Nice

All I can say is “Eeeeek!”

Calderones are nice. I don’t know if I said that before, but really, that’s what struck me most about this past holiday. I was thinking about how very different some of my relatives on the other side of the family are. It’s nice to have relatives that I enjoyed being with, people whose company I would enjoy even if we weren’t related!

Today was my first day of “Compensatory Ed.,” which is what the after-school tutoring is. The point is to give a FREE (to them) added boost to English Language Learners, to help them more quickly catch up to their peers language-wise and thus academically. I only had ten of the thirteen kiddos show up. The other three just didn’t feel like coming, even though their parents signed them up. I won’t even go into a soapbox at this point.

Last Tuesday was my official evaluation. So today she came in today to do a second one. I know that last year they had to get two done before Christmas. I had originally planned to do writing then, but decided during SFA that we really needed that time for math. So we were doing math, which was a much better lesson anyway. At least I hope so. It was our first day of the division unit. It was patterns — if 8 divided by 4 = 2, than 80 divided by 4 = 20 and 800 divided by 4 = 200. I pointed out that this was the first step to getting where we needed to be by AIMS — things like 473 divided by 18. I did the lesson, and then while most of the class was working, I took some to the table for basic division — kids who had to count on their fingers to figure out things like 21 divided by 3. I also really did have all my lesson plans written up for this week, unlike the times I sort of fudge it, so I could show her the lesson plan. I’m thinking it went well, because with her, I get to explain what I’m doing if it’s something I think she’ll have a question about or misunderstand.

She also liked and asked me about their binders. From my supply list budget, I got each student a black and a red binder. All their writing handouts go in the red one, and all the math in the black one. This is because pocked folders just weren’t cutting it. So their rounding chart is there, multiplication chart, notes I make for them, notes they write, etc.

I had four or five kids absent today, and another 3 or 4 who came rather late. You can tell it’s the day after a long weekend!

Reunion, II

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Anne’s (and Ken’s) and the next night was at Dawna’s (and Dan’s). Both houses were gorgeous. Everyone we met or got reacquainted with was just as nice as can be. Going by my memory, the people there (whose names I know) were Uncle Mil and Aunt Bobbi; Gary and Deb; Anne and Ken, with Kyle, I think Shannon, but I don’t think the oldest son was there (Kevin?); Dan and Dawna, with Jack and Katie; Rick and Heather, with (I think their kids were all their; the trick is getting their names right) Josh, Noah, Marissa (?), dang, I can’t remember the other boy’s name; Michele (right number of Ls?) and Joe, and Britany (Brittney?) and at least one of their sons, my father, me, John and Lisa, Betty, and Donna. There were also numerous other people from Ken’s side of the family at Thanksgiving, and tons of their friends at the party the next night.

Anyone who reads this — please add to the comments the correct spellings and names for people who came, so I can edit this!

Since I don’t tend to see relatives outside my immediate family except perhaps once a year at the most, I don’t tend to have a sense of belonging to an extended family on a day to day basis. I like the reminder that I belong to something bigger, that our piece of the family pie is just one piece.

Last I saw, at least five people died in the accidents we passed due to the dust storm on the way home. It can get freaky if you think about all the “ifs” — if we’d left as soon as we finished eating instead of dawdling as people tend to do in Cracker Barrel, if we’d left Donna’s earlier, etc. — lots of timing things that, had they been different, would have put us in that same space as the accident.

Reunion

Dad and I drove up early Thanksgiving morning — so early that the rest stop at Picacho Peak wasn’t open yet! On the plus side, instead we ate at a truck stop buffet for breakfast. We found Donna’s house OK — getting up there turned out to be a lot easier than finding her actual street, but we didn’t get lost at least. And I finally got to see her cats and apartment and outside area, which meant I could finally put actual visuals to the stories she tells me.

We drove to Anne’s so that we’d be there at one, but it seemed like we were really driving half-way home again. There were a ton of people at the reunion. Most of Uncle Mil’s children and grandchildren made it, as well as most of my side of the family. It really was fun to see everyone again. I’m pretty sure that the last time I saw many of them was at Heather and Rick’s wedding, when Anthony (the impending high school graduate) was a toddler. Some of the kids I’d only seen as photo Christmas cards at Dottie’s. I think someone said that 40-something people were expected for the awesome dinner.

