stopped by that person, stopping in that room, assist with this or that, or deal with roamers in the hallway.

After killing about 5 hours, the clean up of the party began. This time, there were more teachers still around. I think since this "show" was the principal's thing, a lot more teachers wanted their brownie points. After cleaning up, I was out of the building about 9PM. I should have gotten home and showered and called it a night. However, I wasn't sleepy when I walked in my apartment. I told myself that I would just check my email. Well, I was out like a light in a matter of minutes (clothes and all).

This entry is much longer than I was planning. While I'm typing I'm listening (more watching actually) YouTube videos. At the moment, I'm in the 80's music videos. Martika's Toy Soldier is playing.
Now, I'm watching Alice Cooper - Poison

Friday - The day was stressful, but not extremely. One of the disruptive students seem to have gotten a pass. Thursday, I spoke to his sister (who picked him up at dismissal) about his extremely disruptive behavior. I had also sent an email the day before to the father about the disruptive behavior the since the beginning of the week. Well, at the same time, another parent came up and mentioned how her son was stabbed with by the disruptive student. Since I'm hearing about the "stabbing" for the first time, and I see the reaction of the disruptive student, I don't believe it. However, timing is everything. Since stabbing is more serious than being loud and disrespectful, I suspect the father focused on the stabbing later that day. Since the father probably didn't believe the stabbing story(and neither did I -- even though I didn't challenge the story), the other "stuff" got forgotten...I'm just guessing. Oh, the "stabbing" was a scratch on the leg I couldn't even see, but then my eyesight is going.

Anyway, Disruptive student arrived in school just as talkative and playful as he could be. That behavior told me (what I wrote above), dad probably didn't believe the stabbing story(negating everything else), so he probably told his son to just behave and not cause problems. The end.

I was out of the building about 4PM because I had a delivery from UPS. My boxset of Sword of Truth and my camp stool arrived on Thursday. I'm glad for the delivery, because it forced me out of the building. Without the delivery, I'm sure I would have stayed in the building until about 8PM shuffling papers.


Post Date - Saturday, May 2, 2009 2:50PM

Saturday, May 24th

A week in review. I started off the week in a very good mood. Within 2 hours, I was in a bad mood. And by Tuesday, I was feeling angry and burned out. E-CLAS(a early elementary assessment) was due, but then another deadline was added. I started the week eager to get out of the building about 4PM, but by the end of the week, I was repeating previous patterns(left late, crashed at home, morning rush, and the cycle continued).

Wednesday was a wasted evening of calling parents who only seemed interested in money. I called Squeak's parents. Squeak is a relatively quiet (but an excessive) talker. He also does annoying things in a quick quiet way, then argues about anything and everything. He'll argue if I yell, he'll argue if I ask politely. Anyway, my phone call to his mother about his behavior, and lack of focus, and lack of pencils was quickly conferenced to his father(3way calling). The conversation was about the dollar I took from Squeak. Nice parents. Both seem to have that "we know our kids can be a handful/no nonsense" attitude. They also seem to understand why I took the dollar from Squeak(it was out and he was using it to disrupt my lesson), but the conversation kept going back to the dollar.

The phone to Princess Beady's mother was basically the same. Her kicking, crawling, cursing, and calling out took a backseat to mother's concern for the refund I told the kids that I would give to anyone who did not go on a trip...even if it meant that I would have to take the money out of my own pocket. The money was all...all the mother wanted to talk about. Even though I was disgusted, tired and fighting a cold, I stayed to change my bulletin board. See attached photo.

Thursday was "Family Night". To avoid insulting anyone, I will pass on a couple of observations. Summary:

During Family Night, the school is opened for the families of the students that attend. Faculty is asked but not required (which is nice) to set up a table to inform or entertain the visitors. Since I'm usually in the building late, I volunteered for the set up committee. My plan was to finish up my E-CLAS reports. However, knowing that the building was opened late had the opposite effect...I fell asleep at my desk, so I didn't get the reports done. About 6:15PM, I was awaken to the sounds of kids running through the hall -- no one was suppose to be on the second floor. Since I was up, I did my usual Wall Flower Routine at the party in the gymnasium (alternating between holding up the wall and wandering aimlessly). One the teacher's church had a food table, so I bought an order of lasagna, a brownie topped with cake frosting, and BQ chicken wings. The lasagna was cold, but good. The brownie was good also. I saved the wings (Actually, I am about to heat them in the microwave after I finish this blog entry). The food was good but expensive, or I'm just being a cheapskate.

