Addressing Drama!!!

Dear Readers,

I have a dilemma. My students are some of the back-bitingest, trouble-makingest, drama queens & kings I’ve ever met in 10 years of Education. The girls can’t get along to save their lives. So, I’ve been addressing the problem head-on, but it is not getting any better. Do you have any advice, because I am @ my wit’s end. HELP!!!

2nd Place

So, my daughter’s team took 2nd place in the dance category @ JAMZ Nationals. I’m so proud of her & her squad.

Vegas Bound!!!

Dear Readers,

Can you say happy??? Why am I so happy? I’m so happy because last night was my daughter’s last cheer practice. EVER!!! Let me just say that I am not cut out for this cheerleading junk. The little girls are bitchy already & some of the moms are just crazy. So, the culmination of this all is the JAMZ national competition in Vegas today through Sunday. I’m praying for the #1 spot!

I’ll let you know what happens. Bye for now!

Being the Best ME I Can Be!

I’ve been learning so much, especially from my failures. Before, the old ME, would have been a little discouraged and not tried for the fellowship that I’m applying for. In fact, I entertained the idea of not even applying last week. I was discouraged because I let my emotions get the best of me, yet again. I didn’t feel that I’m ready. But, I did not give up. I know that, when life gets tough, that you need to keep going. What other option is there?

That was before I had a pep talk with myself. I had to tell myself that if I wait for the “right” time, I’ll never do it. Although I am not ready, I will continually strive to be the best ME I can be. Why wouldn’t I? or you for that matter?

Bull$^%! Part 2 (or Something Good Can Come Out of Failure!)

So, as you know, Dear Readers, I was pissed off to the highest of pissivity with my Principal & her assistant. They felt the need to try to put me on the spot for what I call the field trip fiasco. I took responsibility for the whole mess. Well, at least I tried to, but the other two teachers that went on the field trip didn’t let that happen. They assumed responsibility. I talked to the 6th grade teacher & he told me that he sent an e-mail acknowledging his part in it. Then I talked to the 2/3rd teacher. When I told him that the e-mail was directed at me & not to worry about it, he replied, “Nonsense. We’ll handle this as a team.” I could have kissed him. I felt so loved by my co-workers at that point. It felt more like a family than it ever has. Now, on to the part about the meeting.

So, the Principal brings it up & I’m ready for some bull$h^+! Imagine my surprise when she said that the e-mail wasn’t directed at me. She was lying, but I was glad that I did not have to get into a big brouhaha with her and her assistant. I guess they could see that I was ready for a fight. I didn’t want to and definitely wasn’t looking forward to it, but was going to do it if I had to.

You see, I’ve never been an instigator. I don’t start anything, but I will finish something. I’m like a cornered cat. In fact, I am a big cat- I’m a Leo. And you know how a cornered cat comes out clawing & aiming for the jugular. I didn’t want to go for the jugular, but I would have if necessary. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that because I’m changing. Slowly, but surely, I am changing. I know how to handle things next time. Next time I will simply reply, “Ok, I’ll do better” and leave it at that.

I consider this little “thing” as success and a failure. I consider it a success because, hopefully, this will make the Principal & her flunky stop effing with me. It’s a failure because I should have had better control of my emotions. You live and you learn. I can tell you that I definitely learn from this. I guess something good can come out of failure.

More B.ulls#$*!

This is funny because I am not even mad about it. The “it” being the Principal & her lackey. I’m not sure if I’ve written about it before, but the Principal of my work site is a little backstabby. She’ll smile in your face & then stick the knife in really good. It happened in the beginning of the year when I was dealing with the mom from hell. She most definitely did not have my back then, so I didn’t expect her to have it now.

So, this is what happened. I organized a field trip for 2nd-6th grade. It was quite unorganized. I lost one of the student’s trip slips, didn’t have all the money in. It was a big fat mess and it was my fault. I had a great time. It was nice. We went to a museum. The students were very excited & the parents had a good time. I even had a nap on the bus on the way home.

