You just gotta do things to either make yourself laugh or make others laugh, or you'r going to go crazy...I had my first "Morning Duty" yesterday. It was cold out!
*I forgot to grab my gloves when I left the house, so when I got to school, I wanted to borrow some gloves from someone so my hands wouldn't freeze, since we are outside supervising for 20 minutes until the bell rings. On Fridays we wear our school spirit wear. I was dressed fairly warm in my black turtle neck and long-sleeve fleece pullover. I was also wearing my college scarf, which I wear on college Wednesdays. But no gloves. So when I got to school I emailed the whole staff. This is what I said, "Staff, I have morning duty and forgot my gloves! If anyone has a pair I can borrow, let me know. I'd prefer black, since that would go best with my outfit." Many people responded, and laughed about my need to color-coordinate...
*My "post" for Morning Duty is on the playground with the 1st and 2nd graders. The little kids are wild, but pretty cute, and since I teach older kids, it's always fun to be around the younger ones. The kids are supposed to stand quietly in line for 20 minutes until the bell, but that is an unrealistic expectation of our principal. In actuality, they run around like chickens with their heads cut off. But I digress...I'm walking around from one "line" of kids to another, trying to encourage them to stand in line and not use their backpacks for weapons. I walk up to one line, and I talk to kids one on one as I slowly walk from the front of the line to the back. Some kids recognize me; some kids are younger siblings of past and/or current students of mine. Then one little boy comes up to me. "Teacher," he says as he holds out his soccer ball, "Look at my ball!"
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Discipline-Gate
Then last week there was Discipline-Gate. It was a "No-School" day for kids, and an optional day for teachers. If teachers came to work, we signed in and got paid a day's pay. The first four hours belonged to the principal, and the last three was our own time. I do not understand why any teacher would not come to work for a day's pay, so I always go.
Like I said, the first four hours belonged to Mr. Principal. We met in the morning in the library with our laptops as we would for any staff meeting. All certificated staff was there except for one teacher (I am not sure why she was not there. My understanding is that she is always in financial trouble. You would think she would take any opportunity to make an extra day's worth of pay. But there you go.). The morning began with our Education Assisstant reading us our list of norms to follow. I hate this. I didn't come up with the norms. They weren't generated by the staff. If this is indeed a list of respectful behaviors we are going to show, then it should have come from us. After she read the norms to us, we have to show thumbs up or thumbs down if we can agree to follow them. Like children. I put my thumb sideways, just because I hate it. Then she read us a story while Mr. Principal had music playing in the background. Oh god, I thought.
That over, I can't remember what happened next, so obviously it was extremely important and life-changing. They were using their iPads, though...But soon we moved to the morning duty schedule (see earlier post on that fiasco). A schedule was presented to the staff where there were the morning duty positions listed for each day of the week, and it was explained that each grade level would be on just one day but every week all year. It was also pointed out that some staff who previously have NOT been on morning duty would now be on the schedule, if in somewhat of a modified form (ie, two Intervention Specialists would share one post...). Finally, I wrote names of the days of the week on slips of paper, and Mr. Principal would toss a day to a team. That was the day they'd get, and the team members would then sign up for the slots they wanted. I went with the fourth grade team, and disappointingly we got Wednesday. But then third grade approached us to change days-they had Friday! Heck yes, we changed! Because in November, only one week actually has school on a Friday! We came out looking pretty good. The response to the new schedule was hesitant, I think. I hope people will like it. We'll see.
Then we moved on to discipline. Now, in our contract (pages 27-29) it talks about our rights as teachers as far as what we have to (and don't have to) put up with in a classroom from a student, and what our rights are if we send a student out of the classroom for behavior. But it is murkier at the elementary...Kids are still learning right from wrong, and classroom teachers are expected to put up with alot. But just two days prior to this meeting, our music teacher came in to my room, angry because one of my 5th grade girls attacked another student and cussed at him. Now that is a white slip in my book, and I told her so. "Write her up," I said. So she did.
Later, she came into my room. "When is you recess?" she asked. I told her and she said, "Well, the white slip was denied, and I was told to handle it myself until it happened six times...So send her to me to write sentences." I did.
