Why Goodness Perpetuates Goodness. Or, The Good Fight, Part 1.

Chula Vista High School, Home of Champions, my Alma Mater, finally has a new theater. And it is gorgeous. It has catwalks and rafters and a professional lighting booth. It has a dance room and a recording studio. Chula Vista is the home of the School for the Creative and Performing Arts in the South Bay, and this theater is at least 15 years overdue. Maybe 30. And like any new baby, it needs a proper name.

There has been a movement brewing via facebook, word of mouth, and email, and largely driven and sponsored by the lovely and talented Barbara Schroeder, to get the building named after my legendary drama teacher, Jack Tygett. If you don't know who he is, I'm not going to wax poetic here because then this might be a book instead of a blog. But watch this.  (Plus, Sam Cavanaugh is in it, so that's win). But needless to say, Jack deserves this honor. And the 170 people that belong to his Facebook group agree with me. Even the local media has caught on. I thought we had it in the bag. Until. Well, until the Other Side showed up. 

I don't want to disparage the Other Side, other than to say they were a very contentious MINORITY. They were loud and long-winded and sort of overly sensitive. They really wanted to slay Goliath, except the Giant in this case (if it's Jack Tygett) is more like the Jolly Green Giant. Lovable. Awesome. I know many people that dislike genuinely the man that the Other Side supported, but I don't know a single person that could possibly not LOVE Jack Tygett. He's joyful. He's energetic. He IS Chula Vista SCPA. 

So rather than focus on the Other Side, I am just going to point out the good parts of the Good Fight. The library at Chula Vista was filled to the brim with Tygett supporters. The public speaking part of the agenda lasted 2 hours, and Tygett supporters far outweighed the Other Side, at least in terms of numbers. There were tears shed. Yearbooks opened. Hugs exchanged. It was probably better than my High School reunion (and cost much less!). I was filled to the brim with warm and fuzzy feelings. 

Why? Why did so many people show up? Why do a disproportionate number of Spartans become teachers? Because that kind of Goodness is self-perpetuating. Because teachers like Jack (and Mr. Neil, and Mr. Naismith, and SO MANY OTHERS) create people who want to teach. Because when you do good, it drives others to do good. I won't say Jack inspired me to teach. That seed was planted long before then. But people LIKE Jack inspired me to teach. And Jack inspired me in so many other ways. 

And we won, sort of. For now. The committee was oddly political (maybe this shouldn't surprise me) and kept wanting to compromise with The Other Side. I think this had far less to do with their argument, and far MORE to do with the fact that they had people on the committee. But, ultimately, the compromise that was reached meant we were able to honor Jack in a meaningful way. And this makes me happy. The Jack Tygett Performing Arts Center. Has a nice ring to it, no? 

I know the SUHSD School Board will do the Right Thing and, at the very least, follow the committee's recommendation. At best? Maybe they'll take the less political road and actually give Jack his due. Every Spartan knows he deserves it. 

And, as I posted on Facebook, it felt good to fight the Good Fight. So many of my fights feel defensive lately.Don't cut this, give that back. Stop decimating my classroom and selling off the rafters.  It felt good to put some Good back into the world. To focus on the POSITIVE aspects of education. And if there is positivity in education, Jack embodies that. 

And I'm feeling a little more recharged for the defensive fighting, too. I miss Berkeley. I'll keep you posted. 

It's all too much

Lately, I haven't been blogging, largely because I've been working. I've been grading around the clock, meeting yearbook deadlines, and trying to balance that with what little personal life I can eek out. I want to write, I want to blog, but lately my spark is dim. My fight is dying. So I am going to write an epic opus about all the weights upon my shoulders, and let the world sort it out.

I think I'll start small and get bigger. Our school site is in danger. Our district wants to cut our buses, as part of the budget cuts for next year. Over 1/2 of our student population is bused in. Let me tell you about the school where I work. It's a K-8 school, which already makes us special and unique. In my opinion, K-8 schools are beneficial for middle school students because it encourages them to be role models, to cultivate their nurturing sides. They also are better because a small school environment allows for me to be in close communication with my colleagues and the parents, and it is therefore easier to catch problems and support students. In addition, our school offers a unique magnet program--language immersion in either Spanish or French. By the end of 8th grade, our students are all bilingual and biliterate. Thanks to busing, our demographics almost exactly replicate the demographics of the district, making us one of the most diverse schools in terms of race, socioeconomic status, and neighborhood. But if our buses are cut, our school can't stay viable. It will close. And not only will I lose my position and my students their school, but we will also be losing one of the most exciting and successful educational programs in the district.

