I had a mandatory meeting today with my three officers. The president is the only one that showed up for the meeting. Lovely.
One of the girls had a death in the family so I'm fine with that (duh!). The other girl went down to the middle school to socialize with her friends. Yes! Blew off the meeting.
I also had an announcement read today about an organizational meeting on Monday after school to plan the Fling. I'm getting lots of feedback from other kids so it sounds like they want to help out.
Since the class officers won't do the work, the other kids will step up to the plate and produce for me. Score!
I'll keep ya's posted . . . thanks for the positive words and support all. :-)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
My Freshmen are driving my nuts!
OK. I'm freshman class advisor. I know. Stupid me for getting involved yet again. I have three class officers (I'm down one officer since no one ran for the office of treasurer).
I had to cancel yet another dance because my officers can't follow through on anything! Let's back track . . . Back in December, they come up with this brilliant idea to have a Valentine's Day dance. I say Great! Good idea! Will bring in a ton of money for the class. Well, the week before the dance, they have NOTHING done! Nothing! No DJ. No paperwork signed. No administrator. No police officer. No chaperone's. So, I pulled it. They proceed to tell me that they would like to try a St. Paddy's dance (notice a theme here????). Again, great! BUT, you need to get all paperwork and other stuff in two weeks before the dance. Why? Because people (teachers and administrators) have lives! Guess what??? No can do! They ask me if they can put it off to March 30th. Again, I said sure! Same thing as before . . . get all the stuff in and approved. Postponed again for April 5th (we don't have school on Friday since it's Good Friday).
Well, today I called a meeting and only one of my three officers showed up. I cancelled the dance for April 5th since nothing was turned again.
NOW . . . for the REAL fun of this dilemma. The freshman are scheduled to have a Freshman Fling on May 11th. It's like a semi-formal dance to be held at the high school. The date was chosen by the school so we have no say in the date. I've been on the kids since at least January to start planning or organizing this dance. It's a huge deal for the kids. Yet again, guess what hasn't been planned yet?
So, I went to the activities director who's in charge of all the class advisers today (I had emailed her twice with my concerns and she never responded). I should point out that this woman doesn't do her job and gets a paid stipend of $10,000 and does nothing!!! I tell her what's going on and I ask her if I have the authority to pull the Fling. She tells me no. She does tell me that since my officers are not doing their job that I can put an announcement out that anyone in the freshman class that is interested in planning the Fling should see me. This Fling needs to be planned either way. We originally had a DJ planned but the officer that was supposed to follow through in confirming never called him back so he gave away the date. Great!
So, do I plan this Fling on my own? I have to say I'm a tad bit resentful at this point since I've already graduated from high school and have done the school dance thing. These kids are soooo lazy and not motivated to do anything. And, the best part about it???? My officers are blaming me and so the freshman class is angry at me. Joy! I have been telling them what needs to done, who they need to contact, and the importance of why this stuff needs to get done in a timely manner. They just don't listen. The only reassuring thing for me is that the sophomore class advisers are having the same problem with their officers.
I think what I'm going to do is put in an announcement starting tomorrow for a meeting next Monday for anyone that wants to help plan the Fling should meet in my room after school on Monday. I'm also going to talk to my Freshman Housemaster to see if he can motivate the kids since they are not listening to me.
Sound like a plan, spam???? :-) See . . . I'm trying to keep my sense of humor through all of this.
All of this drama is why I'm not advising next year. I'm done. I'm toast! I'm outa here! :-)
I had to cancel yet another dance because my officers can't follow through on anything! Let's back track . . . Back in December, they come up with this brilliant idea to have a Valentine's Day dance. I say Great! Good idea! Will bring in a ton of money for the class. Well, the week before the dance, they have NOTHING done! Nothing! No DJ. No paperwork signed. No administrator. No police officer. No chaperone's. So, I pulled it. They proceed to tell me that they would like to try a St. Paddy's dance (notice a theme here????). Again, great! BUT, you need to get all paperwork and other stuff in two weeks before the dance. Why? Because people (teachers and administrators) have lives! Guess what??? No can do! They ask me if they can put it off to March 30th. Again, I said sure! Same thing as before . . . get all the stuff in and approved. Postponed again for April 5th (we don't have school on Friday since it's Good Friday).
Well, today I called a meeting and only one of my three officers showed up. I cancelled the dance for April 5th since nothing was turned again.
