Where are we going?

I teach in an inner city school with students who live in a very narrow territory.  Each year, we try to broaden their horizons by taking them to as many places as possible. These are the fieldtrips we have planned for the students this year:

September

local college, yearbook printing plant, major department store

October

bottling plant, UC campus, local water treatment plant, various job shadowing locations

November

students will spend a day working for a local department store, wholesale buying trip

December

city hall, federal court house, corporate office of major department store, trade fair

January

San Francisco

February

GAP distribution center, local baseball stadium, printing firm, surveillance camera factory

March

San Jose, trade fair, ropes course

April

Sacramento, Monterey, NYC (depending on cost)

Not all students attend each trip each year, but by the time they finish their senior year, the majority of the students have taken all these trips.  The San Francisco trip is for those who earn a 3.0 gpa or higher in the first semester, and some students go all three years they are in our career academy, some never get to go.

We get to know a lot of bus drivers throughout the years, and one turned out to be the parent of one of our graduates this year.  He approached me, introduced himself, at graduation and reminded me that he had taken us on many of our local trips.  I know how hard bus drivers work, especially when they have to deal with a bus full of teenagers and negotiate the roads.  My students are usually professionally dressed for the trips we take, and they behave well.  I have taught them to say hello to the driver, and to thank the driver when we are done.  This father had remembered all of this, and he told me that he always went home at night, after one of our trips, and told his wife how nice I was.  It made me glad to know that we weren’t a burden on a driver, but rather, made his day a little better.  Sometimes, maybe, the fieldtrips help more than just my students.

 

 

 

Finally feeling human

School has been out for two weeks now, 17 days to be exact, which means I have 40 days left.  I am insane about counting the days.  I am finally feeling like a human being again because I have had time to rest my brain, to think, to contemplate, to read, to relax, to enjoy summer evenings on my porch.  

Although I am feeling rested, I am not ready to start planning for the new school year, not major plans any way.  I have set dates for fieldtrips (all 19), and the calendar is set for dances, rallies, and all those events that must be covered by the yearbook.  I have cleared 2008 off the computers and plan to load the new software tomorrow.  

I have to go to our district’s office and change my annuity that I have had since I began teaching.  The company with which I have had the 403b is no longer willing to accept my money so I must do something different.  My brain is just beginning to get comfortable with that information.  Same with buying my car’s registration.  It is a task that must be done in the next 10 days, but I still have to get my brain in gear to stand in line and pay my fees.

My sister lives only 15 miles from me, but I rarely see her.  Today I called her and we wore out my phone, literally.  I had to change to another handset because the first one died.  Again, I knew I would need a huge amount of time for that call, and it’s taken two weeks to finally reach that point.  She and I can talk for hours, once we get started.  She is like me, though, it is sometimes hard to get your brain in gear to talk that long.  Her daughter is battling ovarian cancer and it takes a lot of energy to deal with the consequences.  She knows the amount of energy I expend on my students; so between the two, cancer and kids, we don’t get to talk as often as we would like.  But we both understand.

 

Eat locally

…but this time at your favorite restaurant.  In an earlier post I wrote about CSAs and buying local produce to eat at home.  Now I want to encourage people to eat at their favorite local restaurant, which hopefully is not a chain, but rather locally owned and operated.  Too many small eateries are suffering due to the economic times.  The price of gas and groceries are keeping many at home, and if they do eat out, it may be at a fast food outlet.  

Although not completely opposed to fast food, I try not to eat at those places unless I am with my high school students on a fieldtrip and we make our bus stop there.  As I tell my students, eating fast food occasionally will not kill you, eating it everyday will.   Nor am I advocating eating at the local diner everyday, either.  But an occasional meal out helps us to feel less deprived, and it can certainly help our local economies.

So think of your favorite local dining spot, and go out to eat.

Where have all the teachers gone?

I’ve started to read about teachers who are leaving.  It makes me feel sad that we are losing teachers because administrators, parents, the public, whoever, just don’t support the work they do.  Teaching is becoming harder and harder each year (I can say this as I start my 20th year in the profession) and the support seems to wain each year.  I know that I am working harder than ever before because everyone wants to make more demands on what I am doing in and out of the classroom.  

And what about the new teachers?  I know some who are very talented, and they have not found jobs.  Yet we keep saying we value teachers and we need more.  Ok, then hire them, put them in a classroom.  Give them a chance.  One young lady did a long term sub job for me this past semester, stepping into a difficult position and doing a good job.  Did she get a permanent job? NO.  Another teacher in our department came in and took over a set of classes from three different teachers and did an outstanding job.  Did she get hired to return?  NO.  A friend of mine just finished her student teaching in elementary teaching and she has no job prospects at this time.

 

A day in the park

A wonderful young lady substitutes for me at school when I must be gone.  It is not easy to find someone who is conscientious and follows directions, and gets to know my students, but Jessica does all that. She is a also on staff at the church I attend, and that is how I met her.  She works with a group of young people at church as well as puts together mission trips for members to take.  

The young people come together, every few months, to do a party in a nearby park for neighborhood children.  There are crafts, games, stories, and a barbecue.  They see this as their local mission work.  I have been called on twice now to help out and in both cases, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, working with much younger children than is my usual assignment with high school kids, making crafts.

