Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tampon Talk
Today I had to talk to several girls about taking a tampon from the nurse's office and hiding it in another girl's bag. The owner of the bag was embarrassed. I told her tampons are not embarrassing, they are a vital part of a female's life. (I felt kind of creepy saying this.) Tampon pride!!! Several boys saw the tampon and starting teasing the girl. I had to talk to the boys about respecting girls and their privacy. I believe this is the first time I've had to talk to kids about tampons. In fact, I think I said "tampon" more times today than I have in my whole life. Hopefully, I'll go another five years or longer without having to say "tampon" again. I know you are so jealous of my exciting and glamorous work.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Home Stretch
FIVE DAYS LEFT! I will be a VERY happy camper on Friday at exactly 2:30 P.M. I cannot wait until this year ends. This time last year, I was practically ready for the new school year. I have done very little to prepare for next year. I think the only thing I've done has been make the meetings schedule. I just don't feel motivated to work on next year's stuff. Eventually I'll get it done. Maybe.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Kids Can Be Cute...Sometimes
Today was the instrumental/chorus concert at school. The kids did a great job. I was a bit disappointed more of the chorus didn't show up. The kids who did show up did a fantastic job. Glenda S. and I were sitting at the back of the MPR enjoying the show. One of our nicer parents and his little son were sitting in front of us. The little one was hanging on his dad and at one point lovingly bit his dad's ear. It was the cutest thing! After the show, the dad and I chatted for a bit and he introduced me to his son, telling me I was going to get him in a couple years. I asked the little one his name and he told me he was two. So cute. When our little talk was over, his dad told him to give me "knuckles." The little one gave me a fist bump! It was the cutest thing ever! I'll take a fist bump from a little kid over a "f*ck you" any day!!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Jury Duty
I've managed to dodge the jury duty summons for about two years now. My luck has run out. I received a summons for the week of August 10. I'm so bummed. It's right in the middle of my precious few days off. I'm probably only going to have 12 days off at the most. Oh well. I suppose I must do my civic duty. Last time I was called I had to sit through two days of voir dire. It was the most mind numbing experience of my life. On a happier note I have no meat stories to share this week.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Happy Sunday
I've officially passed the number of Year 4 posts and in a few more days I will pass the number of Year 3 posts (120). Guess I've had a lot to say this year or maybe this year I've said a lot without saying much at all. Does that make sense? Today I need to buy certificate paper for the fifth grade promotion certificiates. Fifteen more days of school left. I hope they go very, very quickly! I also need to hit the party store to pick up some stuff for Friday's BBQ. I need coffee first. Must have coffee! This morning I woke up with horrible pain in my leg and hip. It's almost kind of hard to walk. I'm trying to figure out where it came from. I didn't do anything strenuous. I guess I'm just starting to fall apart. I hope it goes away by tomorrow.
Friday, July 3, 2009
HEY! Wanna buy some meat?
I have to say that this has been a very meaty week. So I'm driving down Long Beach Blvd minding my own business. I come to a stop at the red light like I'm supposed to. A white truck pulls up next to me. The two guys in the truck start yelling at me asking me if I want to buy steaks from them. Yup, two guys selling steaks from their truck on LB Blvd. That was a first. Usually the guys selling stuff are on the sidewalk, not in the cars next to you. I politely declined the offer, but they weren't giving up. They continued to try to sell the steaks. So, I rolled up the window and inched a little closer to the car in front of me. Who buys meat from someone in the car next to them???????? I should have asked them how business was going. Oh well. Next time I will.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Can you put this meat in the refrigerator for me?
It's Tuesday morning. The intern and I are standing guard by the bungalow bathrooms. The 8:15 bell rings. The kids scamper to class. Some linger and sneak that last minute drink at the fountain. Fourth grader Felipe walks up to us and slowly unzips his backpack. Felipe's a good kid so I'm not thinking anything bad is going to happen (if you know what I mean). He takes out a hunk of meat that's nicely wrapped in plastic and he asks me if I would put it in the refrigerator. Of course I say yes and ask him why he has brought a hunk of meat to school. I think it's a fair question. He tells me and the intern that it's for the after school program, they're going to have a barbecue. Now it makes sense. Going to have a barbecue. I forgot to ask him if he also brought barbecue sauce, because you have to have sauce too. I explained to the intern that an important administrator job is to make sure meat products brought to school are kept appropriately chilled. We don't want anyone to get sick. I hope he wrote that down in his reflection journal. I'll check on Monday. This was the first time in 17 (22 if you count my college aide days) years in this biz that a kid has ever given me a piece of meat and asked me to put it in the refrigerator. When a kid gives you meat...that's trust, that's love.