Back to the party. One incident. One 5 or 6 year old went thugging through the hall. Quick summary(according to an eyewitness):

Baby Thug jumps a smaller boy with glasses. a couple of girls stop him, so Baby Thug attacks them. One against two, the kid was not too bright. Since they beat the snot out of him, he spent about 15 minutes (this is where I came in)seeking out revenge, with mommy trailing behind like a broken record, "Baby what's wrong. Why are you so angry?" Obviously, someone has been cutting anger management classes, or skipping his meds.

About 7:30PM, I see AP2 packing up her table, so I offered to help. I ended up moving boxes to the closets, and helping the custodial staff move the tables and chairs, and helping to sweep the floor. My plan was to just show my face and leave, but I got carried away with being Mr. Helpful. I was a bit annoyed that people (visitors and staff) didn't feel the need to move while I was moving tables and chairs. Mrs. K (the nice, but extremely talkative kindergarten teacher) got in my way ...twice. First, she was trying to take off the students' artwork that she must have offered to decorate the walls. Me trying to lay the folded tables against the wall was not an incentive to move...she had to have her students artwork. Later, me holding a box saying "excuse me, heavy box" also wasn't an incentive to move. Once she starts talking, it is difficult for her to stop. She is a very nice person, but just way too talkative. Oh, the box wasn't really very heavy, but it was the principle of the situation.

Friday, was a relatively okay day. I was worried that the computer teacher/tech guy would be closing shop early. Last year, the computer lab was closed sometime in May. He already sent out a letter requesting the return of all borrowed laptops because he has to start getting the computers and the computer lab ready for summer storage. Since he is the main/only tech-savvy person in a low tech environment, his position is cushy. Second only to the music teacher. The tech guy is the go to guy for a piano player for assemblies and graduations. Recently, I think AP2 (who is in charge of scheduling, but a bit lower on the admin hierarchy) must have been flexing her admin muscle. Lately, she has been scheduling out of classroom teachers to do more classroom coverage. Good for her!

Friday was also the due date for the E-ClAS reports and completed bubbled grids. I had been carrying around the E-CLAS materials for the last couple of weeks, telling myself that I would do it when I got home, only to not even touch my granny cart when I got home. I did end up finishing about 7PM. I was in the Bronx waiting for my train north about 8:30PM. I had an order of beef lo mein (very greasy) for dinner. When I got home, I had a pint of Haagen Daz ice cream (telling myself that I will start exercising next week).

Today (Saturday), I slept most of the day away. Well, that is about it. I wasted another Saturday. Tomorrow, I will be joining a group movie/dinner event, we will be seeing the new Indiana Jones movie "The Crystal Skull". I think about 25 people will be attending. I signed up about a month ago. A part of me does not want to go, because I am still a bit drained from the cold I have. Also, I need to get organized and clean my apartment.

Completion Date - Saturday, May 24, 2008 8:12PM
Post Date - Friday, June 20, 2008, 12:51AM

Saturday, March 15th

My rough work week is at an end. I really need to get my act together. This past week, somehow, I managed to make it through the week on 3 to 4 hours of sleep for most of the 5 days. On Monday, an announcement was made that report cards were due the next day. Even though the announcement was the first and only one about report cards, I knew report cards would be due eventually, so I should have had my act together and had them done already. But since I didn't, I was up late getting them done. Result. From my professional side, I am Mr. Has it together and organized. however, those of you reading this blog, know the real story. My report cards were handed in on time, while other teachers handed theirs in late (or not at all).

Next up was the progress report that I had said that I would be doing on a regular basis. I always put it off until the load was too daunting. On Tuesday night, I spent going through the mounds of papers, doing a bit of last minute corrections for the sets that were not completed. Those (papers) not even started, I did not touch.

