Highlights

*A parent is angry with me because her son received a failing grade on a project that was photocopied from a book.

*I am listed as the "teacher of record" (meaning that my name is on the report card) for a class that I do not and have not ever taught. When I realized that I was informed of this a week ago, I told our Dean of Instruction who told me to talk to our tech support guy (who handles our electronic grading system) who told me to talk to another pseudo-administrative-type person who told me to talk to our Dean of Instruction who then told me to talk to our principal, who had been CCed on all of these e-mails to begin with. I did not assign the students grades for the class that I do not teach and have not ever taught, which I felt was legitimate. And yet today . . . my name was on all of those report cards as the teacher of that class. The grade was blank. I had the incredibly fun job of explaining to parents why their child did not receive a grade for the class without seeming incompetent or being disrespectful of other teachers/administrators at my school.

*And in the middle of all of the above, we were supposed to be grading benchmarks.

The Internet Room

The wireless internet only works in one room of our school: the copy room.

This means that I spend much of my planning time hanging out with my laptop on my lap, huddled in a corner with the other teachers who need internet to write lesson plans (or, in this case, write a blog entry).

We're also out of paper.

But it's kind of all worth it when, in the middle of a lesson, I ask my students if we can confirm or disconfirm an earlier prediction and one of my students answers, "No, because we haven't reached the story's climax yet."

They listen sometimes. And learn things.

The Exodus begins

Two teachers are leaving.

This is not comparable to a "normal" job, when people frequently leave and are replaced.

An exodus of teachers means emotional students who feel like they have been abandoned by an adult they cared about (or like they ran off a teacher they didn't like). It also implies an increased teaching/planning load for everyone else.

I want to stay positive- I do love most of my students- but it might be time to start sending out resumes.

Oops . . .

This might not SEEM directly related to teaching, but I promise that it is.

I was sitting in my living room earlier this evening, grading papers and finalizing a few lesson plans for tomorrow, when I heard the incredibly obnoxious and slightly nauseating sound of . . . a cat in heat.

More specifically, MY cat in heat. My male cat. Chasing my female cat. And, well, I won't provide any more sensory details (you can use your imagination).

The downside of being a a teacher at a charter school with an extended school day: you can't do things like, well, get your pets fixed. Soo . . . I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in an emergency pre-Thanksgiving vet appointment. Or find an incredibly generous friend to drop my cats off at the vet one morning. Or maybe take them to a vet that will board them the night before? The dilemmas I face.

Temporary solution: praying really, really hard that I don't go from owning two cats to owning 8 cats.

Teacher Dance-off: Results

I lost the first round. Not only was I not surprised, I also was not disappointed. As much fun as it was to completely humiliate myself in front of almost 200 kids once, I had no desire to repeat the performance. It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

The highlight of the entire ordeal, however, was not while I was dancing. We judged the contest in a fashion similar to that of American Idol. While we had a panel of four judges, the winners were actually determined by crowd applause. As our Physical Education teacher was getting the kids ready to cheer if they thought I should win, one of my favorite students got a little ahead of herself and screamed, "YES SHE DID." Except that no one else was cheering yet. It was a little solo love for her advisory teacher.

Probably embarrassing for her, but endearing for me. Extra credit, anyone?

On a side note- I bought a really cute dress this weekend for a friend's wedding in December. SO excited!

Notes

I intercepted a note in class. I was mean about it, too. I even (briefly) considered reading it out loud to the entire class-- the way one of my teachers did when I was in sixth grade. I'm kind of glad that I didn't, because when I DID read it, later, I felt like a jerk.

This is what it said:

"It is not cool to lose. Especially in class. We need to learn and get education. If we don't we probably won't make it to college."

My kids, despite being KIDS and playing around and being silly from time to time, are brainwashed.

Teacher Dance-Off

We are having a teacher dance-off tomorrow.

Those of you who know me (and I think that's everyone who reads this), know that I am a bad, terrible, God-awful dancer. I'm currently teaching my kids about figurative language, so when I first referred to myself as the world's worst dancer, I immediately thought, "hyperbole." Then I realized that it might not be a hyperbole. I might actually be the world's worst dancer.

And yet, during afternoon advisory, I let my kids teach me how to dance. Hilarity followed. It was loud, crazy, and maybe a little riotous. But it was also really, really fun. I made a complete fool of myself in front of my students-- something that I don't think I've ever honestly done before.

We'll see where it gets me tomorrow. ;)

Big Changes, Small Moments*

I think everyone who reads this also talks to me on a regular basis. But in case you don't, my new dream school has undergone a few minor changes. Mainly, our principal was removed. It's been truly amazing for me, as someone very interested in educational reform, to see how much a shift in school leadership really matters. It's not the same school I began working at in July. And I suspect that when our new principal is hired (right now we have an interim), it will feel like an entirely different school again.

I was really struck by the difference in school culture yesterday morning, when a small group of students returning from a conference presented their chants to the student body. Nobody was extremely rude, but the lack of enthusiasm was overwhelming--the contrast from the beginning of the school year was just so stark.

So sometimes, as an educator, you have to look for small moments to sustain you. Little things kids do or say that can get you through the day or week or even the month.

Yesterday, I had one of those moments during lunch. I ended up watching the "lunch bunch," a group of students who eat lunch upstairs. There were about six students, and for the most part they were being loud and silly. They talked about what they want for Christmas and what they were planning to do on their day off. Toward the end of the period, though, one student realized that their reading teacher had forgotten to give them their open-ended question for the week. After discussing this for a few moments, the general consensus was, "Don't remind her, OK?"

Then one of my favorite students, D.P., responded, "Why don't you guys ever want to do work? Don't you want to go to college?"

My heart melted. He was probably just saying it because he likes me and wanted to earn a few bonus points, but it kind of made my day anyway.

*I know it's a cheesy title. Leave me alone.