Sunday, March 24, 2019
A Milestone Moment
On Tuesday, March 19th, I hit a milestone as it was five years ago on this date that I was convinced by my daughter to write this blog. Five years, two hundred and fifty-three posts and over fourteen thousand page views coming from somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty countries and shortly I'll post blog number two hundred and fifty-four. Never in my imagination did I think I'd be doing this for five years. So much for shameless self promotion, time to move on to more important events.
We were measuring in the classroom recently using both inches and centimeters rulers. I thought the lesson plan, how it was presented to the scholars, by the person that occupies the front of the classroom, went quite well. After all, I am talking about a degreed and licensed teacher with multiple years of experience. All of that came into question recently during a Monday morning community circle with the scholars. The topic for Monday morning community circle is simple, what did you do over the weekend? The scholars always go first and then the adults, should they choose, can share their experiences. I chose to pass this past Monday morning so the other adult in the room could share a story. It went something like this.
I decided to buy a new light that would hang over a table in my house. After a few struggles removing the old light and then hanging the new light I recognized immediately that the new light hung too low over the table and it could easily hit someone in the head. Being frustrated that I'd have to take the light down, make a cord adjustment, and rehang the light I decided to take a short cut. To speed up the process I just decided to eye ball the length of the cord and then make the cut. Finally my new light is hung for the second time and now the light hangs too high above the table.
The hanger of the light is now past frustrated and has moved into the danger zone and I'm certain words were spoken that I could not place in this blog. So, what to do now? Call the manufacturer, explain what happened, and get another light shipped to the house. Amazingly, after listening to the I'll just eye ball it and cut it story, the manufacturer agreed to ship the second light at no additional cost.
As it stands right now I'm not sure if the second light has been hung. If it hasn't I'm going to offer this bit of advice to someone well prepared to teach young scholars how to use a ruler. "Measure twice and cut once.
A couple of weeks ago the BigB#4 asked me to stop by her office as she had an open position at the school that she thought I might be interested in taking. I've been aware of this open position for some time as two individuals were lobbying me to take the position. I've gone back and forth about taking the position a number of times before I decided to stop by the BigB#4's office and talk. Here is what I was offered; this is an overhead position that will support classroom teachers, it is a job share position as I would share this full time position with another individual, I'd only work two full days per week, I'd have to clock in at the start of the day and clock out at the end of the day, I'd have to do lunch duty each day I worked, and I'd make around $9.50, maybe a little more.
Here is my thought process on taking this job. Would it be nice to be paid again, yes. Would part time be better than full time, yes. Would I be more interested in this job if I only had to work mornings, yes. Do I like the idea of having to clock in and clock out, no. Do I like the idea of doing lunch duty, hell no, nobody does. Do I like the fact that I'm committing myself to two full days of school a week for an entire school year, no. Do I think I'd be adequately compensated at $9.50 per hour or slightly higher, no. When I was a paid instructional assistant in that Special Education classroom I made $14.42 per hour. This is a job sharing position. The person I'd be sharing the job with has a teaching degree. If we are doing the exact same job will I get paid at the same level as this teacher, highly unlikely, as I can't see a teacher taking a job that pays around $9.50 per hour.
So, it is decision time. What am I going to tell the BigB#4? Anyone care to venture a guess? Ready, I turned it down as I didn't like the idea of committing myself to a paid position and the commitments that go with it knowing that my part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse is retiring. And, if she is retiring, it makes no sense for me to un-retire for the second time.
T4, OtherT4, and I are now on spring break, two weeks where T4 and OtherT4 can simply relax and I can do yard work. The timing for spring break was perfect as a big change took place recently. AnotherT4, who accepted the third fourth grade teaching position in January resigned in March. In fact, this teaching position has turned over twice in less than a half of a school year. So what does the future hold for T4 and OtherT4 with this opened position that apparently will not be filled?Somewhere between twenty-eight and thirty scholars per classroom. To my teaching friends that read this blog, what are your thoughts on a classroom with thirty scholars crammed into it? I'll share mine in the next blog post.
Back to my milestone. I'm struggling with the blog and I have to make some adjustments. Quitting entirely is one option but I'm not to that point as the remaining nine weeks of the school year are going to be real interesting. Having approximately sixty scholars roll through T4's classroom for a daily math lesson is going to be pure survival mode and I certainly don't want to miss all of that fun. The month of May is rapidly approaching and that means three days of camp with all of these fourth grade scholars and I've agreed, in a moment of weakness, to camp overnight with them. The other option is to post updates with less frequency. I've already moved in that direction as some of you may have noticed. I think that is what I'll do for the remainder of the school year and then go from there.
That is it for today. The NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. I think I'll make some popcorn, crack open a cold something, sit in my favorite chair, and watch some basketball. Thanks for following along.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Regrouping
Sunday, March 10, 2019
On Sunday mornings I check my cellphone for the notes I made about blog content. On some Sunday's there are just not enough notes. That has been the case for two weeks. This morning I had notes, lots of notes, so here I go.
