Hello Everyone,
I hope you had a great MLK weekend and got a lot done as well as enjoyed yourself. I spent all of the weekend working on the PhD and I am sad to say I am not further along. I am so tired of thinking about it and reading about my case studies that I just want to be done. I have not really done anything fun on the weekends since December due to this monstrosity and I am really ready to be done with the paper. I know I will finish but I am really struggling right now!! Ugh!!!
Tuesday was the start of the new semester for us at North High School. We are on a year long schedule so we started the second part of the semester. We are now in quarter 3. Tuesday was pretty uneventful at the school, kids were calm and teachers were calm. I was able to get a lot done and talk to students. That evening Meg and I went to eat dinner and attend the board meeting that lasted FOREVER!!! At this meeting the board discussed approving the school calendar for the next three years, apparently they do this once every 3 years so right now I do not have a 2014-2015 calendar to work from. Ummm…. that is kinda hard when planning. All the districts around mine are on a calendar where they finish the semester before the Christmas break so students and teachers both have a true break. I cannot tell you how many teachers wrote on Facebook during the break they were grading papers or reminding kids about projects. I remember teaching and having to do this over the break as well as opening up my classroom for research and help. It is not really a true break and makes you resent the class a bit and the situation. Well the Calendar Committee presented calendars that would allow the district to start earlier, finish before Christmas break and be aligned with the other districts around us. I was so excited for many reasons but also because it would help student adjust to college, give them and teachers a true break, as well as provide time for admin to move classes around and identify students who may need to re-take classes or have alternative placement to graduate. All great reasons that were presented to the board and seriously - I don't get it - but they want to stay with "what they have always done." My mouth dropped open, my heart dropped to my stomach and I became more and more irritated as some of the board members talked about how it should not matter what Secondary Students needed, it was only about elementary school students not being able to go outside because it was hot. Okay people, I know I am from SC and am use to some of the humidity and heat so CA weather does not bother me but it really is not that bad. In fact, if people are worried about air and elementary age children, it is better for the kids to be in school. A lot of the students in my area don't have air conditioning. I was just so surprised at the dissension on the board over this issue - absolutely crazy. Well maybe because I am secondary and have experienced both calendars and see what is better for kids is why I am having this problem. I have to tell myself to calm down……!!!!!! I got home at 9:30 pm from the meeting and finally fell asleep around 11:00 pm.
Wednesday was long and busy. Busy is better than bored and I need to stay busy. I dealt with another investigation involving accusations, pictures and Facebook. I think I need to do a presentation to students about digital citizenship, red solo cups, hand gestures and other crazy pictures students send via text and on FB. Having to explain to a parent about what their child is sharing via text and Facebook is no fun at all. This is the new digital age that we live in and it is part of the job and what we have to deal with. That afternoon I went to a manifestation determination meeting about IEP's and 504's. While it was extremely interesting there are so many little details that we have to watch and be careful with that I think I need to go back to school. LOL!!! Good thing we have great support in the district. That evening I spent time at the Personalization of Learning Kick Off meeting. RUSD is looking at Personlization of Learning and making sure every child has what they need to be successful. It was a great night and a lot of fun and an introduction of what is to come for the future of RUSD. I am excited that I get to be a part of this as we plan and work to go forward. It is an exciting time in education and also a little scary as we put devices in students hands and have teachers change the way they are teaching to address student's individual needs. So I got home around 10:00 pm on Wed night and crashed.
Needless to say I am struggling this week with tiredness. I am not sure how I am going to make it the next two days which have late nights as well. This is not even my supervisory week, that is next week. LOL!!! Today, Thursday was tough, because I had a student come and tell me they are having to go to the Alternative school starting next week. He did not pass all of his classes first semester so he has to go there to be able to earn credits to graduate in June. He will not be able to graduate from North and while I am excited he will graduate, I will miss seeing him at school each day. Most of you know I make connections with people, and students pretty easily. I am able to connect with students in most cases and have good relationships with students. This young man is one of the first students I met and I have written about him before. He is the student who I helped purchase the Homecoming Dance ticket for him and his girlfriend in the fall. This is one of those young men who have had a rough schooling and wants to graduate. He came by my office on Thursday to let me know he will be leaving today and enrolling in the alternative school on Friday. He wanted to tell me good-bye and he asked me if I would attend his graduation ceremony in June when he graduates from the Alternative school. I cannot tell you how much this warmed my heart and touched me that he would like me there. He also proceeded to tell me that if I would have been at the school since he was there as a sophomore he feels he would have connected with someone and done better. Just one more reason why ever single child at a school needs an adult / advocate / mentor / advisor during their high school years. I am going to miss this young man but am excited he will be finishing up his high school education.
On Friday, we had the last of the personalization summit where we are looking at the Gates Foundation grants for Personalized Learning. We have to fill out the application to be eligible for the grants if the district is awarded funding for the next three years. This is a big if and we will not know if the district has been awarded grants until the end of February at the earliest. I am a little worried / okay a lot worried about North taking on too many initiatives at one time to implement. I feel like it means we will be doing a lot of little projects but not doing anything well because we are all doing little things. This is a huge problem. The plate becomes toooooo fullllll!!! For the teachers, students and administrators!!! On Monday I have a meeting with the Interim Superintendent to talk about the purchase of technology for the school. This is the 1:1 device talk and depending on how this goes determines what and if we will have devices for our students / 9th graders next year. I am not nervous about the meeting itself but more about the outcome of the meeting and if we will get materials or not for the school.
Today was EdCamp / Nerd Camp. It is a free workshop where educators hang out and discuss topics that are of interest to them. It was really very interesting and allows you to talk with people in the classroom and finding out their point of view and information they have to share about what is and is not working in their classrooms. I won a door prize. An interactive white board! I am excited to try it out at school this upcoming week and see how it works and if we should look at purchasing some for our school.
This week I am REALLY in turmoil over what I cannot control. I know that I can only control my actions and time. I know that I can control things which are inanimate and non-living for the most part (maybe not the ocean, moon or rivers, but you get my drift). I am struggling with wanting something to happen so badly, that I do everything in my power to make it happen, yet the final outcome is really out of my control because another person is involved. I guess I need to work on my persuasive essays / arguments - opps - for my Common Core friends, argumentation with evidence cited (LOL!!).
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