NOW . . . for the REAL fun of this dilemma. The freshman are scheduled to have a Freshman Fling on May 11th. It's like a semi-formal dance to be held at the high school. The date was chosen by the school so we have no say in the date. I've been on the kids since at least January to start planning or organizing this dance. It's a huge deal for the kids. Yet again, guess what hasn't been planned yet?
So, I went to the activities director who's in charge of all the class advisers today (I had emailed her twice with my concerns and she never responded). I should point out that this woman doesn't do her job and gets a paid stipend of $10,000 and does nothing!!! I tell her what's going on and I ask her if I have the authority to pull the Fling. She tells me no. She does tell me that since my officers are not doing their job that I can put an announcement out that anyone in the freshman class that is interested in planning the Fling should see me. This Fling needs to be planned either way. We originally had a DJ planned but the officer that was supposed to follow through in confirming never called him back so he gave away the date. Great!
So, do I plan this Fling on my own? I have to say I'm a tad bit resentful at this point since I've already graduated from high school and have done the school dance thing. These kids are soooo lazy and not motivated to do anything. And, the best part about it???? My officers are blaming me and so the freshman class is angry at me. Joy! I have been telling them what needs to done, who they need to contact, and the importance of why this stuff needs to get done in a timely manner. They just don't listen. The only reassuring thing for me is that the sophomore class advisers are having the same problem with their officers.
I think what I'm going to do is put in an announcement starting tomorrow for a meeting next Monday for anyone that wants to help plan the Fling should meet in my room after school on Monday. I'm also going to talk to my Freshman Housemaster to see if he can motivate the kids since they are not listening to me.
Sound like a plan, spam???? :-) See . . . I'm trying to keep my sense of humor through all of this.
All of this drama is why I'm not advising next year. I'm done. I'm toast! I'm outa here! :-)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
A Night in Boston
Last night, I took the train into Boston to meet one of my good friends (Carla) for her birthday. She desperately needed a night out - she's a nanny and the children are always around so she gets no privacy and no sleep. To get a night of peace and quiet, she booked a room at the Hyatt Regency Boston. She used Priceline.com and bid a price for her room. The room is normally $200 plus! She paid $90! That's pretty cheap for a four star hotel in Boston for an evening! The room was gorgeous!
We didn't know where we wanted to go for dinner so we asked the Concierge to recommend a restaurant for us. He did good! We ended up here. Very yummy! I had a chicken dish and Carla had a shrimp dish. We also dipped into dessert - I had Creme brule and Carla had a turtle cheesecake. Everything was incredibly yummy!
The weather started getting icky out - they were predicting between 2-5 inches of snow so I needed to head back home. I took the train back to the Alewife Station where I parked my car and headed back home. The roads were a tad bit icy but I made it home safe and sound.
Happy Belated Birthday Carla - hope you enjoyed your night out. :-)
We didn't know where we wanted to go for dinner so we asked the Concierge to recommend a restaurant for us. He did good! We ended up here. Very yummy! I had a chicken dish and Carla had a shrimp dish. We also dipped into dessert - I had Creme brule and Carla had a turtle cheesecake. Everything was incredibly yummy!
The weather started getting icky out - they were predicting between 2-5 inches of snow so I needed to head back home. I took the train back to the Alewife Station where I parked my car and headed back home. The roads were a tad bit icy but I made it home safe and sound.
Happy Belated Birthday Carla - hope you enjoyed your night out. :-)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
A rant - please ignore my mood! :-)
I was driving into school the other day listening to NPR (National Public Radio) and they had a commentary regarding testing. Get this, the federal gov't TESTS Head Start programs/kids! Head start kids are preschoolers folks! Before the age of five for goodness sake! What am I missing???? How can the gov't justify this??? They want to know how well their programs are doing so they figure if they test the little tikes, they will get an idea of how well the kids are learning. These are LITTLE kids folks . . . is it really necessary for them to be tested so young???
Read/listen to it here.