Remember the little fella (T2 age group) that brought in a bag of weed to school. Here is an update on this little fella's status. After missing a couple weeks of school there was a meeting with the parental units (the very one's that left the weed out in the first place) about reinstating their scholar. A date was set for the little fella to return and everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. Then the parental units dropped this bomb on the school leadership. "We need to tell you that we are going to California for a two week vacation and we are taking the little fella with us." I have a friend, As Far West As Utah, who told me this a few weeks ago, "parents matter most." The more I hang around the classroom the more I believe that parents matter most and in this case this little fella is a product of P.P.P. (piss poor parenting) and these parents don't give a damn about their scholars education.
Twice a week now, for several weeks, the scholars took a timed, six minute, test on multiplication and division that has thirty-six multiplication problems and thirty-six division problems. Here are the numbers involved; zero, one, two, five, nine, and ten. With the exception of the nines it doesn't get much simpler. Unfortunately, of the two groups that rotate through T4's classroom for math, one of the groups, with the exception of two scholars, just don't get it. When you just don't get if after weeks of taking the same test over and over and the scholars can't pass it something has to give and it happened a few days ago.
"Schultz, grade these papers. I want the entire class to come to the front of the classroom and have a seat on the carpet." The venting of frustration started before I exited the room to my half round table in the hallway. Paraphrasing, "why is it so difficult for you to pass this test? This is not hard work. After all of this time you still can't multiply. How is it that you do not know that 2 x 5 = 10 without counting on your fingers. How can you multiply 5 x 0 and tell me the answer is 5? How can you look at a division problem, 6/2 and tell me the answer is 8? How can you look at the same division problem 6/2 and tell me the answer is twelve? This is not hard work and starting next week we are starting the year over." The venting process only lasted a short while and when T4 was over there was silence. Silence was a wise choice for these scholars because if there were objections raised the venting may have turned into a thunder storm with lightning bolts flashing across the room.
"Schultz, we are starting the year over." As a reminder, T4 works with fourth grade scholars and we are approaching the end of the third quarter of the school year. "I need you to make copies of these work sheets for me." With the work sheets in my hand I started looking, the top work sheet is addition, the second worksheet is subtraction, and I'm thinking to myself, "second grade math for fourth grade scholars," and I said absolutely nothing to T4. There was no need for me to say anything. When you spend just short of three fourths of a school year within twenty feet of a teacher it is easy to see the frustration and it bothers me a lot. I know the quality of the math teacher that I'm working with and I know, going back to the very start of the school year, the train wreck that walks into her classroom every day at 11:30am for a math lesson.
Day one of the new, timed, second grade addition test for the fourth grade scholars. T4 reviewed the directions as I sat in the back of the classroom observing, "you have this many problems, you have this much time, these are easy problems so there is no reason that you should need to use your fingers. Three, two, one, begin." I believe the very first addition problem was 7 + 3 = and immediately the fingers came out. Lord, give this teacher the strength to persevere because if many of these scholars can't add 7 + 3 = without using their fingers how are they going to ever subtract 6 - 2 = without using their fingers.
On to the regrouping in the fourth grade. I believe it was this past Thursday when I walked into the classroom and I knew something was wrong. The facial expressions on T4 and OtherT4 just didn't look right. Rather than saying something I just went about my business as sooner or later I will be told what was going on. The scholars were at specials when T4 quietly said this to me. "Schultz, you need to keep this in the vault." "T4, I've have information dating back to 1975 in my vault." "AdditionalT4," the third fourth grade teacher, "just turned in a letter of resignation."
This news didn't surprise me because I knew this first year teacher, graduated this past December, was struggling in the classroom. I walked past this fourth grade classroom on several occasions and the classroom was loud, scholars were behaving poorly, and classroom management wasn't happening they way it should have happened. I'm not sure what the final straw was that broken the camels back and forced a teacher to resign but I do know this much. For the first half of the school year there was no teacher for this third fourth grade classroom. In the span of one grading period, nine weeks, the scholars in this third fourth grade classroom chewed up and spit out two teachers. Losing two teachers in that short of a time frame is a failure at the highest levels of this school and T4 and OtherT4 are going to be the recipients of this failure and they are not happy campers right now.
On April 8th, the first school day after our spring break, there will be no third fourth grade teacher and there is no plan to replace this teacher. So on April 8th, T4 and OtherT4's classroom will swell up from twenty scholars each to somewhere between twenty-five and twenty-eight scholars and that is not sitting well. There is a lot more to talk about on this matter but sadly, LibraryLady from the hoity-toity private school, you'll have to wait until next week.
Thanks for following along. There is more to follow and I'll leave you with this little tidbit. The next blog post will be a milestone event for me. Bye!
