Educational Thoughts

Let me tell you what's wrong with our educational system, of which I am a member. This morning I attended a faculty meeting wherein we were told that the computerized system of keeping attendance, which apparently worked just fine last year, is not to be used this year except to take first period attendance. No, we must revert to the paper and pencil method for all classes, including the first period class, for which we're still supposed to also take attendance via the million dollar program the system purchased a year ago that is now not sufficient to take hourly attendance upon. Not only that, but first period teachers, who are not homeroom teachers BTW, must now collect the excuse notes from the kids and keep them BY CHILD in a folder until the end of the school year, at which time they will be placed in yet another file. And what do I do at the end of the twelve week rotation when I have a new class of kids first period? Who the hell knows? If a child misses one of our classes during the day, we must post that child as absent until we see an excuse note. But where oh where are the excuse notes? Stuck in a freakin' file in the first period teacher's class. So how do we now know if a child is excused? We, the first period teachers, must take a sheet of paper and fill it out that says that yes, we have received the golden ticket (aka the excuse note) from the child's parent and the child really was out for a legitimate reason. Now said child may take the note to all the rest of his/her teachers throughout the day, present the golden ticket, and be given make-up work. But no, no, no, we must not give the child any make-up work if there is no excuse note--forget the fact that many excuse notes are forged or are nothing but lies, but they exist therefore they excuse. And of course no middle school child has ever forgotten anything for class.....despite the fact that on any given day I might find an entire backpack in the middle of the freakin' hallway....if they can't even make it to class with a backpack, how on earth will they keep up with a sheet of paper like this? Anyway, what makes it even more ridiculous, not to mention time-consuming, is the fact that a child might be legitimately sick and yet forget to get a note, but SUSPENDED students are automatically excused and can receive work without the golden ticket. This was explained that we know where the suspended students have been.

Did I mention they gave us printed out sheets of paper on which to keep the blessed attendance but they are nearly useless because the columns aren't really columns, just little lines that could be taken for dashes? So I created my own sheets today and if the attendance police (which is apparently a real job) don't like it, they can climb up my butt and blow. We also were given the RED NOTEBOOK in which to keep the attendance which must be returned as part of our checkout procedure next spring.

And I'm supposed to be teaching during some of this sometime.

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Favorite link of the day:

http://www.bullshitjob.com/titles.html

Thoughts on Being a Mom and other stuff

Quote for the day:

"The book has been man's greatest triumph. Seated in my library, I live in a time machine. In an instant I can be transmitted to any era, any part of the world, even to outer space. I have lived in every period of history. I have listened to Buddah speak, marched with Alexander, sailed with the Vikings, ridden in canoes with the Polynesians. I have been at the courts of Queen Elizabeth and Louis XIV; I have been a friend to Captain Nemo and sailed with Captain Bligh on the 'Bounty'. I have walked in the agora with Plato, and listened to Jesus deliver the Sermon on the Mount. Best of all, I can do it again, at any moment. The books are there. I have only to reach up to the shelves and take them down to relive the moments I have loved."---Louis L'Amour





Things That Are Hard About Being a Mom:

• Knowing just how they feel and not being able to do a thing about it
• Listening to the continuous complaining
• Knowing you are making the best choice but maybe not the easiest
• Wondering if the eldest dd is ever going to feel close enough to confide in me (I'm doubtful at this point--and insanely jealous of her friends' moms because they seem to have daughters who enjoy being with them)
• Having eldest dd's friends like you but not sure if she does (and why should I care at this point if she likes me? I'm her mom, for goodness sakes, not her friend)
• Having to tell them to do the same stuff over and over and over and over
• Listening to the two of them arguing and hearing the eldest be mean to the youngest
• Watching the youngest struggle to make friends at times

Things That Are Good About Being a Mom

• Seeing them grow up into nice, normal kids
• Not having to worry about whether or not they do their homework or if they behave in school
• Having other people tell you how great your kids are
• Hearing them tell you that they love you, even after being mad at you just minutes before
• Having one young enough to still think it's great to draw a picture for you

Daily Thoughts for August 29, 2005

I am so ill with the people who are designing our new school website. They pushed and pushed me to get our site together and now they drag their heels whenever I need a change. They seem to think they know best which just annoys the hell out of me. Still I question them because that's what I do. They may not like it, but I'm not going away anytime soon so they'd better get used to it. :)