Alternate universe continues....  I added more work to what I want form my AP kids.  They nodded in agreement when I explained the newest thing.  Normally I would get "More stuff?" or "Why are you giving us so much?" but no.  They understand the purpose of this assignment and how it will support the creative process.   Unbelievable!  I feel like I am teaching honours kids.  Keep in mind the fact that two of theses boys are part of that group that was worried sick about the ramifications of a poor performance on the state tests.  These are the boys I had to talk down from near-tears status.  When preparing yesterday morning, I was reading through the AP curricula from other schools.  I was proud that many of the assignments - composition, point of view, low light - are the things I have already taught my kids in Photo I.   This means that my AP kids can spend much more time developing an artistic voice that is accurately reflected int heir body of work.  I don't really know if any will spend the money to submit the portfolio in the spring, but at least they will have a damn fine group of pieces.  This course is a lot of work for the teacher, and I am swamped with work.  But I love being busy and it is not a panic type of swamped.

Today is the first of two of my college visits.  I have Maine College of Art coming today doing a presentation and portfolio review and Mass Art coming tomorrow.  I like the people from MECA.  They are nice, no attitude, and knowledgeable.  The school is also very generous with scholarship money.  I hope to have someone go there someday.  Heck, when colleges are making the mistake of getting rid of their darkrooms, MECA revamped theirs.

The chemical recycling guy is coming tomorrow and thank goodness.  The paper recycling bin stinks to high heaven.  I am hit with it as soon as I come in in the morning.  I am afraid to look in the barrel.  Not sure what is festering in there.  The kids will notice a lack of peeuw on Thursday.  It is like a rotten vinaigrette and rotting flesh.  Heck, maybe the kids just think that is the normal photo smell.  OK with me.....  Next task?  Washing the changing bags.  My sister asked how often I wash them and I answered with "Wash them?"  Which is kind of stupid of me.  When a kid is having trouble getting the film on the reel, the sweating starts.  I have put my arms in some soaked changing bags.  After  the fact, upon thinking hard, I realize how gross this is.  It is like taking a kid's jersey after a heavy basketball game and rubbing it all over my arms.  I do not know why I never thought of washing them.  I could wash them here - there is apparently a washing machine on the top floor and there is one in Home Ec - but what do I do the rest of the time?  I could bring them home.....  Deep thoughts.  Dave suggested extra credit if someone does it for me.  I hate extra credit, but it is a thought.

So I vacuumed the pool for the last time yesterday.  It was a nice workout, but the pain in my fingers and hands is tough.  I can type because the arc of the digits remains relatively constant.  However, moving them much more than that kills.  And bending them at the knuckles is worse.  Luckily the right hand is in more pain than the left.  Sounds like a lot of griping.  But I think this is the a sign that the arthritis is now in my hands for sure.  I have it in my hips and it showed up in my wrists a couple of years ago.  As long as it wasn't in the hands, I was pretty ok with that.  I can still hike, dance, garden, bike, and walk.  I might be stiff the next day, but manageable.  This is another beast.  And it is depressing.  I know that regular movement of the afflicted parts of the body helps the arthritis - we'd give crochet stuff to my grandmother to help her keep her hands moving to deal with her arthritis - but this pain is rough.  I think it is what kept me up through the night.  They feel tense, tight, swollen and in pain.  If I typed all day for my job it wouldn't be a big deal but I need my hands for work and my art.  I think about how I would teach my subject if I ever broke a wrist or arm.  It would be tough but it would heal.  Arthritis?  It just plain sucks.  The bright spot?  I can use a cold pack while on nurse's duty.   Either that or I could chisel off some of the ice in our class refrigerator and put it in a baggie.

One of the keys to teaching?  Playing it cool no matter what happens.

