Last night, the Marysville school board — the old one, three-fifths of which is on its way out in a couple of weeks, did something very foolish. They extended the contract of the superintendent. This is the same super who received a vote of no confidence a couple of years ago, who now has eight executive assistants who make over $100,000 each, who has alienated many teachers, who has ousted many popular district teachers and principals, who hired an expensive (and, to many, abrasive) PR spokesperson instead of speaking for herself, who doesn't actually live in the district, and who oversaw the longest teacher strike in Washington state history.
Why were my colleagues surprised at this move? Seeing how this board works, I wasn't surprised a bit.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Well, that retirement wasn't that long, was it?
I've had a good hard think about this blog, and I've decided that cutting it off entirely was throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I still have things to say, but I've decided that I'm not going to worry about blogging every day. I'll just post when there's something to say. And boy, this week has been busy.
First off, my job is safe! Our principal pulled some strings and called in favors, and managed to keep my position. And no, it wasn't to help me out (although I'm grateful), but so that the school could preserve its eight-periods-spread-out-over-two-days schedule, which has been extremely successful and helped the school get its Gates grant. So I won't have that hanging over my head. But we are still losing one PE teacher, an open English position won't be filled, and there will be a lot of reshuffling of schedules. (And the poor counselors are going to have to do it all by hand…)
On the grading front, I'm glad I pulled that all-afternooner last week. I'm falling a little behind again, but it's nothing too serious, as I'll be able to get caught up again this week. (I'd say this weekend, but there's too much other stuff going on that I doubt I'll find the time.) And this is proving to be a good thing, as the mid-quarter progress reports are going to be due very soon, and several of my colleagues are still behind where I am. So I would have every right to feel smug if I were that petty.
We've gotten all of that start-of-the-year stuff out of the way, so now things have fallen into a familiar pattern. (This is another reason I'm not going to try to blog every day, as most entries would be something like, "Taught math today." Real exciting, huh?) Unfortunately it also means that the initial excitement of the start of the school year is over, and a lot of students are now showing their true colors in class. Most of my students are pretty good, but I do have one class that's proving to be a bit chatty. As a result, they've fallen a bit behind once or twice, and we've had to play catch-up. (No, I'm not considering just letting them stay behind. I'm having enough trouble keeping track of two sets of plans, I'd rather not do three. Besides, I don't want them to think that their behavior results in the reward of not having to do the work.) We had a class discussion about the issue yesterday, however, and they came up with some ideas, and I expressed my concerns. It went well, and I think we can work together to keep it from becoming a big problem again. Of course, this could all go out the window if schedules get shuffled too radically.
Thursday afternoon, we voted on the new calendar for this school year. It's not perfect, as many teachers were not happy about working Saturdays (five in all, two with students — one Jewish teacher was very upset about that, not that I blame her), working two days between Christmas and New Year's Day (December 29 and 30, which I figure could be a quick two-day unit that won't affect things much, as many students will be gone anyway), and various other issues. But with so much time to make up, I don't think we could have done any better, and we're out on July 16, so we'll at least be able to salvage some summer. (I hope that when real contract negotiations begin, they consider starting the 2004-05 school year a week late, just to extend this year's summer break a little bit.) The calendar was overwhelmingly approved by voice vote. Now let's just hope that there isn't snow so bad that school has to be cancelled! We'd have to make those days up beginning July 19!
You'd think that, after having turned in all my paperwork in August, we'd have our benefits allstraightened out by now. But apparently the district didn't do anything with it during the strike (even though they paid the various providers!), so there are a lot of teachers without their cards or other information that they need. But it looks like it's going to get straightened out soon. Good thing, as I have an appointment with my doctor for a check-up Friday morning, and my dentist that afternoon. It sure would be nice to not have to pay the whole thing for once!
First off, my job is safe! Our principal pulled some strings and called in favors, and managed to keep my position. And no, it wasn't to help me out (although I'm grateful), but so that the school could preserve its eight-periods-spread-out-over-two-days schedule, which has been extremely successful and helped the school get its Gates grant. So I won't have that hanging over my head. But we are still losing one PE teacher, an open English position won't be filled, and there will be a lot of reshuffling of schedules. (And the poor counselors are going to have to do it all by hand…)
On the grading front, I'm glad I pulled that all-afternooner last week. I'm falling a little behind again, but it's nothing too serious, as I'll be able to get caught up again this week. (I'd say this weekend, but there's too much other stuff going on that I doubt I'll find the time.) And this is proving to be a good thing, as the mid-quarter progress reports are going to be due very soon, and several of my colleagues are still behind where I am. So I would have every right to feel smug if I were that petty.
