Friday, February 11, 2011

Grades

Picture of the day:

Yup, somebody found the special effects buttons on picasa. The paper represents the large amount of work I have this weekend, the grade represents my day. Which was emotionally rough to start but I got through it ok only to be called to a meeting at the end of the day with my principal and entire staff during which we all got told we were crappy teachers and had crappy lesson plans. I'm paraphrasing here but she was not nice about it at all. There has been a kerfluffle around the building about lesson plans, she started requiring we turn them in three weeks ago. I was the mellow one, stuff like that just does not matter as much as it once did. But....no one likes to be told that they're not working hard enough or pushing the kids enough or that if they want to be a babysitter they can open a daycare. NOT paraphrasing here, but quoting. Although I know my students have had a big part in my day to day healing and I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have this job to go to.....I sort of want to quit.

9 comments:

  1. Well, that's a sight I see sometimes too. I like how you've highlighted it in red...it makes me angry too >:I It looks like someone doesn't know how to draw price tags ;)

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  2. :( That sucks. All the way around. Sorry you had such a crappy day at school. Was there some reason you all got chewed out? That's pretty ridiculous. If there are bad teachers at your school they should be talked to privately, the whole crowd shouldn't be made to suffer.
    I hope it gets better.

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  3. Bummer! GRRR...That kind of stuff makes me angry. Sorry it's like that at school. I wish you could be in a district that lets you be the wonderful teacher that you are. You are so good with kids and very creative with how you play with them and teach at the same time, and that's just your friends kids!

    way to go on finding the effects. Its fun to play around with them isn't it?

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  4. Nice special affects, I like what you did there. Too bad you can shine the special effects light on the principal. I understand if some people are doing a crappy Jo, but to address everyone, including the good teachers, kind of sucks. Call out the bad omes, one by one and stop being lazy. My two cents. Xoxoxoxox

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  5. Interesting that management doesn't take any responsibiity for outcomes... and the principal seems to know exactly how to motivate people to improve(!) So sorry you have to put up with this, especially at the moment. x

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  6. I really think that they often promote incompetent people to be principals. I'm sorry that this just adds more stress, but I really doubt that the comments were really meant for you. Love you

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  7. Somedays I miss teaching, but I will never miss the ugly administrators! I'm sorry you had to go through that, she sounds like a royal pain in the....

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  8. Ahh, just what you want to hear while you are busy busting your hump trying to shape and mold the future. (Truth be told that part was really scary to me when I was finishing my degree and thinking that now I was really going to be in charge of "growing" children!) Oooh and that become babysitters part reminded me of one of my first actual teaching courses in college where the instructor read about how a parent went to the school district and complained about how much teachers get paid and they get a "lunch break" and all of summer vacation. Then saying really they were no more than glorified babysitters so using how much the going rate was for a babysitter, and only paying them for the "real" hours they worked (you know not counting planning periods, because those were coffee breaks, or all the time spent at home creating lesson plans or trying to figure out a way that will make math click for Johnnie, or any school breaks or summer vacation, etc.) the pay would be soooo much higher than what teachers get paid that he said never mind and left. That always stuck with me.
    So I am soooo sorry that with how much you enjoy getting to be with your class and working hard to help them learn, that your day would have to go down a path where the thought of quitting would even have to enter your mind. I am sorry and yes, that Sucks!!!!

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  9. Aww...that was such a bad end to the work week and it probably has colored your weekend, too. I'm so sorry Paige! You are such a caring teacher and I wish you had a more supportive, less exasperating principal. The whole episode reminds me a bit of the movie Office Space where there's a big to-do about submitting a particular cover sheet with every TPS report. No wonder some of the guys take a baseball bat to the malfunctioning office copy machine. Morale is such a hugely important thing and good leaders don't take it for granted or trash it out of frustration. Hugs to you!

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