So I am kind of short.  I was giving a lesson on how to load film onto the reels and into the tanks.  They are on shelves.  I hike myself up onto the counter to easily reach the stuff and to be easily seen by all the kids.  Well, by period 6 I was losing a little bit of my mojo and misjudged.  My left butt cheek didn't clear the counter.  Instead, full force direct contact with the edge of the counter.  The pain was phenomenal.  But I didn't let on.  I might have flinched for a brief second.  But the kids never knew.  I didn't miss a beat.  But the colours that appeared?  Oh, such beautiful reds, greens, purples, and eggplants.

So I had a former student stop by with her senior sister yesterday to pick up a camera for the sis.  I wanted to chat more, but, to be honest, my tush hurt.  Good thing we left at 3.05.  By the time I got home?  Four e-mails from photo kids.  I even had the ipad with me at dinner to field questions.  I do not want to let the kids down because they have been so remarkable this year.  The attention, respect, cooperation, and diligence in knowing how to handle the camera are just amazing.  I went outside to water the veggies and herbs for 20 minutes and missed two e-mails and felt real bad.

So I contemplated bringing the heating pad to sit on at work, but people would think I had hemorrhoids.  So I will just sit leaning to the right.  At least I don't sit much when I teach.  According to the pedometer, I am between 2.5 and 3 miles a day and that is without having to travel for another class.  Let' see how high it gets when the kids start printing in the darkroom.   I will be a bit slowed down this week.  The cheek hurts with every step I make.  I might borrow an ice pack from the nurse.  Or I could just chip off some of the ice in our film fridge and put it in a baggie.  Art teachers are resourceful like that.

So who knew there is one type of plunger for a toilet and one type of plunger for a sink?  It's is good to have a good relationship with your custodians and gain access to the storage closet.  Now, I can unclog my classroom sinks with reckless abandon!  Free drains for all the photo classes!!!

I sent my first group of kids home with cameras yesterday.  There were a couple of e-mails from students with questions once I got home.  Another sign they are more attentive than other years?  No one tried to shoot after dark.  They have not yet been taught low light shooting and must not change the shutter speed - only the aperture - to get a good exposure.  And I do not teach flash in PI.  So far, so good.    Today?   Teach them how to put the film on a reel and in a tank for developing.  In total darkness...  Here is where the fun starts.

So I read two more essays in my Studies in Socialist Pedagogy.  It truly is a phenomenal collection of essays.  I know most of the people would balk at the names of some of the authours (Lenin, Mao) but there are plenty of others in there that are unfamiliar to the average person.  In those cases, the name does not cause the skittish reader to enter with a preconceived notion.  Part Two is titled "Who Are We Teachng?" and it is fabulous.  The first essay is about how to differentiate between lecturing and teaching.  The main difference is how a teacher presents the information:  Does he present a stream of facts and knowledge or does he enter into a dialogue with the students, helping them gain information and draw their own conclusions?  There is a partial transcript of a session between teacher and students.  I kept reflecting back on my classes.  I hate the idea of standing behind a podium or such structure.  I move around the room constantly.  I present information as well as ask questions to pull conclusions from the students.  I never use the words "you're wrong".  I will try to pull out how a student came to such an answer and try to reframe or retrace the path to that conclusion and try to help him or her get redirected to find the right answer.  If I can guide the direction and the path taken, the correct methods or answers might be better remembered.  Banking versus problem-posing.

There are also issues of class and education regarding types of colleges attended or available to the student based on class and/or financial situation.  While I don't teach at that level, this stuff is still quite insightful.  The authours address the problematic qualities of the professors, but I think I can learn how to teach a student to best deal with such a professor if I read these pieces closely.  If I learn the recommendations for the professors, I can figure out a way to guide the kids regarding how to deal with such a teacher.  Too many of our kids go to community colleges for whatever reason, but drop out.  Lots have issues with the teachers.  What if they know how to approach the professor in such a way that they can guide the professor to be of benefit to their learning?  More studying for me.....

"Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning.The teacher's thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the student's thinking.  The teacher cannot think for his students, nor can he impose his thought on them.  Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication."

From Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire

So the 19th was the anniversary of Freire's birth.  I think it called for revisiting some of his writing.  In the part that is reproduced in the book Studies in Socialist Pedagogy, Freire discusses the differences between "banking" education and "problem-posing" education.  Banking education is becoming more and more the norm in all classrooms when the reliance is on testing as the only proof of learning.  It sure makes for a nice looking class:  obedient students, seated at their desks in neat rows, writing copious notes for memorization and regurgitation in the form of bubble tests.

On the other hand, a problem-posing classroom looks like a hot mess:  students having discussions, teacher and students questioning each other and finding the answers together, students moving around from person to person, constant search for new sources of information and answers.  It's interesting that I read Freire after I started teaching, but found I teach in a very Freire way.

Something that dawned on my regarding the Freire ideas is the conflict between the demands of the teacher as a result of mandated testing versus the demands to be met in the imposed evaluation systems.  the corporate produced tests call for a certain type of teaching - banking methods.   Yet, if you look at the different forms of evaluation systems that the state had presented as choices for the districts, the only teachers that can do well are those following the problem-posing methods.  I was on the committee that examined and selected the evaluation system for our school.  While they varied wildly in many respects, one thing was clear: the traditional lecturing teacher who sticks to the text book and it's provided materials will not do well regardless of which system is chosen - McRel, Danielson, Strong, or Marzano.

Teachers are expected to show a variety of methods of delivery of information.  We must all be well versed in Differentiated Instruction/Multiple Intelligences.  We meed to show various methods of inquiry are available to the students.  We must be active members in our school communities.  We must prepare the students for life and education beyond high school.  If you learned anything from Freire, you are doing these things already.  You will do well on your evaluation because you are a wonderful teacher who can get your students to actually learn.  They will also learn how to take what they have learned with you into many other areas of their lives.

Take all that and then look at the teaching style necessary for producing good test scores.  On the surface, the kinds of inquiry the questions seem to be asking for are pretty good, well developed, and make the students really think.  But let's look at the format they are presented in.  A timed test, with correct answers with no extended defense of answer choice.  The follow up question gives the student four more multiple choices as the justification for the previous answer.  Sure, there are written essay components, but from what I have seen in the samples, there is most certainly a right and a wrong answer.  If we give this type of evaluation in the classroom, good teaching practice says that there will be a follow up discussion with the students regarding the answers given.  The teacher can come to new insights regarding the students' thought processes in the defenses of conclusions.  Adjustments can be made in how the material is presented.

There is no opportunity for this kind of dialogue or interaction with a standardized test.  And they are now being promoted at the final word in how well prepared our students are for moving on, the final word in how much they have learned, and a direct reflection of the quality of the education they have received.  The tests reinforce the idea that information is to be fed, banked, and then recalled for proof of learning.  That is not learning.  The myriad of ways we assess our students falls more in line with a problem-posing classroom.

And the alternate universe continues.  I was able to shift the Photogram due date up and begin camera mechanics early.  The students are proving to be so capable.  I am pleased and surprised.  This kind of photography is truly a challenge to teach.  First of all, they are used to the device doing everything for them.  The majority of the thinking comes in making a decision regarding what pre-set filter to use.  With film - and how we teach digital - they must have full comprehension of the workings of the camera:  lens functions, reflex action of the camera, image capturing, light sensitivity of various films, emulsion make-up, how the camera's inner computer reads the available lighting with the settings to give you a meter reading.  And so on....  Do you want to teach a bunch of hormonal, raging teenagers all that?  Didn't think so.  But it is fun.  And this year?  Amazing!  They are listening so intently (I wish everyone in my life listened to me like this) and it shows when I ask them to recall what they have learned and when I have them handle the camera.

Yesterday they changed the ISO, shutter speed, and began to be familiar with the meter.  Today, the two hardest things:  Meter reading and loading film.  I had some kids who did not return their camera use agreements.  they could not touch a camera.  They could only observe.  Normally, I have to ready myself for an argument.  Not this year's bunch.  They dutifully watched a partner.  This is just unreal.