Maybe I'm in a negative mood right now since we just finished MCAS this week (the English Language Arts portion - the rest is taken the end of May and beginning of June). I'm annoyed at this standardized test that my students need to take in order to graduate from high school. I don't believe a test is the answer to all the problems with public education. The politicians seem to think it's the best answer but they don't know/understand what we deal with every single day in our classrooms. If a student receives an A in my World History class, the state basically says, "Yeah, that's fine BUT they need to receive a specific score on OUR test to determine if they will graduate from high school???" So, our opinion doesn't count and our grades don't count for anything. And, they wonder why teachers are not respected - it's because THEY don't respect us (gov't, politicians, etc.). I'm annoyed that for three days, my school was on three hour delay (9th, 11th, and 12th graders came in three hours late) and I lost a ton of curriculum hours from my teaching for a test that only 10th graders have to take. Last, I'm annoyed that I will get stuck proctoring all the MCAS exams and that there are teachers in the building that don't have to proctor ONE test!
Where are all the tests leading? I teach to a test now. I hate it. I have a lot of students have similar learning styles like me - I don't test well. Is life nothing but a standardized test????
According to the state of MA, life is like a standardized test - you never know what ya might get (sorry for the Forrest Gump reference).
Read/listen to it here.
Maybe I'm in a negative mood right now since we just finished MCAS this week (the English Language Arts portion - the rest is taken the end of May and beginning of June). I'm annoyed at this standardized test that my students need to take in order to graduate from high school. I don't believe a test is the answer to all the problems with public education. The politicians seem to think it's the best answer but they don't know/understand what we deal with every single day in our classrooms. If a student receives an A in my World History class, the state basically says, "Yeah, that's fine BUT they need to receive a specific score on OUR test to determine if they will graduate from high school???" So, our opinion doesn't count and our grades don't count for anything. And, they wonder why teachers are not respected - it's because THEY don't respect us (gov't, politicians, etc.). I'm annoyed that for three days, my school was on three hour delay (9th, 11th, and 12th graders came in three hours late) and I lost a ton of curriculum hours from my teaching for a test that only 10th graders have to take. Last, I'm annoyed that I will get stuck proctoring all the MCAS exams and that there are teachers in the building that don't have to proctor ONE test!
Where are all the tests leading? I teach to a test now. I hate it. I have a lot of students have similar learning styles like me - I don't test well. Is life nothing but a standardized test????
According to the state of MA, life is like a standardized test - you never know what ya might get (sorry for the Forrest Gump reference).
Saturday, March 17, 2007
What is M-Dawg reading these days????
I am a book addict/junky. I read everything and anything. I also have this nasty habit of reading two or three books at a time. The habit developed when I was in graduate school. Bad M-Dawg! :-)
I'm reading the following books:
1) Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol. You want to get angry and upset about the conditions of our inner city schools, just read this book! It was written in 1991 but I have this sneaky suspicion that the condition of our inner city schools in America still hasn't changed much since the publishing of this book. Since I work in an inner city school, I thought I could relate to this book. I definitely could relate to the lack of funding, not paying teachers very well, and the high drop out rates. The book addresses six different inner city school systems in this country. Very intriguing and eye-opening read! I hope our politicians have read this book - maybe they would realize that something needs to be done about the education of millions of innocent children!
2) A Year in the World by Frances Mayes (she wrote Under the Tuscan Sun - yes, this book was made into a movie starring Diane Lane). I'm a traveler at heart! I adore traveling. Since traveling costs a ton of money that I don't usually have at the time, I sometimes will read books about other travelers and their experiences. The author decides to take a year off from her job and the real world and travel around Europe and Northern Africa. The author has a unique writing style that I enjoy immensely. As I read this book, I visualize myself in the locations that she's writing about - Spain, Greece, Turkey, etc. It's an amazing journey!
3) The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (I've already read this but I'm re-reading it for my Book Club). The book discusses the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the murder and intrigue that took place. I like the book because it addresses a part of Chicago history that tends to get ignored - the history about Chicago tends to address the gangsters and Al Capone. :-) And, Larson does a great job at writing the book to make it not sound so much like a history text.
What are you reading/have read lately in your free time?????
I'm reading the following books:
1) Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol. You want to get angry and upset about the conditions of our inner city schools, just read this book! It was written in 1991 but I have this sneaky suspicion that the condition of our inner city schools in America still hasn't changed much since the publishing of this book. Since I work in an inner city school, I thought I could relate to this book. I definitely could relate to the lack of funding, not paying teachers very well, and the high drop out rates. The book addresses six different inner city school systems in this country. Very intriguing and eye-opening read! I hope our politicians have read this book - maybe they would realize that something needs to be done about the education of millions of innocent children!