Donna worked the next day, so Dad spent the day with Uncle Mil. I went to breakfast with my mother and then back to Donna’s, since my mother would be going in to work at noon. Then that night was the musical event, which I had thought was like a family sing-along. Um, no. I think it’s safe to say that there were at least 70 people there, all adults. I got to talk to people whom I hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to the night before.

May write more later, but right now I just want to relax on the couch (not that I’ve done much, but still!).

Does Pics + Dust = Pixie Dust?

THANKSGIVING DAY

THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING

While I’m waiting for all the photos to upload…

We left Donna’s at 9 this morning. We decided that again we’d each drive an hour. So we are on our way home, and of course the state has closed all the rest stops because of money issues, so I barely made it to Cracker Barrel. But we had a great breakfast, and as usual had a wonderful waitress. Then it’s Dad’s turn to drive the rest of the way.

There are blowing dust signs, but there was no issue with that on the way up Thanksgiving morning. It was very windy when I was driving, though, and Dad’s car isn’t that big. When he was driving, there was a lot of blowing dust — not only across the road, but also you could see it in the air; it was thick in spots. Then there was the moment with absolutely no visibility because the dust was as thick as fog.

Then at one point, north of Picacho Peak, traffic slowed and stopped. We got into the right lane, along with the truck in front of us (and other cars). We assumed that the truck had access to either visual information or CB information that we didn’t have. On the plus side, we did have a GPS system. The truck was leaving the highway, and the GPS system showed a frontage road that seemed to go on for a little bit at least. So we (and others) followed the truck. We stayed on the frontage road all the way to Picacho Peak. Traffic was totally stopped in both directions for quite a distance, because there were a number of accidents in the same general area on both sides of the road, involving both cars and trucks. By taking the frontage road, we saved ourselves at least two hours!!

I felt badly when we left Donna’s this morning, because it seemed like the very last thing we did before we left was break her toilet! The water wouldn’t stop running, but unlike when that happened with mine, jiggling it with the lid off did nothing. She had to turn the water supply off. But when I got home (my kitties were happy to see me and well babysat), I got a call and that story has a happy ending, because she has a better apartment manager than I do!

Circles

So I got up at the crack of dawn — actually, dawn is cracking much later lately, so it was before the crack of dawn — so that I could take the constitution tests (state and federal). Hmm, can I adequately express the joy of the experience? One hundred fill-in-the-bubble questions, that varied between numerical trivia and understanding law. It was obvious that there is no amount of studying that can adequately prepare you. On the plus side, there were some questions that I could answer. There were also questions for which I honestly said to myself “I have no idea, so the least I can do is fill in the circle nice and pretty.” No lie. Now if every position in state and national life had the same age and residency limits, the test would’ve been at least that much easier! Added to that was fighting the urge to doze off. I also had to resist the philosophical musings of “why the heck am I even here, if education is being flushed down the toilet and having a job and salary are a day-to-day thing?” But there are jobs that might be easier to get with a teaching license, I imagine. That’s if I passed the test. It’d be awful nice if they graded on a curve! But if I didn’t pass the test, dang — I’d better see when my sub license expires. I just need to get through the end of the school year.

The school is where the last test was that I took two years ago. It’s at the furthest NW point of the civilized area — not even in our city. The only redeeming feature was that I live in the central area, so I was already halfway there when I left my house, compared to other people. So it was only like 15-20 miles, which to me is a lot. Of course, I will get no sympathy from those who drive into Madison every day or drove their offspring all over town every day. But in my whiny little life, it was a big deal!

Of course, it also means that I can go back to working on my story, which is pretty awful in an amusing way.

Prophecy

My father tells this amusing little joke. Since I keep getting RIF’d each year, he says that when I’m teaching 34 years, the cut-off for not getting RIF’d is 35 years. Isn’t he a funny guy? And why do I bring this up?

Because of our anti-education state legislature, whose goal is to privatize education and eliminate public schools. And how do they plan to end education in the state? Well, they have a new set of amusing little laws that go into effect on Tuesday. They include (quoted from the union newsletter but verified elsewhere):

1. Districts are not allowed to use seniority (tenure) as a criterion for selecting teachers who are RIFed.
2. Districts are not required to maintain a priority list for recalling teachers who have been RIFed.
3. Districts may reduce teacher salaries in any manner at any time.
4. Districts are no longer required to issue teacher contracts by May 15th.
5. The April 15th date for teacher contract non-renewal is no longer required.
6. Compensated release time for association activities is prohibited.