On another note, I have a former student who has a friend writing a dissertation on the last 20 year evolution of the punk scene.  She thought I would be a good contributor to this so the friend interviewed me last night.  She wanted to Skype, but I had to let her know I do not have that capability.  Ha ha.... Yup, the luddite lives....  We talked a bit about how our ideology informs how we teach.  I don't think anyone can comprehend how much that ideology plays a part in how I teach, how I treat my students, and my desire to be involved in the improvement of the school community.  While some people join committees to get ahead and get great evaluations, I do so to improve the school for my students.  There is a direct correlation between this and the music scene and its ideology. I notice that the colleagues who are complacent in their lives are those who are barely involved here.  One attitude I have a hard time dealing with is the "What are ya gonna do?".  If you see something is not going the way you want, something is not right, just sit back, do nothing about it, but complain bitterly.  So, I am going to be an annoyance this year and re-propose In School Suspension.  I was so angry about the denial last year because the reasons were all unfounded.  It was clear that the proposal was not even read.  In fact, I would like to be there to make the proposal myself because I will not give up.  I will not be interrupted.  I feel so strongly about this.  I cannot comprehend how any administrator could not be aware of all the documentation regarding the harm out of school suspension does to students, particularly those who are minorities.  Any admin who does his job (yes, his, because my admin does hers and knows recent research) and is up on the research knows this is the way to go.  We are rid of the man who wanted "them" out of the building.  Now let's get rid of the discriminatory practices and adopt practices that actually keep the kids in school.  It is kind of a no-brainer.....

While I did not have to hear the splat of Millie vomiting off the sideboard onto the dining room floor this morning, it did not start out much better.  I was run out of my lane by yet another dipsh*t slave to the GPS.  This time it was an 18-wheeler.  I have enough of a hard time dealing with adult acquaintances who have no concept of directions or how to read a map, but constantly being subjected to the drivers like that on my commute is a bit much.  Commute from hell indeed.

So I am already in a sour mood pulling in to the parking lot.  Then, as I am walking away from my car, I see two of my photo kids.  They greet me with a wonderful "Good morning, Mrs. Vasa" and my mood is instantly lifted.  They were there early to lift for their sports (Soccer and football). This place is alive, buzzing with activity nearly whatever time of day I am here.  

We have our first union meeting of the year today.  The first one since the "stuff" of last year.  It will be interesting.  Will there be tension?  Will people be more forgiving?

Which brings me to forgiveness....  As adults, we are expected to not hold grudges, to forgive all the time.  But at what point are you subjecting yourself to more heartbreak, hurt, or anger?  At what point do you start to look and feel like a fool?

I have been the recipient of some horrible things from students:  cruel words, devious actions....  We all have; every single teacher.  It comes with the job when you teach middle or high school.  A student's brain is still developing.  The risk they take by being cruel or disrespectful is directly related to the stage of development of the risk assessment part of the brain.  There is a thrill from trying to behave "inappropriately", do things you are told not to do, things you should not do.  I have rarely felt that such behaviour from my students was intentional and personal.

However, when an adult (colleague, acquaintance, friend, relative) treats you in a disrespectful, inconsiderate, hurtful, selfish way....  Well, isn't that different?  I think it is.  What I would brush off easily from a student cannot possibly be forgotten or forgiven from a peer.  The stuff that happened here at work last year was hurtful or anger inducing.  Can it be forgiven?  Maybe, depending where it came from.  Who did or said this or that? What fueled it?  Those things make a difference and must be considered.  Can it be forgotten?  Not as far as I can see.  An adult knows the results and risks of certain behaviours.  An adult knows what reaction and damage words and actions can cause.  There is an ability to assess the risk to the relationship, be it a working or friend situation.  

