Where did Sunday go? All I remember is getting up, reading articles, working on certifying in Zumba Gluts, running a few errands and eating at the Roe's. I had so much time but everything I did took time and I did not get it all done. I had too many articles to read, too many little errands to run. Where does the time go? The only thing I have control over is my time but for some reason it seems to fly away from me. Of course, I have writers block right now on the PhD and working on finishing the last part of chapter 4 so that does not help. When I got back from the Roe's I was going to get some work done but I literally finessed some typing, sending emails and was exhausted.
Monday
OMG!! It is not a full moon and there was loads of kids today acting nutty!!! Totally amazing. I kept thinking, must be a full moon but it is only a crescent moon, I guess we could say the new moon is causing the craziness. We had four students Under the Influence, a student with an eCigerette, a bunch of students who got teacher detentions that did not go therefore they get to visit me to get lunch detention. The most amazing thing is the same students that I need are never here because they are always cutting class, absent or some other crazy thing is going on and therefore they are not at school. It is amazing!!! Finally made it to the end of the day after a meeting with the interim Superintendent, admin meeting, observations, activities meeting, and interviews for a new Attendance Clerk. I finally got to leave about 6:50 pm to come home. I had every intention of going to the gym to workout but instead came home and did my leg workout for the first time in what is forever. There is just not enough time to get to the gym. Again, time is the only thing I can control and we make time for the things that are important to us so I really do need to find the time for several things. Well, the leg workout was relatively hard since i have taken about 4 months off and I only made it through one rep and knew that I was going to be feeling it on Tuesday. I did experiment with a new salad dressing. I made an avocado ranch dressing that someone posted on Facebook and it really was delicious!!!! I packed some for my salad on Tuesday. I ended the night with going to bed early and putting in my all time favorite movie, Elizabethtown. I am not really sure why I love this movie so much. Yep, there are some great songs and one liners in here but I am not sure that is all. It is just such a combination of real events that happen in one person's life and anyone can be that person this all happens to. If you have not seen it, it is a must see. I think my favorite character is Claire - I really love her personality and ability to see the positive in every situation. There are so many ways that I identify with her in this movie, which is why I think I like it so much!!!
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| Water Polo - A new sport for me!!! |
Sometimes I just don't know where the time goes. I started with an observation today and continued to go from there. I love staying busy, it makes the time fly by but there are times when I just feel like it is not going to all get done. I know it is not in a traditional day and normal hours. Part of the job is to get the work done and that might be in the morning or the evening. After both of my observations today there was no time to sit and type them up. I am thinking it might be a weekend project for me. I am hoping to catch a few minutes here and there tomorrow. However, today also seemed to be a day for problems that cannot be solved! I hate days like this because I want to do everything I can to support teachers and students but today was one of those days where I could not solve anything. I have a student who constantly cuts class and really looks at you like he does not understand. He just has a blank look in his eyes and on his face. He says he understands and I have explained the problem to him three times in different ways, hoping he will get it but he just does not. He skipped again today - his third period and knows where he is suppose to go and did not do what he was suppose to hence - consequences!!! I have another teacher who needs an LCD but there are absolutely no LCD projectors on school property that are not assigned to another teacher either hanging in the room or being used. I am getting more but it is going to take about 4-6 weeks to get them in and the teacher wants it now. Explaining that I don't have one to provide NOW is very hard because I know they need it to teach, but literally there is no money to order one. I feel like LCD projectors are great but that teachers need to be flexible and back up and punt again - Use a document camera for the LCD slide, make overheads, print the notes for them. So now I am hunting for an LCD projector on the campus, which does not exist at this time!!! Ugh!!!!! At the end of the day, we had a major altercation in the back of the school. Not sure how this is going to make Wed go but it was between some Hispanic and African American students and we are hoping this does not cause too much tension on the campus Wednesday and the kids involved are all off campus. Here is to my wishful thinking!!! So after this, I went to the soccer game where there were severe injuries and then basketball. I left the school at 8:45 pm, exhausted and knowing I am not going to get anything done tonight. Again, I know it is part of the job and I accept that discipline is a necessary evil for me but I worry that I am not doing enough with Curriculum and Instruction. I want to make it into the classrooms more and work with teachers but it seems like every time I go to do that there is a major issue! Awe…. the life of an assistant principal. Maybe I can get a title change to API - Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction. Well I watched some more of Elizabeth town tonight - because I obviously did not finish it yesterday and i have decided - ROAD TRIP. Not sure where I am going to go but I want a ROAD TRIP. Taking suggestions….. Thoughts????
