Saturday is finally here and a well-deserved time for rest and relaxation after a first, long work week has come along with it. Wait, rest and relaxation? Me? Nah, of course not! Since this was an extraordinarily busy and hectic week in John's World, I haven't had time for cleaning, laundry, errands, minding my checkbook, this, that, and the other thing, so I'll be doing that all day today and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to relax a little tomorrow.
The second of two Madonna concerts at Yankee Stadium is tonight, and I'm starting to get excited, although going a second time was not originally in my plan. You see, when the tickets first went on sale back in February or March, my pal Rich and I gobbled up two of them for the show on Thursday, but I neglectfully forgot another pal-o-mine who's a big Madge fan, Vera. Vera was less than pleased that she had not been considered while making the original purchase, and so she asked if I would go with her to the Saturday night show, and of course I said yes. MDNA twice! Um, yeah!
L-U-V Madonna!
Back to School: A fresh start met with the same old frustration
School started this past Wednesday and on that day I posted a song that I've posted before, only with some commentary about fresh starts in new school years. The song is Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten and the commentary is definitely worth a read, not just for teachers and students, but for everybody.
Even though I had the most marvelous of summers, there was little dread about starting the school year for me, except maybe for having to wake up so early once again. School for teachers began on Tuesday, really, with the students starting the next day, which was the day I looked forward to more. Working with kids is much more enjoyable than working with the adults! I shared my excitement, as well as my frustration with how teacher's are being looked upon these days on Facebook:
Yesterday I was reminded of how my honorable and important profession is still vilified by many, and any teacher-haters out there who think we have it so easy and cushy and are only in it for the money should know this:
I had an enjoyable summer, and knowing that all vacations must come to an end, rather than being sad and miserable about it, I and plenty of my fellow teachers out there are actua
I had an enjoyable summer, and knowing that all vacations must come to an end, rather than being sad and miserable about it, I and plenty of my fellow teachers out there are actua
lly looking forward with excitement to see our students and work with them again.
Twelve years ago, I left a high-paying career to go back to college to become a teacher, to make a difference in this world in my own small way. The road has not been easy, but so worth it. I love what I do, and no, not for the money or the vacation time, but because I get to reach plenty of kids who I know are enriched because I am in their lives somehow to help guide them through life.
To all my fellow teachers and all the students out there, have a great school year! And to anyone out there who thinks we have it so easy, why don't you go out and do what I did 12 years ago. Then you'll really see what it's like to teach!
To all my fellow teachers and all the students out there, have a great school year! And to anyone out there who thinks we have it so easy, why don't you go out and do what I did 12 years ago. Then you'll really see what it's like to teach!
Reading the comment again only solidifies the opinion I have on the subject. I, and many of my fellow teachers, love what we do, and I think we have one of the most important jobs in society, yet there are way too many people out there who think we're overpaid, we have too much vacation, short hours, and overall easy jobs. Thankfully, that post got plenty of likes and lots of great comments, but I just wish more people would see things that way.
This Teacher Witch Hunt is Killing Me
Politicians feed into this nightmare with all of their standards and regulations, part of their witch-hunt to weed out bad teachers. Instead of allowing us the time to hone our craft and actually spend time preparing for teaching, we're tasked with preparing goals for ourselves to be rated on without any clear direction from the Department of Education. Teachers in my school were made to come in for two days before school started, and all but 1/2 hour was spent being schooled on the latest from the State Ed Department and other unnecessary fluff, while preparing our classrooms and our lessons was frustratingly overlooked. Yes, we were given just one half-hour out of two days to do all of that. What a waste!
As a result, the first three days of school were maddeningly hectic, especially for me. Seemingly every day a new student enrolled in my program to a point now where my population has almost doubled since the last school year.
For those of you who do not know, I am an ESL teacher. That is, I am tasked with teaching non-English speaking kids how to read, write, speak and understand English. My students aren't given very many special accommodations. They are required to pass all of the classes and state exams as everyone else, all while learning the language. This is okay when a student from a non-English speaking country arrives here at a young age, but when they move here in, say the 11th grade, their being able to do all of this becomes a daunting task, to say the least. I've got more than a few students in this situation and the time I'm given to prepare working with them is minimal. So, yeah, you might say that my job is quite impossible.
I'm Tired!
To top off the four days of bell to bell busy-ness, Ms. Madge began her show at 10:17 PM, on what was a school night for me. By the time the show (which was awesome...stay tuned...) had finished, it was well past midnight, and my arrival in my bed was around 2:30AM. Wake-up time is 5AM. If you do the math, you might see why I've been a zombie for the past 30 hours or so. Well, at least today is Saturday and Madge can start as late as she wants tonight. I can sleep in tomorrow!
Regardless of how crazy my first week of school was, I still look to future days with eyes and arms wide open. I'll get past this craziness one of these days, and go forth into a wonderful days and months ahead. Won't you?
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