Last Day of School

Yesterday was the last day for students! Today I go in to finish up paper work, finish cleaning the room, have it inspected, then go to the gathering at 2:00 that I’m not that sure where it is. But then that’s it! At one point I had 27 kids, but one new one came and some left. Overall (with exceptions!) they were a great group. The leaving fifth graders were all dressed up for their promotion ceremony, and some of those stopped by as well. One of my students is leaving and going to another school next year when she’ll be in full-time GATE instead of just a once a week (at the most) pull-out. Part of that, too, is due to the stupid reading program.

They get a separate SFA report card, but they also have a report card grade. The SFA report card doesn’t go in their cumulative folder, which is a great disservice. Their entire report card grade is based on one test — the quarterly 4-Sight test. Everything else they did during the quarter is irrelevant. And — there’s something wrong with the test. For example, my GATE child above is in the 5.2 reading class and was for most of the year. But she keeps getting 4.1 on the 4-Sight test, which is why her report card grade makes her look average or below average and why mom has to fight with the office every quarter to get her kid put in the right reading class. Finally, I decided to put a note in the comments section so mom can take that to the next school and show them, and it’ll be on her permanent record. It states that the report card grade is just that one test, and that she was in 5.2 for three quarters and scored Meets and Exceeds on her class tests. A child who gets 98% on 5.2 reading tests in class isn’t at a 4.1 level. Sorry.

I did comments for a second child as well. I had her this term in reading, and she’s also in my homeroom. I taught 4.2, and it was obvious that she should have been in at least 5.1. At the end of the quarter, she tested as passing 4.1 and was put in 4.2 again for next year! I had written them a note saying that she should be in 5.2, but again, they went by the bubble test. If a kid gets 100% on tests in which they have to write the answers themselves, that’s much more valid than a bubble test!! So I made a comment on her report card too, about the grade not reflecting her actual reading level. I also told her that if she comes to me at the beginning of the school year, I’ll fight for her to help her get in an appropriate reading class!

Of course, we don’t actually know where I’ll be in the fall. The budget isn’t out yet, so technically I’m still RIF’d.

Tanque Verde Guest Ranch

Last weekend Angela (another 4th grade teacher) and I went to the union’s annual day at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch. We went last year, but there were some changes this year. This year going for a walk was optional and alone, so it took us a while to figure out where we walked last year! We kept finding roads and paths that led to where people lived — caretakers probably.

Angela signed us up for massages at 9:30, but only one of the massage people came. The guy who was also supposed to come called her at like 11 claiming he’d just woken up. I didn’t hear anything in the news about her killing him, but no doubt she was tempted, since she had to do all of the massages alone! So she was running late, which actually worked out well for Angela and I.

Our massage ended up being an hour into yoga. So let me tell you about my yoga experience. When I think of yoga I think of someone sitting in the lotus position with their hands together. Where the heck did I get that idea??? When describing it to my sister, it turns out that yoga is actually much more like Twister without the spinny thing! OK — here was the worst part. Put this picture in your head: I am on my pink mat, black yoga pants on and Poupon U (Mustard Museum) tee shirt. Both of my hands are flat on the pink mat, and both of my feet, and my back is arched. And then — no lie — the teacher says “Now take your left hand and put it on the outside of your right ankle.” I actually said out loud “WHAT???” Honestly, I was sore for two days!

Angela and I ended up skipping the jazzercise, but we ate from the incredible buffet when it was our turn and we went swimming. Last year we went to the outdoor pool, but this year we were inside. The water wasn’t moving and it was so clear that when we first saw it, it was freaky! We were above it (as in you go in the room and down the stairs to the pool) and looking at it from the window into that room. The water reflected the windows on the other side, so instead of looking like a pool full of water it looked like a hole in the ground with more windows on that level. A deep pit with no way out, since the metal ladder didn’t go very far in! But no, it was a normal pool, and we soaked in the spa as well.

Afterwards I went over to see Dad and Dottie and went swimming! In fact, I didn’t bother to take my bathing suit off when I left the ranch, since I knew I’d be swimming again.

Behind? Me?

So today I uploaded a bunch of photos, going all the way back to when Donna came down last! While she was here, we went to a folk music festival downtown. Parking was not pretty! A parking garage was closed, and an entire empty parking lot was closed. We had quite a hike from where the car was parked, and we only found that after driving around for 20 minutes!

Otherwise, it was a great time, of course! We listened to all kinds of music, saw the eclectic kinds of music/food/culture/things to buy that Tucson is noted for (think 4th Avenue Street Fair).

Tucson Women’s Chorus

a bluegrass band

The pedestrian bridge downtown. Scary. Leads from the twin government office buildings to a colorful plaza area with cute shops.

The building that I watched them build when I’d wait to transfer buses on my way to Pima College. It always fascinates me. It’s also unusual just not in its architecture but height, as most buildings here are not tall at all.

Sick Piggies and Plinko

So far we have no confirmed cases of Swine Flu in our school district or county, but there is a backlog of samples that were sent to the CDC. In the meantime, because of our proximity to the border and the huge number of people in our school district who regularly cross it, the current district viewpoint is that it is inevitable that it will hit at least one school, so they have a plan. The plan includes that school closing for 7-10 days (depending on whether the infected person was an adult or a child). If the person rode a school bus to school, that bus will be taken out of commission for that same time. They haven’t decided if the other schools whose children are also on that bus will be closed, or if we’ll have to make up the time at the end of the year. The school district has set up a Twitter account to keep us informed (just one method). They are following the Twitter account of the county health department. So now I have one to keep updated, as information tends to travel slowly at my school — at least accurate information. The school district email with the protocol also says we should take all of our personal stuff home, as should the students (perhaps since school is nearly over — 13 more student days!). Of course the idea is that if our school is closed, we aren’t wandering about and breathing on the public.

We just finished our annual Family Life Curriculum. Trust me — this is not the highlight of my year. We have videos (we saw 3 this time instead of 2) which seem to create more questions than they answer. It’s a five or six day program. The boys with permission went to another teacher. I kept my girls with permission and five students from other teachers. My students without permission went to another class to work on long division.

The school carnival was last night. (Yes, other schools are cancelling gatherings, whilst we invite the whole neighborhood to cobreathe.) It was a lot of fun once it finally started. It starts at 4:30, but there’s really not a lot of options other than just hanging out from the time we’re allowed to leave school at 3 and the carnival start. Plus toward the end I had to set up, which included hiring kids to help me carry the plinko board. Plinko photo Our board wasn’t quite this cool, but you get the idea.

One of the Kindergarten teachers and I “manned” the booth. Our board was numbered 1-6, and if they got a one or a six they didn’t get a prize, but they did for the rest. They were mostly things like from Oriental Trading Company, and a lot were remarkably annoying and noisy, so quite popular. We also got some fresh fruit for ourselves, which was nice!