Finally, Wednesday night, I was up typing in the grades in a grading program. Since I've learned about grading programs, I've been reluctant to have a P/T conference with only a report card to talk about. Having something to show how the grades were decided, (I think) makes a big difference. So by 6AM (I woke up from my return home crash about 1:50AM), I completed my progress report. Since Thursday is a half day, my plan was to use the morning to do some last minute up dating to the students portfolios. Unfortunately, Admin had other plans. About 8:15AM, an announcement was made that upper grade teachers (that included me) would be in the library meeting and planning a pacing calendar for the month of March. Yes, this month that is just about over. So, each upper grade class was assigned an out of classroom teacher to cover our classes. I was assigned the school librarian, a very, nice grandmotherly lady. I spent the next 45 minutes getting my class, my students, and my materials for 3 lessons that I was not planning to do. Then, I spent the next 2 hours in the library with the other upper grade teachers. 11PM the meeting was finished and the students were in the cafeteria eating lunch for an early dismissal. To be honest, I was a bit annoyed that I spent about 45 minutes setting up, and the librarian didn't do anything I left for her. But......she complained to me that there were problems with their behavior. Having done the substituting thing for a while, I respect and understand the need for flexibility on the classroom teacher's part, and the understanding that the lesson plans and materials left usually aren't left with the sub in mind. I always tell any sub (or coverage) coming in to feel free to adapt, change, or do what fits your teaching style. As a sub, I hated when the classroom teacher left lessons scribbled on scratch paper, school paper towel etc.... Students as a rule aren't going to stay on task for sub with an assignment like "students can update their portfolio for a 45 minute period". Or, "students should edit their writing assignment for the 45 minute writing period. Etc... So, I can understand if the librarian had something that she was comfortable doing. Problem? She had nothing. She keep them reading independently and responding for the 2 hours. Then complained about their behavior. When I subbed, I had my granny cart full of assignments and activities for any grade K-6. I knew the key to my survival was to keep them busy. Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Anyway, since my P/T conference morning was a meeting, I had no time to get the things done that I wanted. No one's fault but my own. So, during lunch, I had to do some last minute preparation.

The P/T conferences went very nicely. However, it was an almost total waste of time. I got a lot of "things will be different" speeches, but the very next day, the same behavior, and the same "I don't care attitude". One of the nicest kids (I've never written about him here, so he doesn't even have a nickname), was doing the same disgusting "look and me" attention-getting actions. At the beginning of the school year, this boy would end every sentence with "yes or no sir". I pulled him aside and asked him if his mother spoke to him about the conversation I had with her about him probably being held over in the 3rd grade if he did not improve. He told me yes. I asked him if he was sure. He said yes. I said than either he wasn't listening or he did not care, which was it. He said he didn't care. It wasn't the nasty shout of "I DON'T CARE", but the more pensive(after a moment of thought) low "I don't care. Wow. Sorry, sidetracked again. P/T conferences were suppose to be finished by 8:00PM, but 7:55 (while other teachers were locking up and leaving, two of my parents came, so I stayed to talk to those parents. I ended up getting home about 9:30PM.

Friday was the day after P/T conference. I think about 6 to 8 teachers were absent. I was worried that I would be receiving students, but luckily, subs were available for each of the absentees. One of my students' aunt has a small part-time business making dinners, so I bought the BBQ spareribs dinner ($13). The dinner came with red rice, collared greens, candy yams, corn bread, and potato salad. Since I had paid for my school lunch in advance, I put my dinner in the refrigerator until later. Friday is my easy day, and I was fortunately, it turned out to be a (relatively) easy day. Unfortunately, having spent most of the work week on 3 or 4 hours of sleep took its toll. I was too tired to leave, and too tired to do anything productive. I finally left the building with Ms. Across the Hall a little bit after 7PM. Normally, I walk her to the train station even though, I normally go in the opposite direction. Today Ms. ATH decided to visit her sister, she was going to take the bus. I was planning to walk her to the bus stop, but when she told me her sister only lived about "5 city blocks away on the east side". I told her she could walk in the time she would spend waiting for the bus. I misunderstood the distance. East side meant wayyyy on the east side. The distance I thought would take me 15 minutes, actually took us about 40 or 45 minutes. Usually, I don't walk at a strolling pace. I've been told that I am a fast walker. Anyway, when we walked past the MN train station, I realized that I could just take the MN from there instead of taking the bus back to the west side, and when I realized that the train was about arrived in about 5 minutes, I am sorry to say I politely backed out of walking Ms. ATH to her sister's place(3/4 of the way). Unfortunately, chivalry is dead. I was more interested in not missing the train instead of walking a lady home. The next train was about a 40 minute wait. Sorry about that.

