Okay, so much for trying to keep this thing updated this last month. I have a handful of documents started, with notes jotted down about the day, but there is no way that I am going to be able to go back and update them. So, I’m starting over fresh with April. That’s what this month is all about—fresh, new, and refreshed!
When I got home from the teacher recruitment fair in February, I found out that not only was I going to be cut from my school anyway, I found out that my principal was looking to find a job back in Michigan. Oh yeah. This is definitely a good time to leave! I’m not saying that the new principal won’t be wonderful, but all this change is blowing my mind. No class-size reduction next year, a different principal, less funding for programs, budget cuts here and there and everywhere. The list goes on and on.
It will be interesting to see the color of the grass in Georgia, if you know what I mean. I’m not looking for greener grass; I’m just looking for different grass.
I finally received the contract in the mail. I signed it, had it notified and sent it back to the district. I’m officially an employee in a Georgia school for next year. Yay! The timing of the class-size reduction going away was unfortunate. So many teachers had received notice that they were not going to have a contract for next year. Bigger class sizes means less teachers. Due to this, many many teachers had been “fired”. Instead of basking in the happiness of getting a job, I was asked continuously if I had sent in my resignation yet. (It would mean someone’s job.) I actually had someone look at me sternly when I had told them that I hadn’t done it yet and tell me, “There are people waiting for good news, Maggie.”
Hello! I am not going to send the personnel department my resignation without signing a contract first. Nope. N’way! I don’t think that that is unreasonable of me either! I must protect myself. I really figured that it was just a formality, but my name had to go before the school board in Georgia before I would be sent the contract. Once I signed the contract I would send in my resignation without hesitation.
Well, I finally signed the contract. Someone in my district is going to be leaping for joy this weekend. I wasn’t waiting to be malicious, I was waiting until my future job was secure.
Now all I have to do is fill out another Georgia certification application just to get my account re-opened for my district to initiate the provisionary certification that I will receive upon employment. That’s a pain, but I can do it. Heh.
School has been absolutely crazy lately. I don’t even know where to begin really. It’s taken so much out of me that when I get home, all I want to do is veg. I don’t want to do any work. I don’t want to play on the computer. I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s pathetic, quite frankly.
I’ve mentioned how challenging my class is before. They still are. Worse. As the year moves along, the kids are getting more and more talkative and less and less studious. I realize that I am teaching third grade and not fifth or sixth, but we are still there to learn. We can have time for fun if we finish the work first. However, we’ve not been getting the work done, therefore there’s been little fun. It’s taking a toll on both the students and me. When I’m stressed out, things are not pleasant in my classroom.
To make things a little bit worse on our time, we’ve been rehearsing for our circus that the third grade is performing. It’s all completely adorable, and the students are having a great time, but it’s really eating into our instruction time. So not only are things stressed because of behavior, but I’m also trying to fit in all the lessons in about half of the time that I normally have. Yeah, I’m getting gray hair just thinking about it.
The circus is going to be so great, though! The students are having a lot of fun with it. There are about nine acts, and all students who wanted to participate are in at least one act. There are clowns, a lion tamer, clowns, a hypnotist, acrobats, an escape artist with assistants, more clowns, and a few more that I can’t think of at this particular moment. It’s like a Little Rascals circus that we’re performing. I can’t wait for Thursday. The parents are just going to LOVE seeing their kids in this!
We are crazy. Next week is our last week before Spring break. We have only four days (Monday is a teacher in-service day) with which to work. Tuesday and Wednesday will be full-dress rehearsals, makeup and all. On Thursday, we will have three performances: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. The morning and afternoon performances will have audiences of various classes, hoping that all teachers will send their kids to watch this. The evening performance will be the one that we will try to earn a little money for our class funds. Parents, family and friends will be invited to all but encouraged to attend the evening performance. We’ll be selling popcorn, rootbeer floats, and maybe hot dogs. We three teachers and the students not participating in an act will be walking around selling the items. It’s going to be a hoot!
So, that day (Thursday) we will be getting in costume, having two performances AND having a math-a-thon! For the math-a-thon, the students will solve one hundred addition, subtraction and multiplication problems. They were asked to get sponsors (one cent for every right answer, or five cents or ten cents or flat donations). The money will go toward one or two more field trips this year, depending on how much money we earn. Are we crazy or what? Three performances AND a math-a-thon. It’s going to be a crazy, out-of-this-world day!
I’m hoping that after the circus and after Spring break, my class will once again find a normal schedule. It’s amazing what a break in routine will do to kids. Yikes!
Do they still make Calgon? Calgon! Take me away!
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