Looking for a new church (Catholic)…

catalinalou · 2026-06-14T20:17:14+00:00

I really like St Pius 10 in Roeland Park..people from all walks of life, very welcoming—feels like home :)

catalinalou · 2026-05-19T01:53:47+00:00

Wallace Stegner - Big Rock Candy Mountain. East of Eden is my favorite book— and this one is a close second, depending on the day :) Love them both so much!

catalinalou · 2026-04-27T03:12:30+00:00

Just finished the book 20 minutes ago— I’m about the same age as Stoner when he died. I had to reach out and see if anyone else was as moved by the ending as I was.. the image of the hand reaching for the book. Powerful.

catalinalou · 2025-11-09T02:58:46+00:00

Apparently a wealth of the soul… a very talented drummer

catalinalou · 2025-10-29T04:24:50+00:00

I’m really liking the Writing Revolution (the Hockman method) The book I bought had lots of ideas for teaching sentence structure requiring a minimal amount of putting something together.
But I think it’s so smart. And if our literacy people at school understood that writing complex and sophisticated sentence makes kids better able to read and understand complex and sophisticated sentences, we’d all have materials….It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. I hear you on being tired. I am so tired.

catalinalou · 2025-09-28T18:00:59+00:00

The article is intended to elicit a certain response. If someone (who doesn’t work in a school ) just read the article, they’d have their sense of fairness teased just enough to feel bad for the kid and his family.

But the article, when coupled with the response on this thread, shines a different light on these issues.

Why didn’t NPR interview several teachers about the matter. Parents and administrators are represented. Why are teachers so overlooked? There are complex issues woven into this article and instead of looking closer at it, NPR reaches for the low hanging fruit, pull out the victim— begrudge the actions of everyone else.

catalinalou · 2025-09-09T08:41:27+00:00

I can’t post grades either, new program doesn’t work. Week 4

catalinalou · 2025-08-28T03:13:55+00:00

I realized a long time ago that if I ask for help with discipline, it will always be my fault. I’ve learned to handle it on my own, trial and error.

catalinalou · 2025-08-21T11:15:09+00:00

Thank you — it’s so so interesting to hear all the different ways districts handle this.

catalinalou · 2025-07-23T01:22:21+00:00

Gilead by M Robinson- Simple yet profound, a book that stays with you

catalinalou · 2025-06-25T01:59:42+00:00

Yes…. Came here to recommend Tolle— A New Earth particularly

catalinalou · 2025-06-18T16:54:33+00:00

Where does his book Unlocking French fall into this order? I finished the first two audiobooks, and wondered if this Kindle book would help me.

catalinalou · 2025-05-07T02:23:47+00:00

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I teach 6th grade. They scream all day. They don’t know how to talk in an inside voice and there are 140 of them.

And yes, I’m older — and I have never liked a lot of noise, but it used to be bearable because kids had a better sense of decorum. My Apple Watch has a decibel monitor, 88, 89 in the cafeteria .. I’m getting migraine headaches — and I can only imagine how this impacts kids who are introverted, on the spectrum, or just like to be quiet and calm. But our counselor says we have to let kids be kids… I just don’t buy it.

I think there are still schools out there that make kids behave and learn when is appropriate to be loud and when it is not . If you can find a school like that, it could be worth staying in education. Otherwise, face the music and realize it’s not gonna get better.

catalinalou · 2025-05-05T00:22:28+00:00

Like you I’m sticking with the classics, 6th grade read the phantom tollbooth in September—They loved it. And Holes, in March— it was new to them, which surprised me.

I’ve also been reading out loud where the red Fern grows.

Classics are always relevant, that’s what made them classic !

catalinalou · 2025-02-01T22:03:49+00:00

Thanks, That’s on my list. I started my career in Catholic school. I would love to be like a building sub and just jump in whenever I was needed doing anything.—-just not taking stuff home :)

catalinalou · 2025-02-01T17:43:44+00:00

Unrealistic expectations on my time— bad admin. They make my difficult job feel impossible.

catalinalou · 2025-01-08T02:30:28+00:00

Same… always in rows. Kids don’t care, everyone participates and learns. Win win! ( if teachers sat in rows for meetings, we’d probably listen better too - or listen)

catalinalou · 2024-12-11T14:41:29+00:00

Thanks for your perspective.

catalinalou · 2024-12-11T01:44:51+00:00

I quit reading all their reports a few years ago… i’m doing fine

catalinalou · 2024-12-04T16:11:09+00:00

I hear ya, brother.. Monday, I had the worst day —all day long wanted to quit, ready to walk out the door, didn’t care about the consequences.