Yesterday, in blistering heat of over 100, we did crafts that involved the story of Jonah and the whale.  Here is some of the handiwork:

 

 

 

 

For a more detailed version of the day, check out the Animoto video I made.

Back to the flip flops

Yesterday I went to school to work on yearbook computers, taking off this year’s photos and pages, getting ready for the new software.  I wore a pair of flip flops, just like the kind the kids wear.  After about 3 hours of no air conditioning and running around a hot, dirty campus, I can say, “yuck to flip flops at school.”  I do not know how my students can make it through the day when I struggled with just 3 hours.

There is more construction going on around campus so lots of piles of dirt.  I started the morning off with walking around, taking pictures of the work, and my feet soon were dirty and gritty.  By 10 o’clock it was already 90 degrees, and with the air conditioning in my room not working, my feet were now sweaty.  I had to go up to Royce Hall, which takes two sets of stairs to reach, and with each step my feet were slipping and sliding.  Coming back down was pretty painful.  

I talked with the head counselor who filled me in on schedule distribution the week before school starts.  (I know, we just ended school and now we are planning for next year.  That’s how we operate.)  She also told me that we would not allow students to pick up their schedules unless they were in dress code, and when I asked about the flip flops, she was adamant we would follow the rule that says NO flip flops, NO backless shoes.  Ok.

So, I am all for the no flip flop rule because they make your feet miserable when worn to school.  I don’t know how my students have managed all this time or why they even want to wear the things.  I couldn’t wait to get home and wash my grungy feet.  Today I wore tennis shoes.

Road Trip

My girlfriends of almost 30 years, and I hopped in my car this week and headed to the ocean.  We are fortunate to live only 3 hours away from some awesome beaches.

This one is William Randolph Hearst State Park, just across Hwy 1 from the entrance to Hearst Castle.  There is a pier also, and if you walk out on the pier, turn around and look back, you can see the Castle, perched high above the ocean.  It is a quiet, placid beach, and one can imagine life as it was during Mr. Hearst’s time.

We also stopped just north of Cambria at another park and watched the waves come in.  This little guy also showed up, and filled his cheeks with nuts and berries we had brought for snacks.  My friends gave me quite a tongue lashing for feeding him, but I didn’t care as I feed the squirrels at my house too so figured he should reap some of the bounty.

We spent the night in San Simeon, a sleepy little burg, just a wide spot in the road, and wandered the beach, looking for rocks the next morning.

Leaving our 100 degree days to enjoy cool ocean breezes and good conversation and food was a much needed treat for all of us.

Eat locally

Even though I try to buy only local produce, sometimes I fail.  Yesterday was such a day.  I had not bought a watermelon yet this season, and I really wanted one, and they were on sale.  When I was washing my prize purchase, I see this tag:

 This melon has come all the way from Mexico, probably on a truck, using high priced diesel fuel, right up Hwy 99.  Long trip for a melon.  It will be another month, though, before local melons come into the market, and even if I am not buying the Mexican melons, I know others are so why should I defer my desire.  Weighty questions for the soul.  Which, by the way, I have time to contemplate because school is done.

For the past year I have been getting the bulk of my produce from a local grower.  Every Tuesday we pick up a box that has been delivered to a nearby store.  Many people in our neighborhood use this service so I know there are lots of us who are eating locally.  The produce is so fresh and tasty.  I do get tired of carrots in the winter and green beans in the summer, but my neighbors are usually quite happy to take any excess.  Last summer, though, we only got two watermelons all season long.  So, I may just be eating more of those Mexican melons.  Those farmers deserve to make a living too, right?

Summer time and flip flop season

I am not a flip flop wearer, usually.  It’s because I don’t like something between my toes.  I like sandals that are called slides, and have a few pair of those I wear during the summer.  I even occasionally wear them to school.  That’s usually the day we have a fire alarm and must evacuate out to the field.  My feet get dirty, and I have grit in my shoes.  I don’t know how people wear toeless, backless shoes on a daily basis, but there are many who do.

The other day, because they were on sale and my old ones were in terrible shape, I bought two pairs of new flip flops.  I like Jantzen brand because they make a better toe piece.  These lightweight shoes are fun for running around in the summer time, especially when I need to go out to get the mail and the concrete could fry an egg due to our summer temps in the 100s.  I can slip them on and run.  

Now, for school wear?  No, I don’t wear flip flops.  But my students sure do, and next year there may be a flip flop flap as we have heard a rumor the footwear will be banned for school hours.  Flip flops are casual and they don’t protect or support the feet.  And, as the article says, they may damage your career.  I will miss my occasional slides, but I am happy to abide with the no flip flop rule for school days.

Start times

Our school will have a later start time in the fall.  For the past couple of years we have started first period at 7:50 with 6th period ending at 2:30 and 7th period ending at 3:30.  Too many students did not attend a 7th period and they hung around, causing trouble.  Many had to stay on campus, even if they didn’t have a 7th period, to catch the bus which came at 3:30.  Many didn’t attend their assigned 7th period so they could hang out with their non-seventh buddies.  It all made for a serious problem.

Next year we will still have some students who will have a 7-period day, like all of the freshmen, and they will begin at 7:50; but the majority of the kids will start school at second period, or at 8:45.  I am hoping this will help with first period tardies as well as providing extra sleep for our students.  Being sleep deprived can cause learning problems.  I am certainly looking forward to getting an extra hour of sleep.