Summer break is in full swing and with it the drop off in blogging. I’m still job hunting and getting more and more frustrated by it every day. It appears that my experience and credits may be hurting me as I am now the more expensive teacher. My friend called from his classroom today after the earthquake and listening to the kids in the background just so made me miss teaching at that school and with that group of colleagues. The saying is so true that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone. I want nothing more than to be back in that scene. I know it’s not perfect, the kids aren’t perfect, the parents are a pain and even my colleagues drove me crazy at times but I have learned just how bad things are other places.

I just miss teaching. This is why I love year-round school so much since this time of year is when I really am missing the kids. I took the CSET a week ago to try to get my high school credential and am finishing this insane class at National University on how to teach in a departmentalized setting – something I have been doing for 8 years. The test and the class are required by the state to get my high school credential but it’s ridiculous being in a class that requires me to learn how to write lesson plans again! The only advantage of the class has been the discussion boards and hearing the voices of soon to be new teachers. It’s amazing to me how people go in to a classroom and start teaching without ever really having spent a lot of time in the classroom prior to that. I was an I.A. for many years and grew up with a parent who was a teacher so I was always around education. So many of these young people are just stunned that they have to work outside the school day and that lessons don’t go quite as smoothly as they thought they would.

Anyway the discussions have been good as they’ve reminded me how much I really have learned over the years. Which is what brought me to this. I woke up in the middle of the night last night pondering what ten pieces of advice I would give to a new or experienced teacher if asked what good teachers do and this is what I came up with. . .

10 things I think good teachers do

1. Get to know their students as individuals

2. Joke around and have fun in class once in awhile – know that it’s O.K. to go on tangents every now and then

3. Say hi to students in the hall

4. Acknowledge when you’re having a bad day, and remember that kids have them too! Don’t forget that we as teachers often don’t know what our kids are facing outside of the school day.

5. Whenever possible let kids know the “why” of what you are doing

6. Post an agenda on the board for the day including homework

7. Listen to students concerns and be open to suggestions

8. Grade things in a timely manner

9. As much as possible be consistent and fair with discipline, acknowledging that fair isn’t always equal

10. Have fun and let the kids get to know the fun side of you! Kids love to know that their teachers are real people and have a life outside of school. Sharing the tiniest tidbit of information about yourself is like a golden nugget to many kids.

So my old district, who laid off 100+ teachers due to the budget cuts etc., now has postings for almost every position possible, including English! I guess they just are too lazy to determine which of their temporary teachers they actually want to keep so they just let them all go. It makes no sense to me. I mean it has to cost them money via unemployment and processing of employees and paperwork. So now I have to determine whether I am supposed to reapply or not. Such a nightmare, they have no consideration for people who can’t spend a whole summer just hanging out and wondering. The only advantage to this whole situation is the addition of the unemployment income but even that is a hassle. Oh well, I guess I have no choice but to continue hanging out in this state of ambiguity!

So today started with an interview at a local Hebrew day school. I liked the people, I liked what they had to say, I liked the environment, I like the importance of community in Jewish culture. I didn’t like the idea that I would have to wear a skirt or dress every single day of the year, I didn’t like that it’s such a small school, and I didn’t like that the kids don’t interact with more kids on a regular basis (which I guess goes along with the not liking the small school part). So I guess only time will tell. If offered the position I think I have no choice but to take it and then continue looking to see if something more attractive comes around. They said they would let me know either way by the end of June.

Until then I continue to pursue the Unemployment Insurance issue. I have called a couple times a day every day this week only to be told each time that too many people are in the cue and please call back another time. Today I was determined, programmed the number on my phone and recorded the numbers I had to hit once I got through so I didn’t have to listen to all the b.s. and success! Well, success in getting through at least. The woman didn’t seem like the brightest tool in the shed or very knowledgeable about teachers and unemployment. She kept asking me if my school was on a recess period and I kept trying to explain to her that I didn’t have a school because I was laid off because of state budget cuts. After repeated back and forth Q & A’s she ended with, “well I hope they call you back to your job” – clearly she still didn’t get it. So, at one point she said I would have to have an interview to see if I qualified for unemployment since there was a chance I would have a job after the “recess” period. I tried to clearly correct her on that but who knows. Apparently the next step is for them to send me some paperwork which I can’t return before the 29th and at that point they will decide if I qualify and if so if I should receive payment for these two weeks as well. It’s a rather strange process but I’m trying to think of it as a learning experience. Unemployment has previously been this vague idea out there for the rest of the world. I didn’t even think teachers qualified for it once upon a time so I have clearly already learned a lot!