2) A Year in the World by Frances Mayes (she wrote Under the Tuscan Sun - yes, this book was made into a movie starring Diane Lane). I'm a traveler at heart! I adore traveling. Since traveling costs a ton of money that I don't usually have at the time, I sometimes will read books about other travelers and their experiences. The author decides to take a year off from her job and the real world and travel around Europe and Northern Africa. The author has a unique writing style that I enjoy immensely. As I read this book, I visualize myself in the locations that she's writing about - Spain, Greece, Turkey, etc. It's an amazing journey!
3) The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (I've already read this but I'm re-reading it for my Book Club). The book discusses the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the murder and intrigue that took place. I like the book because it addresses a part of Chicago history that tends to get ignored - the history about Chicago tends to address the gangsters and Al Capone. :-) And, Larson does a great job at writing the book to make it not sound so much like a history text.
What are you reading/have read lately in your free time?????
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Professional Day in Boston
Today, I drove into Boston to attend The Bill of Rights Institute Seminar on the 1st amendment. The official name of the seminar was Conflict and Continuity: The Story of American Freedom. Very intriguing! Got lots of free curriculum and teaching ideas . . . which is always a good thing.
The seminar was held here. Let me tell ya, this is how the real folks live and work! Very fancy place -
One of my colleagues from my department attended the seminar with me. There were also a two middle school teachers from my district there. We sat and chatted and compared notes about students and curriculum.
I have to say that I'm exhausted from sitting there and listening to speakers all day. I took a ton of notes that I hope to be able to use in my lectures. I hate to admit it but I'm so used to being on my feet and walking around the classroom that my butt fell asleep at the end of the seminar. :-)
Oh, they also fed us some great food! And, the grand price of this trip for me: gas and parking. That's it!
It was so nice to be treated as professionals. Unfortunately, as teachers, we don't always get treated with respect.
The seminar was held here. Let me tell ya, this is how the real folks live and work! Very fancy place -
One of my colleagues from my department attended the seminar with me. There were also a two middle school teachers from my district there. We sat and chatted and compared notes about students and curriculum.
I have to say that I'm exhausted from sitting there and listening to speakers all day. I took a ton of notes that I hope to be able to use in my lectures. I hate to admit it but I'm so used to being on my feet and walking around the classroom that my butt fell asleep at the end of the seminar. :-)
Oh, they also fed us some great food! And, the grand price of this trip for me: gas and parking. That's it!
It was so nice to be treated as professionals. Unfortunately, as teachers, we don't always get treated with respect.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Warmer weather . . . . finally! :-)
YES! Finally! The weather has warmed up here in New England.
I have this fear that it's just teasing us. You know what I mean. Let's just torment those folks and trick them into thinking that spring is here when it's not really here type of stuff.
It was in the 50's today. In fact, I was sooo motivated by this lovely weather that I washed and vacuumed my car!
How's that Mother Nature???????? :-)
I have this fear that it's just teasing us. You know what I mean. Let's just torment those folks and trick them into thinking that spring is here when it's not really here type of stuff.
It was in the 50's today. In fact, I was sooo motivated by this lovely weather that I washed and vacuumed my car!
How's that Mother Nature???????? :-)
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Random thoughts . . . again! :-)
*It's been colder than crap here. I'm so frozen that I can't feel my fingers anymore. Ughy!
*We've had some serious drama at school with the older students. Let's just say that it has something to do with MySpace, inappropriate pictures, parents buying their children alcohol and partying with them, student athletes, and alcohol and drugs. And, we've had at least four major fights each day this week. It's bad folks. Real bad. The Police dept got involved.
*I finally purchased my LCD Projector for my classroom. It should be arriving any day now. :-) Yeah for PowerPoints! :-)
*My freshman are trying to organize a dance for March 30th. Again, lots of drama with organizing it. They tried to plan a V-Day dance in February and that failed miserably. They still don't get that you can't do things last minute when it comes to organizing a dance. They still haven't started planning or organizing for their Spring Fling which is in May. I've been on them about organizing and they refuse to listen to me. Ughy! The dance on the 30th is the same day as the Junior Prom -which means that no administrators will chaperon our dance since they all will be at the Prom. BUT, we have two appointments on Friday with two DJ's. Go figure!