I have encountered countless adults who will use any excuse in the book to excuse such behaviour:  self-diagnosed mental health issues, life situations, shrunken brains (I kid you not.), drunkenness.  I might seem cruel, but I see these things as mere excuses.  If many of us -regardless of what personal difficulties we are going through - can respect each other enough to not partake in such behaviour, we all can.  The ironic thing, is that I rarely encounter a person with a diagnosed mental illness who does this to peers.  People who know how to be respectful colleagues/friends/acquaintances do not treat each other in such a way.  And that is why I rarely forgive and I never forget.  For ease, I can remain cordial.  I do not let the relationship return to beyond that.  This attitude is based on two things:  experience and reading.  I learned to not take such behaviour from my students to heart through my working with them and through my reading about new research into the adolescent brain.  I learned to take such behaviour from peers to heart and not forgive through being hurt and angered over and over and through my reading about how the adult brain works.   

People are amazed that we teachers can enjoy our time with high school age kids.  They are seen in such a negative light.  I thoroughly enjoy my time with my students because of the honesty in their kind words, the innocence behind their supposedly cruel behaviour, the sincerity behind their thankfulness.  They know they are risk takers, might misbehave, might be mean.  But they also know they can't control themselves sometimes.  An apology is more sincere from a teenager than one from a peer whose behaviour is repeated.  

We saw the second of three live shows in a week and a half last night.  This one was in Jersey City at WFMU's Monty Hall.  The band was The Pandoras.  Sigh.....  A fabulous time.  they have been my favourite all women garage band since early high school.  I love having live pictures taken by me as a memento, but I do not like having my eye stuck behind the viewfinder all show.  I only shot for the first two songs and then I relaxed and enjoyed it.  The place had carpeting!  It was like being at someone's parents' house.  But the parking was so much better than Maxwell's and the vibe was far less hipster.  A fine replacement.

So this begins our first full week of school.  Back to School Night is in the past.  SGO is completed with the baseline reporting to be completed once my rosters are set and all kids who will drop or add have done so.  With all the nitty gritty stuff done, I can start to have kids stay during their lunches or study halls.  I can't believe that some wanted to start last week.  Oof.  

Most of the AP kids have show me their digital images from the summer assignments.  They are actually much better than I expected.  They balked at the idea of summer work and I never heard from them on any sort of regular basis so I feared the work was not happening.  One student went out west.  His canyon images are so good.  Not your typical vacation shots.  I found a bundle of new student photo competitions and I want him to submit to one of them...  Their journals were not really written in a regularly as I had hoped.  I think that is a by product of people's lack of ability to have sustained conversations and thoughts.  Everything is limited to a tweet length.  I want to give feedback in the journals this week so that I can return the books and have them write a journal entry a week.  They must learn to record their thoughts so that they can better reflect on their work and the process.

The Photo II classes all followed the same plans for their pinhole camera construction.  I don't know why I didn't do this before.  Having them bring in their own containers was a nice idea that got the idea that anything could be a camera pretty nicely.  But the variables are too broad.  At least with the same camera shape and size, exposure instruction should be easier.  And helping them in constructing the camera was much easier with everyone needing the same help.  They could help each other much more.  Today should be nice out so we will go outside to do our exposures.

And Photo I?  Whoa.  They are paying so much attention to the directions and the process that I can skip the 8"x10" photograms.  They get the concept of light sensitivity and photographic paper that I have bumped up how soon I will begin instruction on the camera.  With the way these classes are going, I think I can shift the due dates up, not need to cut out any projects, and address the history of the medium in a more in depth way than ever before.  This could shape up to be a really cool year.  I might be able to teach these courses exactly as I have wished....

