Spring Break is OVER

When will you blog again? - People are asking, asking, asking, nagging nagging, nagging...All my good intentions about blogging during spring break went right out the window. I have no good excuse, really, except that blogging seemed too much like WORK. Speaking of work, it's time to go back and begin the countdown for the last 9 weeks of school. It will not be unusual for me to work 50-60 hour weeks from now until the end of the year, and for me to bring work home. Evaluations, meetings, and paperwork are overwhelming at both schools. Tools and strategies certainly help keep me sane. One great tool I use is one of the best planners I've ever seen published by Franklin Covey. This planner helps me prioritize daily in order to achieve weekly goals - and, it helps me keep the big picture in mind, which is, what I need to finish up by the end of year. Also, I have learned to make the most of my time-I work on paperwork and try to have meetings before and after school, and when kids are there from 9-4, my focus is working with them.

So anyhow-what about spring break? It was great! Usually, I try to get away for a few days, but alas, not this time - however, my time off was not unproductive. I'd tell you everything I did but you'd be asleep within 30 seconds. Let's just say I enjoyed life and leave it at that. Lydia liked having me around home as well-she's going to miss me as we go back to our regular schedule tomorrow.

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So, on other subjects-what to say about the bailout mess-how do I feel about the government using tax dollars to keep private companies afloat-do we need more government intervention in our lives, or less? And is there a moral issue at stake in giving companies bailout dollars only to have them fund bonuses for their CEO's? It's sort of like Ray Barone giving his brother Robert a thousand dollars because he was in serious financial trouble, then Robert deciding to go on a vacation to Las Vegas with the money. Were there strings to Ray's gift? No, but yes.

On a less serious matter, I've decided that if my hometown newspaper is going to cancel the columns of hometown writers (Joe Stumpe and Kathy Manweiler), then maybe I'll cancel my subscription. Deciding that these columnists were no longer needed are the most recent of changes the Wichita Eagle has made and not for the better. I let it go when they cancelled the little insert every day called Wichitalk, and I let it go when they cancelled a couple of other local columnists, but say it isn't so! A paper without Joe Stumpe is like---well, it's just not the same. I feel almost the same way about cable TV, except, I really like the Food Network-it's probably what I watch the most. The junk that's on the 4 main networks-is exactly that, nothing but junk. Yuck.

And finally, this:

"Sir, What is the secret of your success?"
"Two words"
"And, Sir, what are they?"
"Right decisions."
"And how do you make right decisions?"
"One word."
"And, What is that?"
"Experience."
"And how do you get Experience?"
"Two words"
"And, Sir, what are they?"
"Wrong decisions."

State Assessments = No Fun

My sister said something on her blog that her latest post was her 200th-as is this for me! This does not speak very well of my posting because I've had my blog longer than she's had hers, but, oh well, we do what we can.

Kids at both my schools are taking the state reading assessments next week. This is never a fun time because the pressure on administration, teachers and students is enormous. There is a lot of preparation that goes into this event, and I am always amazed at the amount of work this takes. There's a lot riding on the kids' performance, and at one of my schools, it is critical that scores increase big time this year in order to avoid unpleasant consequences.

I tried to explain to someone why that school has had failing scores the last two years and it's a complicated matter. Here's a synopsis: Mobility is high-every week we add and dismiss several students. However, we have in the last two months, added more than we have dismissed and we have at least four classrooms bursting at the seams-28 kids is way too many for one teacher. I was in one classroom where there were not enough student desks and 3 kids were kneeling at chairs or sitting on the floor to work. This school is high in poverty-more than 90% of the kids qualify for free or reduced lunches. There are significant issues of gang culture, parents of all ethnicities who are not involved in their child's education, and homes which lack structure, routine, and basic necessities such as beds to sleep in. We have several children for whom we have no working phone numbers for parents or relatives, no way to reach them in case of an emergency. Currently, there are several families considered homeless, who are bunking with relatives. In spite of all that, we have dedicated teachers who come to work every day and prepare kids for high-stakes testing-and whose jobs are dependent on these kids' performances.

Sometimes I just get weary thinking about all the needs. It appears to be a gloomy picture, but in spite of everything, some good things are happening. We have good teachers and staff, we have good community support with some dedicated volunteers, and, this school is in the first phase of construction for the bond issue we just passed. We are getting new classrooms and offices - not quickly mind you, but they'll be finished in a year or two. Hopefully, we'll be able to hire teachers to staff them.

There are difficulties at the other school I serve as well - not so much poverty issues but staff issues. It never helps you to win popularity contests when you have to take a stand, does it! Spring break can't come along fast enough for me this year. No train trips like I took last year-my finances won't allow that. Maybe the weather will be warmer and I'll be able to get some outside work done. That's something to look forward to.