Tuesday has been a challenge for me. It seems that every "crazy" person who needed something at the school called on me today. Not sure why - I think I need to look at the moon again. Truthfully it was probably because out of the 5 administrators, only 2 were on campus the majority of the day and I happened to be one of them so I was the target for lack of anyone else. I started the morning with a conversation with a teacher about some issues that are happening in her "neck" of the woods with students, then moved onto eBeam's of which I have never seen before. I was under the impression these were the new "SmartBoards" but the tech guys says the eBeam does not work well - good thing I have a meeting with the Technology Director on Thursday afternoon before I start pushing something..... Next I led the Code of Conduct meeting with Megan who was not feeling well so I got to do the talking. Sure hope that I don't mess the juniors up too much! Sorry guys!!! That was followed with discipline referrals - 4 from 7:45 am - 11:00 am on the SAME KID!!!! REALLY!!!!! And the kid tried to tell me it was NOT HIM!!! I just looked at him and said, "So you are telling me that four different adults, from different areas of the school are all telling stories on you?" He really did tell me yes!!!!! I almost fell out of my chair!!! This was followed with a meeting with the Math Instructional Specialists, Lunch Duty and checking up on students all completed by 3:00 pm this afternoon.
However, now the problems have begun..... Classes are not suppose to contain more than 36 students. That is right ladies and gentlemen - 36!!! I know, I can only imagine what some of you are saying..... Well, due to balancing of classes the master schedule had some changes made to it and student's schedules were changed to be sure they were in classes that only had 36 students. But the phone calls have begun. A student has been in class for 5 weeks and is now being told he has a different teacher..... I know, I know... I agree with my principal - WHAT?????? Five weeks of students earning grades in class, getting use to teachers, working on projects, only to be told - you have a different teacher??? So of course, the parents are calling because THEIR child was changed and they want them changed back. However, the Union's Collective Bargaining Agreement says they can only have 36 students in a class and the district has until week 5 to do this. So there are phone messages already coming in demanding that the child's schedule be changed. Okay so now the dilemma begins, can you see it? The teachers are not suppose to have more than 36 students, most of the classes have 36 and now we have parents demanding that students be placed back in their class, which had 45 in there. So....who do you make mad? The parents or the union? If you do what is BEST for students then you put them where they will be most successful academically. A smaller class of 36 is more beneficial than a class of 45. However, having a positive working relationship with your teacher is as well..............
I also had my first phone call where the mother called to complain to complain and complain and complain some more. Anytime I explained the answer to her problem / question, she found something else to complain about. Now, remember I have read The Energy Bus!!! I am taking what I learned from that book and I decided she was an Energy Vampire and there was no way that I was going to be able to satisfy her - no one could. So, I took her complaints down, relayed the jest of the information to my principal so he was in the "know" and will let her cool down some before I call her tomorrow. Some battles you just cannot win and I have to remember that!!! Especially regarding my trip to the CA DMV. There were two battles here and I only won one!!! I have been waiting three weeks for my appointment at the DMV - yes, my appointment, they let you schedule them. I was able to walk right in, get the papers I needed, fill them out and low and behold - I was called RIGHT AWAY!!! Can you imagine my shock and surprise? Now, I was successful at attaining my CA drivers license but not successful at getting my tags due to not having my title with me right now. However I was told that AAA will help me with this when I get my title so I just have to go there!!! I have seen several AAA buildings around so I am going to try this avenue as well so I don't have to go back to the DMV. BTW: The CA DMV will be mailing my new driver's license to me and yes, I did pass the written driver's test the first time - I only missed two questions!!!!!
So, with schedule changes that happened I expected a load of phone calls and problems. I only had one and once I explained to the parents what happened and why, they were absolutely fine and was supportive of our decision. I hope that I can continue to have good relationships with parents and help them help their children. Typically when you listen a bit and help them understand why a decision was made, it makes sense to them and they can move forward. I did have some USL (Student Government) kids come and ask me if I would be involved in the assembly on Monday. I guess I am going to have to do some crazy things like we always had teachers do in Laurens. I am looking forward to it. It is good to be back on a campus with students!!!