I get home, after my nap at home, and see a nasty e-mail from her and her assistant. The tone of the e-mail was pretty nasty. That’s the one thing I don’t like about the Principal. She doesn’t have the balls to directly confront anyone, so she will say it in a group e-mail or the faculty staff meetings.Not only that, but she will send one & her assistant will send one. Overkill. That is what they do. Not surprised or hurt by it, just mentioning it.

So, I thought about the e-mail for a minute, then replied. I accepted total responsibility for the field trip fiasco & questioned the policy that I was being chastised on. What was the policy? When was I notified of the policy? I have no problem following policy or protocol as long as I know about it. I will not knowingly break policy or protocol.

I’m waiting patiently for the staff meeting to bring this up. My title says teacher, not slave. Just because she is my boss, it doesn’t give her the right to treat me like I am less than her. The real problem is that she is getting reamed by her boss. She, of course, doesn’t have the strength to take it, so she figures she will take it out on her underlings. Well, today (or Friday for our staff meeting) is not the day to take frustrations out on underlings, especially not me!

I’ll let you know how things turn out on Friday. Bye for now!

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King, jr.!

I would like to Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. a very Happy Birthday! He was instrumental in helping to open so many doors. If not for him & others like him, I don’t know where we’d be. Thanks again!

My Ultimate Goal!!!

I was up for this job @ a charter school about two years ago. I didn’t get, but was okay with that because I didn’t really want it, but would have taken it. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. To get to the point, the Principal asked me where I saw myself in 5 years. I had to answer truthfully and tell her that I didn’t know. At that time I thought I just wanted to teach Special Education. Well, I guess I did. But, now that I’ve thought about it and had time to think things through, I have to say that my ultimate goal is to be an APEIS, which is the Assistant Principal in charge of Special Education. Special Education is where my heart is. I want to finish my master’s and get back into Special Education. First as a teacher, then as an Assistant Principal. If my current application as a Principal of a charter school doesn’t take me there, I’ll find another way to get there. I always do!

That’s it for now Dear Readers. I’ll write more as I learn more. Bye for now!

I Don’t Want to Do It! (or Your Wish is My Command!)

Dear Readers,

I am having a motivation problem with Coaster. Since he is “special” and an only child, his mother allows him to do whatever, and I do mean whatever, he wants. During last month’s PTO meeting, he poured an 8 oz. carton of milk on the floor. Did I mention that his mother just stared at him and did nothing? So, you see what I’m dealing with.

It has always been my philosophy that as long as a child was trying, they would not earn a fail in my classroom because I take many factors into consideration. However, I have about 10 pieces of work, literally, from this student since September. So, he will not be getting a C-, he will get the grades that he’s earned- D’s & F’s, because he is NOT trying too hard.

His mother will claim that she’s going to talk to him, but obviously whatever she’s doing isn’t working. If it was, he wouldn’t be acting the way he is acting. I’m pretty tired of his lack of motivation (That’s pretty PC, isn’t it?) But, I can’t expect to change 9 years worth of lack of motivation in the couple of months that I have him now, can I?

He told me that he didn’t want to do any work. So, one of my tactics is to give the student their wish. I told him that it was okay not to do any work.  “Go ahead and go to the back of the classroom and read your book,” I told him.

“Okay,” he said.

I let him do it for Religion, Science, Social Studies, and Math. By now it’s lunchtime & he is bored out of his skull. Every time he attempted to join the group, I reminded him of his wish. Do you wanna’ guess what happened after lunch??? Well, do ya’? After lunch, he joined the group. That happened yesterday. I was afraid it would have worn off by today. But, nope, he joined and participated in the group today. I guess I’ve gotten through to him. Only time & continued participation will tell.

I guess I’ll entitle this little strategy, Your Wish is My Command strategy! Bye for now.

So, I Went to the Meeting…

I just returned from the Ryan Initiative meeting & am very excited. It’s a very competitive process, but I’m not daunted. In fact, I am very confident. The application deadline is March 2. I’ll have it in way before that. The only thing I need to do is order my transcripts from LMU to enter my g.p.a.