We've gotten all of that start-of-the-year stuff out of the way, so now things have fallen into a familiar pattern. (This is another reason I'm not going to try to blog every day, as most entries would be something like, "Taught math today." Real exciting, huh?) Unfortunately it also means that the initial excitement of the start of the school year is over, and a lot of students are now showing their true colors in class. Most of my students are pretty good, but I do have one class that's proving to be a bit chatty. As a result, they've fallen a bit behind once or twice, and we've had to play catch-up. (No, I'm not considering just letting them stay behind. I'm having enough trouble keeping track of two sets of plans, I'd rather not do three. Besides, I don't want them to think that their behavior results in the reward of not having to do the work.) We had a class discussion about the issue yesterday, however, and they came up with some ideas, and I expressed my concerns. It went well, and I think we can work together to keep it from becoming a big problem again. Of course, this could all go out the window if schedules get shuffled too radically.
Thursday afternoon, we voted on the new calendar for this school year. It's not perfect, as many teachers were not happy about working Saturdays (five in all, two with students — one Jewish teacher was very upset about that, not that I blame her), working two days between Christmas and New Year's Day (December 29 and 30, which I figure could be a quick two-day unit that won't affect things much, as many students will be gone anyway), and various other issues. But with so much time to make up, I don't think we could have done any better, and we're out on July 16, so we'll at least be able to salvage some summer. (I hope that when real contract negotiations begin, they consider starting the 2004-05 school year a week late, just to extend this year's summer break a little bit.) The calendar was overwhelmingly approved by voice vote. Now let's just hope that there isn't snow so bad that school has to be cancelled! We'd have to make those days up beginning July 19!
You'd think that, after having turned in all my paperwork in August, we'd have our benefits allstraightened out by now. But apparently the district didn't do anything with it during the strike (even though they paid the various providers!), so there are a lot of teachers without their cards or other information that they need. But it looks like it's going to get straightened out soon. Good thing, as I have an appointment with my doctor for a check-up Friday morning, and my dentist that afternoon. It sure would be nice to not have to pay the whole thing for once!
Saturday, November 08, 2003
So long, farewell
It is with great reluctance but a sense of relief that I have decided to end this blog. This will be my final entry.
I'm ending this for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I just don't have the time. Sure, it's a nice idea, but the reality of teaching is that I don't have a lot of extra time. Even this weekend, I went to Sylvan this morning, and last night my family sprung an early Thanksgiving on us tomorrow (while my aunt is in town). This means that I now have to cram all the grading and ironing I was planning to do this weekend into this afternoon and evening. The next few weekends are already filling up, so I'm going to have little time for myself. On top of that, I'm expected to take care of dinner tonight. Something has to give, and this is one of them.
I've come to realize that blogging isn't really my thing, anyway. I'm not that interested in sharing myself with the world, and I haven't been terribly proficient at it. It's all been a case of prioritizing my time, and this blog has been pretty low on the list. But I've felt bad that I've had to ignore it, as I know there are a couple of you who read this. So I figure by ending it, that's one less thing for me to worry about, and my readers can get on with doing something else.
I'll end, however, with the saga of the last couple of days. Thursday morning, I had a student get very angry with me. What did I do? I asked her to put away her fashion magazine and get out her math. When she started yelling at me, I asked her to step out into the hall to give her and me a chance to calm down. That didn't go over well, of course, and she called me all kinds of names I won't reprint here before storming out. Needless to say my mood turned a bit sour for a while. I eventually went out to see what was up, but she was still fuming at me, so I let her stew a while longer. Eventually, one of her friends in the class went out, talked to her, and brought her back in. Yup, my first big conflict with a student of the year. However, I was in a generally good mood that day, and I didn't let it ruffle me much. Later that day, I also got my first student saying, "This is my favorite class." That certainly helped. The next day, I was in an even better mood — being Friday helped — and I even had my first "You're my favorite teacher." The student who had gotten mad yesterday was also not only in a much better mood, she was even doing math, and I had a brief, quiet talk with her to let her know that I wanted her to succeed, and would help her out as best I could.
Of course, all that good mood and good will meant that the silver cloud had a dark lining. The principal called me in later that day to let me know that I may be out of a job. Thanks (at least in part) to the strike, enrollment districtwide is way down, and every school is likley going to lose positions. One of the math positions will probably be lost at the junior high, and as the teacher with the least seniority it's me. Now, the good news is that I still have a contract with the district, and so I'll still get my salary and benefits, and will be slotted into some other spot if something opens up. But if this all happens — and it's still all in the very early stages, a lot can happen in the next few weeks — I could also wind up being at the top of the substitute list. Sure, I'll be working, but as a freaking substitute!!! I thought that was finally all behind me! I may be permanently assigned to the junior high, so at least I'll know the staff and students, but nothing's been decided yet.
It's been fun, everyone, but now I'm going to put my ten-gallon hat on my head and ride Old Paint off into the sunset. Happy trails! (If you want to keep up with what's happening with me, I'm sure my wife will give updates on her blog, as she's able to spend a lot more time online than I am.)
