The Nail That Sticks Up Gets Hammered Down

The English II team had one wish going into this year. We dreamed a dream that all the students in our English II classes would have passed English I. We dared to share the dream with our Counseling Office and since no one told us it wouldn't happen, we assumed that our dream might come true.

...and you know what they say about those who assume.

I decided to speak up in the interest of our team and our students. In my three classes, I have ten students who haven't passed English I. The other two teachers have thirteen and eight. So I emailed. I was the one who spoke up in the interest of our team and my students and asked what should be done. I thought that perhaps I'd get an apology for the short-sightedness. I thought that perhaps I'd get an explanation as to why the only sections of repeater English all happen in the Spring. What I didn't think I'd get was a swift answer from the counselor.

"I've talked with Ms. Principal-in-charge-of-curriculum about this, and we've decided that we'll fix this. You will have an English I repeater class last period."

Hi. I'm the nail that sticks up. Don't suppose you have any ideas for repeater English I, huh?

Because Everyone Is Good At Something

I just had a parent sheet returned (late) where the mother (in different adult like handwriting) informed me that her son could "crunk dance like nun otha".

Not.
Even.
Joking.

No Day Can End Badly

...when it begins with hearing this song. Thank you, XM for your yummy morning programming. You set me up for a happy morning.

And God bless you, John Prine.

Really? Money??? Huh...

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Mourning Turning Lightly To Excitement

So the custodians dismantled my room and left not one stone atop another. This means that rather than lying abed and watching "Bridget Jones' Diary" for the babillionth time, I'm getting up on a Saturday and getting myself to schoo.

...and I'm sort of excited about it.

The Very Sort Of Conversation One Has On The Last Night Of Summer Vacation

The Crib Chick is speaking of treating some sort of malaise with vodka and cranberry juice.

Me: "That's medicinal, you know. Cranberry juice is...well...cranberry juice, and vodka is made from potatoes!"

CC: "So it's like a vegetable!"

Me:"Yes, the worst possible vegetable, though. Sort of like alcohol made of HoHo's--OHMYGOSH WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME!"

Goodbye, summer. What with the moving and bazillions of renovations and such, I hardly knew you this time. I should have loved you more, now you're gone.

An Open Letter To The New Counselor Who Told Me That I Might Just Have Thirty-Eight Students In My English Class And I Should Deal With It

Hello.

Welcome to the profession and welcome to our school.

You've been charged with the task of checking schedules for our students and I'd like to thank you for that work. Long, long, ago in May, someone went to our big fancy scheduling program and pushed a big red button. That button was to have put every child in academically appropriate and challenging courses taught by loving teachers who would mentor these children to success.

As with everything, it didn't always work. Schedules are all higgeldy-piggeldy and someone must go through to make sure that children don't have four Gym classes or no History. I'm very sorry, but that unfortunate duty falls on you.

Again, welcome.

It's fine that you gleefully announced that you were all the way through the I's in the alphabet and it's fine that we found legions and legions of errors before we even reached the letter D. It wouldn't even matter at all (ok, it would matter, but it would be a problem we'd work through together) if you hadn't said what you did. Another teacher noticed to you that I had 38 students in one class and your response was,

"Ms. Educat might just have do deal with 38 students in one class".

And so, new counselor, a choice presents itself to you. Choose carefully, for the road you take at this juncture will define your first year if not your entire time with us here.

You must choose to be either mean or incompetent. You cannot be both.

I'd advise you mull over your options here. If you choose to be mean, it will mean you must be smart. If your job is done to its utmost, I can handle your bitchiness. I would even respect it, because your work will be done and I won't have to speak to you.

Should you choose to be stupid, I can respect that choice as well. Many others have made this choice and if you'll watch the most successful among them, you'll notice that they're kind souls. We smirk sympathetically when we speak of them and shake our heads with a "bless her heart". We help those dumb people. We even love them.

Dumb bitches do not make friends at work. They don't get much respect either. Please be aware that if you choose this option, you will become an object of contempt to many of your co-workers.

The choice, then, is yours. Thank you in advance for allowing this unsolicited advice: Be mean, be dumb. Just be aware that you cannot be both.

Love, kisses, and best wishes for the best school year ever,

Ms Educat