Bad Moon Rising

I see the bad moon arising / I see trouble on the way / I see earthquakes and lightnin’ / I see bad times today.  ~John Fogerty

Holy shit, if this doesn't describe my classroom today.  Maybe, also, dumpster fire.  That may work as well.  I follow Fixing Education (@WhyTeaching) on Twitter and this Tweet today nailed it: "One of my biggest struggles is having to keep from screaming profanities at my students."  When I stumbled into the lunch room at 12:30 after being called a bitch in Spanish (like I don't know what 'puta' means), I googled the moon phases.  Oh yeah, there it is, full moon. 

Why?!  Why does that have impact on people?  It's not just teachers.  Ask any nurse in any hospital and they'll tell you the same thing.  I understand the whole moon phase/tides thing, but for the love of God, could we manage to not let it control us as well?  Oy!

I'm not proud of the way I acted today, specifically this morning.  I owe a kid an apology.  No matter what he did, it's no excuse for the way I acted.  I could have let him know in a different way how his actions were effecting me and the class.  You know what?  I don't feel like apologizing.  I really don't think he deserves it.   I'll still do it because it's the adult thing to do, but I'll hate every second of it.  

I have a meeting tomorrow with the parent of the most troublesome kid in my room.  I have a list of things to talk about.  He's nervous because he doesn't want his mother to know these things, yet he continues to do them.  One minute he's all talk and bravado, the next he's begging me not to talk to her.  He's trying so hard to be the cool kid, the one who doesn't care about anyone or anything.  I still don't know which way to go with him.  I believe in natural consequences, but his actions are impacting others in the room. 

I keep reminding myself that we're only a month into the year, but at the same time we're already a month into the year.  Does that make sense?  When is this going to gel?  When will all the kinks be worked out?  Gah!  

Hubby asked me this weekend if I'm overwhelmed...If I have too much to do for this job...If I've bitten off more than I can chew.  Oh yeah, absolutely.  But I'm really enjoying it.  Last year was an extremely stressful, overwhelming year.  Probably the worst in 20 years, and I hated that job by the end.  What's the difference?  Administration.  Plain and simple.  Teachers don't quit schools.  They quit principals and admin.  Aside from being a puta (honestly, the kid's not wrong) I really love this job.  

See you next week.  

Fixer Upper

There was a discussion recently on Twitter about Pinterest classrooms, also known as TPT (teacherspayteachers) classrooms.  Pinterest and TPT classrooms are those that are decorated to the nth degree.  They have every inch of the room covered, it's all themed and matching, it looks like a page out of a Pottery Barn catalogue.  That is not my classroom.  I have neither the time, nor the money (and really no patience). 

Below you will see various pix of my room.  It's a very old school in a lower income community.  I'm lucky I have storage, never mind none of it matches. The only thing I've tried to do in addition to the obligatory teacher charts (100 chart, alphabet, etc.) is tried to make a it bit warmer and a bit homier.  Many of my students come from not-so-great situations, and I swear one is raising himself.  

He's the one that got me thinking about the feel of the room.  I wondered out loud to my assistant, "What must go on in that house?"  That really hit me on the way home that day.  What does go on there?  What must it look like?  Single mom; never home; older brother not a good influence; always on YouTube; never learned appropriate vs. inappropriate, or chooses to ignore what he's learned.

I'll be completely honest--he's not a favorite of mine.  If he moved to a new school today, I'd be totally OK with that. However, he's the kid I need to focus on, simply because of that fact. 

As you can see, we have a coffee shop theme going on.  That's solely because I love coffee, as do most teachers.  The door decor was my idea; however, the sayings on the door were a democratic effort with everyone giving suggestions and voting on the favorite.  Both of the phrases tied, so we added both.  Of course, you can't have coffee without donuts.  Our related services schedule is set up like a coffee shop menu. There are also donuts lining the top of the SmartBoard.  Maybe one day I'll bring in Munchkins for the class.  Maybe. 

The work baskets are also coffee related as I got colors in no cream, some cream, and mostly cream.  I'll hang a sign that says something about light, medium, and dark roast.  Additionally, there are two rag rugs on the floor, and I'm attempting to subtly infuse orange essential oil into the air.  I really hope this meager attempt helps the kids to feel like this is a place they can enjoy, as well as complain about the amount of work I make them do.  

So, not really a Pinterest room, but not stark either.  I just hope the kids are comfortable with their home away from home. 

 

And now for the rest of the story

Wow. What a week.  I'm so behind that I even missed my weekly post.  The one thing I swore I wasn't going to do.  I should know better.  

I has been crazy busy with the new job and I am so so so tired.  I tried to use an old login that I haven't used in 4 years to access my online bank this morning.  Gonna be a long day.  OK...where was I...

Monday morning I walking into my new school (after standing outside of it for 5-6 minutes because I didn't have a badge to let myself in and no one was in the office yet) and headed to the cafeteria.  The first person I met was the woman who had this job before me. Excellent, I could gain valuable information.  Not so much. 😑

All I heard were the negatives.  The bad news.  The awful stories.  Awesome.  As a teacher new to the county, state, school, classroom, it's always good to be encouraged like this on your first day.  Good Lord.

Turns out, the reason last year was so horrible was not only due to the students.  This teacher was also a great contributor to the chaos.  I believe the term used was "hot mess."

I missed the new teacher training as I was hired after the fact.  Speaking of that, the principal announced on the very first day (to the entire staff) that after he interviewed me, he cancelled all his other interviews for this position.  No pressure.   

I never signed papers or became official until the second day.  Even that was iffy as they didn't like my certification from MD.  I'm now on an emergency cert.  Because after 20 years, I need to prove I'm a teacher.  Speaking of that, I need to PROVE that I've taught elsewhere. 

HR is starting my salary on Step 1 of the pay scale.  That's HALF of what I would have been making had I stayed where I was.  I need to provide documentation from MA and MD that I actually taught there. THEN, I need to provide transcripts from all colleges I attended so that I can get my +15 or +30 (I don't remember how many now.).  After they get all that, then they will bump up my salary.  That's insane.  When I started at my last district, they asked how long I'd taught and started me on the scale accordingly.  

I also needed at TB test and a background check/fingerprinting.  Both cost money.  And time.  I had to drive over an hour one way after work one evening to get the background check done.  I passed.  It's good to know people. ;) 

I'm learning everything as I go.  It's like I woke up in another country with no prior knowledge.  I really have to say, the people I work with are wonderful.  They have been so helpful and kind and accommodating.  Anything I need, someone will attempt to get it for me.  I still don't have everything I need.  I don't get planning or lunch (yet).  I still don't know everything I need to know to be successful with these kids. I'm missing curriculum. I have to give some kind of testing to kids that don't want to learn.

The kids. I have 9 students.  Three are ELL; three have BIPs; one is on the spectrum; one is truant (missed 2 of three days so far), and one is here for reasons I can't figure out.  I like most of them. Two are going to be the death of me.