What this means:

1. Anyone can be RIF’d. There is no cut-off. Someone who has taught for 30 years has no more seniority than someone who was been teaching less than a year. The claim is that in our school district, RIFs will be initiated by pulling random social security numbers.

2. Being RIF’d doesn’t mean that you have the right of first hire over an outsider, or that your return is according to seniority. They can recall anyone they feel like recalling and dump anyone they feel like dumping. In fact, every school in the state could dump all of its teachers and just hire college students or subs if they want.

3. There is no pay scale. There is no pay range. The sole purpose of a contract is slavery. Teachers cannot break their contracts for any reason. I’ve heard, in fact, that if a teacher breaks his or her contract, that’s grounds for permanently losing a teaching certificate. However, in spite of having a contract with numbers on it, if they wanted to, next Wednesday the district could cut all teacher pay to a dollar an hour if they felt like it. Or minimum wage. And in theory, we have no recourse. Of course, my own theory is that obviously under those circumstances there is no reason to hold onto or worry about holding onto one’s teaching license, unless one is planning to move out of state.

4. No contract date means that districts can choose to not let you know if you have a job or not until the first day of school if they want. They can make you wait all summer not knowing, but if you aren’t RIF’d then you aren’t laid off. Not laid off means none of the benefits available to people who are unemployed, which you really are if you have no contract.

5. See number four. They don’t have to tell you that you aren’t rehired any more than they have to tell you they want you back.

6. It used to be that union workers could attend to union business on company time with pay. If that’s a universal union thing, it should apply to teachers as well. But doesn’t any more.

So when I took my transcript to school to get it put in my file, the principal and assistant principal and others in the room congratulated me for NOT getting my Master’s in Education and thus for NOT being trapped in the field of education. Trapped. Their words. Yes, I have to figure out how to jump off of a sinking ship at the end of the year without landing in shark-infested waters. Landing on another ship, one that’s sailing in smooth waters, would be nice!

So that’s my week, aside from the fact that the new girl I got yesterday knows even less math than the new boy I got last week. And tomorrow I have a constitution test to maintain my teaching certificate, which expires in December.

Thursday

That’s Tuesday’s lists of what they liked and didn’t like about the painting. Did I mention that I also had them pose as the people in the painting? I really should’ve gotten pics of that!

Today after school I once again helped people with the computer (online) program for the reading program. Not many people came, so the rest (in theory) know what they’re doing. Fine, because I’m really done with this. And these people are like “You should write it out for us.” Nope. I figured it out for myself because I took the time. This is the 2nd-4th time you’ve done this. Either take notes or learn by doing it over and over. But accept that I’ve done more than my part by taking my extremely limited planning time and spending it teaching you. I’m not taking MORE of my time and writing up notes so you don’t have to. Just the thought is annoying!

A new snack I like: http://www.associatedcontent.com/image/302023/index.html?cat=22. Not that you’re going to stock up, but I never saw them before and got some and thought I’d mention it. 100 calories a pack.

I sent my new student to RTI today. RTI stands for Response to Intervention, because people who do education stuff like to make up bizarre acronyms (like why call it Success For All instead of A Reading Program, since the latter is more honest?). RTI is extra math help for people who need it. I can send four students. One who I’d been sending has attendance problems. When it became clear that darling boy had no idea how to divide and not much idea how to multiply, and darling absent girl was absent once again, I pounced. Now he can get some added help to get closer to being on track. He was tested for reading on Tuesday, and retested today. I assured the reading person that the first test was accurate. Anyway, is mastery level is 2.2 (end of second grade). I’m not the least bit surprised. Sweet kid, though.

Tonight I had a Sober Sisters meeting. That’s the group that helps the women at the Haven. We came up with our next event, which will be the Saturday right after New Year’s. It’ll be a game night (remember the toilet paper bride game?) and the snack’ll be cheese and crackers, and hot chocolate.

Seurat Day 2, etc.

Yesterday I got a new student. I think of that because we were just getting ready to do Seurat Day 2 when he left for testing so that they know what reading level he’ll be in. He doesn’t know any division, and only single-digit times single-digit multiplication. Fun.

Anyway, Monday night I remembered what else we’d done at that workshop. People posed as the people in the painting. That painting didn’t have many people in it, whereas Seurat had a ton of people. That was fun, getting the kids to pose as the different people! How often have you done that? I never did! So they got to be the characters in the painting and think about what that person might be thinking. Empathy isn’t their big skill, but you have to start somewhere!