On Sunday mornings I check my cellphone for the notes I made about blog content. On some Sunday's there are just not enough notes. That has been the case for two weeks. This morning I had notes, lots of notes, so here I go.
Remember the little fella (T2 age group) that brought in a bag of weed to school. Here is an update on this little fella's status. After missing a couple weeks of school there was a meeting with the parental units (the very one's that left the weed out in the first place) about reinstating their scholar. A date was set for the little fella to return and everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. Then the parental units dropped this bomb on the school leadership. "We need to tell you that we are going to California for a two week vacation and we are taking the little fella with us." I have a friend, As Far West As Utah, who told me this a few weeks ago, "parents matter most." The more I hang around the classroom the more I believe that parents matter most and in this case this little fella is a product of P.P.P. (piss poor parenting) and these parents don't give a damn about their scholars education.
Twice a week now, for several weeks, the scholars took a timed, six minute, test on multiplication and division that has thirty-six multiplication problems and thirty-six division problems. Here are the numbers involved; zero, one, two, five, nine, and ten. With the exception of the nines it doesn't get much simpler. Unfortunately, of the two groups that rotate through T4's classroom for math, one of the groups, with the exception of two scholars, just don't get it. When you just don't get if after weeks of taking the same test over and over and the scholars can't pass it something has to give and it happened a few days ago.
"Schultz, grade these papers. I want the entire class to come to the front of the classroom and have a seat on the carpet." The venting of frustration started before I exited the room to my half round table in the hallway. Paraphrasing, "why is it so difficult for you to pass this test? This is not hard work. After all of this time you still can't multiply. How is it that you do not know that 2 x 5 = 10 without counting on your fingers. How can you multiply 5 x 0 and tell me the answer is 5? How can you look at a division problem, 6/2 and tell me the answer is 8? How can you look at the same division problem 6/2 and tell me the answer is twelve? This is not hard work and starting next week we are starting the year over." The venting process only lasted a short while and when T4 was over there was silence. Silence was a wise choice for these scholars because if there were objections raised the venting may have turned into a thunder storm with lightning bolts flashing across the room.
"Schultz, we are starting the year over." As a reminder, T4 works with fourth grade scholars and we are approaching the end of the third quarter of the school year. "I need you to make copies of these work sheets for me." With the work sheets in my hand I started looking, the top work sheet is addition, the second worksheet is subtraction, and I'm thinking to myself, "second grade math for fourth grade scholars," and I said absolutely nothing to T4. There was no need for me to say anything. When you spend just short of three fourths of a school year within twenty feet of a teacher it is easy to see the frustration and it bothers me a lot. I know the quality of the math teacher that I'm working with and I know, going back to the very start of the school year, the train wreck that walks into her classroom every day at 11:30am for a math lesson.
Day one of the new, timed, second grade addition test for the fourth grade scholars. T4 reviewed the directions as I sat in the back of the classroom observing, "you have this many problems, you have this much time, these are easy problems so there is no reason that you should need to use your fingers. Three, two, one, begin." I believe the very first addition problem was 7 + 3 = and immediately the fingers came out. Lord, give this teacher the strength to persevere because if many of these scholars can't add 7 + 3 = without using their fingers how are they going to ever subtract 6 - 2 = without using their fingers.
On to the regrouping in the fourth grade. I believe it was this past Thursday when I walked into the classroom and I knew something was wrong. The facial expressions on T4 and OtherT4 just didn't look right. Rather than saying something I just went about my business as sooner or later I will be told what was going on. The scholars were at specials when T4 quietly said this to me. "Schultz, you need to keep this in the vault." "T4, I've have information dating back to 1975 in my vault." "AdditionalT4," the third fourth grade teacher, "just turned in a letter of resignation."
This news didn't surprise me because I knew this first year teacher, graduated this past December, was struggling in the classroom. I walked past this fourth grade classroom on several occasions and the classroom was loud, scholars were behaving poorly, and classroom management wasn't happening they way it should have happened. I'm not sure what the final straw was that broken the camels back and forced a teacher to resign but I do know this much. For the first half of the school year there was no teacher for this third fourth grade classroom. In the span of one grading period, nine weeks, the scholars in this third fourth grade classroom chewed up and spit out two teachers. Losing two teachers in that short of a time frame is a failure at the highest levels of this school and T4 and OtherT4 are going to be the recipients of this failure and they are not happy campers right now.
On April 8th, the first school day after our spring break, there will be no third fourth grade teacher and there is no plan to replace this teacher. So on April 8th, T4 and OtherT4's classroom will swell up from twenty scholars each to somewhere between twenty-five and twenty-eight scholars and that is not sitting well. There is a lot more to talk about on this matter but sadly, LibraryLady from the hoity-toity private school, you'll have to wait until next week.
Thanks for following along. There is more to follow and I'll leave you with this little tidbit. The next blog post will be a milestone event for me. Bye!
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