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2104. Ms. No - 3/21/2023 2:59:39 AM Thanks! I celebrated the patron saint of cats which also occurs on March 17. That means I got to stay home, curled up on the couch with a cozy blanket drinking tea and reading a book. It was green tea, at least. ;-) 2105. Ms. No - 3/21/2023 3:00:18 AM I feel I should mention that I did all of that without actually having a cat. 2106. Ms. No - 5/4/2023 7:37:36 PM Update: I'm first on the waiting list for the EdD program.
I'm feeling oddly ambivalent about it. I think part of it is the time of year --- just burnt out at this point. Also, I've been completing a course for my CTE credential which isn't hard, just time-consuming.
I know what I want to be involved in: how we educate and support new teachers, writing curriculum, and overhauling standardized assessments. I want to de-industrialize the way we approach public education, but I don't know if that's even possible when we're looking at such a massive bureaucracy.
And then I think about if I were to win the lottery, what would I do?
Oddly, I think I might still teach for another couple of years. I'm excited about my program here and moving into teaching Public Health and Mental & Behavioral Health, and I want to really cement that part of our program.
More likely would be that I spend the rest of my days traveling, reading, making art, and hanging with folks I enjoy. Hell, I'd probably even try to find a band to sing with again. :->
How obvious is it that I'm six weeks from the end of the school year?
2107. vonKreedon - 5/6/2023 10:23:30 PM Sounds like you'll get in to the EdD program, yay!
End of year burn out is something my mother, a HS english teacher, often/usually exhibited.
Yeah, If I won the lottery I'd be travelling places and reading there with friends. 2108. Ms. No - 5/8/2023 6:24:41 AM The fam is going to Portugal next summer, but this July we're having a sort of Texas family reunion. It'll likely be the last time I see a couple of my aunts while they still recognize all of us. All the cousins are coming -- including the ones from Amarillo -- so it'll be a good time to reconnect with them. If we don't do it now, we'll lose touch after our folks pass.
It's strange how much it means to me not to lose those links even though we don't often talk. They're all in Texas, so they are very close and see each other often, but we grew up close enough that I never feel out of place there. It's still my family.
Hmmm.... time to go to bed. My brain is rambling. :-) 2109. Ms. No - 5/15/2023 8:43:24 PM Random observation:
How is it that so many straight A students get B's in math?
That trend makes me think that we don't teach Math very well. 2110. vonKreedon - 5/18/2023 2:08:45 AM Setting the way back machine; I regularly got easy As in English, Social Studies, and Science (until Chemistry became math and my grade dropped from an A to a B-), while struggling in Math. Something about how my brain works just doesn't work as well with number concepts.
2111. Ms. No - 5/19/2023 8:44:45 PM Same --- but I was brilliant in Geometry.
I think algebra and onward require a certain type of abstraction that I just don't grok. I can understand it for a day while we're doing it, but the day I don't repeat what I've been learning, I forget all of it.
I think that's true of a lot of things, though. If you don't use them on a regular basis, you lose the skill.
It's also possible that most of the "hard" math that we do, we do automatically. I'm not aware of calculating speed and distance and the weight of a car versus how fast I'm able to jet across a street against the light carrying 34lbs of school books, but the fact that I haven't yet been hit by a car shows that I'm doing the math right on some level. :-) 2112. vonKreedon - 5/20/2023 2:20:46 AM HaHa...and keep on not being hit, dear. 2113. Ms. No - 5/23/2023 10:52:30 PM Ditto!
It's been an oddly violent year for our district -- lockdowns, assaults, arrests. A former principal of mine got cold-cocked by a 14yo hopped up on PCP and had to go to the hospital. A nearby parking lot purse-snatching sent cops to arrest two kids at a high school one district over and one of the kids was carrying a handgun with a sanded off serial number and a high capacity magazine. There have been three different instances on three different campuses of adults sneaking onto campus and jumping students because of family beef, and this isn't even counting all the on-site fights etc.
My students show me these TikToks and they're all like "What is wrong with all those kids? I'm glad I'm not there."
And all I can think is that those kids aren't any worse than ours for the most part, they just don't have the same supports ours do because of population size. We've got one adult on campus for every 15 kids and you can walk from one end of our campus to the other in under 30 seconds just moseying. I love our students and I think they're good kids, but I know that many of them would be in trouble if they were on different campuses.
It's really sad, but it does make me grateful to be where I'm at. And I wish every campus had a similar adult to student ratio. 2114. vonKreedon - 5/24/2023 2:39:21 AM Amen. 2115. Ms. No - 5/31/2023 8:50:43 PM Disappointing but also sort of relieving word from the EdD program -- everyone has accepted the admissions offers, so unless someone drops out before August, I'll have to wait for next year and apply again.
This timing works better for me, truthfully, but I can admit that it's a little bruising to the ego. Ah, well, gives me another year to become a better candidate. :-) 2116. thoughtful - 6/6/2023 4:51:37 AM Is anyone still here? I thought I checked back a year or so ago and the site was gone.
Hello! Hope all are well and thriving. 2117. vonKreedon - 6/8/2023 9:54:26 PM Hey thoughtful, some of us are still here some of the time. What's up with you?
2118. thoughtful - 6/9/2023 3:12:56 AM Not much, still retired, still enjoying life. How's with you? Is it just you and Ms No left? 2119. vonKreedon - 6/9/2023 12:17:11 PM Pretty much, though others show up occasionally. 2120. thoughtful - 6/10/2023 12:24:41 PM I do miss the old gang...the quality of the discussions we had here were amazing. I learned so much. The other forums I'm on now are fine and fun, but nowhere near as demanding intellectually. 2121. Ms. No - 6/13/2023 6:24:56 AM Hello, thoughtful - good to see you!
Yes, there was a server issue and some communication breakdown so the site was down for a few months.
I was just reading something at Slate the other day and considered leaving a comment -- don't know how long ago they ditched the ridiculous BBS format that they switched to when they dumped us, but it seems much more similar to when we were there. I still didn't feel like registering in order to post, though. (Mainly this is because I didn't want to get all riled up and rant. ;-) 2122. thoughtful - 6/17/2023 2:34:44 PM Hey Ms. No! Glad you are doing well. Still fondly remember our meet up in the Bronx! 2123. Ms. No - 6/20/2023 4:47:00 AM Me too -- and your lovely husband. I'm in Hoboken right now. Every time I come out here I think of the great FrayUnion. What a good time!
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