Wednesday
Well when it rains it pours!! Today it was a monsoon!!! It started this morning and kept on going!! We had an incident report that had to be taken care of right away, Rich was interviewing kids about the altercation yesterday, a investigator showed up to talk with some students about another situation going on in the community, the students who I did need to see were of course absent again. I think they have radar for when I need to get them. Well for those of you reading, don't worry, I kept telling myself, I got this!!!! So it was one thing after another and let's just say the school day went by quite quickly. Everyone is safe, there were no fights or altercations at school and everyone made it home!
I might add the discipline sub-committee worked on a dress code policy today to try get students to be more appropriate on school grounds in order to prepare them for college and work. Wow, it was a great meeting and we got a lot accomplished!!! The team was great to work with and I will say thank you to Laurens District 55 High School, Perris High School, Dutch Fork High School and Poly High School, we looked at each of your policies and took what we liked from each part of your policies to incorporate into ours!! We have a document to start with and one that we can revise as we introduce it to other teachers, get feedback from United Student League, Multi-Cultural Council, PTSA, School Climate and during the Principal's Breakfast and Dessert meetings. The consequences are great as well and fair. I think it will be easy to enforce and do!!! Can't wait to see what the faculty and others think!!
When I left school tonight I had every intention of going to the gym and then realized - Uh Oh, I did not pack a sports bra!!! Darn it!!! So instead I came home and cooked while doing laundry!!! It was a productive night even though I did not hit the gym. I am hoping it will leave me more time on Saturday! As I sit her and continue to watch Elizabethtown, I continue to think I need a road trip up the CA coast this summer. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions of places to stop along the way!!!
I am hoping all my Southeast friends fared will in the Blizzard of 2014!! LOL!! I hope you guys had a great snow day and just think - you only have one day to make up because you got both Tuesday and Thursday in!!! There is always a bright side!! :)
Thursday
What day is it? Is it Saturday yet? LOL!!! It has been a crazy week and it is not a full moon but it is a new moon!!! Does that explain it? LOL! So I have an honest true bullying case going on right now in which I am having to collect evidence, collect evidence and talk with the parents of everyone involved. So, now the question is, what do you do with the bullies? If you look at the suggested consequence it says "Alternative Means of Correction." I thought that was interesting!!! I must say there are some things that are obviously great in CA and some that are great in SC. One of the things I love for the kids is the BBQ grill they run every day for the students. They literally cook hamburgers, hotdogs and other items on the grill for students out at the side of the school. It is so fantastic for the students.
I have enjoyed talking with my new friend April Aldrich the last few days. She is the new trainer from South Carolina - University of South Carolina. So there is Carolina 1, Carolina 2 and now Carolina 3 at the school. Kinda funny that all three of us are from the southeast and are at JW North, and we do call each other Carolina 1, 2 or 3.
I think I am a terrible Kitty Parent. I feel so guilty leaving Squeak all day. I am not sure if I should feel loved or bad about her behavior. This morning she "cried" to me all morning long and as I was getting ready to leave she ran out into the garage like she wanted to go with me. It took me a minute to get her into the apartment. I thought it was sweet that she loves me so much she wants to go with me or say goodbye, but this evening when I got home, I just felt guilty. I opened the garage and puled in, turned off the car and got out and all I heard was Squeak meowing through the door. I felt so bad that she was crying to me through the door And yes she had food and water. So, does she want a friend? Is she sad to be at the apartment? I am a little worried she is starting to go blind, her eyes doe not seem to dilate and constrict appropriately. I need to take her to the vet but she is 12 years old so I do worry about her just getting old. She has not been jumping up on the furniture as much but I wonder if it is because she cannot see. She has been lying on the floor much more than she use to. Just worry about her!!!