Donorschoose.org
Need books for your classroom library? A new computer for inquiry projects? A smartboard? Checkout Donorschoose.org where you can set up an account describing your project and the project's needs. Visitors to the website can make donations to help make your project a reality. Check it out!
From Today's L.A. Times
Education secretary treads where teachers unions don't want to go
Arne Duncan, in a speech at the NEA's annual meeting in San Diego, says teacher merit pay and student test scores should be on the table when discussing education reform.
Reporting from San Diego -- The country's top education official challenged teachers unions Thursday to embrace historically controversial ways of promoting teacher effectiveness, including offering merit pay and evaluating instructors based on student test scores.
"You must become full partners and leaders in education reform. You must be willing to change," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the National Education Assn. at its annual meeting in San Diego.
The proposals are particularly charged in California, where such suggestions typically are met with fierce union resistance. In fact, a state law prevents districts from using California student performance data to evaluate or compensate teachers.
Duncan's audience was slightly more welcoming than in the past. Dennis Van Roekel, president of the 3.2-million member NEA, agreed that reform was needed, especially in teacher evaluations. And many rank-and-file union members at least politely nodded during Duncan's speech, a change from last year when President Obama -- then a candidate -- was roundly booed by the same convention when he discussed merit pay.
Not that the crowd was won over Thursday. "Quite frankly, merit pay is union-busting," said one educator to loud applause during the question and answer period.
Audience members cheered when one teacher questioned the merits of linking student test scores to teacher evaluation or pay.
When one NEA member shouted angrily at the mention of merit pay, Duncan said: "You can boo [but] don't throw any shoes, please."
Duncan has mentioned many of these ideas while traveling the country addressing educators, but Thursday was his first speech focused on teacher quality. And he made it before a potentially antagonistic audience.
Still, he said the Obama administration wants to work in partnership with the unions to ensure that students have the best teachers. "We are not going to impose reform but rather work with teachers, principals and unions to find what works," Duncan said.
He also advocated changing tenure rules, saying that protecting poor teachers hurts students and effective instructors.
He also made it a point to say that charter schools -- independent, public schools that are free of many school district regulations and restrictions and often are not bound by union contracts -- should be treated the same as regular campuses.
"Charter schools are public schools, and they should be held to the same standards as everyone else," he said.
A group in the California section of the audience booed loudly when Duncan praised Green Dot Public Schools, which independently operates more than a dozen schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District with union contracts. David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Assn., called the anti-Green Dot contingent a "vocal minority."
Duncan pointedly advocated using student test score data to assess teacher effectiveness. "It's time we all admit that just as our testing system is deeply flawed, so is our teacher evaluation system."
Test scores should not be the sole measurement of teacher quality, Duncan said, and any merit pay needs to be shared on a campus-wide basis. When he headed the Chicago public schools, Duncan oversaw the creation of a program that rewarded some schools for increasing student achievement, which was measured partially by test scores, by giving extra pay to all employees.
Unions agreed to the program, said Duncan, who added that rewarding only individual teachers was wrong.
"You cannot pit teachers against each other. Such programs will always fail," he said.
He also said that administrators need to be given more support and training, but if they are ineffective they "need to find something else to do."
Van Roekel said he was willing to work with Duncan and the Obama administration because they appear to understand the complexities of reform and of using testing data to evaluate teachers. But Sanchez said he did not favor using that data.
"It shouldn't be on the table," he said.
Sanchez said local unions need to negotiate their own contracts but that he doesn't believe merit pay should be a bargaining point. Still, he said he was pleased that Duncan was reaching out to unions.
When reform "comes from the top down, it never works," Sanchez said. "We need to be inclusive."
jason.song@latimes.com
Arne Duncan, in a speech at the NEA's annual meeting in San Diego, says teacher merit pay and student test scores should be on the table when discussing education reform.