The very next day when I went to the office during my break, I see the same student in Mr. Principal's office. Later when she returned to my room, she handed me the pink copy of the white slip. I read that she had attacked a student physically at recess, hitting the student and leaving red marks. It sounded like what had happened the day before in music, but this time the white slip was taken seriously and she was written up.
The question I had, and that I shared at the meeting, was why was the first white slip which was written by a classroom teacher denied, but the next day when the very same behavior was displayed at recess and the recess teacher/office worker wrote her up, it was then taken seriously?
Now, I knew that many teachers lately have had white slips denied or ignored. So yes, I knew I was unleashing some intersting discussion on the topic, and that is what happened. As the teachers began speaking up, I was looking up in our contract the pages (quoted above) that speak to discipline. I then sent it immediately in an email to staff. Mr. Principal and Ms. Education Assisstant were getting hot under the collar, and getting very defensive. But it is true that teachers are not feeling supported when it comes to discipline. I asked, "Why is a student allowed to do something SIX times before it is taken seriously? In the real world he or she won't be given six times before they are arrested..."
I really don't recall what transpired from all of this, except that Mr. Principal knows teachers are unhappy and angry over the lack of follow through in discipline, and it is not following the contract. He swears that the office does support the teachers in discipline, but I think the office does not. We supposedly have a discipline committee, but I just can't figure out what happened to consensus. When I began teaching it was all about staff coming to consensus on issues. Now, at my school, it seems to be small committtees that are making decisions. It drives me crazy. And if I was to bring this up to Mr. Principal, I know what he'd say. He'd say, well, then get on that committee. But exactly how many committees does one need to be on? I'm trying my best to keep teachers aware of their rights, and the contract states specifically that there should only be 8 mandated meetings a month, and no more than two a week. He fills those all ready. We don't need more meetings; what we need is more input into the way the school will be run as it applies to the classroom.
Have I said this yet? I feel like Mr. Principal is a steam roller, and is steam rolling over us all.
Like I said, the first four hours belonged to Mr. Principal. We met in the morning in the library with our laptops as we would for any staff meeting. All certificated staff was there except for one teacher (I am not sure why she was not there. My understanding is that she is always in financial trouble. You would think she would take any opportunity to make an extra day's worth of pay. But there you go.). The morning began with our Education Assisstant reading us our list of norms to follow. I hate this. I didn't come up with the norms. They weren't generated by the staff. If this is indeed a list of respectful behaviors we are going to show, then it should have come from us. After she read the norms to us, we have to show thumbs up or thumbs down if we can agree to follow them. Like children. I put my thumb sideways, just because I hate it. Then she read us a story while Mr. Principal had music playing in the background. Oh god, I thought.
That over, I can't remember what happened next, so obviously it was extremely important and life-changing. They were using their iPads, though...But soon we moved to the morning duty schedule (see earlier post on that fiasco). A schedule was presented to the staff where there were the morning duty positions listed for each day of the week, and it was explained that each grade level would be on just one day but every week all year. It was also pointed out that some staff who previously have NOT been on morning duty would now be on the schedule, if in somewhat of a modified form (ie, two Intervention Specialists would share one post...). Finally, I wrote names of the days of the week on slips of paper, and Mr. Principal would toss a day to a team. That was the day they'd get, and the team members would then sign up for the slots they wanted. I went with the fourth grade team, and disappointingly we got Wednesday. But then third grade approached us to change days-they had Friday! Heck yes, we changed! Because in November, only one week actually has school on a Friday! We came out looking pretty good. The response to the new schedule was hesitant, I think. I hope people will like it. We'll see.
Then we moved on to discipline. Now, in our contract (pages 27-29) it talks about our rights as teachers as far as what we have to (and don't have to) put up with in a classroom from a student, and what our rights are if we send a student out of the classroom for behavior. But it is murkier at the elementary...Kids are still learning right from wrong, and classroom teachers are expected to put up with alot. But just two days prior to this meeting, our music teacher came in to my room, angry because one of my 5th grade girls attacked another student and cussed at him. Now that is a white slip in my book, and I told her so. "Write her up," I said. So she did.
Later, she came into my room. "When is you recess?" she asked. I told her and she said, "Well, the white slip was denied, and I was told to handle it myself until it happened six times...So send her to me to write sentences." I did.
