I'm On A Collision Course

I'm going to open this up with a little Aerosmith, the "train  kept a-rollin all night long" and I'm on a collision course with August 1st.  Switching artists now, "so let us not talk falsely now the hours getting late" and I don't know what I'm going to do.  That would be Jimi Hendrix.  I'm on a collision course with August 1st and I don't know if I'm going to "break on through to the other side" or just crash and burn.  That would be Jim Morrison and The Doors.   Old school rock n roll at its finest and at no point did anyone utter an obscenity. Now that I think about it, in the The Doors song the lyrics also included "she gets high".  The word "high" was deemed inappropriate and censors took the word out when the song was played on the radio.  Today a cRAP artist can utter the f-word, the n-word, the b-word and any other string of obscenities they can think of and know one says a word. It makes you wonder at what point in time did it all go wrong.  Ok! Enough of that.  Opps!  Not quite. The Mrs. just read my opening paragraph and said wait a minute I have to show you something.  Sitting right in front of me from the Indianapolis Star and sponsored by BMO Harris Bank is a pamphlet about upcoming Indy events. Beware!  I'm going to enter it exactly as written in the pamphlet, "The Fucking Classiest Show Ever" where "pornography meets Shakespeare".  In my Sunday newspaper and sponsored by a major banking institution.

August 1st is my return to school date.  What happened to summer vacation.  You know the time from June to at least late August or early September that was called summer vacation.  Now you get six weeks.  And don't give me any of that you get the summer off "stuff".  I don't get paid during the summer.

PhD?Sparty is gone.  Gee is gone.  BaseG is gone.  On August 1st I will walk into a classroom and assume my position with a view from the back of the room and I have no idea who will be sitting at that huge desk with the gold trim on the side that is at the front of the room.  As I slowly approach the new school year thoughts run through my mind.

1. Will a teacher be in the classroom on July 31st which is the reporting date for teachers.
2. With both teaching positions open for our emotional disability classrooms will I even return to the same classroom with the same grade level scholars.
3. Did CorP and Floss get promoted to the 5th grade?  Yes!
4. Did Straw get promoted to the 5th grade?  This is an unknown as he did poorly on mandatory testing so he should return to the 4th grade.  We'll see.
5. Did The Collector and Yo! get promoted to the 4th grade.  Both did poorly on IRead3.  The rules state if you don't pass you don't get promoted.  We'll see.
6. Did EM get promoted to the 3rd grade.  That should not happen in my opinion.  While his math skills improved in the second grade he can't read.  His ability to read the pre Dolch site words is about thirty words out of the forty-two.  EM is the big mystery.  Something is wrong.  Dyslexia, I feel is a certainty, but what qualifications to I have to say that, none.  But I feel and so did BaseG and a first grade teacher that there is something else wrong with him.  This young scholar needs help.  That raises the question, who will step up and help him?  I have a suggestion.  How about a newly hired former teacher that now works in the special education department at the Education Center of the school system that I work for.  
7. While I have the potential to see The Collect, Yo! and EM I wonder if their parental units relocated. That happens with regularity and sadly screws up the scholars ability to get an education on a consistent level.
8. Will there be a female scholar in the classroom?  Although I've yet to work with one I've heard that you don't ever want a female scholar with emotional disabilities in your classroom.  I've been told that girls can make the male scholars look like little angels.
9. There will be a student teacher in the class with the six grade scholars.  She is a friend of my daughter's and I know her.  I'm looking forward to seeing her during the school year.
10. I want to be on the school leadership team.  It bugs me that this group meets with regularity and I don't know what was on the agenda.  It also bugs me that whatever was discussed and agree upon rarely gets communicated to staff at my level.
11. There will be pre-kindergarten scholars in the building this year.  A big shout out goes to the Big B for putting the school in the position to host one of the first ever pre-kindergarten classes in our school system.  However, a playground area that is perfect for pre-kindergarten scholars was dismantled last school year.  Will it be ready for the arrival and use of these new and very young scholars.  I'm thinking it's a long shot.
12. I wonder if that dead stick I talked about on June 4th survived the summer.  Will it be sitting on the stairwell landing by our 6th grade classrooms and be utilized as a Poet Tree?  I'll know soon.
13. We'll have a new receptionist/secretary greeting parental units and other visitors to the school this year.  Maybe a guy will fill that position.  Let's say one of the custodians.  That certainly will be a an eye opener.
14. Last one, will IvyL return as our Behavioral Therapist.  I sure hope so given all the other departures.

That's it.  Thank you for reading my blog.  And the 'train kept a rollin' all night long" and I'm on a collision course with August 1st.