So I am running on 2 hours and 45 minutes of sleep.  We went to see Scream at the Bowery Electric in the city.  We encountered so many detours due to construction on the way home.  Of course, the signs were not accurate and I ended up on the Pulaski Skyway.  I can handle driving that beast, but I can't handle driving in the city.  Go figure.  We got home a little after 2 am and we were still soaked from getting caught in the rain running from the PATH to the car.  Then I woke up at 5 am for work.  And I have Back to School Night tonight so I will not get home until after 9 pm.  But I am still spunky and awake for the kids.  Hooray for me.

So the kids are very mellow, polite, and attentive.  Not what I am used to at all.  I like the kids I normally get, but this is amazing.  It is honours class behaviour.    They say thank you and please.  Unreal!  Another teacher noticed this with her kids too.  We think maybe they felt so much of the turmoil last year and don't want to experience that again.  I seem to have a regular morning breakfast bunch.  Two girls and a boy this time.  So far.  Let's see who else joins.  I also have kids already requesting extra work time during study halls.  I need to complete all my baseline test grading this week so I told them to hold off until next week.  I also had a fulfilling, open conversation with the substitute nurse today.  The positivity is so needed - and deserved - that I do not want to disrupt it will anyone who is negative or brings me down.  I just do not need that.  And to top it all off, Scream were just so much fun and so positive last night that I don't want this feeling to end.  I know Back to School Night will continue in that vein - it is always like a party in my room - but Friday might screw that up.  Mental note:  ignore the bs.

Signed in at 6.06 am.  Alphabetized period 1 and 2 folders.  Will do period 6 later.  Dug through the silver reclamation bin to find someone's missing negatives.  I got the death stare yesterday when he couldn't find his folder.  To be honest, the end of last year and the beginning of this year have been so discombobulated, I have no idea whether someone threw it out, took it home by mistake...  Hopefully his negatives are there. When I saw the stare, I said I felt like when I pissed off the hubby but he won't tell me why.  I just get the attitude.  Ooof.  It hurts.  I want to make this right.  I have big plans for him and his shooting this year.

I am giving my baseline assessments today.  It is a half day so that eliminates the issue of what to do with the kids for the remainder of the period without overloading their brains with new information that they will inevitably forget over the holiday weekend.  I also added a Homework page to my teacher website.  That should help with the "I didn't know we had to have that in today" even though I always write that information on the board.

I also had a long conversation with the rep from the student tour company once I got home.  A quickie dip in the pool to cool off, then phone time.  I cannot ruffle feathers with the new administration, but I have to try to do this trip.  We shall see.  And then I had three people trying to talk to me at once online.  I don't like to give anyone partial attention, so the former student won out.  He hasn't hurt me so he gets my attention first.  I am happy that he is ready for college to start.  He is prioritizing in a wonderful way and I want to encourage him to do even better - meet his full potential.  All the kids hate reading in high school.  He let me know that his classmates so far surprised him with their work ethic.  So I asked if he is reading anything.  He isn't.  But I found that I kept myself on par with my peers by reading, reading, reading, so I want to get it through to him that he should finding areas to read up on so that when those college discussions come up, he can contribute in a meaningful way.  I didn't really convey that well last night, but I will try to do a better job later.

I also fixed my teacher course pages on the portal.  All my photocopies are done for today - no wrestling colleagues for a spot in line. One copier left standing as of eighth period yesterday.  Holy crap!  Blood will be shed, but it won't be mine.  I confirmed one college visitation/portfolio review and responded to another college for a second one.    Now I have to find area photo exhibits, print out the information, and post them on my Exhibitions bulletin board in the room.

Phew....