In addition, we are looking at layoffs. I am lucky enough to be safe in my position, but our school is losing amazing teachers that really have helped to make our school what it is. One of our PE coaches has spent tireless hours working on creating sports opportunities that our students have never had through school before. He emails me from the library as he sits with my problem students, making sure they are writing their essays. We have fought year in and year out to get him, but the district wants to take him from us again. And again.

The district is cutting Palomar, too. For one week a year, our 6th grade  students get to get out of the classroom, experience hands on Science instruction, see parts of San Diego they never get to see otherwise, and meet students from other schools, learning to get along with others and break down barriers. Outdoor school programs are beneficial to our students in so many ways, and without witnessing it first hand, you can barely even imagine. Things like this are being cut because they are being considered non-essential. But I think we are losing a grasp on what essential really is. My students will never remember or care about the test-prep lessons I am forced to teach. They will never benefit from 2 weeks of bubbling in circles on multiple choice questions. But they will never forget camp. And those staff members at camp being layed off? Amazing, dynamic, brilliant and innovative individuals that our short-sighted district can't even find a way to keep.

And then. Well, then there's the educational climate in this country. The media telling me every day that I make too much money (how is it that I can barely make ends meet, then?), that I am ruining education, that I am the reason our country is in this handbasket. The teacher hate is exhausting. And I don't even have the strength to fight it anymore. Am I supposed to be writing letters to the state? What, exactly, should be my focus? They've cut everything from us. We have no supplies, no support staff, no resources. And yet, supposedly, everything from war to plague is my fault. How am I supposed to fight that? We're being crucified. We're your scapegoats, and it's really sad that you have to pick such good people to be your scapegoats.

And you know why we don't fight it? Because YOU are not our priority. My time is spent lesson planning. Researching counseling and mentorship options for my students. Grading essays. Organizing spelling bees. Teaching. Working on the yearbook. Creating rich experiences for our students. YOU are not important to me. But you are not-so-quietly, not-so-subtly, creating such a hostile workplace that I can barely function. And you know who ultimately suffers? Well, we all do. Because those kids are going to grow up to be your leaders, your doctors, your politicians. Your teachers, too, if we don't completely destroy compulsory public education in this country. And when they are crippled by the world you've created for them, you will suffer. That's the bottom line.

We can't fight this fight alone. We're too tired. We need parents, community members, and kids who think that this is bullshit to fight back with us, however you can. Write the state. Write your school board. Blog. Speak up when the assholes bash teachers. Write to the media. We can't do this alone, and public education is being eaten away, bit by bit. Soon it will be too late to fight it.

Technology geniuses. Technology challenged.

This one's for Brandon.

Here are things in technology that kids are good at: 

• learning a new program
• hacking past any blocking/filtering software
• figuring out other people's passwords (especially default passwords)
• navigating any new device
• anything related to any social-anything, 
• If it involves a way to communicate or to play a game, they can do it. 

Here are things they suck at:

• emailing attachments
• uploading anything to anyone 
• spell checking
• navigating through websites in a purposeful way
• evaluating credible information
• evaluating the safety of anything, anytime, anywhere

Something stinks in Wisconsin...and it ain't the cheese

The anti-union movement in this country is coming to a head. In Wisconsin, the Legislature is primed to vote on legislation that, among other horrendous things, would limit collective bargaining rights to wage increases, and limit wage increases to inflation.

In other words, unions would be dead.

No more bargaining for fair and safe working conditions.

No more bargaining for benefits and healthcare.

You could only bargain to get what is already rightfully yours...an inflation based wage increase. Is that something that we should even have to bargain for?

If you read my earlier post about the National City strike (which was thankfully averted at the very last minute) you already know that I'm pro-union. Not just pro-teacher union, pro-union. Unions are GOOD, people. GOOD. We are able to work under these safe and humane conditions (40 hour weeks, health care, workman's comp, etc) because collective bargaining made that happen.

It is a basic philosophy of our country that we are stronger as one. Our very own Pledge of Allegiance states that we are "indivisible." What this anti-union movement seeks to do is, in fact, divide us. They claim it's necessary for budget cuts. The anti-union movement is using the bad economy as an excuse to roll back decades worth of progress on working conditions.

We can no longer sit idly by. I don't know exactly what we can do, other than fight the lawmakers in this country by speaking out. Speak. Be heard. Or you're next. They're coming for you.

