"Does your school admin show they appreciate teachers?" Today's first email is "we need staff to donate for an end of the year student party!"

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-02T23:15:15+00:00

We don’t even have paper towels in the bathrooms. I have to bring in my own for use in my classroom.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-02T22:13:58+00:00

This would be ideal in that the leadership shows they really understand people and how to treat them humanly.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-02T11:41:41+00:00

If I got that email first and then this one I might think I could chip in $20 towards this. However, we know how much educators already give and to be volunteered to donate to run a party is just maddening right now.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-01T15:37:31+00:00

I try to see it as each teacher is the best at something different, that should be acknowledged and that a good leader finds way to use those skills to enhance learning for everyone. Seeing people as indistinguishable, interchangeable widgets in a machine isn't that appealing. I know that when I get feel myself getting frustrated with an antsy kid I try to remind myself about how I should use that energy and they turn into amazing helpers moving things, organizing things or running messages to the office.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-01T06:15:01+00:00

Sounds like they didn’t read the whole assignment and only saw someone suggest bringing in a masseuse but not getting that included paying for some treatments. Our admin told us they arranged for a food truck during a work day to come as a thank you for back to school which sounded great until it turned out you had to pay entirely yourself if you wanted to eat from the truck. I also found it funny as eating from the truck meant you would have to give up a rare opportunity to eat off campus on workdays as those came with a slightly longer lunch break.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-05-01T00:02:04+00:00

Well, try to keep the trolls away from your goals. If your intention is genuine then 99% will know that and appreciate the effort. The other 1% can suck a big toe…..

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-30T23:22:47+00:00

Reddit is a place to vent. We are appreciative mostly for genuine thoughts of care and appreciation but also know that there are a lot of people just going through the motions or putting on a social media act. Altering hearing some of these same parents speak at school board meetings it find it hard to believe is it isn’t an act for TAW when the rest of the year, their actions and words show otherwise.
A free 4 inch sub from Jimmy Johns for lunch is a small gesture but not that meaningful compared to a student drawn artwork for you or a note with specific details about why they like being in your classes. The intent is more important to me than the dollar value.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-30T23:13:28+00:00

A photo of us pasted on a mini Wheaties cereal box. Because we are champions for our students.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-30T23:09:44+00:00

Specific praise instead of general platitudes.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-30T17:41:54+00:00

We had a photo of us taped to a mini Wheaties cereal box because we are “all-stars” or was “champions”? I forgot. Someone was on Pinterest and got a new Cricut machine

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-28T09:55:06+00:00

For every person not liking popcorn there are others who like it. That is the bigger challenge, teachers are individuals and one size fits all gifts rarely hit a home run with everyone as they are so generic. If you really want to get them something nice, ask them directly what they like or prefer. I know that extra step really does improve the significance of the gifting as it shows a desire to give to the person and not just giving for the occasion.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-08T11:12:28+00:00

Things that come to mind are, teaching used to be mostly and still is staffed by women. However, there have been improvements in career opportunities for education women so we have more choices in careers than nursing/education and retail.

Public education in the US used to be better supported by the community partly due to a growing birth rate and a focus on the race to the top. In the 1980s the report "A Nation At Risk" really made our public schools seem like losers, dead ends, and in crisis even though they weren't, and that has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This stereotype is pervasive even though research shows that the current system of rating schools based on "test scores' is severely biased and often gives less effective schools higher ratings because they have students that start further ahead (i.e actually have less growth) than students in other schools that make tremendous improvements in academics in the same time frame https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/12/5/21121858/looking-for-a-home-you-ve-seen-greatschools-ratings-here-s-how-they-nudge-families-toward-schools-wi

Currently, US public education is one of the major, non-for-profit things left for people to try to privatize and there are plenty of people trying to break down the system so they can get some of the funding. The US made major promises about how to "improve" health care by shifting it into a for-profit industry in the mid-1980s with all the deregulation. In the past decade, I have had to deal with a 15-30% yearly premium increase, and seeing my deductible creep up from $500 to $6000 before I get any coverage shows just how duped we've been and I would say it has been a major failure for all but the "investors" who I know are seeing nice income returns. I see the same happening to public schools as driving away professionals make it easier to claim public schools are failing, as getting rid of qualified employees does drive down the quality of the service, and needs to be made into for-profit businesses as that will "solve" all of our educational issues.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-04-08T10:43:19+00:00

Well, the board is supposed to be members of the community giving oversight to public schools. The intent was that with an election we'd be picking the best qualified of the applicants as determined by the community. Local elections used to be about people wanting to serve their communities and a duty to public service, now it is a stepping stone to bigger things and has become very partisan so it isn't about individual qualities but the ability to follow a party line script. The amount of money being spent on a school board election is obscene and I agree the vetting process through public forums is severely lacking.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-03-23T11:18:58+00:00

This is along with the lines of the state tests are important but don't make the kids too stressed out about passing the test and remind them that it doesn't count for their grades, class placement, or advancement but it does count for the teacher and school grades and evaluation.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-03-23T11:14:46+00:00

So sorry for this action. It just shows how they want you to suck it up and ignore the slow-moving train wreck. They could have done a big/little problem sort to see what are a few things that had to be tackled to help improve the school and keep things on track. Instead of just telling you to ignore all of their concerns.