Reporting from San Diego -- The country's top education official challenged teachers unions Thursday to embrace historically controversial ways of promoting teacher effectiveness, including offering merit pay and evaluating instructors based on student test scores.
"You must become full partners and leaders in education reform. You must be willing to change," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the National Education Assn. at its annual meeting in San Diego.
The proposals are particularly charged in California, where such suggestions typically are met with fierce union resistance. In fact, a state law prevents districts from using California student performance data to evaluate or compensate teachers.
Duncan's audience was slightly more welcoming than in the past. Dennis Van Roekel, president of the 3.2-million member NEA, agreed that reform was needed, especially in teacher evaluations. And many rank-and-file union members at least politely nodded during Duncan's speech, a change from last year when President Obama -- then a candidate -- was roundly booed by the same convention when he discussed merit pay.
Not that the crowd was won over Thursday. "Quite frankly, merit pay is union-busting," said one educator to loud applause during the question and answer period.
Audience members cheered when one teacher questioned the merits of linking student test scores to teacher evaluation or pay.
When one NEA member shouted angrily at the mention of merit pay, Duncan said: "You can boo [but] don't throw any shoes, please."
Duncan has mentioned many of these ideas while traveling the country addressing educators, but Thursday was his first speech focused on teacher quality. And he made it before a potentially antagonistic audience.
Still, he said the Obama administration wants to work in partnership with the unions to ensure that students have the best teachers. "We are not going to impose reform but rather work with teachers, principals and unions to find what works," Duncan said.
He also advocated changing tenure rules, saying that protecting poor teachers hurts students and effective instructors.
He also made it a point to say that charter schools -- independent, public schools that are free of many school district regulations and restrictions and often are not bound by union contracts -- should be treated the same as regular campuses.
"Charter schools are public schools, and they should be held to the same standards as everyone else," he said.
A group in the California section of the audience booed loudly when Duncan praised Green Dot Public Schools, which independently operates more than a dozen schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District with union contracts. David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Assn., called the anti-Green Dot contingent a "vocal minority."
Duncan pointedly advocated using student test score data to assess teacher effectiveness. "It's time we all admit that just as our testing system is deeply flawed, so is our teacher evaluation system."
Test scores should not be the sole measurement of teacher quality, Duncan said, and any merit pay needs to be shared on a campus-wide basis. When he headed the Chicago public schools, Duncan oversaw the creation of a program that rewarded some schools for increasing student achievement, which was measured partially by test scores, by giving extra pay to all employees.
Unions agreed to the program, said Duncan, who added that rewarding only individual teachers was wrong.
"You cannot pit teachers against each other. Such programs will always fail," he said.
He also said that administrators need to be given more support and training, but if they are ineffective they "need to find something else to do."
Van Roekel said he was willing to work with Duncan and the Obama administration because they appear to understand the complexities of reform and of using testing data to evaluate teachers. But Sanchez said he did not favor using that data.
"It shouldn't be on the table," he said.
Sanchez said local unions need to negotiate their own contracts but that he doesn't believe merit pay should be a bargaining point. Still, he said he was pleased that Duncan was reaching out to unions.
When reform "comes from the top down, it never works," Sanchez said. "We need to be inclusive."
jason.song@latimes.com
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Countdown Begins...
Sixteen (16) days left. I will be so very happy when this year ends. Of the five, it's been the most stressful, the most difficult, and the most unpleasant.
So Long, Farewell...
For the next three weeks an admin intern will be working with us. He's a very nice guy. I was really dreading having this extra task. After giving it some thought, I've decided to use this opportunity to reflect on my practice. I'm sure his questions and observations will help me to know more, so I can do better. Yesterday, during lunch, we guarded the milk. I wanted to make sure he knew about one of my very important jobs. Of course, the kids asked if he was the new principal. I said he was. I was doing my best acting. I was very convincing. And guess what??? They weren't sad!!!! One kid was actually happy!!! He jumped up and down with delight. I couldn't believe it. Not one of them broke down in tears. I didn't even get a goodbye, so long, see ya. I have to admit I was a bit sad. Oh well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
