Areeba connection
Good news: Dayton's phone works now.
Bad news: All we got was a nasty yelling argument and him basically hanging up on me.
Bad news: Giving the high school exit exam today was a study in futility - it was SO effed up and disorganized FOR NO GOOD REASON. One of my kids from another period didn't get tested even though he was on the list because the teacher didn't want to give it to him, apparently. And I was told I can't give it to him tomorrow during math testing because they only get one day to take it and that was his chance - BUT HE SHOWED UP AND TRIED TO TAKE IT AND HE WAS EVEN ON TIME. This will possibly interfere with his graduation? ARGH!!
Good news: I looked over one kid's test, my student with the lowest English proficiency, and from the little I saw, he did damn well. At the break he had said to me, "This essay is really hard [it really was] - but all you taught me about context clues and reading all the answer choices and crossing out wrong ones - that makes that part easy." When I looked at his test, I saw he had done what I'd taught. Ah, sniff sniff. And this is the kid I had to call yesterday who wasn't coming to school after our big blow-up last week. I had another bad blow-up with a kid today. It's the same few kids who are just being jerks and when I call 'em on it they escalate, which usually turns to profanity and doors slammed and all that [them, not me]. But, the principals gave him a sound browbeating and forced him to come back, and I got not a peep from him. After testing, I'll extract a meaningful apology from him. He needs to own his behavior.
Bad news: It's only Tuesday.
Good news: My university classes are half over. Only five more weeks.
I told my work buddy (they're all nice to me there but I haven't really bonded, but kinda with her) that I'm bailing in a few weeks to go to Ghana for a weekend and would she cover my 6th period class? I asked her to keep it on the DL, but that was a bad decision, to tell. I just had to talk about it to somebody, and she offered to illustrate the book she told me I have to write.
I dunno about going to Ghana. I want to, I need to, but it's a shitload of money and I'll be spending months there later. I have so much effing work to do here that bailing for five days sounds excessive - and with work, there's SO MUCH SHIT happening now. I've been in meetings today and yesterday and it's just more and more coming. I hate to miss 'em because I'm responsible for knowing what's been said. Will my prospectus be done then, with my study plan, so my consent forms will be meaningful? Will Dayton and I be speaking? Will I get busted for skipping work? Ah, the dramatic tension rises.
Told other co-workers I probably won't come back next year, and the counselor interjected to couch that in PC terms with "She needs to go finish her PhD" - making it seem that I wasn't rejecting the school (which I am) so co-workers didn't feel insulted, which is good. If I liked it there, I would stay, and work my PhD around it. Instead, it's an exercise in insanity and futility and while I'm pleased as punch that EVERY SINGLE ONE of my kids showed up today for testing (the principal says only 50% of the kids did overall - and I HOLD HIM CULPABLE) and it looks like they did pretty well - this is not my beautiful life. My god, what have I done?
One kid, I called his house and he answered at 8:10 with "I'm eating breakfast, like you told me to." "Walter! I told you to eat breakfast BEFORE GETTING YOUR BUTT HERE AT 7:45!" He sauntered in at 8:35 - which was fine because my class voted to wait for him and the other late kid. Come on people, how hard is it to make all your kids show up for testing? IT IS NOT HARD! My workmate-biggest-fan, Lionel, was sitting next to the principal when he kept saying, "We need to learn your secrets!" Um, tell them when to show up and then remind them? NOT DIFFICULT!
I'm not really all that angry at Dayton but he's so angry at me he can hardly speak to me (and yes, I understand what he's saying, but I think he's unreasonable, and I'm not backing down because he's being a jerk and NO BOY is a jerk to me - I don't care if they're 15 or 35). Things don't look so peachy. But that doesn't really affect my Ghana research - I mean, sure, it's wonderful to be with him and that's what I'm hoping for, but if things don't work out I always have a Plan B. I'm just, I'm so tired of things being so hard with us.
Today I proctored other teachers' kids, and one of them is the great, great-grandson of a former president of Liberia. Small world.