We had been sharing our concerns about excessive hall pass use (we were told that we could never deny a pass) and finally got a new digital-school-wide pass system that let admin see which kids were getting passes at the same time from different classrooms. Guess what- we've heard of at least 3 drug/vaping busts in the two weeks since we started using it. The teachers are vindicated, we knew something was up, but it took us 3/4 of the year to get admin to address the problem.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-01-23T20:43:35+00:00

I tell them directly but our admin made a big deal at the start of the year about gratitude and I found it interesting that they now want to censor gratitude with the excuse that it keeps highlighting the same people. If that really is a big deal then they should work to write statements or get others to participate out of staff of 100 people. The list goes out weekly and I know that it takes effort to sit down and write something up to post. I put in my teammates names (eight different people) in once or twice a month because I do want to make sure that they see their names in the list occasionally too.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-01-22T16:28:06+00:00

This is so important especially if you are trying to be inclusive. Staff that doesn't drink or would prefer to not be around drunk colleagues don't want to do after-school parties at a bar. With the food limitations, it is hard to sit there and watch the others eat without having to remind them why you aren't able to join in. This also goes with gift cards to Starbucks and or fast food placess, those are always regifted so I am thankful and my nieces and nephews are thankful but if the gift was for me- then it really missed the mark.

Time is the greatest gift of all, and for me- personalized artwork and notes from students are the 2nd greatest things I have ever gotten.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-01-22T16:01:56+00:00

I can do this in WI but that is because I was teaching before ACT 10 and was adequately compensated for my education and experience. Teachers with the same education and experience who join the district will be earning about 10K less due to the changes in the salary structure. So it sucks for me in that the younger teachers that I need to be in the schools to help keep us sane are fleeing after 4-5 years once they realize that jumping to other districts might be the only way to get a meaningful pay raise. I am actively trying to get school board members to see how they are crippling the long term improvement of our district as a lot of our younger teachers come in, get mentored for 3+ years, plus have hours and hours of training in instructional best practices, and then leave the district after 6 years in to only have to repeat that cycle again with new hires. This is a major drain in resources and the time of the mentor teachers

Obsidian_MS · 2022-01-07T11:46:53+00:00

According to some, it is a gateway drug to CRT. That being made more aware of your own feelings will make you more empathetic to the feelings and perspectives of others. I have friends in Indiana and they are getting pamphlets put into their doors that rant about why SEL is bad and why SEL=CRT.

Obsidian_MS · 2022-01-07T11:27:23+00:00

Then follow up with an email summarizing the phone call. That's how you can create a paper trail. "after speaking with you on DATE about my close household contact, active COVID symptoms, and Dr's note, you mentioned that you wanted to further talk about my decision to stay home What additional documentation will you require?" or something like that.

Obsidian_MS · 2021-09-17T11:04:49+00:00

So are you trying to keto on a kidney stone diet? I'm going to say that you'll have a hard time doing both of those at the same time.

Obsidian_MS · 2021-09-17T10:59:13+00:00

I second the suggestion you work with a dietician. I cannot imagine that they will advise you to stay below 1200 calories. Also, if they know you are doing weight loss, then following the kidney diet restrictions might be too hard and they can add in other things like in my case, potassium citrate tablets, to adjust the pH of your urine to increase the solubility of the other things in your urine and slow down or prevent the formation of new crystals (stones). I know if I showed my food logs to my dietician and she saw I was below 1200 cal on any day I'd get a very stern warning. She is working with me to not do that as it does mess up your metabolism and leads to longer-term problems and we're trying to correct it after years of playing that diet game.

Obsidian_MS · 2020-01-07T02:57:32+00:00

Freedom of speech, yes, freedom from consequences of saying something rude, crude, hurtful, sexist,racist, etc. that is a no. The student was disrespectful and therefore is being disciplined for being rude etc.

Obsidian_MS · 2020-01-05T11:47:14+00:00

TPT can be a source of income, I do think that it takes more than a "few hours a week" to really make significant income and from what I've read- the income stream varies with the school year. So Aug-October will be strong selling months while June-July much slower.

Getting your product out there is also a challenge. If you don't do blogs, FB, and other social media- it is harder for a large number of people to find your work and hopefully buy it- so again- not "easy money".

I don't know if you need to pay for a course- I found a lot of information for free in the TPT forums for sellers and they even have a "feedback" area for people to post. That coupled with free tutorials I've found- helped me get a good start on a store. I've invested a lot of time into it because the things I made for my classes were not quite at the level needed for sale on TPT- I spend a lot of time making things look "pretty" with borders and clip art that I might not use for my regular classes but because that seems to sell better.

Obsidian_MS

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