First day back at work after two days of being sick was busy busy busy.  Yes, a teacher can be busy.  We have Quarterly Based Assessments this week, so my voice was saved for two periods Monday and two periods Tuesday.  The kids took the exams seriously.  Flabbergasted.  The work ethic this year continues to surprise me.  Seeing a kid who has been labeled "bad" studying voraciously is so cool.  The kids are doing their best to make the project deadline by coming in extra and not dilly dallying.  I am so pleased.

It is portfolio time.  The National Portfolio Days are coming up in November.  So one of my Photo II kids came in with a slew of independent work - drawings, sketches, photos - and we set up the shoot and scanned the smaller work.  He shot, I showed him how to set up the backdrop and lights for even lighting, low glare and no shadows.  I have even more recommendation requests to take care of too.  Four are complete, I have 6-8 more to do.  I put an essay on the PI QBA and the AP one is an essay.  However, the rest of the PI and the whole of the PII are scantron.  I hope my recurring headache will go away for me to grade the stuff.  I Have such a pile of stuff to do but I do not feel swamped, panicked, or tight-chested.  I feel calm.  It is amazing how having such wonderful kids can make the growing pile of work seem manageable.

We are looking over the faculty dress code here.  Today, I sent off my proposed changes.  I know there is a lot online about sexist dress codes in schools.  However, I noticed a glaring inequality in ours: the necktie requirement.  So I tackled that.  I also requested the use of clip on ID holders for art teachers.  I nearly choked myself again two weeks ago when working on a cable connection on Lori's computer.  I ripped the thing off and muttered "I hate this F-ing thing".  I have gotten it hooked on equipment, nearly cut it on the matte cutter numerous times, got it caught on the radiator when retrieving fallen negatives, cut myself on the deformed metal clip, broke it leaning on the sinks when mixing chemicals....  But when I swung the ID behind my back - while still wearing it - when cutting mattes one year, admin walks by, pauses to look at me through the doorway, and within 24 hours staff get an e-mail about wearing our ID at all times.  Is this an ID or a noose?

I would greatly appreciate a revisiting of the student dress code too.  I am tired of seeing the girls wearing see through leggings as pants and boys showing their underwear when these kinds of things are against the code.  I actually address male dress code stuff way more than female stuff.  I am disgusted by the need for dress codes - why are some people sexualized while others aren't - but the code exists and I would like it to be more egalitarian regarding rules.  It is not going away, but it could be more fair.  I would also like to see better enforcement.  I do think there is favouritism in the enforcement.  But, who am I to make noise.

As it stands right now, some colleagues get away with shady dress code violations and never wearing an ID, others get nailed the first time there is an infraction.  It happens to be the same with the students.  Once the dress code changes are made, I plan to make noise about the inequality of the enforcement.  We all know it exists.  We need to stop it.  It aggravates the kids and the staff.  We need to improve the work environment and morale here, and I think that is one of many things that can easily be tackled.