My ideal world would be one where I have a job in the fall and yet can collect unemployment over the summer. That may be awful to say but I think I deserve something from the state for creating this mess and all the stress and angst that they are putting all of us through as teachers since they can’t come up with a decision on a budget! For now I continue to check edjoin every day and directly look at the webpages for the districts that I would ideally like to work in to see what their internal postings are at this point. My old district has a fair number of English positions posted for transfer which is definitely not what I would like to be teaching full time but as the saying goes, a job is a job. It appears that the in-district transfers and moves should be done in the next couple weeks which would then clarify what positions will be open to the previously laid off teachers. The joy of the waiting game . . .

Just in case you don’t already read TMAO’s blog on a regular basis, you need to read today’s. More importantly you need to share today’s with any of your friends and family who are not in education and just don’t get it!

And no I’m not talking about summer break! The last couple days were tough since I wasn’t able to be at 8th grade promotion or really see off my 8th graders. But one of my 7th grade girls brought this in to me on Wednesday and it has to be one of the more touching notes I have received in recent memory if not ever. She was one of those “tough nut to crack” types at the start of the year, sitting in the back of the room refusing to work arms crossed and nasty look on her face. Slowly but surely we seemed to make a little connection but she still wouldn’t work. I don’t remember exactly when it happened but she finally started tuning in and making an effort. Anyway, this is the card she gave me on Thursday along with a bunch of balloons! I figured I’d better get it online just in case anything happens to it. It’s done on posterboard so I’m not quite sure how I’m going to store it!

So the end of the year is here. If one is to believe thank you notes, yearbook comments, and the few cards I’ve received, the year went better than I thought it did! These kids are truly the hardest kids to read of any I have worked with in the last ten years. So all in all, how was this year in hindsight? I survived! I guess that’s step one. Albeit not a true “inner city” school, my school is definitely a tough one and definitely has a changing population. And more than anything it was just a huge adjustment in so many ways for me. I forget some times that I took on an entirely new curriculum and area this year along with teaching a different population. 10 months ago I had no idea if I could survive teaching ELD and yet now I really enjoy it. As I’ve said before who knows if I’d enjoy it in the traditional setting where the kids can’t move when they make progress, but in this setting I really like it. The kids are a challenge and there are way more issues involved in educating our EL kids than I ever could have imagined, but the rewards are also huge!

There have been some great people I’ve worked with, and like every school some teachers who need to teach in a different environment or just need a new career. My guess is that teaching 10-20 years ago was a whole different world. Too many of the teachers who started at that time and are still teaching are not able to adapt to a new world and environment of teaching. There are too many teachers at this school who just don’t like kids and definitely don’t like kids who are a challenge in any way shape or form which is unfortunate. I don’t think these teachers give kids enough credit for being able to figure out that they don’t like kids!

Anyway, I will miss some of these staff members and some elements of this school and of course many of the kids. More than anything I’m irritated that I’m moving AGAIN at the end of the year and not able to just sit back and “enjoy” the end of the year with the kids. I am cautiously optimistic that things will turn out at some point this summer I just hope I end up in a setting where I’m happy. I worry that too many moves may eventually get me burned out – I guess we’ll soon find out.

Here’s to the end of yet another year. . . many (?) more to come . .

So I’ve been reading some of my kids autobiographies today and they turned out really well. If you can get past all the grammar/spelling/word confusion stuff they have some good stuff in them! What really strikes me and what I want to share with the kids on Monday is that blatant reminder of just how much alike these kids are even with their amazingly diverse backgrounds. My kids from Iraq talk about their time in Iraq before the invasion which they spent excited about their new bikes, falling off their bikes and getting stitches and sitting at home watching T.V. Totally different cultures and places and yet such similar childhood experiences. I really do hope the kids keep these since almost all of them really capture their childhood so far!

So the pain of childbirth is almost over! Oh I’m sorry I mean the end of the year. Again my morning kids were great and I can’t wait to sit by the pool and read their autobiographies tomorrow – but the afternoon (low group) kids were again a nightmare and I only got about half of their papers. The good news is that it’s all downhill from here. Grades have already been turned in – thus I don’t have to actually grade their autobiographies – so now it’s just movies and fun! The end is here!