The very next day when I went to the office during my break, I see the same student in Mr. Principal's office. Later when she returned to my room, she handed me the pink copy of the white slip. I read that she had attacked a student physically at recess, hitting the student and leaving red marks. It sounded like what had happened the day before in music, but this time the white slip was taken seriously and she was written up.
The question I had, and that I shared at the meeting, was why was the first white slip which was written by a classroom teacher denied, but the next day when the very same behavior was displayed at recess and the recess teacher/office worker wrote her up, it was then taken seriously?
Now, I knew that many teachers lately have had white slips denied or ignored. So yes, I knew I was unleashing some intersting discussion on the topic, and that is what happened. As the teachers began speaking up, I was looking up in our contract the pages (quoted above) that speak to discipline. I then sent it immediately in an email to staff. Mr. Principal and Ms. Education Assisstant were getting hot under the collar, and getting very defensive. But it is true that teachers are not feeling supported when it comes to discipline. I asked, "Why is a student allowed to do something SIX times before it is taken seriously? In the real world he or she won't be given six times before they are arrested..."
I really don't recall what transpired from all of this, except that Mr. Principal knows teachers are unhappy and angry over the lack of follow through in discipline, and it is not following the contract. He swears that the office does support the teachers in discipline, but I think the office does not. We supposedly have a discipline committee, but I just can't figure out what happened to consensus. When I began teaching it was all about staff coming to consensus on issues. Now, at my school, it seems to be small committtees that are making decisions. It drives me crazy. And if I was to bring this up to Mr. Principal, I know what he'd say. He'd say, well, then get on that committee. But exactly how many committees does one need to be on? I'm trying my best to keep teachers aware of their rights, and the contract states specifically that there should only be 8 mandated meetings a month, and no more than two a week. He fills those all ready. We don't need more meetings; what we need is more input into the way the school will be run as it applies to the classroom.
Have I said this yet? I feel like Mr. Principal is a steam roller, and is steam rolling over us all.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Copy-Gate
The same week as the iPad-Gate we had Copy-Gate. This is when Ms. Office Worker sent out a spreadsheet with every teacher's total of how many copies they have made this year. This was followed up with an email from Mr. Principal, encouraging us to use less copies (we have a 5,000 limit per teacher for the first half of the year), and to "problem solve" with others how to use less.
Now when you are sent a spreadsheet like this, naturally you look at your number of copies and how it compares to others, which, of course, was the intent of this "transparent" method of sharing. This also, in the same week as the iPad email trail, and hurt feelings from that, unleashed a new email trail with defensive and hurt employees.
Teachers felt the need to explain and defend their number of copies. Teachers replied all that their number was high because they have made copies for their whole team more than others. Other teachers replied that their numbers were high because their math curriculum demands lots of copying for worksheets and tests. Other replied all that they truly believed there was a mistake made and that from now on they would keep track of their copies and compare it to the office's record...So much unhappiness, blame, bad feelings, and justifications.
Me? I make as little copies as possible, as I like to save trees, not that I care about looking good on the spreadsheet. But if I reach my limit? The too bad. No more tests. I will not go out and pay for copies at Office Depot. I refuse to spend my money in that manner. I wonder if it is like this everywhere? We have the crappiest teacher workroom ever, with only one copy machine for the whole staff (although the office, I think, has two? At least they have one for the 4-7 people there...).
What an unhappy place I work at.
Now when you are sent a spreadsheet like this, naturally you look at your number of copies and how it compares to others, which, of course, was the intent of this "transparent" method of sharing. This also, in the same week as the iPad email trail, and hurt feelings from that, unleashed a new email trail with defensive and hurt employees.
Teachers felt the need to explain and defend their number of copies. Teachers replied all that their number was high because they have made copies for their whole team more than others. Other teachers replied that their numbers were high because their math curriculum demands lots of copying for worksheets and tests. Other replied all that they truly believed there was a mistake made and that from now on they would keep track of their copies and compare it to the office's record...So much unhappiness, blame, bad feelings, and justifications.
Me? I make as little copies as possible, as I like to save trees, not that I care about looking good on the spreadsheet. But if I reach my limit? The too bad. No more tests. I will not go out and pay for copies at Office Depot. I refuse to spend my money in that manner. I wonder if it is like this everywhere? We have the crappiest teacher workroom ever, with only one copy machine for the whole staff (although the office, I think, has two? At least they have one for the 4-7 people there...).