On Thursday I am attended the principal's meeting in Trevor's place so that we can continue to get all the information we need as a school. I have not had the opportunity to go to a principal's meeting except as a presenter so I was interested to see what it is like and if they are run different than the we did in the Southeast. Well, I sat next to Michael John Roe and that was a mistake. I forgot how ADHD he is and what a lack of focus he can have at times. It was good to hear what is coming up and how the district is going to be handling the fact that we are losing our Superintendent. In addition, the principal at King High School who is the Chairman of the High School Task Force has decided that I would make a good co-chair. I think that Roe had something to do with this but Trevor thinks it is Hansen's way of getting someone to do his work. LOL!! I look at it as an opportunity to learn.
Friday was a little boring in the morning. I had to go to another Co-Administrators meeting, a fancy way of saying Assistant Principal's meeting. Now, if you know from last year, there are always meetings, upon meetings, upon meetings. This is no different. The last Co-Admin meeting was for instruction and this one was for Pupil Services (Discipline) but about half the meeting was the same. I just keep telling people to be sure to make sure I am where I need to be when I need to be because if I am not there, it is because it was labeled incorrectly on my calendar - all these meetings are going to get me confused if they are the same. LOL!!!!
On Friday afternoon, I left to go to San Diego to meet the Volleyball team. The team was on an overnight trip and if a group goes out of the county over night an administrator has to go along. The tournament was at one of the schools that I visited two years ago when I was starting my job search. It is a beautiful school in the Poway area. The campus is open as well and a little more modern than the school I am at, or it appears to be. The interesting thing about schools here is they have open wireless so this is the second district that I have gone to that you can get online as a guest. After the games I went to the hotel to check in and waited on the team. Okay, so you can go ahead and laugh. I taped the girls in their rooms and got up at 12:00 am, 2:00 am and 6:00 am to check their doors and make sure the tape was still there. I know, I know, I should trust them. However, there were four men's college water polo teams in the hotel as well and I was not taking chances!!!! :)
Saturday turned out to be a challenge. On the way home from covering the Volleyball tournament in San Diego, my tired decided to shred. I am not sure if I hit something or not. The rubber hit the plastic bumper area and caused that to begin to come off. So I had to pull to the side of the road and call AAA. The guy at AAA was not very nice because I literally had no idea where I was except on I-15 and 21 miles from Exit 61 due to my GPS. Marco is who they sent and he was so nice. He brought me a bottle of water, gave me choices of where to sit or stand while he worked, changed the tire, zip-tied the bumper and gave me advice on how to get to the Temecula FORD. Now, I already had an appointment at Temecula Ford to get my oil changed and the air conditioner looked at. I had called Rachel while I was on the side of the road, she is the service person at the dealership, to tell her I would be late. She said just to come on in. Well, when I get there I need the following 1) Smog test to get car registered in CA, 2) Air Conditioning Checked, 3) New Tire(s), 4) Oil Changed, 5) Bumper fixed, all at 12:40 and they close at 4:00 pm. She said they would not be able to do it all and wanted me to leave the car. I told her I could not, it was my only transportation. I explained where I work and asked if she could just do the tires and I would try to do the work in Riverside because they did not have a loaner car. She decided to arrange for me to have a rental car for the next few days so that Ford could keep my car and get the work done. Also, because I needed the SMOG test today to go to AAA to get my CA tags because in CA if they pull you and you do not have CA tags, they impound the car and leave your ASS on the side of the road. It has happened so many times to so many people that it must be the truth so she was trying to help me out.
In the meantime I have looked at a Mazda Mach 3 and Jetta because I guess I am just going to have to suck it up and get a new car but I am getting ready to put about 1200.00 in this one again so I am totally confused, tired and just want to curl up in the bed and cry for a bit. However, I am not sure if car salesmen have changed or if I just looked tired and had the teacher "Don't mess with me face and tone." When I went on the lots I told the salesman that I was not there to buy a car today, I did not want a deal or to come away in a car. I wanted to test drive one so that I could begin the process of making an informed decision. I was able to get off of both lots with no trouble, credit checks or cars. Whew!!!!
Sunday is going to be low-key...... I hope. I am looking forward to shopping at Target for groceries with my friend Jessica Roe, getting some coding done and catching up on sleep. I am hoping that DESTINY has the same plan as I do because Destiny and I were not on the same wavelength today.
I miss all of you in SC and wish you the best. I know the leaves are changing now and it is getting cooler. I hope that each of you has a great October as it starts on Tuesday. Love each and every one of you and wish I could share with you all my adventures and new friends in SC. For those of you that work in Laurens, you would love my students. They are similar to the kids in Laurens so I feel like I have "landed" in the right place!!!!
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