I arrived home about 8:45PM. After reheating my dinner, I was going to go online for a while, but the Internet was moving at a snail's pace. From the music I could hear through the floor, walls, and ceiling, I think a lot of people were home Friday night. Besides, I fell asleep in a matter of minutes. I woke up about 11PM and decided to call it a night. I was in bed about 11:20PM.

Completion Date - Saturday, March 15, 2006 11:09AM
Post Date - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:05PM

Let's see what I can scribble down for a blog entry before I call it a night. This weekend (much like all of the others), was mostly sleeping. Quick Week recap.

Once Wednesday came, my kids had their hyper day of chaos. I was drained, tired, feeling beaten and defeated. By the time 3pm came, I just wanted out. My most hyper decided to push any and all buttons. Forgetting what I had done in the past, I just dished out what they (the hypers) dished out. The more they yelled and treatened, the more I did the same. I thought I had a surefire ace up my sleeve, but I was wrong -- No surprise there. Anyway, due to mysteries far beyond me, my school's admin made major scheduling changes again. Kiddling aside, I think our school that just made well-developed on our Quality Review wants to keep that rating. The schedule change just gives each of the out of classroom teachers a small group of students to tutor. I actually like my new prep schedule. I now have computer three times per week, and gym two times per week. I'd believed that I had the winning combination that would have insured that my kids would behaved. Oh, I was soo wrong. They challenged me at every turn. Every word out of my mouth was something to be critized. They complained. Argued, and of course didn't care what I said. Threats of silent lunch detention didn't work, and that just made me more angry. And relying on very base instincts, the kids smelled blood in the water and took pleasure in tag teaming, and group critism. Anyway, once 3PM arrived, and the kids were being dismissed, I knew that it was my turned. I'd planned to keep the ring leaders (The Cackler, Sneak, Giggles, and Princess) afterschool. They just were not going down without a fight. As I stood at the door waiting for the pick ups to be picked up, the Ring went wild in the stairwell, yelling, screaming, (literally) climbing up the walls. A fourth grade teacher (guidance counselor in training) yelled at them, that did not work. I took the group to AP2 hoping she could put a bit of fear into them (they are afraid of her), but she turned out to be in a very good mood, so there was not much fear given, only the suggestion that I trade off with other teachers for a day or two. Other teachers must have sensed my frustration, because they seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. The sixth grade teacher offered to take Princess. A first grade teacher offered to take them that afternoon. Even the security guard (the tackler) offered to take Giggles who just couldn't seem to keep her attitude in check. At the time, I was happy for the assistance, but I then regained my composure. I knew as nice as the offers were, I really had to be the one to meter out the punishment. I couldn't have other teachers doing the disciplining. Why? One of the first things that I learned when I first started teaching was that if a teacher gives away their power to control (sorry, to manage) the classroom, then he (or she) will lost that power. Meaning, the kids would only behave when the disciplinarian came into the room, ignoring the classroom teacher. I told myself that I would never be the teacher that needed someone to come in to "manage" the students.

Anyway, after about 2 hours of phone tag, and conversation with and about my "Hypers", I was very tired.

The next day, the Hypers were at it again. This time, I was a bit more proactive than reactive. I also took the other teachers up on their offers, but on my own terms. I removed the Hypers not out of desperation, but just out of a need to remove the distractions. My Hypers can be what I call "attention vampires", good or bad, right or wrong, they have no problem with monopolizing my attention. They have no problem with arguing over the smallest of things as much and as long as I allow. Anyway, Thursday was a bit rough, but I was back in charge.

