allisnow | Entries tagged with work

Awkward: tuning into a lunchroom conversation just in time to hear something that convinces you that an otherwise likable coworker is a crappy parent.

Honestly. I'll never be able to look at this woman again without part of me thinking, RESPONSIBLE PARENTING FAIL.

Does that make me Judgey McJudgerson? Maybe. I don't care. As an adult you're free to make bad choices and screw up your own life all you want, as long as you don't expect me to pay for it/subsidize it/bail your ass out, whatever. But I have very little tolerance for people who screw up (or potentially screw up) their kids' lives. You'd think more people in education would get that.

Current Mood: uncomfortable

After a long work day and an interminable work meeting (where there were only 3 of us representing our school, so I couldn't even hide out in the back), I don't think I can string two sentences together, much less hit the 12,500 word goal I set for myself. I managed about 350 words at work (shh don't tell anyone) but that was it. Thankfully I still have a little dialog I handwrote the other night... if nothing else I can type that up and count it. But first... going to wind down with a book and maybe something to munch on.

Current Mood: exhausted

Thank you for complimenting me on my outfit today.

(Yes, I know, I don't wear dresses very often.)

I know you were being polite.

(No, I don't have a date after school.)

But I'm starting to wonder if you all just think I normally look like crap.

Current Mood: cynical

Next week...
- Monday, staying late for a school leadership team meeting until 5:30
- Tuesday, district-wide collaboration meeting until 6
- Wednesday, nothing yet
- Thursday, layoff meeting and Family Science Night until who the hell knows when
- Friday, after-school class until 4:20
- Saturday, workshop 10am-2pm

Week after that...
- Monday, TL meeting until about 5:30
- Tuesday, ELD pilot meeting until 5:30
- Wednesday, after-school class
- Thursday, nothing yet
- Friday, MINIMUM DAY SPRING BREAK STARTS OMG IS IT HERE YET

ETA: This is above my normal schedule of 9:00 - 3:20 where I see about 70 kids grades kinder through 4th over the course of the day plus 8:30 meetings on Wednesday. Not saying I don't enjoy my job and I'm not grateful to have it, but sometimes it's just darn exhausting!

Current Mood: crazy

This next month is going to be a busy one at work.

Wednesday the 4th - SST for John B, sub in the afternoon to work on pilot program
Thursday the 5th - Afterschool program (ESA)
Monday the 9th - Staff meeting
Tuesday the 10th - All-day sub for GLAD, district listening session 5-8 (ESA)
Wednesday the 11th - SST for Andy P
Thursday the 12th - All-day sub for ELD pilot
Tuesday the 17th - Afterschool program (ESA)
Wednesday the 18th - Afterschool program (ESA)
Monday the 23rd - K-12 meeting at the DO (ESA), pilot timesheet due
Wednesday the 25th - SST for Bryan M
Thursday the 26th - Afterschool program (ESA)
Friday the 27th - All-day sub for Best Behavior meeting at DO
Monday the 30th - Leadership meeting (ESA)
Tuesday the 31st - Afterschool program (ESA)

Which is all on top of, you know, teaching. (4th grade and 3rd grade Language Arts/ELD in the morning, kindergarten ELD after lunch, then 4th grade math and 1st grade ELD after recess.) Thankfully, stuff marked with 'ESA' means I get paid extra, so yay for that. The hardest part (aside from the really annoying group I have for afterschool) is all the days when I have a sub. Sub = sub plans and never knowing how the kids are going to behave.

Current Mood: busy

We still have a week of school left, but my last day with my 4th grade pull-out group is tomorrow. We're going to finish our writing assessment, clean out our desks, then eat some snacks, watch Matilda, and have a raffle if there's time. Should be relatively painless once we get past the writing, and since I can hold the fun stuff over their heads if they don't finish...

This is my 3rd year in this position and while I do enjoy the, um, variety, I won't be too sad to see most of these kids move on to 5th grade. It was a difficult group... the 15 lowest 4th graders - 12 of them boys - 5 of them some variety of Special Ed - several of them with moderate to severe behavior problems - half with parents who don't speak much or any English - one who speaks little to no English himself, Whenever I feel guilty for having a child-light last week, thinking of the other teachers who still have their kids for 6 more days, I run through that litany in my mind.

Not that it was all bad. I had a fantastic group of 3rd graders for half an hour a day - basically the advanced kids - working on enrichment activities, writing, novel studies, etc. I also had some very sweet kindergarteners and some, ah, spirited 2nd graders :)

My guess is that the rest of the school year, after tomorrow, is going to be spent doing assessments, ~~finishing~~ starting report cards, and doing the technology stuff that I haven't had a chance to get to for months, like installing computers and cataloging who has what tech. Fun times!