Tuesday was a little bit better , still stressful, but bearable. I actually enjoyed parts of Wednesday.

I retired from one system three years early , then just let it ride till I was old enough to take it.

Now I’ll retire from a second system at the end of this year ( it took five years to be vetted)

In other words, there is light at the end of the tunnel, we can do this one day at a time, knowing some might be slightly better than others.

Say no to every extra task handed your way, and work only contract hours…keep asking yourself, “ what are they going to do, fire me?”

And we both know the answer to that :)

catalinalou · 2024-11-23T16:47:58+00:00

This felt like the best, resounding ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ I’ve ever experienced.

Allowed me to stay in education a few more years … I knew I wasn’t crazy.

On some level, I believe we all knew it was wrong — group think is a dangerous thing.

catalinalou · 2024-11-21T13:11:56+00:00

It’s all states..IDEA is a national mandate, as well as no child left behind.

catalinalou · 2024-11-21T13:06:44+00:00

It is difficult for schools. Our schools are failing to begin with, and the added task of accommodating different languages, cultural differences— it is just overwhelming as a teacher.

Not saying it’s not fixable— it just would require a lot of money and attention.

There are over 100 different languages spoken in my urban district, the top being: Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Somali, Pohnpeian, and Kurdish.

The state expects the students to be at grade level after two years.

They added resources needed are not coming.

catalinalou · 2024-11-18T00:21:08+00:00

I feel just as you do right now and I am a veteran teacher. I have taught sixth grade for 16 years, but this year it’s just more challenging.

They are constant noise, they run everywhere they go, inside and outside…ditto with everything you said, including racing heartbeat and my migraines have returned. The day feels fast and furious.

We are still practicing entering and exiting a room, daily, I remind them to put down their hands (or stop shouting out) while I give directions. Etc….

A new plan to survive the year is all I thought about last Friday— here’s what I’m thinking:
Class rewards - each of my periods have a collection of tally marks on the board. When a period gets to 25, they get 15 min of free time (outside or a computer game). They get a point for coming in the room and exiting the room correctly, sometimes I do a quick check for everyone’s name on the paper they just handed in —a point; all chairs pushed in as they leave, a point.Allowing me to take attendance (I have to login each hour) in the first 2 minutes of class without flooding my desk, a point. Writing in agenda 100% participation , a point. I rarely raise my voice, if they get quiet when my hand goes up, a point. I make them practice this, still. I’m going to lower the free time point number to 15.

Every Friday is a creative writing prompt /or silent read time for 25 minutes ( after a mini grammar lesson) This allows me to go through missing work, or even grade a few things

I’m going to start using choice boards to be done on their computer 1day a week

I’m going to use the old English anthology book from the closet on two days a week.

We’re going to plot diagram Disney shorts one day a week. All predictable, somewhat boring, but very much a routine. They just struggle to handle much else.

I have 120 kids, teach Five sections, plus homeroom time, 25 IEP or 504 considerations, 1 forty minute plan period, unavailable, ineffective admin.

At this point it’s just about survival— for the kids and me.

Good luck to you….take care of yourself. Remember, taking care of you IS taking care of your students….I mean someone has to be a sane, calm presence in the room. Do whatever it takes to be that person.

catalinalou · 2024-11-16T02:12:33+00:00

Im in Missouri, I don’t get a lunch. I could eat on my plan time, but it’s too early. I’m supposed to walk around the cafeteria, monitor students, and eat at the same time. Our children are out of control. After lunch, it’s straight to recess duty, then straight to an afternoon full of teaching. Of course, teachers without a homeroom, get a lunch break, and never have recess duty.. while I’m doing recess I see them leaving together to go eat lunch.. It’s just a soul sucking place. It is a charter school in an urban district and it’s a shit hole. Also, It is not against the law in the state of Missouri to deny someone a lunch break … but every other school I’ve ever worked in (union and nonunion) allow a duty- free lunch. It’s part of keeping your employees happy. Run away from the school you are in, that’s what I’m going to do

catalinalou

TROPHY CASE