What an unhappy place I work at.
Scandal
You've lived through or heard of Watergate, right? Well, at our school we have had our share of "scandals."
"iPad-Gate"-This occured when one of our special ed teachers innocently sent out a link to the "60 Minutes" episode that featured teachers using iPads with
children with Autism. They could use apps for communicating, and this was very successful. Another teacher "replied all" to the innocent email, stating that it was unfortunate that our administration saw it fit to provide administrators with iPads (because apparently their compters and laptops weren't enough), while students who could benefit went without. This unleased a whole back-and-forth email trail between certain staff members and the admin at our school.
Our principal, who blames a huge part of our staff's unrest on the union, not realizing his part in this, sent an email chastising this teacher's response as being uninformed, and that it was "sad" to see rumors spread in this manner. This made said teacher, who seemed to me to be a big union supporter, aplogize profusely (something I would NOT have done). I never did add my two-cents worth in this conversation, although I had thought that our tech guy said that there was indeed an "iPad Cart" at the administration building for anyone's use (as long as you worked in the admin building...not for teachers to check out and use). It's also true that my principal has one or two computers in his office, plus a laptop, and an iPad. How many pieces of similar technology does one need? Finally, in his reply defending the purchase of iPads, he said that he used "his" technology money to purchase three iPads for our building. Three? Where are they?
Well, the funniest reply came from one of the Self-Contained teachers who works with the primary kids. She said, "I'm just so excited to find out that there are three iPads in our building! I have several non-communicative students who would greatly benefit from the use of iPads. Where are they, and how do I get on the list to check them out?" I replied back to her: Well, I can tell you where two of the three are. One is in Mr. Principal's office. One is in Mrs. Education Assisstant's office. I don't know where the third one would be...
Interestingly enough, at our next staff meeting both Mr. Principal and Mrs. Education Assisstant had their iPads and were using them to run the meeting. Showing us, I guess, that they needed them, not the classrooms.
I'm still trying to get the facts on who has iPads and why at the district level. I've asked Ms. Union President for facts. Mr. Principal wants facts, not rumors. So when I get some facts, I plan on sharing with all.
"iPad-Gate"-This occured when one of our special ed teachers innocently sent out a link to the "60 Minutes" episode that featured teachers using iPads with
children with Autism. They could use apps for communicating, and this was very successful. Another teacher "replied all" to the innocent email, stating that it was unfortunate that our administration saw it fit to provide administrators with iPads (because apparently their compters and laptops weren't enough), while students who could benefit went without. This unleased a whole back-and-forth email trail between certain staff members and the admin at our school.
Our principal, who blames a huge part of our staff's unrest on the union, not realizing his part in this, sent an email chastising this teacher's response as being uninformed, and that it was "sad" to see rumors spread in this manner. This made said teacher, who seemed to me to be a big union supporter, aplogize profusely (something I would NOT have done). I never did add my two-cents worth in this conversation, although I had thought that our tech guy said that there was indeed an "iPad Cart" at the administration building for anyone's use (as long as you worked in the admin building...not for teachers to check out and use). It's also true that my principal has one or two computers in his office, plus a laptop, and an iPad. How many pieces of similar technology does one need? Finally, in his reply defending the purchase of iPads, he said that he used "his" technology money to purchase three iPads for our building. Three? Where are they?
Well, the funniest reply came from one of the Self-Contained teachers who works with the primary kids. She said, "I'm just so excited to find out that there are three iPads in our building! I have several non-communicative students who would greatly benefit from the use of iPads. Where are they, and how do I get on the list to check them out?" I replied back to her: Well, I can tell you where two of the three are. One is in Mr. Principal's office. One is in Mrs. Education Assisstant's office. I don't know where the third one would be...
Interestingly enough, at our next staff meeting both Mr. Principal and Mrs. Education Assisstant had their iPads and were using them to run the meeting. Showing us, I guess, that they needed them, not the classrooms.
I'm still trying to get the facts on who has iPads and why at the district level. I've asked Ms. Union President for facts. Mr. Principal wants facts, not rumors. So when I get some facts, I plan on sharing with all.
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