Yesterday's Timeline

Here's what my kid-free day looked like:

• 6.30 - Baseline test preparation
• 6.41 - Club recruitment day preparation
• 6.48 - Preparation of class drawers
• 7.18 - Review IEPs, BIs, and 504s
• 7.42 - Take break to replace torn network cable to teacher station and tape cable down with co-worker
• 7.51 - Resume IEPs, etc.
• 8.02 - Prepare paper gradebook
• 8.09 - Get in line for copier to copy baselines
• 8.44 - Decorate display case in center hall
• 8.50 - Pee
• 8.55 - Scrub tables and computers; have a snack
• 9.17 - Mix photo chemistry; scrub chemical cabinet under the print wash sink
• 10.02 - Check e-mail; have two peaches
• 10.15 - Schedule college visits and portfolio reviews for later in the month
• 10.25 - Take a break; discuss school stuff with colleagues
• 11.10 - Go back to room to work on class rosters and set up online gradebook
• 11.36 - Complete district self-assessment; upload numerous artifacts
• 12.30 - Eat lunch
• 12.36 - Pee and check mailbox in main office
• 12.41 - Work on SGOs for Photo I and II
• 1.18 - Print in the darkroom to test chemistry; make test strips and 6 8"x10" prints using my own negatives and paper
• 2.07 - Check e-mail
• 2.18 - Re-check rosters because there have been some scheduling changes with new enrollments
• 2.26 - Assign darkroom stations for Photo I classes on darkroom map
• 2.42 - Go to main office to check for IDs; not ready yet; pee
• 2.51 - Check out Google Art site
• 3.05 - Try to sign out; paper not ready yet
• 3.30 - Pool store to get shock
• 3.45 - Doctor's appointment

Easy?  Sure looks it.  Today, the kids come in. I am all set, except for no IDs, but that is ok.  We aren't checking for them yet.  Living without the noose!!!  So today, I do the whole intro stuff:  syllabus, class procedures, rules, folder and storage assignments.  Then..... the Clincher:  the tour of the darkroom.   This is where I hook them   I made 6 prints yesterday to test the chemistry but also to show them what they will be doing.  

This year I have to squeeze the deadlines.  We lost six whole weeks of instruction time last year due to state testing.  We all had to cut material.  Not this year.  I do not want to cut anything.  I will just have to push them even harder to meet the deadlines.  There will definitely be much more extra time needed to catch up for those who struggle.  However, based on who I have, this should work out ok. A lot of the kids look to be super cool and hard working from the feedback I have gotten.   I have a number of field hockey and gymnastics girls.  Their coaches will understand if they need to miss a few minutes of practice to catch up. I have a couple of football boys.  I will press them hard after some positive vibes front their coach last spring.  They will claim the team comes first, but I know that won't fly with the coach.  Ha ha.....  

And now.... off to the races....

Documentation

Since hard work seems to be a pissing contest, I decided to finally post what I do during the work day.  Another thing that prompted this was my sister's comment that we work like animals.  And that is the truth.  We have worked a few jobs together and no one can fully comprehend how we work and what our work ethic is if they have not witnessed it first hand.  Mark S, Mike K, Dog Boy, Joe A, Lisa, Ron and Betty.....  Only they know.  Our friends who claim they work so hard?  Maybe you do.  I don't dispute that.  But we are indeed animals.  Kind of like the lions going after the wildebeest.  Except the wildebeests were dupes and negatives, lesson plans, projects to grade, reports to submit, research requests to fill, and so on.  We were the lions.

5.00 am - get out of bed; already awake for 15 minutes
5.20 am - eat
5.38 am - leave for work
6.07 am - sign in
6.10 am - correct Friday's lesson plans; complete and submit next week's lesson plans
6.23 am - blog


On the agenda for today:

• read all IEPs, 504s and BIs
• consider possible accommodations for special medical concerns in two of my periods
• mix all photo chemistry
• test chemistry with my own negatives and paper (I do not use materials paid for by the taxpayers)
• photocopy all baseline tests after making minor corrections if necessary
• make sure I am in the hall between classes to guide the freshmen
• clean out last year's Photo I folders and move to Photo II drawers based on the students' period assignment
• set up equipment for tomorrow (folders for negatives and prints, all computers in working order, scrub tables, mice, and keyboards).
• set up grade book with first assignments
• work on updating SGOs
• check on curriculum and send to curriculum director
• prepare for club recruitment day

Oh, and don't forget to pee and eat.