GIRL POWER!!!!

I know my next post is supposed to be ten things I love about school, but I had to postpone that to write about "the soccer girls."

For the past two years I have been working the soccer season as a supervisor/timekeeper.  This has been something totally new to me because, frankly, sports and I have never had a decent relationship.  Not when I was a kid, not when I was a young adult, not ever.  So even though I have done a dozen different extracurricular jobs in my career, I have never coached, nor had I ever, before last year,  had anything to do with sports whatsoever.  It's not that I hate sports per se; it's just that I was never good at anything, so I had no interest or knowledge to coach anything.

But last year the opportunity arose to make a little extra money, and with my daughter away at school, I did have the extra time. Now, after having almost finished my second year, I have to say that it has been a great experience on so many levels.  No, the cold wind blowing across the field when it gets to be around 5:30 is not enjoyable, but the girls so make up for it.

I cannot overestimate how much these girls have impressed me with their tenacity, their fearlessness, their hard work, but most of all their dignity. When they are out on the field, they play their hearts out-really.  They don't think about their hair or their makeup or getting banged up or about falling down.  They simply jump back up and keep running, sometimes at top speed, up and down that field.  They help each other and cheer for each other and console one another if they make mistakes.  Sure, they play to win, but if they don't, there's no anger, no petulance among any of them.  They simply congratulate the other team ("Good game, good game, good game") and then huddle up with their arms around each other.

And so here I have been, the soccer neophyte, standing on the sidelines and being completely inspired by these young women who have accepted me with open arms.  They will often say,"Thank you for supervising us," or they will all look at me from the huddle after the game and call out in unison, "Thank you!!" No girls, thank you.  Thank you all for giving me the gift of seeing girl power in action.  YOU GO GIRLS!!

Ten Things I Hate about School--Part Two

Finally able to sit down and finish my "ten things" list.  I am finding that I am busier this year than I have been in quite some time-ironic, isn't it?  So the rest of the list is a little more serious than the beginning of it. I find that there are things about working in education that I have found really troubling.  Some of these things have been issues for years, others seem to have been magnified and exacerbated lately.

6. Parents:  I have always had trouble dealing with difficult parents.  I have experienced the full gamut of problems, from parents lying for their kids, to blaming me when the kid didn't do his work, to blaming me for the kid not wanting to take an accelerated class (I should have forced him to stay), to a parent screaming a me on the phone, to a parent coming to a conference drunk.  Unfortunately I have had a couple of occasions when I literally had to hang up and say, "I'm sorry, but this conversation has come to an end." But I have also had many great and supportive parents.  Look for them on the Ten Things I Love List.

7.  Grading Essays:  An English teacher's job is literally never done, REALLY.  Until June 25 or so you always feel that weight of papers hanging over your head.  You never finish grading because as soon as you finish one pile, another comes in.  And believe me, it is not easy to grade some of those essays.  Sometimes the writing is so confusing, my only comment can be, "HUH?"

8.  Those who "know better" : Then there are all of those administrators, professors, lecturers, consultants, who either have never been in a classroom or haven't been in one in 20 years or have been in one for only two or three years, telling you the best way to do your job.  "Have them write every day." "Have them read 40 pages a night."  "Have them do more homework-less homework." "It's all about portfolios."  "It's all about the standards."  How bout you spend even one period in my eighth grade writing class and see just how enthusiastic you'd be about the new "Common Core Standards?"

9.  "There is just no money for that" :  For over thirty years I've been hearing the same "No Money" story.  Will people ever come around to realize that we need to invest as much as we can, not as little as we can, on education?  Apparently not soon because the latest, greatest idea to reform education is the 2% tax cap that New York State has imposed on its school districts, which brings me to my final and most disturbing thing.

10.  The worsening lack of respect for the profession I have loved:  I have always talked about being "called" to do this job.  I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a very little girl, and even when I left the profession to take a job in business, I realized I had to go back because the classroom was where I belonged.  To me it has always been a noble profession worthy of the utmost respect.  I have seen tremendous dedication of my colleagues over the years, teachers who have given their souls to their students.  And these teachers deserve so much more than being the latest scapegoat of society.  When I first started and people would ask me what I did for a living, they would be impressed and thankful.  These days I even have to deal with my own family's disdain for the job that I have given so much to.

Okay, I've gotten it out of my system.  It does feel a lot better! Whew!  Next time The Ten Things I Love.  :)

Ten Things I Hate about School-Part One

Well, before you think I am that cynical, let me preface this blog by saying that the one that will follow is, "Ten Things I Love about School."  So I sat down, in this year of sitting down and taking inventory, and came up with a list of things that I surely will not miss about school (And weirdly, I hardly ever call my job "work."  It is always "school," just as I never go by calendar year, always school year).  The list is simply in the order in which they occurred to me.

1.  You have to start teaching at "the crack of ass" (sorry, just think that is the funniest expression).  At 7:45 a.m., when most people are just getting ready to leave for work, we are already up in front of the classroom, trying to get 25 comatose teenagers to pay attention to us.

2.  Which brings me to another item.  I once had a colleague call the teenagers we teach, "unfinished persons."  And I have always thought that to be such an apt description.  Kids will say anything that occurs to them, at any time, anywhere, with practically no filters.  And those little devils notice EVERYTHING!! God forbid they pay attention to what you are teaching.  Nuh-uh!! Last week I had a kid in my eighth grade class tell me that there was a map on the bottom of my shoe.  I had had those shoes for six months and never knew about any map.

3.  You never really know what sort of day you are going to have.  Sometimes you can get up and be in a pretty good mood when you get to school, actually ready to have a good day, with some interesting lessons planned that you are totally prepared for BUT -the copy machine is down, the internet is down, your door lock is jammed with pencil lead, "Johnny" throws a tantrum, you get an unexpected drop-in by the principal, some kid poops on your floor!! (all true events)

4.  You can't hide.  When you are not feeing well, either physically or emotionally, you have to hide it  and still perform.  That room filled with 25 little (big) bodies is not going to sit quietly by while you gather yourself together.

5.  And you'd sure better develop strong control of any bodily functions. The bathroom can call only on a free period or within the three minute between classes.  And certainly not while you have a group of foreign exchange students from France as guest speakers.

Stay tuned for Part Two!!