Friday
So today I have discovered that Twitter is evil and mean. While I use Twitter as Professional Development, I have some students who have had some things written about them on Twitter and there is no way for me to find out who it is or where it came from. I asked several other assistant principals about it as well and tried to see if they new who to find out who the profile / user was and no one seems to know. I know social media has its ups and downs, goods and bad points. However, for the most part you can find a trail back to the original person but not in this case. I have not been able to locate anything in which to identify who has done what. This makes life very difficult for administrators.
This morning we had Active Shooter Training. The new protocol now makes accounting for students very difficult but I understand the reasoning behind the suggestion. So if there is an active shooter on campus, teachers are suppose to 1) Evacuate if they can, 2) Hide / Conceal, 3) Over Power the shooter. They are to do whatever they feel most comfortable with. The evacuate is to get students and teaches away from the school. This is understandable. If we have a shooter enter the front and the back part of the school can escape from campus through the back gates they should. The question - how do I account for all the kids???? Safety first - they should go but I can see so many upset mommas and daddy's at the school because their kid has evacuated and I cannot find them. It is obviously not a very organized evacuate. If you are too scared to evacuate or cannot then you are to hide / conceal yourself, lock the door. turn off lights and silence cell phones (including vibration) and barricade the door with something heavy. Okay, I get the hide, I get the turn off lights and I get the silence cell phones - not an issue. I also understand that active shooters are not typically going to stop to open locked doors but it seems that if the door is barricaded the shooter would know someone was in there and try to get in. However, since this is not my area of expertise and I have not researched this, I will defer to homeland security and suggest teachers do this. The last is overpowering if you are able with anything you can find. Basically you try and incapacitate the shooter so you can get away. However, in all of this you only do what you are comfortable doing. I an anticipate the questions coming from teachers, parents and students now.
Well, my secretary / Administrative Assistant is about to go out on maternity leave. Her last official day is Monday and then she will be gone. I am going to miss her, she keeps me sane at times and we just laugh about what is going on. Her temporary replacement is Sonya and I am sure we will get along fine. She is one of the campus supervisor's sisters and has been in Friday and will be in Monday to train.
Saturday
I got up early to go work out and the DVD at the gym is still not working and they are playing ESPN. I hate that because I don't like to use headphones and therefore I don't like to use the treadmills with TV's attached to them. It kinda sucks. The DVD has been broken since last week. So bummed…….
I am finishing up some school work this morning, practicing with Texas Instruments equipment and then Squeak has a vet appointment this afternoon at 3:00. I am worried about her because she has not been jumping up on the bed and sofa like she use to and her pupils do not seem to be constricting and dilating. In addition she has been "talking" to me a lot more than normal. Not sure if she is telling me she is mad that I am not home or if there is something wrong. She has me worried and I hope it is my imagination. Tonight is the Mid-Winter Ball for John W. North High School in which I am chaperoning. I am checking ID's and supervising students outside the Municipal Auditorium so it should be interesting and a little cold. I will post some pictures next week.
Overall it has been a hard two weeks. When it rains, it pours and while no one specifically devastating thing has happened it is all the little things over the last two weeks that are building up and causing me to really struggle right now. While I know that I will survive this, it is hard because there are three things which really have me devastated / bummed that I cannot seem to "let go." I need to figure out how to work through these issues and move on because if not it is going to make me "hard," which I don't want to be. I now that if something is important enough to me, I make time for it or figure out a way to make time for it. It might be a little inconvenient at times and I might have to re-arrange my schedule but if it is important enough to me, I will do it. Excuses are just that excuses and giving the same excuse over and over is a sign it is not important. I have to remember this applies to others as well as myself, whether they are students, teachers, administrators, or friends. It is just hard to accept sometimes.
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