My vacation is officially over. I can no longer fly here or there. I am to stay put. I have to work. I have to put money in the bank so that I have food to eat and roof under which to sleep. Dagnabit.
We had a very-long-all-day-never-ending in-service today. We have adopted a new math curriculum, and today was the day to kind of “talk” about it. All of the elementary schools in my school district met at one of the schools. It was a bit too much reality for my taste. I’m really not ready to return to the grind. I can’t wait to teach again, but all the hub-bub that has to be taken care of first – yuck!
With the new “No Kid Left Behind” legislation and whatnot, our district is trying to help us meet the state standards in a better and more efficient way. This is no small feat, however! We have a new math series, so not only do I have to delve into the curriculum so that I am better able to teach it, I have state and district issues to deal with at the same time. You have to see this math! I mean, it’s never-ending! The lessons go on and on. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. I am all for teaching a subject thoroughly. There are just some really high expectations of the amount of concepts and standards that need to be taught by the time it’s tested.
I am eager to begin the new series, though. I am hoping that it is all that the district is hoping it will be! I enjoy teaching math, and I know that it’s usually something that the kids enjoy, at least somewhat. However, with the new “essential” standards and the way the series is set up, the kids will be testing (standardized and scan-tron) every twelve weeks! This on top of the yearly standardized testing. Hello! Not only that, but the SAT-9 has been changed to CAL-6. This was the first I had heard of it. I admit to be less informed than I could be, but one would have thought I would have heard of this. Other teachers at my table were just as clueless, so I didn’t feel as ignorant!
I sincerely hope that this series is as effective as they (the district big dogs) hope it will be!
I found myself very interested in all the people meandering around the school today (confusion makes for some great looks). So many faces I recognize, but there are a number of new ones. There always are. Our district hires new teachers all the time. Hey, I was one of over one hundred new teachers the year I started! That’s a lot. I wonder if people looked around the room and wondered who I was when I first attended a multi-school meeting. I bet they did. And did they always look so young?
 Here's a cute little picture that I took when I went to visit Sandy. It's one of the dogs being lazy on the bed. Awwww... what a cutie!
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