Then I got to huge pieces of paper, and on one they wrote what they liked about the painting and on the other what they didn’t like. I’m still looking for a place to hang those up. When I do, I’ll take pics. So tomorrow (since we have no school today) we’ll actually do a chunk of writing about this. I’ll let you know how that goes!

I was going to do the after-school tutoring this year, but I’ve changed my mind. Here’s the thing. Mondays, we will have no after school time because fourth and fifth will be at another school working overtime. Remember that we have no specials, so the only alone time I have is lunch, and that’s if I don’t have detention. Tuesdays and Thursdays would be tutoring days, and they’re thinking of making them last forever again like last year because they are losing a chunk of Monday teachers (thus they have to squeeze the same number of hours into two days instead of three). We lost our Wednesday prep time a year or so (at least) before I started working there. The rule is that the staff meeting only lasts so long (which is why the kids get out an hour early) and the teachers still have their prep time. Nope. They not only take away all of our prep time, but sometimes the meetings last longer than 3:00 so we’re working overtime then, too. Free, of course. Our union rep never did much except tell the principal she was violating the rules. Fat lot of good that did! So anyway, if I tutored, my entire weekly prep period would be after school on Friday, even though now I’d have even more to prep for with the tutoring! Sorry, I just can’t do it.

NaNoWriMo is moving right along, finally. I was behind for a few days. I don’t have today’s ending word count met yet, but I do have some of today’s done.

I will be 52 on Sunday. I feel like I’m in my 30s! It’s just so unreal!

Seurat

You’ll remember that I recently went to an OMA workshop with Suzanne, our OMA person. http://www.omaproject.org So this week I’m trying to put some of that training to use.

Years ago, when I lived in Wisconsin, I went with Carla and Anthony down to the Art Institute in Chicago. It was an incredible experience, and I bought two prints. One was Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. So I figured out how to use this in class — I can use art if I can work it into a writing class. We are (all) doing persuasive writing this quarter, so it’s just a wee bit tricky. A lot of what I did for today’s part (I foresee this being all week long) was based on what we did at the workshop with a different picture, but some wasn’t.

First I explained what we were doing, and about my trip to the museum. I drew a line on the board to show how long ten feet is, because that’s how wide the painting is. That actually covered most of the board. We talked about Seurat and pointillism, or as much as I could based on last night’s research and the fact that I never studied art.

I had copied from the internet the picture onto paper, two copies per sheet, so that each child could have his or her own copy to look at. I had them glue them into their writing notebooks (note — these writing notebooks should be found in the writing bin and not the science or math bins, in case you weren’t sure). Their job was then to write questions and observations in their notebook. They didn’t need a ton, just enough to get started.

At the workshop, we said these things aloud and one person wrote them all down. Not me!! So what I did was I made four extra copies of the painting, and posted them onto huge teacher paper. Then I divided them into four groups. They needed to write down what they came up with, as well as come up with more observations and questions. These are ways to interact with the painting, not just glance at it and move on. We’ve never done this before, so I wasn’t sure how it would work. I was very brave.

They noticed things that I hadn’t (in spite of how long I had the print!), and also noticed what wasn’t there, like the lack of boys, ducks, birds, etc. They really did an awesome job –much better than I thought, but they did just what I’d hoped, and they totally got into it!

Fascinating

Forgot to post this gem yesterday. I think. I’ll go back and look and delete it if I need to. We were taking a math test on Wednesday, and a little darling GETS UP and goes looking in the bin where WRITING NOTEBOOKS live. Um, what are you doing, little darling? She’s looking for her MATH notebook. It makes sense to her, since sometimes notebooks get put in the wrong bin (by the students themselves, I might add). Did you look in the math notebook bin first? NO! Instead of looking in the bin it belonged in, she looked in a different bin! She didn’t find it, nor did I care, since we were in the middle of a math test!!! Of course it turned up today — in the science bin. I’m really not sure why I wrote MATH in big letters on one bin or why she didn’t look there.

Now same little angel got a 25% on that math test. The test was single digit times double digit, basically. And yet — be still my heart — her homework since then of double-digit times double-digit has been perfect!! Imagine that! She said her mom helped her. I’ve met her mom. She’d need a calculator too!

Then there’s the boy who’s not allowed to read Harry Potter because of the fantasy content, but owns a number of violent video games. Flying brooms are bad. Shooting people is good. Got it.