Current Mood: restless

So for those who don't know, I got pink-slipped again. Not a big shock, it's happened every year, but I did get rescinded last year and there was some hope that it might happen again. But things are just too iffy, the state hasn't decided on a budget, and the district is skittish about promising to pay out money they aren't positive will be there. There's still some hope that things for next year might be resolved quickly, but... I'm just trying to go with the flow.

The one 'good' thing is that if I get laid off, I don't get to keep my sick days, which means I kind of get to play with them a little. I'm thinking about taking a day off this week. Can't be tomorrow because it's a short day and I have a meeting - can't be Wednesday because I have after-school class - can't be Friday because there's just too much going on with the kids. So... to play hooky Tuesday or Thursday?

[Poll #1741848]

Current Mood: silly

What a crappy day. Sigh.

In a nutshell:

- Overslept by about an hour. 'Luckily' I always get to work pretty early so I had a cushion, but...
- Got shampoo in my eyes in the shower
- Skipped breakfast
- Almost got sideswiped on the freeway
- Got to work expecting to have a sub so I could install a bunch of computers. Hurried to get my sub plans done, only to be told 10 minutes before school started that my sub was needed somewhere else (???). Had to shift gears and get ready to teach.
- Was told that my PITA Nightmare student who has been spending most of his time 'helping' in a 2nd grade room has pissed off that 2nd grade teacher and now I'll be having him full time again. Cripes.
- Had not packed a lunch because I'd planned to go get something between computer installations. Ended up not having time so basically no lunch.
- Had a coworker complain (albeit in a nice way) about an issue related to something I do, which made me feel guilty and then that made me mad because this job I've been doing is barely even in my job description, it's 1-2 hours a week extra work that I don't even get paid for, and I teach about 80 students a day with hardly any break, so get off my case.

The good part, I guess:

- Woke up in time to get to work
- Traffic was OK.
- Did NOT get sideswiped
- Kids were pretty good
- Another coworker gave me a diet Pepsi and a nectarine so I wouldn't starve
- Eating food my mommy made, and drinking a rum and coke.

Current Mood: indescribable

So, my year is more or less over. I had my 4th grade students for the last day Friday. We have minimum days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but 'my' kids will be with their regular teachers, doing end-of-year stuff. Monday we have field day (thankfully it looks like we will have decent enough weather to do the water games... I just need to remember to double-up on my allergy meds) and Wednesday is the promotion ceremony for the 5th graders, who will be moving on to middle school. Among the 5th graders are kids I had last year, and, well, don't tell anyone, but I think I'm more attached to them than the kids I had this year. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I haven't had to teach them.

I'll probably spend the next three school days shlepping... just doing random stuff that needs getting done. Thursday is a teacher workday... basically we have a short end of year meeting and then have time in our classrooms. For those of us who were pink slipped, it's time to pack up, although I hope to get that started right away. There's a retirement party after the 'workday' is over, but I don't think I'm going to go. I'm not particularly close to any of the people retiring, and I'm sure after a day of packing I'll be ready to go home. Then Friday is the last leadership team meeting. We get paid extra for going to those, so I guess I'll make the effort one last time.

Not sure when I'll find out 'for sure' about next year. Last year the site and the district really took a long time to get the ball moving, which is why I didn't get rehired until a month and a half into the school year. This year the site has done what they needed to do... now we just get to find out how far the district has their collective heads up the asses. I'll have to resubmit my paperwork and re-interveiw and everything, but as long as nothing catastrophic happens I should be okay. Just to be on the safe side, of course, I'll filing for unemployment. Can't be too careful.

Current Mood: tired

I feel like I've been neglecting lj as of late. My bad.

Three and a half weeks of school are left. I got my expected pink slip last week, just like last year. I'll be applying to EDD again, just in case, since I have no idea when I'll get rehired.

Also on the work front, report cards are coming up. I meant to start them this weekend. Yeaaaah... that didn't happen.

I got a pet parakeet last week. He's green and yellow and his name is Oliver... Ollie for short. The cats haven't tried to eat him or anything. He likes his millet spray and his mirror. Pictures to follow...

Went to the Giants game yesterday with mom. We won, although it was a close thing. Mom and I are both pretty sunburned and a little sore, since we walked from the park, down to Pier 39 (had dinner at Bubba Gumps and checked out the Aquarium of the Bay, which is very cool), and then from Pier 39 back to the Embarcadero BART station. We would have taken MUNI back, but when we got to the pickup across from Pier 39 it was going to be another 23 minutes until the next bus (and that's if you believe the monitor). Public transportation sucks, the people who run San Francisco suck, and when you put them together they suck exponentially.

Got a slow start on the chores today. Finally got a load of laundry going, but I still need to do the floors and empty the dishwasher at the very least. Sigh.

ETA: Okay, did the floor and also cleaned Ollie's cage. Can I take a nap now?