Friday, I received a letter from Cackler's mother putting in writing what AP1 wanted. In writing, a letter stating that I had the mother's permission to keep her child for afterschool detention when she (Cackler) was misbehaving. That letter put a smile on my face. And lo and behold Cackler was (relatively) well behaved. She still has a fresh mouth, and street attitude, but she showed a lot of self-control.

With the new schedule, my Friday, still is my easiest day. I now have two computer (one prep and one lab)periods. And there is the early dismissal at 2:20pm. Anyway, my Friday turned out to be okay. When I kids started to do the hyper thing, I became proactive again. Instead of the 4 or 5 students who deserved detention, I told them that they had the day off from detention, so that I could make an example with Sneak and Princess (who threw a couple of temper tantrums). Once the tantrums were in full swing, I was calling mom on my cell phone, something I just didn't do in the past.

It is late. I better go.


Post Date - Sunday, February 9, 2008 1:20PM

Last week was a four-day work week, but it felt like a seven day work week. Quick summary of the work week.

Tuesday, January 22nd.
I called this the last minute day. From a 2AM bedtime, it was last minute this and last minute that. I received a call in my classroom letting me know that a art program rep. would be coming to do a project with my students for the whole day. Moments later, an announcement was made over the PA system that all prep periods would be used for Data Analysis meetings. So, what was the meeting about. After being told that it would only take a few minutes, we were told about the program we had already been told about. "suggestions" for using the Internet for helping our kids with listening practice exercises -- again, we were already showed the "suggestions". In the end, a few minute meeting (that was a total waste of time) took, about 40 minutes. After school (with the Quality Review around the corner), I decided to finally tackle my teacher's corner. I left the building about 8:05PM. I decided to stop off at Target for some black slacks. My "work clothes" had holes in them. I could not put off the shopping procrastination any longer. While I was in Target, I also bought some organic skim milk and had my blood pressure medicine prescription refilled. I was home about 10PM.

Wednesday, January 23th.
My kids were okay. A bit hyper, but relatively okay. There was a school wide Math test, so the literacy program was cancelled. Yippee!!!
During the test, I received a phone call from AP1, she wanted me to know that the Art Lady (from yesterday) was returning to finish the project. Even though the project was basically finished. The "Art Lady" did most of the work herself, so I did not even bother to take a photo of the work. For some strange reason, the lady's classroom management was almost identical to the "Art Lady" from last school year. Different lady, but the same "limited" understanding of classroom management. You really can't have a project that requires most of the students to sit and do nothing but wait, and watch. I just started teaching around the Art Lady. During the reading period, I had the students do independent reading. During Social Studies, I had them do social studies activities from the textbook. Etc...
During lunch, Drama Queen put on a show. And I had had enough!!! Sticky Fingers -- since she has not stolen anything recently, I may rename her "Giggles". Came crying that Drama Queen was telling everybody to not be her friend. DQ said that she was not talking about Giggles, but another "Giggles" near her home. I called the friends over and asked each of them how many "Giggles" did they know, each said only one, so DQ changed her tactic. Now, DQ said that Giggles started it. When that did not wash, then DQ turned on the waterworks. I had had enough. I (verbally) tore into her like a bear on piece of fish. "Turn it off, and shut it up" (not exactly my words, but very, very close). I try to never allow the Cafeteria Drama to come into the classroom. Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Also, whatever happens in the cafeteria, stays in the cafeteria...if possible. Kids often have a bad habit of carry unnecessary (emotional)baggage around for days. If you are not careful, you could spend your afternoon dealing with something stupid that happened in the lunchroom...last week, and now they are fighting about it. So, if possible keep it where it started.