I really want to be in this program. Don’t quite know if I’m ready, but am willing to take the plunge. Wish me luck!

Principal in Training?

Dear Readers,

I will be quite honest. I don’t know if I’m ready for what I’m about to do, but that’s never stopped me before. All of the major things in my life happened when I wasn’t “ready”. I wasn’t ready to become a mom @ 19. I wasn’t ready to have my second one @ 21. The point: I wasn’t ready to do many things in my life, but excelled at them anyway.

So, the “it” that I’m talking about is applying for a job as a Principal at a charter school. I don’t feel that I’m ready. So, I really won’t be that bummed if I don’t get accepted to the program this year. I’m considering this a trial run. It’s just that lately I’ve had this feeling, like fire in my bones. It’s telling me that it’s time to move on; to dream bigger; to do bigger things.

The only reason this even occurred to me was because during my first year of teaching, I was at a training and this woman called me “Ms. Principal lady”.

“I’m not a principal,” I replied.

“You can be if you want to,” she said.

God told me to tell you to go further, to dream bigger. Those weren’t her exact words, but that was the gist of it.

At that time I thought I didn’t want to, but I’ve since changed my mind. I want to! It’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone. It’s time for me to take my rightful place. I’ve found a program that mentors & trains principals for their charter schools for a whole year, and helps you secure employment afterward. So, I am going to take that plunge and do it. Wish me luck.

Getting it Together Little by Little!

I am so happy that I finally found a way to streamline my Friday payment process. I was brainstorming with my husband about a way to make the process easier. While I was brainstorming, my husband asked a very pertinent question. He asked why I was doing it? I told him that it (with “it” being the whole timesheet deal) was for the students to take ownership of their behavior, homework, etc. + it was also to see who needed help with completing the timesheets. I thought about it and concluded that it was only 4 people max (Little Ladybug, Binaca Blast, & the twins). Once that was figured out, I happily went to work to try out my new (hopefully shorter) process. It worked like a charm. I had the students turn in their time sheets and I paid all  but the four students who need help.

Not only that, but I had them put the toys away until right before lunch. You see, the toys were distracting too many of the other students, so putting the toys away solved two problems: It stopped the distractions & cleared up space on the back table. Well, I guess it solved three because I only allowed the students to take out the toys 20 minutes before lunch, so the students had to be ready to purchase once they went to the back table. I held them strictly to it with a one minute timer. If they didn’t decide within the minute, then they had to wait until after everyone had purchased. Do you think any students missed the minute mark? If you guessed no, then you would be correct. Everyone made up their minds in one minute or less. So, instead of taking most of the morning to pay the students and let them buy, it only took about 30 minutes total. How’s that for progress?

Now, if only I can be consistent in grading the homework and getting it back to them, that would be sooooooooooo nice!!!

Keeping Track of Things!

I was so upset right, before Christmas vacation, because someone “got’ me again. I had the little gifts on my desk that I was going to give to my students when suddenly two were missing. I have a pretty good idea who took it, ut no proof.

So, that’s when I decided to inventory my stuff. It took a little bit of time since I have about 100 little erasers, but I did it. That way, I know exactly what and how much of any one given thing I have in my classroom store. It keeps me in the know and my students who manage the store honest.

Vacation Almost Over!

Dear  Readers,

I’ve had nearly two weeks of alternating  laziness & productivity. I didn’t get nearly as much done as I wanted to, but I did get lots and lots of rest. That was my main goal, so I am very, very, very happy. I went up to my classroom today to clean up a little and take down decorations. If I get my van back tomorrow, I am going to go back and sweep the floors and tackle those stacks of papers. I did straighten them  up- a little while ago, actually. So, if I accomplished nothing else, I got those papers straightened up. Just in case you don’t believe me, here’s some pics:

These are before & after pics:

HAPPY 2012!!!

I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I am really looking forward to what 2012 is going to bring! Here’s to 2012!!!