Camera!

I'm raising funds for my birthday camera, if anyone wants to help. How does this relate to teaching? I intend to take it to Europe. I take pics of my students ALL THE TIME. I teach yearbook. That's enough, right? Plus, think of all the shiny pics I can post here, for you!

Don't feel obligated. I'm also trying out this widget for potential future use. If you are actually one of my birthday people, and you'd rather not give $, I'll put together an Amazon Wish List. I'd also like things for the Europe Trip, as well as accessories for the camera!

I believe in red pens

Aaaah. New grading pens. My favorite. Specifically, I like the Pilot G-2 retractable with red ink. It glides across the paper, doesn't smear, and shines like a beacon of knowledge through a 7th grade paper of fog.

There is a movement out there, part of this special, special snowflake mentality, that says that grading with red pens hurts students' feelings. They say you should use purple, or blue, or maybe just give everyone As. But I reject this notion. I embrace the red. (I feel the need to give some credit here where credit is due. I came to my love of red ink, in part, through Carol Jago's Papers, Papers, Papers. That woman is a genius)

For one thing, red is visually stunning. It contrasts with the pencil or black ink, and stands out boldly against the white paper. It keeps parents and students from claiming I did not, in fact, slave over their essays at length on my day off work. And it is our cultural color to say "Stop! Don't do this anymore!" There is nothing quite so jarring as receiving an essay back that looks as though it's bleeding.

And, I suppose, that is why people think we should be using sparkly pink gel pens to soothe our students' battered egos. Never let them know what failure feels like. Stroke their heads and tell them that their crap smells like lilies. But it doesn't. It smells like crap, just like mine. And sooner or later, they will have to learn this. They are not special snowflakes. They are citizens of the world. A world that is both beautiful and amazing and rewarding and fucking hard. Sometimes you won't get the job. Sometimes you won't get the girl. It does them a disservice to act like this won't happen, and keeps them from learning coping skills necessary to be successful and happy in the world.

So I sing praises to the red. I wish I could carry a red pen with me everywhere and correct menus, signs, and other public writing. (I do, in fact, usually have a red pen in my purse. I am afraid if I start using it, though, I'll get run out of town).  I want to annotate facebook. I want to paint the town red, just to show you where you're misusing commas. I want to bleed out the bad grammar and poor vocabulary. I want to rid the world of homophone fail and unnecessary quotation marks.

If there's anything this world needs more of, it's red ink. So I sing your praises, Pilot G-2. My tiny weapon in a grammar-less world.

To Do List

It's really a shame when an escape day like Disney Day is interrupted by text messages and voicemails and more text messages from colleagues. Without going into all the reasons why I am feeling overwhelmed with work, here is my to-do list.

Grades Are Due Feb 21--

• 7th grade narrative rough drafts (about 75 of them)
• 6th grade book reports (25)
• 6th grade narrative final drafts (25)
• 7th grade book reports (75)
• 8th grade persuasive final drafts (12)
• late work
• overflowing basket of class work

In addition 

• fund-raise for Europe trip
• prepare myself for Europe trip (this is a whole other to-do list)
• plan for STAR writing prep (which I don't teach) 
• plan for Portfolio Prep (which I do) (also, this involves finding appropriate video clips) (also, it's likely this weeks lesson will be observed by the special tour)
• clean my classroom and make it presentable for special tour on Thursday
• make sub plans for Monday
• put in sub job for Monday
• plan out 8th grade essay 
• review benchmark exams before Wed
• figure out who is going to 6th grade camp
• buy 2 copies of Eagle Strike and 5 copies of The Devil and his Boy or whatever it was
• upload yearbook photos
• plan 8th grade Parent Exhibition Meeting

I'm sure there's more. But I have to go read papers, now.

Being a teacher often means being a nerd

So the latest meme seems to be this fun, regional linguistics game. As an English teacher, I am fascinated by linguistics and regional differences. It's one of the things I love about language. It changes. It varies. I love idioms and fairy tales and urban legends. And I love linguistic differences. They fascinate me. So that is my justification for putting this on my blog. I watched 4 this morning, actually, one after another. Bonnie, who went to high school with me and lives not too far. Bethany, who has lived in San Diego twice, but did not grow up here. And Sarah and Lauren, from the UK and Australia, respectively. What a trip! I learned that Lauren calls when the rain falls and it's sunny a sunshower, which is way prettier than what my freak of a family says. I also learned that Bonnie and I have some freakshow things in common, like our pronunciation of "both." It was fascinating to watch them all in a row like that, and really made me want to play along. Just for some slight background, I lived near Salt Lake City, UT until I was 5 or so, then 5 years in Tempe, AZ. Since then, I've been a Cali girl. Mostly San Diego, but I did spend my college years in the Bay Area, and therefore use "random" like it's slang and occasionally (god help me) even say "hella."