Bad news: All we got was a nasty yelling argument and him basically hanging up on me.
Bad news: Giving the high school exit exam today was a study in futility - it was SO effed up and disorganized FOR NO GOOD REASON. One of my kids from another period didn't get tested even though he was on the list because the teacher didn't want to give it to him, apparently. And I was told I can't give it to him tomorrow during math testing because they only get one day to take it and that was his chance - BUT HE SHOWED UP AND TRIED TO TAKE IT AND HE WAS EVEN ON TIME. This will possibly interfere with his graduation? ARGH!!
Good news: I looked over one kid's test, my student with the lowest English proficiency, and from the little I saw, he did damn well. At the break he had said to me, "This essay is really hard [it really was] - but all you taught me about context clues and reading all the answer choices and crossing out wrong ones - that makes that part easy." When I looked at his test, I saw he had done what I'd taught. Ah, sniff sniff. And this is the kid I had to call yesterday who wasn't coming to school after our big blow-up last week. I had another bad blow-up with a kid today. It's the same few kids who are just being jerks and when I call 'em on it they escalate, which usually turns to profanity and doors slammed and all that [them, not me]. But, the principals gave him a sound browbeating and forced him to come back, and I got not a peep from him. After testing, I'll extract a meaningful apology from him. He needs to own his behavior.
Bad news: It's only Tuesday.
Good news: My university classes are half over. Only five more weeks.
I told my work buddy (they're all nice to me there but I haven't really bonded, but kinda with her) that I'm bailing in a few weeks to go to Ghana for a weekend and would she cover my 6th period class? I asked her to keep it on the DL, but that was a bad decision, to tell. I just had to talk about it to somebody, and she offered to illustrate the book she told me I have to write.
I dunno about going to Ghana. I want to, I need to, but it's a shitload of money and I'll be spending months there later. I have so much effing work to do here that bailing for five days sounds excessive - and with work, there's SO MUCH SHIT happening now. I've been in meetings today and yesterday and it's just more and more coming. I hate to miss 'em because I'm responsible for knowing what's been said. Will my prospectus be done then, with my study plan, so my consent forms will be meaningful? Will Dayton and I be speaking? Will I get busted for skipping work? Ah, the dramatic tension rises.
Told other co-workers I probably won't come back next year, and the counselor interjected to couch that in PC terms with "She needs to go finish her PhD" - making it seem that I wasn't rejecting the school (which I am) so co-workers didn't feel insulted, which is good. If I liked it there, I would stay, and work my PhD around it. Instead, it's an exercise in insanity and futility and while I'm pleased as punch that EVERY SINGLE ONE of my kids showed up today for testing (the principal says only 50% of the kids did overall - and I HOLD HIM CULPABLE) and it looks like they did pretty well - this is not my beautiful life. My god, what have I done?
One kid, I called his house and he answered at 8:10 with "I'm eating breakfast, like you told me to." "Walter! I told you to eat breakfast BEFORE GETTING YOUR BUTT HERE AT 7:45!" He sauntered in at 8:35 - which was fine because my class voted to wait for him and the other late kid. Come on people, how hard is it to make all your kids show up for testing? IT IS NOT HARD! My workmate-biggest-fan, Lionel, was sitting next to the principal when he kept saying, "We need to learn your secrets!" Um, tell them when to show up and then remind them? NOT DIFFICULT!
I'm not really all that angry at Dayton but he's so angry at me he can hardly speak to me (and yes, I understand what he's saying, but I think he's unreasonable, and I'm not backing down because he's being a jerk and NO BOY is a jerk to me - I don't care if they're 15 or 35). Things don't look so peachy. But that doesn't really affect my Ghana research - I mean, sure, it's wonderful to be with him and that's what I'm hoping for, but if things don't work out I always have a Plan B. I'm just, I'm so tired of things being so hard with us.
Today I proctored other teachers' kids, and one of them is the great, great-grandson of a former president of Liberia. Small world.
posted by NOLA at 7:58 PM
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