I'm ending this for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I just don't have the time. Sure, it's a nice idea, but the reality of teaching is that I don't have a lot of extra time. Even this weekend, I went to Sylvan this morning, and last night my family sprung an early Thanksgiving on us tomorrow (while my aunt is in town). This means that I now have to cram all the grading and ironing I was planning to do this weekend into this afternoon and evening. The next few weekends are already filling up, so I'm going to have little time for myself. On top of that, I'm expected to take care of dinner tonight. Something has to give, and this is one of them.
I've come to realize that blogging isn't really my thing, anyway. I'm not that interested in sharing myself with the world, and I haven't been terribly proficient at it. It's all been a case of prioritizing my time, and this blog has been pretty low on the list. But I've felt bad that I've had to ignore it, as I know there are a couple of you who read this. So I figure by ending it, that's one less thing for me to worry about, and my readers can get on with doing something else.
I'll end, however, with the saga of the last couple of days. Thursday morning, I had a student get very angry with me. What did I do? I asked her to put away her fashion magazine and get out her math. When she started yelling at me, I asked her to step out into the hall to give her and me a chance to calm down. That didn't go over well, of course, and she called me all kinds of names I won't reprint here before storming out. Needless to say my mood turned a bit sour for a while. I eventually went out to see what was up, but she was still fuming at me, so I let her stew a while longer. Eventually, one of her friends in the class went out, talked to her, and brought her back in. Yup, my first big conflict with a student of the year. However, I was in a generally good mood that day, and I didn't let it ruffle me much. Later that day, I also got my first student saying, "This is my favorite class." That certainly helped. The next day, I was in an even better mood — being Friday helped — and I even had my first "You're my favorite teacher." The student who had gotten mad yesterday was also not only in a much better mood, she was even doing math, and I had a brief, quiet talk with her to let her know that I wanted her to succeed, and would help her out as best I could.
Of course, all that good mood and good will meant that the silver cloud had a dark lining. The principal called me in later that day to let me know that I may be out of a job. Thanks (at least in part) to the strike, enrollment districtwide is way down, and every school is likley going to lose positions. One of the math positions will probably be lost at the junior high, and as the teacher with the least seniority it's me. Now, the good news is that I still have a contract with the district, and so I'll still get my salary and benefits, and will be slotted into some other spot if something opens up. But if this all happens — and it's still all in the very early stages, a lot can happen in the next few weeks — I could also wind up being at the top of the substitute list. Sure, I'll be working, but as a freaking substitute!!! I thought that was finally all behind me! I may be permanently assigned to the junior high, so at least I'll know the staff and students, but nothing's been decided yet.
It's been fun, everyone, but now I'm going to put my ten-gallon hat on my head and ride Old Paint off into the sunset. Happy trails! (If you want to keep up with what's happening with me, I'm sure my wife will give updates on her blog, as she's able to spend a lot more time online than I am.)
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Catching up, and some VERY good news!
Well, I put in an all-afternooner (?!) today and got all of the papers I've been sitting on graded. That was a big weight off my shoulders. I've only entered two of the classes into Grade Machine, but I'm definitely in better shape now than I was last night! I should be able to stay on top of things now — until I get behind again, of course…
The early election returns are in, and it looks like the Marysville School District will have a whole new board, or at least close enough. All three of the incumbents are going down to inglorious defeat, so there will be a majority of new members on the board very soon. This should result in a contract at last, and a lot of damage control can start up. And there is a lot of it to take care of!
The early election returns are in, and it looks like the Marysville School District will have a whole new board, or at least close enough. All three of the incumbents are going down to inglorious defeat, so there will be a majority of new members on the board very soon. This should result in a contract at last, and a lot of damage control can start up. And there is a lot of it to take care of!
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Time management questions
Any teachers out there reading this, can you help me out? I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to use my time wisely and efficiently. I have a stack of papers to grade, but it's Sunday night already, and I have no idea when I'll be able to do these. Granted, it's still early in the school year, and I'm still trying to play catch-up — I think I finally have everything I need in Grade Machine — but the conflict between work life and home life is getting to be big. Any tips any teachers out there can give me (click on the comments at the end of this entry to leave ideas) would be greatly appreciated.
If you live and vote in Marysville (or anywhere else, for that matter), don't forget that Election Day is coming up on Tuesday. If you haven't already done so by absentee ballot, be sure to vote for those candidates who you think will do the best job for the community. In Marysville, this school board election is crucial, and will very likely determine the future of the district for years to come, so vote carefully and wisely. And remember, if you don't vote, you can't really complain much about who gets elected.
If you live and vote in Marysville (or anywhere else, for that matter), don't forget that Election Day is coming up on Tuesday. If you haven't already done so by absentee ballot, be sure to vote for those candidates who you think will do the best job for the community. In Marysville, this school board election is crucial, and will very likely determine the future of the district for years to come, so vote carefully and wisely. And remember, if you don't vote, you can't really complain much about who gets elected.
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