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2004. Ms. No - 1/23/2019 11:28:24 PM

Arx,

I haven't actually had time to look at the outcome. I'm avoiding news again. :-)

I was just talking to a co-worker this morning about how differently teachers unions are treated compared to other labor unions -- cops, firemen, teamsters, etc. When cops or firemen or teamsters threaten to strike over contract negotiations nobody accuses them of hating the populations they serve. Nobody says to cops "Oh, sure, go strike because you don't care about people's safety! You don't care about crime!" or to firemen " You don't care if people's houses burn down." or to teamsters "You don't care if stuff doesn't get delivered," but the first thing you hear when teachers threaten to strike is that they don't care about kids.

Right. We became teachers because we don't care about kids. We do this job because.....it's so easy and we make so much money??

What other professionals are just expected to volunteer their time? People complain about the high cost of medicine, but it isn't a regular complaint that doctors are greedy and ought not to get paid for their work. Insurance companies get accused of that, but not doctors.

Goes to show how work is valued and whose.

2005. Ms. No - 1/23/2019 11:29:50 PM

Trillium,

I couldn't handle the stress of being a stylist. Yet another profession that isn't always recognized for how difficult it is or how stressful.

2006. Ms. No - 2/4/2019 6:29:03 PM

Ugh! Too much stuff to do right now -- four preps starting with the new semester, and now I'm running the Art Club three days a week after school. Don't know how long that's going to last. It gives me four 12 hour days a week and eats into my prep time. I'd be working those hours anyway, but I'd be lesson planning rather than working hands-on with kids.

One of my students asked me the other day what I would do if I weren't a teacher and I panicked, like I was going to have to go out and look for a job again and had no idea what I want to do.

Our district is yet again trying to balance its poor budget decisions on the backs of teachers and students. They reduced our FTE from 12 to 7 and then gave us 5 back under different funding which means that we don't lose any positions, but 5 of our positions are now open for other teachers to bump into.

I'm likely safe since I've got 11 years in the district now, but we'll probably lose both of our other English teachers. So, in addition to mourning the loss of a great teaching partner and our first really cohesive Department in years, I'll be training folks who don't have any idea what it means to teach at a Linked Learning school.

Just when we start to get our stride going, they come and pull the rug out from under us again. Fuckers.

2007. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:11:18 PM

So, today is the day we find out how many of our teachers are in jeopardy. I've got enough years in that I should be okay, but it's not a done deal until it's a done deal.

Fingers crossed that I don't lose my newest teacher. She's so amazing!

2008. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:15:38 PM

In other news I am tired, tired, tired! My big wish right now is to be home alternately gardening and working on refining and revising my curriculum.....oh, yeah, and finishing writing the lesson plans for the course I'm actively teaching at the moment. Sheesh!

Assuming I don't get bumped to another site, I'll be teaching World History again next year for the first time in about 4 years. I'll have two English 12s, two Govt/Econ, and one World History in addition to my zero period teaching Infographics.

I'd really rather teach World History than Govt/Econ, but I'm not wild about having to coordinate with the other World History teacher as far as scheduling goes. He's been using the same PowerPoints to teach World History for the last six years. That's not the way I teach, but I may have to defer to him.

2009. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:23:03 PM

Just submitted my revisions for the module I've been writing for the CSU college-prep course for 12th grade English. There are so many things I still want to work on with it, but this is definitely one of those cases where "It's never done, it's just due."

The main complaint I have with the modules and the module framework is that there isn't enough writing instruction and the writing required by the program isn't varied enough to really develop students skills. They aren't all 5-paragraph essays, but they do all pretty much involve responding to a topic with an argumentative paper.

Yet another thing I'd rather be working on this morning than getting ready to teach my seniors. Nothing wrong with them --- they're an awesome class --- just me in a funk is all. ;-/

2010. winstonsmith - 3/17/2019 2:34:14 AM

Well, my daughter got into Pomona College in Claremont California and they gave her a decent financial deal. I am very happy that she got into a good school and that we can make it work financially. She is insanely happy to get into her first choice school. I had a lot of anxiety about this and I’m really relieved.

2011. wabbit - 3/17/2019 8:24:07 PM

Congratulations to your daughter (and you) winstonsmith, great news!

2012. winstonsmith - 3/18/2019 1:26:52 AM

Thanks Wabbit!

2013. Ms. No - 3/18/2019 5:34:38 PM

Congratulations! That's great news!

2014. winstonsmith - 3/19/2019 12:47:12 AM

Thanks Ms No!

2015. Trillium - 3/22/2019 1:33:20 AM

Congrats winstonsmith. Best wishes for your daughter.

2016. winstonsmith - 3/24/2019 9:02:10 AM

Thanks Trillium!

2017. Ms. No - 3/26/2019 8:42:17 PM

So many things to feel about all this SAT stuff.

First off, cheaters suck. But I already had resigned myself to the basic inequity of elite school admissions since super-rich and legacy kids already get in regardless of their personal merits.


I've been talking with my own students about college choice a lot and explaining to them that often, you're not getting so much a better education at elite private universities as you are building a network of elite individuals who will help you later in your life when you go looking for career opportunities.

Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, UNC Chapel Hill, UT --- there are plenty of top-tier educational opportunities at state schools, but it may (or may not) be harder to buy your way in since they are public institutions. I don't really know, but it seems less likely to me for whatever reason.

Okay, brain completely stalled out here. I'm in day five or six of a terrible cold and I think I'm going to have to actually call in tomorrow so that I can try to recover.

bleh.

2018. Ms. No - 4/10/2019 5:37:29 PM

One day strike tomorrow.

I hate this shit, but hopefully if it's a strong strike, the District will quit fucking everybody around and honor the contract they signed.

We'll be back on Friday and then next week is Spring Break.

Sheesh.

2019. wabbit - 5/11/2019 2:10:44 PM

In the news:

Parents in San Francisco are outraged after discovering that a cancer-stricken teacher will have to cover the costs of her substitute for the remainder of the school year while she is on sick leave.

According to a report published by The San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday, the second-grade teacher, who works at Glen Park Elementary and wishes to remain anonymous, is required by state law to cover the wages of her substitute while she is out on sick leave...

Evidently you need to be out for more than five months for the rule NOT to kick in. Sounds odd and maybe I'm misunderstanding the policy.

That isn't what caught my eye - the news isn't going to name her to protect her privacy. Really? She's a beloved 2nd grade teacher at Glen Falls Elementary in San Francisco with a Go Fund Me page. It took me less than three minutes to find her name.

It's me, right?

2020. arkymalarky - 5/13/2019 11:03:26 AM

we're back up!

Wasn't it an old Murphy Brown where they were interviewing a whistleblower and kept movving the Blurred spot off of his face? Kind of reminds me of that

2021. arkymalarky - 5/13/2019 11:08:55 AM

Going to see my seniors for their last school day, and then graduation next week. Thought I would get up to my old school more since I retired but this year has been insane. I am getting my lifetime license though, so if things settle down and I keep missing it I might be able to do very part-time in the future. My principal friend who's my age and retired with me has said the same thing. We ended up at different schools, but we've kept up with being retired grandmothers. Her granddaughter's a year old.

2022. arkymalarky - 5/13/2019 11:09:19 AM

And wabbit, what did you think of the Kentucky Derby?

2023. arkymalarky - 5/13/2019 11:20:56 AM

Great to see everything worked out in the best possible way, Winston!

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