Thursday, January 24th.
The kids started out extremely hyper. I felt another one of those extreme days. Instead of using the "reward with praise tactic", I did the "excessive praise with promise of reward" tactic. Quick note-- excessive should not be confused with extreme. The tactic worked. My day turned out (relatively) nice. One incident. During the literacy program (where the kids are grouped in different classrooms), a couple of my students (Cackler and Sneak) were accused of stealing a dollar from a student's desk. Long story short, with my process of elimination/detective skills -- add detective to the teacher's growing list of responsibilities (parent, referee, bodyguard, police, babysitter, guidance conselor, negotiator, maid, servant, etc...). Cackler first said she had no money, but when I said that I would be in the lunchroom to see if she spends any money, she changed her story to her mother gave it to her. I said that I would call her mother to ask. Cackler changed her story to she was saving the money from a long time ago. Anyway, mom made a surprise visit -- AP2 had called on an unrelated incident. Mom, and Cackler put on a very good show. I had to contain myself from smiling. Not that I get off on seeing a child crying, but all of my phone calls, and my letters, and my student written (confessional)letters yielded nothing. But now, here was the Cackler crying her eyes out. And mom, going on and on about a change in the behavior. Mom even gave me her new cell phone number. Mom finished with a "wait til you get home" ending. Cackler had to stand in front of the class and apologize to everyone. My school day ended very nicely. :)

Friday, January 25th.
Cackler arrived late with a smile on her face, and the same attitude she has always had. A few minutes later, she is waving $2 to her friends with a "look what I got" speech. It wasn't even 8:30AM and already she was aggravating me and disrupting my class. I was pissed!!! I couldn't even get a day of good behavior. I called Cackler and asked for the money. I asked where she got the money from. "My mother gave..." quickly became "I mean my brother gave it to me".

Did I call the mom?



No.


Why not?


I knew the behavior would not change from the show that was given yesterday. I was hoping for a couple of days at least, but I knew the behavior wasn't going to change. So, what is the purpose of exposing my hand too quickly. I explained to Cackler that her "early morning show off" the very next morning after her mom made a big show in front of the classroom in front of the teacher and AP2, would embarrass her mother if I was to call. I further explained that mom may not do much about the constant complains from the teacher, but if she is called out for the show in front of the classroom. She (mom) would be upset with her daughter. I could see on Cackler's face the rusty mental gears turning in her head. She understood. So why not call mom immediately. For me, it is a matter of survival. I play the hand that I've been dealt. If I reveal my hand too quickly, then I have little (if any) cards left in play. I was honest with Cackler when she asked what I was going to do with the money. I gave the options of a teacher's response or an honest response.

She chose the honest response. I told her that I would use that money as much as I could. Meaning, the threat of a phone would be in play until she forced me to call. She smiled, went back to her desk and was (relatively) good for the rest of the day.

Other quick Friday notes.
The Daily School Bulletin had a list of the results of the "Dry Run Quality Review". Things that teachers had to have before the Quality Review.

This post is long enough so I am going to skip what would be another 30 minutes. Besides, this blog really is suppose to be about my boring life, my job really is not meant to be a main focus. Suffice it to say (I hope I used that phrase correctly), teachers could do one of 2 things, laugh our head off, or beat our heads against the wall (or a combination of the two).

Oh, and four of my boys were suspended for writing curse words on the walls in the bathroom. Since I was focused on helping my students update their portfolios, I relaxed my guard. Normally, I only allow one boy and one girl out of the room at a given time (but not if they are from the same table). Students also have to sign out in the sign out book. I took it personally that it was all my boys, not even other teachers with wilder classes. However, no one (not even the principal) attached any blame to me, I was happy about that. The end result was that 4 of my boys would have a "Principal's Suspension" for (I was told from the security guard) 5 days. Wow! A part of me was annoyed that 3 of the 4 are not problem kids (just talkers). If I could have chosen a 5-day suspension for any of my students, 3 of those boys would not have come close to being on my list.

I was out of the school building about 8:30PM. I was fixing my classroom library. I finally got around to putting labels on all of my library baskets. As I was leaving a couple of teachers were still in their rooms -- beating their heads against the wall :), since their classroom are on the list for a closer review and the school's grade would be based on what was seen in their rooms, they wanted to make sure they tackled everything on that last minute list. Although the school would be opened on Saturday, none of the teachers, I spoke to said that they would be there.

Time for me the go.


Post Date - Sunday, January 27, 2008 1:48PM