Well if pigs don't fly... the principal came to our special education team meeting, we agreed on a goal and actually got clear directions. It was such a relief to know what is expected and not have to guess. hee hee! I could just flap!

Made my to-do list and organized myself some tonight. sigh I have a goal... it is amazing.

BK your story reminds me of one of the reasons for moving to NH. I put up with the small towns, -isms of people that are very isolated (they are everywhere though, just more outspoken in the town I work in), grocery stores that close at like 7pm on Sunday, bugs, humidity (although compared to other places it isn't that bad), crappy winters for....

My daughter entering elementary school that has music, art, pe, technology, library as specials and a class size of like 20. We were leaving class sizes of 30 and music once a week and pe once a week and no art, tech or library.

For myself I was leaving a case load of 40 for a case load of 16.

Totally Agree BK... unions are good for working conditions. I know folks have varying opinions about unions. I am at times more involved than others yet I am consistently happy to pay my dues.

Good for me!
 

How can it be illegal to belonging to a union????? I just don't understand that.

It's raining ...
 

Yeah, I know, this is Malaysia, tropical country = rain, no big deal right? I have 5 primary schools, 4 of which are kampung (village) schools. A whole lot of kids will be absent from school today, especially kids from the "last" classes.

At our last team meeting I mentioned this to my colleagues, saying I wish the schools would fundraise for raincoats or umbrellas. One of my colleagues (American, elementary school teacher) laughed at me saying that some of them don't even have pencils. Well, if the kids aren't in school, doesn't matter if they have pencils or not.

*sigh*

Today is the first day for students at the school I work at and my daughters school. I was up before my alarm clock this morning and oh so tired last night.

Both schools had back to school activities where students could meet their teachers yesterday. Both schools are title one schools. The one that is in the small town is where I teach. The General's school is in a medium sized town (pretty big for NH). The differences were amazing.

I think of where I work right now as in a time warp. As another teacher friend of mine described it... The town is an isolated town in NH by choice. Back to school activities happened from 2-3pm and loaded the families up with papers. The diversity is limited to economic diversity. The kids largely have new clothes for schools start, brought mountains of supplies (because what the teachers wanted was too much to fit in backpacks tomorrow) and took home mountains of form to fill out. The families spent their time in the classroom talking to the teachers.

Where my daughter attends school our neighborhood school is seen as the more lower SES school. Back to school included popsicles and was from 3-4:30 (thank goodness from the bottom of my working mom heart). The diversity is economic and racial/ethnic. The families and kids congregated on the playground talking to each other long after they visited the classrooms. No one brought in there supplies since the teachers asked for like 4 small items. The classrooms are clean but not overly cutesy. I am grateful for The General's school. It has it's challenges and it seems real.

We didn't talk her new teacher's ear off, it is my personal preference to let her get to know The General on her own a bit. I will send a coaching guide via email today or tomorrow. The General got to see her kindergarten teacher. Oh that was the best.

Sounds like you both are in good environments! Best wished to you both having an awesome year!!!

I am so tired.
 

How was the first day for both of yous? :pirate-steer:

The General had a great day.

I had a day that reminded me why I prefer children to grown ups! With 16-20 kids in a class you'd think a couple of the teachers could gripe less. Sigh. Just get to know each other for one day. We can chase their "need to grow in" areas tomorrow. Oh and I can not be in 6 class rooms at the same time to support math in class. Folks are going to have to submit to pull out or deal with once a week support. Both options will go over like lead balloons. :seeingstars:

Wine where is my wine!

Agreed! Checking in while we work or real time assessment is so wonderful.

I've been an educator for over 12 years and I have a hard time saying that because I am really just a nurse and not a teacher. I teach adult-ed at a local community college and I run the largest nurse-aide training program in the state of ct community college system.

Because I am not trained to teach and I only hold a bachelor's degree in nursing I feel overshadowed by the professional teachers and profs around me.

Taking this into consideration, my outness in the community college system is mostly insidious. Of course I am out to my collegues and to the community at large. The big reveal is always when my lecture style turns personal. Because nursing encompasses all things social and family, there always comes a time when my status as a woman married to a "woman" comes into play. I start half a dozen of my own classes each year and I oversee another 18+...and every time that first casual discussion comes up I hold my breath and hope my class doesn't leave for a bathroom break and not come back.

My internalized fear is always unfounded and I've always had nothing but support. The only awkward issue is that almost always there is a person who must "come out" to me and tell me about their gay/les/bi experience. This is usually a married person who must tell me of their one drunken same-sex experience and I never know how to respond to that. The openly GLBT people in my class never need to share with me, but there are the outlyers that I cannot peg. Does this ever happen to any of you?

I had a "where is the wine" day today. A very anxious mom projected a lot of anxiety into me. She wasn't angry. Anyway, whew. My eye was practically twitching when she left. It's amazing how much anxiety people can transfer onto others.

Best news I've gotten in a LONG time....!!!!Superintendent resigned - effective Sept. 30!!!! A-Hole go away!!!!

:)
 

Yayyyyy for teachers !!!!!! Much respect for you all and thank you for all you do .
When I was in the 6th grade , I had a teacher who told me I would never amount to anything and I was stupid.
She had a massive stroke a couple years ago and who was her nurse ????
:) me , her stupid student who wouldn't amount to anything Haha.

Day 2 was much better. Cooler weather and cooler heads all around. Administration stepped up and was clear. This will be fun... I am going to relax and let the process work.

My caseload is growing, and I am having more typical real teaching problems. I wish there were the resources to lift these kids OUT of their worlds and show them the big beautiful terrifying world beyond for just a second so they'd know what is out there for them, if they want it.

ACLU talking points on Schools as a pipeline to prisin

http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/s...talking-points

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XXVLJPpVzk...-49242-580.jpg

Not that all teachers are Miss or Ms :)

A dating site I am on sent me a few possibilities via email. I always look at them even though I am not looking to date right now.

ANYWAY, this one woman seemed way cool until I saw that she was a retired Special Education administrator. LOL. Not in this lifetime. I know some wonderful people who are or were administrators. But there ain't no red flag like that one as far as I am concerned.

Good luck!

First day back :|

Cheers to my fellow educators!

Have a fabulous 1st day Soon! Hugs and beverage of your choice!

Week 2 is 4 days long. We add making our own lunches to the daily back to school routine! I spent lots of my weekend organizing for work. I need to make my schedule but waiting on some feedback from teachers. Time to start getting baseline assessments on kids and their goals. Yee haw! We will make goal setting fun this year!

Hope you have a great week!