Disclaimer: I'm sorry I look like hell. It was a very late night and my body forced me awake too early today. I really do, too, but the video itself isn't too horrible, and I had technical problems that led to me doing this several times, so I shan't be going for beauty this run.

Here are the rules:

The word list: Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theatre, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And the questions: 
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Untitled from summer hellewell on Vimeo.

And here is my video! I know I'm late to the game, but if anyone new wants to play along, or if I missed yours somehow, post it in the comments! I would LOVE to do this with my students. I might show them, just for fun. Maybe as part of an idiom lesson, we'll do something crazy similar with regional expressions. That would be fun!

Spelling Bee Love

I promised you happy posts from time to time. Just a shared experience. A glance into my life and my brain.

Thursday past was one of my favorite events of the year. The Third Annual Spelling Bee. As ridiculous as it sometimes sounds when I say it out loud, the Spelling Bee is something I look forward to for months. For one thing, the planning and execution are easy. But more importantly, spelling bees are AWESOME. And this one proved to be no exception.

It helps quite a bit that I've roped Katie McMillan and Brandon Elliott into being my judge and pronouncer, respectively, for the last 3 years. And they are just as geeky and excited as me. It validates me.

But a night of polite clapping, new vocabulary, and academic competition is so gratifying to me. Because my Sudafed is rendering me ineloquent, let me just list my thoughts for you on the night:

• good parent volunteers and good friends can be life savers
• never underestimate the power of a middle schooler. They may miss words like "necessity," but they will blow you away with "crepuscular." That wasn't even the championship word!
• 4 rounds of 2 final spellers is way more exciting than the Super Bowl.
• kids can get just as excited over things like Spelling Bees as they get about things like video games. You just have to give them an outlet. 
• Always designate a photographer. 
• You'd be surprised how supportive kids can be of one another. High fives, hugs, clapping, and even good natured ribbing ensued. Even our champion was described as "beast" by many of the students the next day. In middle school lingo, this is the highest of compliments. 

In the end, 47 seventh and eighth graders participated. Our two finalist went 4 rounds before we had a champion, a seventh grade boy, who took it on the word "dissident." Our 8th grade runner up fought valiantly and deserves recognition for it. 

I love an empty auditorium/school/classroom

The picture was not taken by me, but by parent Talia Perrotta. Thank goodness she had a camera!

March 22nd is the County Spelling Bee, which *may* have been my favorite school day all last year.I can't wait. It's things like this, man. This is why I do it. 

Never a Good Time to Get Sick

Ok, so I realize there are all of 2 or maybe 3 of you that read this blog. But I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not being more brilliant over the weekend. I have amazing ideas floating around in my head for what to write next. They're in there, rattling around amongst the mucus. They feel like pinballs. Or steel drums. Or maybe that's just the headache.

I came down with a horrible cold this weekend, the last weekend of my winter vacation. The sun was shining, we had unseasonably warm weather, even for San Diego, and the beach beckoned. But I stayed in bed. Coughing. Sniffling. Sneezing. Watching Dollhouse, whining on Facebook, and generally filling up the space in my bedroom with tissue.

It's a terrible time to get sick. For one, I lost the last few precious moments of my vacation. Also, I can't call a sub.

Do you know what it entails to call a sub?

You can't just call any sub. Ideally, it's one you have used before and trust. And you have to pray to the sub gods and make sacrifices in their honor and hope that they're available. Otherwise, if you just call the sub pool, it's a little like going to Vegas, except without the free drinks and shiny lights and scantily clad women. You always lose.

Then, once you've secured someone halfway competent to watch your class, you have to create sub plans. This may sound easy. It is not. Planning for myself can be done, largely, in my head. Planning for an unknown variable of a person requires explicit instructions, labeled photocopies, extra activities. That doesn't even scratch the surface, though, since this all has to be done either from home, (while sick, remember?) or at the crack of dawn before kids arrive (still sick). Additionally, you have to include discipline plans, seating charts, and god forbid you have them use the technology. That's not to say there aren't smart, competent subs out there. There are. I have had amazing subs. It's just...well, I've also had not so amazing subs. And unless you know for sure who will be there...

