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Aug. 10th, 2008 09:13 pm
Let the grumbling begin
School starts again for me, this time with students, on Tuesday. I've been through all the needless pre-year cluster-f**ks, and now all that remains is getting my classroom together for Day 1. I've done this so much I can phone in Day 1. I do need to take care of a few things, though:
1) Procrastinate putting away all the stuff I packed in my move from my old room to new by putting the boxes in the cupboards. Sure beats unpacking.
2) Make sure all my copies of worksheets/pretests are set to go. That's up to the copy grunt, but it'll be done, so I'm not worried
3) Call the counselor of one of the kids in my Algebra I class. This kid was in my remedial class last year, and passed. He's very bright--the thing is, he's loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, willful, has no respect for himself or my class, lazy, mouthy...in short, if I have him again another year, I will really need to fight the urge to knock his head through a wall. Hence the call to the counselor. It's for the kid's own good. ;-)
4) Make sure my door handle is fixed before Day 1. Yup, my door, along with the others in my area, was vandalized--all of the handles were knocked off. Surprisingly, the theft was minimal. In the mean time, my key doesn't work, even though the custodians' skeleton keys do. I'd rather not have to depend on them, tyvm.
We got back our results from the statewide exam from last spring--this is the test students are required to pass in order to graduate. Schoolwide, 63% of the people who took the test passed it. Sounds a little low, but remember this includes remedials and kids who don't quite speak English. We're also the best school in the city, according to the results, beating the other high schools overall.
Here's the good part. In my school, 88% of the Algebra II students who took the exam passed it. Among *my* Algebra II students, who hadn't already passed the exam, 93% passed--above the school average. Also, in my school, 12% of the rememdials who took the exam passed it. Among *my* remedials, 16% passed--again, above the school average.
As I said before, I am a damned good teacher...I just hate teaching. The nice thing about this is that now I have credibility--more to the point, I have documented credibility. When those idiot beancounters who are saying I'm 'not adequately keeping my students engaged' or 'not maximizing classroom learning time'. I can hold this little stat in front of their faces. And believe me, I will.
I want to know who the genius was who, for our district-wide cluster-f**k Friday, decided to shove all of us into a gym, then have the school marching band regale us with drum cadences until the meeting started. Let me summarize: crowded gym, 100+-degree afternoon, hard-wood bleacher seats, and a very loud marching band that practically ensured the unlikelihood of us having a conversation with one another, which led up to the annual pageant of platitudes and cliches from the admins. Oh, yeah, how could a good time not be had by all, right?
My class schedule is almost as perfect as I can ask for. I have Algebra II for four periods, and Algebra I for one class. My day is class-class-class-lunch-class-prep-class. Most of my day is done before lunch--me likey. And me deservey--after a year with two classes of remedials and the most immature Algebra II class I ever had in my life, and a year of freshmen brats, I do deserve a decent set of classes.
Only thing better would be having second lunch, all Algebra II, and last period prep. Then I'd have class-class-class-class-lunch-class-prep. I can dream.
In other news, Cubs go 6 for 9 on their latest homestand, including tonight's enjoyable 6-2 vengeance of yesterday's home run derby. Now we go to Atlanta for 3 and Florida for 3. We should handle ATL well, but Florida has always been a pain in our side. Then we go home for doormats Cincinnati and Washington. Then three at doormat Pittsburgh, then four at home against Philly and three against Houston.
After that 16 of our last 22 games of the season are on the road. Our last homestand is on my birthday, against the Brewers and the Cards...that's gonna be one hell of a final homestand--it'll set us up to clinch the division or put us even with our division-mates.
Okay, ESPN is rebroadcasting the Cubs-Cards game in an hour, and I want to watch, for savoring purposes. I also want to list all of the moronic things the announcers spew out of their cakeholes. Good God, how does Joe Morgan still have a job there?
Oh, and Cubs' magic number--41. I want it in the teens by the end of August.
1) Procrastinate putting away all the stuff I packed in my move from my old room to new by putting the boxes in the cupboards. Sure beats unpacking.
2) Make sure all my copies of worksheets/pretests are set to go. That's up to the copy grunt, but it'll be done, so I'm not worried
3) Call the counselor of one of the kids in my Algebra I class. This kid was in my remedial class last year, and passed. He's very bright--the thing is, he's loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, willful, has no respect for himself or my class, lazy, mouthy...in short, if I have him again another year, I will really need to fight the urge to knock his head through a wall. Hence the call to the counselor. It's for the kid's own good. ;-)
4) Make sure my door handle is fixed before Day 1. Yup, my door, along with the others in my area, was vandalized--all of the handles were knocked off. Surprisingly, the theft was minimal. In the mean time, my key doesn't work, even though the custodians' skeleton keys do. I'd rather not have to depend on them, tyvm.
We got back our results from the statewide exam from last spring--this is the test students are required to pass in order to graduate. Schoolwide, 63% of the people who took the test passed it. Sounds a little low, but remember this includes remedials and kids who don't quite speak English. We're also the best school in the city, according to the results, beating the other high schools overall.
Here's the good part. In my school, 88% of the Algebra II students who took the exam passed it. Among *my* Algebra II students, who hadn't already passed the exam, 93% passed--above the school average. Also, in my school, 12% of the rememdials who took the exam passed it. Among *my* remedials, 16% passed--again, above the school average.
As I said before, I am a damned good teacher...I just hate teaching. The nice thing about this is that now I have credibility--more to the point, I have documented credibility. When those idiot beancounters who are saying I'm 'not adequately keeping my students engaged' or 'not maximizing classroom learning time'. I can hold this little stat in front of their faces. And believe me, I will.
I want to know who the genius was who, for our district-wide cluster-f**k Friday, decided to shove all of us into a gym, then have the school marching band regale us with drum cadences until the meeting started. Let me summarize: crowded gym, 100+-degree afternoon, hard-wood bleacher seats, and a very loud marching band that practically ensured the unlikelihood of us having a conversation with one another, which led up to the annual pageant of platitudes and cliches from the admins. Oh, yeah, how could a good time not be had by all, right?
My class schedule is almost as perfect as I can ask for. I have Algebra II for four periods, and Algebra I for one class. My day is class-class-class-lunch-class-prep-class. Most of my day is done before lunch--me likey. And me deservey--after a year with two classes of remedials and the most immature Algebra II class I ever had in my life, and a year of freshmen brats, I do deserve a decent set of classes.
Only thing better would be having second lunch, all Algebra II, and last period prep. Then I'd have class-class-class-class-lunch-class-prep. I can dream.
In other news, Cubs go 6 for 9 on their latest homestand, including tonight's enjoyable 6-2 vengeance of yesterday's home run derby. Now we go to Atlanta for 3 and Florida for 3. We should handle ATL well, but Florida has always been a pain in our side. Then we go home for doormats Cincinnati and Washington. Then three at doormat Pittsburgh, then four at home against Philly and three against Houston.
After that 16 of our last 22 games of the season are on the road. Our last homestand is on my birthday, against the Brewers and the Cards...that's gonna be one hell of a final homestand--it'll set us up to clinch the division or put us even with our division-mates.
Okay, ESPN is rebroadcasting the Cubs-Cards game in an hour, and I want to watch, for savoring purposes. I also want to list all of the moronic things the announcers spew out of their cakeholes. Good God, how does Joe Morgan still have a job there?
Oh, and Cubs' magic number--41. I want it in the teens by the end of August.
