School has started

Well, Tuesday was my first day back to class. My group is small still - only 19 students so far. But our school has a pattern of gaining several students in each grade the week after Labor day. So I'll have to wait and see. It could be a problem if we don't pick up a few more, because that is definitely too few kids for a fifth grade classroom in Utah. They could potentially move me to another grade or create a split. Well, no use worrying about something that hasn't happened yet.

This year I have four different languages - Tibetan, Spanish, English, and Somali. I have a student who was home schooled until this year, one that just started school of any sort last year, and one that has been seriously abused. One child should probably be in a self contained class for behavioral disorders. I've been told to document all difficult behavior so we can get some help. It's shaping up to be a challenging year.

Life in the fast lane!

Tag, I'm It

I was tagged by Aimee, and since she's my cousin, I'll give it a go. (Otherwise my aunt may get after me.)

4 jobs I've had
1. Registrar's office grub
2. Teacher
3. Preschool owner/operator (Ok, it was a little home preschool, but people did pay me.)
4. National Guard flutist

4 movies I could watch over and over
1. Singing in the Rain
2. Music Man
3. Young Frankenstein
4. Starwars (Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!)

4 places I've lived
1. Salt Lake City
2. Salt Lake City
3. Taylorsville
4. West Jordan (Do you sense a pattern here? Next entry WILL be somewhere outside of Utah.)

4 favorite TV/reality shows
1. Good Eats/Feasting on Asphalt
2. Mythbusters
3. Househunters
4. Reruns of old 50's-70's sitcoms

4 of my favorite places I've been
1. North Wales
2. Hawaii - any island but especially Kailua on Oahu
3. Delicate Arch
4. Coast of Oregon

4 favorite foods
1. chocolate chip cookie dough
2. asparagus (with or without hollandaise sauce)
3. tenderloin or ribeye steak, medium rare
4. original Kraft mac & cheese

4 websites I check daily
1. email
2. US bank (to see what my balance is, of course!)
3. Google
4. I will be checking my district webpage daily now. Pathetic, but true.

4 hobbies I enjoy
1. reading
2. writing
3. cooking - when I have time
4. Doing this stuff on the computer!

4 friends I tag.
1. Andrew
2. Welfycat
3. Lucas (Who needs a blog but doesn't have one)
4. Christine - since she still hasn't responded to Aimee's challenge

So tag, you guys, you're it.

Meeting Overload

I had my first teacher meeting on Wednesday. Four hours of information, that could have been boiled down to two pages of hand-outs and a 45 minute discussion. But, hey, at least the room was cool. In the next two weeks I'll spend probably 20 to 30 hours listening to someone else talk. (Hence, the poll at right - What do you hate about meetings?)

This year is different in that I will have 12 or so computers in my classroom - one for every 2 students. We're working on lesson plans that encourage cooperative learning and help students define their own learning needs. It sounds impressive in theory. In practice I'm not sure it will hold up to high stakes testing requirements. We'll see. I'm willing to try new things, I really am. But I've begun to believe that we are too quick to change from one program to the next in our search for ways to teach poor, language challenged students. The result is we expend vast amounts of energy, a considerable amount of money, and rarely give the programs a chance to prove their worth before abandoning them for the next new reform. It's generally not teachers who make these program decisions, either. It's people long out of the classroom who answer to legislators and the public. They feel they must do SOMETHING, so they dump what we're doing now for something else, hoping that it will magically solve all our problems in one school year or less.

Each summer I rejuvenate, rethink my role in the education of our children. And sometimes I feel like I must be getting too old for it all. I know too much. I've seen the ebb and flow of too many "promising, research based" programs that were never very promising, and never had full financial backing anyway. Ever in Utah do we commit to a program, then pull the financial plug on it, hoping individual schools or teachers will buy the necessary workbooks, CD's or other equipment from their already dismally small budgets. If I hadn't seen it all 31 times before I might be able to convince myself that this year with 12 computers it will be different. As it is, I will accept the help of those computers for the sake of my sweet 10-year-olds, and stuff my jaded personae in a desk drawer. It's the kids that make teaching fun and special and important, anyway. Cheers to all of you and welcome back to school!

P.S. If you want to read a clear, concise argument against vouchers, see the book on the right by Pedro Noguera, a past professor at Harvard, currently at New York University.

Being Mrs. Santa

On Tuesday I spent most of the day with my friend and work partner, Jo, and her three-year-old twins. These are the young ladies that Mike and I played Santa and Mrs. Santa for last Christmas. The girls are getting older now and aren't quite as stand-offish as they were last year. And Jo is thinking of taking them to work with her this year and enrolling them in Lincoln's preschool. So I got to thinking - how do we explain me to them? Jo wants Mike to continue to be their personal Santa, and Mike won't do that unless I continue to be Mrs. Santa. The girls will eventually figure out that I look an awful lot like that Mrs. Santa person who comes around once a year. It could be a deal breaker unless we come up with a likely story.

I got to thinking. This is the 21st century. Mrs. Santa could have a job outside the home. She could work somewhere during the day and go home to Santa each night. And what better job for her than being a teacher? So, if your kids should ask - Mrs. Santa does have a day job. She works as a teacher at Lincoln Elementary.