Then the anxiety starts. I'm home in bed, but what time is it? 10am? Ok, that's 2nd period. I wonder how this morning went. Etc. If you have a smartphone, you are also probably getting emails about how your classroom is burning down. And then? When it's all over? You go in and clean up the mess, read the sub notes, and prepare to make examples of students who chose to take advantage.

All in all? Not worth it.

I think that's the one thing I am jealous of people who have office jobs. To take a day off, sick or hooky, without the extra work. That would be nice.

But I am trying to remember, there is no good time to be sick. Sick during vacation? FAIL. Sick while I am working? Double fail (see above). The germy kids will descend upon me soon enough, and hopefully I've filled my sick quota for a while.

So tomorrow will be doubly exhausting. But I think I'll take the easy way out and go in.

On crossing picket lines, or why Together We Are Stronger

It recently became a topic of debate on a coworker's Facebook page, whether or not it was ethical to cross the potential picket lines of a striking school district. It turns out that National City School District has authorized a potential strike, after failing to reach a contract agreement with the district. On the table: furlough days (and the corresponding pay reduction), larger class sizes, and the length of such a contract. Obviously, the teachers don't want to agree to anything that's binding for the long term, if it means so many sacrifices. (This news is as of December 20th, and I can find nothing recent to say they've decided one way or the other)

This coworker, the one that asked about the strike, is employed as a long term sub at our school site. I'm pretty sure he is only working 80%, and he is definitely under-employed. He got his credential at a crappy time to be a new teacher, and is struggling to find a position. And, honestly, he's a great teacher. I feel for him. I was pink slipped 3 years ago, and see my fellow teachers go through that painful and terrifying process yearly. Our economy sucks balls all over the spectrum, not just in education. And fighting for a job can be a fight for survival.

In addition, some of you may have noticed the anti-union rhetoric that has become more and more popular in this debate, as well as in other debates. According to some, unions are to blame for our political problems, our economic problems, our social problems, your issues with your mother, and probably global warming, too. Union leaders probably commune with Satan and kick puppies.

But I need to say a few things on crossing picket lines, and unions. First off, unions represent the labor movement in this country, where we fought for health care, a living wage, and the FREAKING WEEKEND. I, for one, have no desire to navigate a profession where I am unprotected from the whims of my superiors, or from the mercurial nature of educational politics. I have twice voted whether or not to authorize a strike, in my 6 years in public education, and my district has twice voted it down. It takes A LOT to get to that point. It takes many contract negotiation and mediation sessions. It takes multiple votes from constituents. It is not a decision treated lightly, by anyone involved.

If I had to choose whether or not to strike, let me tell you what would go through my mind: First and foremost, what about my students? I can barely stand a sick day when they have a sub. Will they be ok? How will they prepare for the next year? How long will I be away from them? Will the person in charge of them know their idiosyncrasies, their academic needs, their medical needs, their emotional needs? Will they be safe? Will they understand? Next, my personal concerns: How will I pay my bills? Is it best for me to do this or to scab and cross the lines? How will this affect my career and job security in the future? Whether I chose to strike or cross, my heart and mind would be in knots. Either way, I would be racked with guilt. Why? Because teachers do not choose teaching lightly. We are already overworked and unrespected and paid in peanuts. Spoiler alert: We do it for the kids.

So when I hear about people considering crossing picket lines, I can't help but feel betrayed, even as I understand the complexities and difficulty of their situation. United we stand; divided we fall. Every teacher out there on the picket lines came to that decision with gravity and extreme guilt. They made the terribly difficult decision, both personally and professionally, to take a stand. They may even do it against their better judgement, when it comes to their classrooms. By crossing that picket line, you negate all those worries. You negate all we've fought for as a profession. You dismiss all those contradicting forces those teachers have to contend with, and the principles for which they are risking everything to stand . And you know what else? It's plain bad karma. If someone is desperate enough to strike, you better bet your ass there's a good reason for it. Respect that. Tighten your belt a few months longer, and find a job that isn't stolen. One with better conditions, at the very least. If we show them we're willing to work for peanuts, it is peanuts we shall continue to receive.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

In solidarity.