Well the day from hell is now over! We had our ELD awards for our 8th graders this morning and while we didn’t have a great turnout from parents we did have probably a dozen and for this population that’s not bad! The kids loved it and the fact that kids who had made the most movement this year got several tickets for the raffle meant that they won multiple prizes! We had many 6th and 7th graders looking on so hopefully that made an impact on them for next year. My principal announced at the beginning that this was our 1st annual event. I’m curious how they’ll do it next year when I threw in all the prizes myself this year! I really was thinking that by the end people would offer to throw in 20 bucks or so but no luck. But the important thing is that the kids loved it and loved all the prizes! And equally important I loved watching them smile and feel so full of pride getting an award with others watching.

Once again the morning class did awesome with the autobiographies while the afternoon class was a nightmare. Not surprising with the set up of the classes. Finally one teacher took the ones who weren’t ready to type and I got to stay in the computer lab with the kids who are obviously more motivated since they were ready to type! Three kids finished in the morning class so I got to bind theirs for them which was cool and let the others see what the final project is going to look like. They really are turning out nice. Obviously they’ll be somewhat painful to read with all the grammar/spelling issues but I’m still looking forward to knowing more about my kids even if it is the end of the year. I’m especially interested in hearing the Iraqi kids take on the war and their emigration from Iraq as I know many had many stops at camps along the way.

Not a bad day overall once those awards were over! Of course starting the day with watching the Fresh Prince of Bel Air in English 8 always helps! I’m loving this PAT time and having them see that they earned this time even though most years I would give them free time at the end of the year anyway . . . shhhh they don’t know that! I mean with 8th grade grades due on 7 days before the end of school what else can one do?

I do think I’m totally done with grading now though! I’m just going to read their autobiographies and give them a grade that won’t actually show in the gradebook but just make them think it does. It’s been a good concluding activity for them I think as they were all pretty much burned out on High Point. So tomorrow for me it’s more Fresh Prince, maybe some packing while they’re watching, cleaning up my desk, finalizing grade comments and then hanging out while the kids type the rest of the day. Then next week it’s all downhill!

The end is near oh so near . . . now I just can’t wait to sit on the phone for my unemployment interview!

So far this week is flying! This is of course good and bad as half the reason it’s going so fast is I have barely sat down and had two seconds to think this week! This is good though since the kids are definitely going a bit bonkers! 8th grade grades were due today which is a bit of a nightmare since it’s so early but I think I got them in and done as accurately as possible. 6th and 7th grade grades are due Friday at 2. Guess I should have checked on all that before making the kids autobiographies due by Friday at 3:30! Oh well what the kids don’t know won’t hurt them. In reality at this point in the year their grades are pretty much whatever they are and not much is going to change. The B student is going to stay a B student and the F student will stay an F student for the next week. Worst case scenario if there is some huge change I’ll go to counseling and ask them to make it. I can always plead the “I’ve been stressed out by my pending unemployment” line

On a positive note tomorrow is our 8th grade ELD awards that I organized! It’s been a pain in the ass this week but the kids are really excited and I think it’s really important for them to be recognized. Any kid who moved at least one step in the program this year will get a certificate tomorrow. Most of these are kids who will probably never again be recognized by school and get to have their parents in the audience as they come to the front of the amphitheater to get their certificate. Being the materialistic person I am I wanted them to get something other than a certificate too so I started this whole raffle thing which I’m spending way too much money on but that I’m really excited about and so are the kids! I used up a ton of tickets I had been saving at Dave and Buster’s to get a ton of things there,  bought some $5 and $10 gift cards at various places, a soccer ball, and of course a ton of candy. I’m excited to have something positive for the kids and it was nice for me to have something positive to focus on at the end of the year other than packing!

Speaking of the future, on top of all the other craziness today I was supposed to have a phone interview with a school from L.A. at 4:00. I sat in my classroom doing nothing for almost 30 minutes waiting for them to call and nothing! I finally gave up and went to run the errands I needed to get done but when I got home I had two messages from the guy on my home phone. I rechecked the emails between myself and his admin assistant and I did give them my cell phone to call me. Either way he didn’t even call until 4:30 so that was his fault. Oh well, I emailed his assistant to set up another meeting. I’m actually glad it wasn’t today sinc I was completely not prepared but I just hope we can put it off until next week now.

Well off to figure out what the hell I’m going to wear to the assembly tomorrow – assuming of course that it stops raining!