Yesterday...

I was talking to a co-worker about how quite miserable I am here at school. It bothers me that the kids get the wrong end of the stick nearly every day. It bothers me that there is little to no respect for others, including one "professional" to another. It bothers me that I put a very clear sign (a giant red stop sign, laminated) on the library door that says, "Testing, PLEASE do not disturb", and yet the door might as well revolve it incurs so much traffic. "Oh, I didn't see the sign", they say. Didn't see the sign? DIDN"T SEE THE SIGN? It is a foot and a half in diameter and in your face LITERALLY as you pull the door toward you. But I see, you didn't see the sign.... Now this, of course, is my real problem - I shouldn't let these things bother me. I should just become complacent and forget that I have standards that I expect people to live up to. I simply expect too much. Well, gee, then I guess I'll just LOWER MY STANDARDS like all else who work in low SES areas and move on...

My colleague told me yesterday that I shouldn't let these things bother me... Just let it go... Ignorance, I have heard, is bliss... Too bad I"ll never know for myself...

Another Quickie

So the principal waltzes in (sneaks in is more like it - he's very stealth these days - picture John Turturro as the butler in Mr. Deeds!) this morning while my class is doing Independent Reading today and he wants to know why they aren't practicing for the upcoming ELA exam. I know I looked at him like he had 10 heads, (a fault I'm not proud of...) as I certainly wanted to ask him what exactly he thought the ELA exam tested our students on if not reading comprehension?!?!?!? Alas, the man has no connection to curriculum or knowing what works in a classroom, and so if the students had a copy of an old test in front of them that they were "practicing" from, he would have considered that "rigor" - his new favorite word... Today I referred to the place as a "sh@# show", and that is simply the best way to sum it up right now.

Teachers are dropping like flies, resigning in the middle of the year and retiring just to get away, and yet he sees nothing wrong...

The worst part about it all is that at the end of the day, it's just sad. These struggling kids CAN NOT get the education they deserve because there is a divisive madman with tenure at the helm and no end in sight...

A Quick Note....

On the subject of grants, if your school is struggling, and your students are struggling, and you have the opportunity to put a phenomenal piece of technology in a classroom (thanks to a grant), why, on this amazing green earth, would anyone ever put that piece of technology in the principal's tiny office to rot and collect dust?!?!?!? Seriously? Come on, folks, you have kids who don't even know why they should be sitting in a classroom, let alone doing work with old textbooks and worksheets (what year is this?!?!), and you have the opportunity to motivate these crazy kids with some eye-popping technology and yet you keep it for... what? Cabinet meetings? I mean, really, no more than 10 people can even fit in there at once - who are you planning to awe? It's a joke, really, and a prime example of the misguided, disorganized, poor judgment that plagues this failing school.