"Vacation"

I often hear how spoiled teachers are, to get so much time for vacation. And I'll admit, there are lazy mornings over winter break, with the rain pounding on my windows, that I do, indeed, feel spoiled about having time off. There are days I spend in the sunshine while my peers slave in their offices. Even today, with my long, exhausting, crazy day, I feel spoiled to have a job I love, to spend the afternoon in a park with my students, to like seeing people I haven't seen in a while. Call me spoiled for loving what I do, for getting to hang out with awesome kids. But don't call me spoiled because you think I work less than other professions.

There are many arguments I could make to tell you why, indeed, this isn't as wonderful as it looks. But I think the most compelling is just to show you.

I am currently on vacation. I don't go back to work until Tuesday, January 18th. I have had a delicious 4 week winter break, and don't apologize for it. There have been many lazy days and warm, sunshiny days. But there are also, always, many days like today. Today, this is how I spent my "vacation."

I woke up at a very lazy 8am, made breakfast, watched my soap, and had a cup of coffee. I then gathered my belongings and went into my classroom. I immediately put on music (yes, I rock the iTunes while I plan) and rolled up my sleeves. As often happens, though, my classroom was not exactly as I left it. I had a surprise! A shiny new doc cam, set up on my teaching table. The things that previously lived in this place were stacked neatly in all sorts of odd spots, and the old doc cam still sits at a student desk. I am not quite sure what I'm supposed to do with it. So, before I could even begin my regular work, I had to reorganize my work space.

I was in my classroom today for about 3.5 hours. During that time I:

• planned my lessons for the next week for 6th, 7th and 8th grade English
• prepared flipcharts for those lessons
• emailed colleagues and students
• prepared a flipchart for my Portfolio Prep class, as well as the STAR Writing Class (which I no longer teach, but does prepare my students for the test and therefore I am invested in planning)
• cleaned and organized my desk area
• set up and learned how to use my new doc cam
• started cleaning out the front tables which I now plan to use as additional student desks, instead of a teaching area
• met with our librarian, as she had some books to give me
• realized that today will NOT, as I had hoped, be my last day in my classroom before Tuesday.

This is an image taken by my new doc cam. Yay for shiny new toys!

After that I took a lunch break, ran some errands, and headed over to the park by the school to watch the first Middle School soccer scrimmage. It was a beautiful day, and I definitely got some sun. I tried to grade and watch the game at the same time, but seeing many coworkers and parents and students for the first time after several weeks meant too much catching up and socialization. So community building, as we call that, until 3:30. Still work, though!

Next, I scooted my exhausted butt over to the local coffee shop to meet with a coworker. Half an hour of grading someone else's papers (a coworker on maternity leave needing some assistance) and then two hours of planning with and supporting our new team member. We planned out the whole unit for 8th grade English, discussed strategies, and generally flushed out ideas. It can be exhausting planning with someone new, through no fault of theirs!

It was a 9 hour workday. On vacation. I still have several essays to read before next week, and will have to spend at least a few hours doing nothing but cleaning and organizing in my classroom. Not to mention the work that needs to be done on the yearbook, the intervention class, and the upcoming spelling bee!

Mission Statement

So, clearly, I've decided to start a blog. Why? You may ask. Well, here's the thing. Besides the fact that I am clearly cutting edge enough to be doing something cutting edge from 10 years ago, as a teacher, I spend a lot of time thinking about education. I spend a lot of time grading, planning, reading, professionally developing, idea bouncing, politics-navigating, and generally embodying my career. It is a "more than full time" job. Yet, here we are, in the midst of a not-so-nice social debate--no, attack--on education. And the teachers' voices are rarely heard. For that matter, the students' voices are rarely heard. So, I want to put my voice out there, into the void, for anyone interested in what it's REALLY like for at least one middle school teacher in America.

What this blog is:

This blog is a peek inside my life and my brain. Sometimes, I will be talking about the actual work I do, the experiences my students and I have (no worries, I'll change names to protect the innocent) and the amount of actual energy and time it takes to do this job. Other times, I'll be discoursing on politics, reform, an article about education, a conversation I've had with my teacher friends and non-teacher friends, etc. It is MY experience, and MY opinion, but both are valid additions to this debate.

What this blog is NOT:

Obviously, I do not claim to represent the opinions or experiences of anyone but myself. I would LOVE to have readers who both agree and disagree with me comment and discuss in a respectful manner, and questions are always welcome, but I will not bash anyone here and disapprove of bashing in general. I expect adults to be able to follow the same rules to which I hold my 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. So let's keep it respectful, mmmmkay?