*I work all weekend at Paws which means I will have no down time this weekend. BUT the weather is supposed to be warm and nice so I hope everyone brings in their puppies! It's the best part of the job!!!!! :-)
Have a good weekend everyone -
*We've had some serious drama at school with the older students. Let's just say that it has something to do with MySpace, inappropriate pictures, parents buying their children alcohol and partying with them, student athletes, and alcohol and drugs. And, we've had at least four major fights each day this week. It's bad folks. Real bad. The Police dept got involved.
*I finally purchased my LCD Projector for my classroom. It should be arriving any day now. :-) Yeah for PowerPoints! :-)
*My freshman are trying to organize a dance for March 30th. Again, lots of drama with organizing it. They tried to plan a V-Day dance in February and that failed miserably. They still don't get that you can't do things last minute when it comes to organizing a dance. They still haven't started planning or organizing for their Spring Fling which is in May. I've been on them about organizing and they refuse to listen to me. Ughy! The dance on the 30th is the same day as the Junior Prom -which means that no administrators will chaperon our dance since they all will be at the Prom. BUT, we have two appointments on Friday with two DJ's. Go figure!
*I work all weekend at Paws which means I will have no down time this weekend. BUT the weather is supposed to be warm and nice so I hope everyone brings in their puppies! It's the best part of the job!!!!! :-)
Have a good weekend everyone -
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Happy Birthday Lea!
This is a picture of Lea's Mom, Lea, and myself at The Maples in Peru, IL.Happy Birthday Lea!
I've been friends with Lea since high school. We went to two different area schools but we shared the same friends. It wasn't until we both got hired at Taco Bell that we got to be good friends. We've had some great times over the years. Lea came here last spring for a visit. The picture below is Lea in front of the Witch Museum in Salem, MA. She loves New England!
Fishy - wishing you much happiness and love this year. Thank you for being a good friend and always putting a smile on my face!
Love Ya Fishy! :-)
Just some ramblings . . . .
I'm here. I'm alive and kicking.
I have today off from work - No Paws. I have a ton of errands to do so I guess it's not an official day off. I was able to sleep in.
Grades closed for progress grades on Friday. My students were freaking out and wondering what they had missing for assignments. I told them it didn't matter since I don't accept late work. Then, my favorite question comes up. The "Can I do extra credit to bring up my grade?" question. My response is always the same: NO! I don't do extra credit. Especially since if they bothered to do their homework, there would be no need for extra credit. Ugh!
I have my History Book Club on Tuesday. We read Good Brother Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth. I think that once I get to the Lincoln assassination in my US History Part I class, I'll be able to use some of the material from this book. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I learned a great deal about both brothers. I'll be curious to hear how the rest of the Book Club feels about the book.
Received some sad news yesterday. One of the gals I used to teach with a Timberlane was diagnosed with leukemia. Her church did a bone marrow drive on Saturday. You can read about it here. Click on the link of the video from YouTube. Leigh is an amazing woman and if anyone can beat this, it's her! Please remember her in your thoughts and prayers.
I'll try and check in throughout the week - it is going to be busy so if I don't email or comment on your blogs right away, this is why.
Have a good week all!
I have today off from work - No Paws. I have a ton of errands to do so I guess it's not an official day off. I was able to sleep in.
Grades closed for progress grades on Friday. My students were freaking out and wondering what they had missing for assignments. I told them it didn't matter since I don't accept late work. Then, my favorite question comes up. The "Can I do extra credit to bring up my grade?" question. My response is always the same: NO! I don't do extra credit. Especially since if they bothered to do their homework, there would be no need for extra credit. Ugh!
I have my History Book Club on Tuesday. We read Good Brother Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth. I think that once I get to the Lincoln assassination in my US History Part I class, I'll be able to use some of the material from this book. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I learned a great deal about both brothers. I'll be curious to hear how the rest of the Book Club feels about the book.
Received some sad news yesterday. One of the gals I used to teach with a Timberlane was diagnosed with leukemia. Her church did a bone marrow drive on Saturday. You can read about it here. Click on the link of the video from YouTube. Leigh is an amazing woman and if anyone can beat this, it's her! Please remember her in your thoughts and prayers.
I'll try and check in throughout the week - it is going to be busy so if I don't email or comment on your blogs right away, this is why.
Have a good week all!
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