school has started again. in fact, the first day was two weeks ago...and this is the first chance i've had to blog. tell you anything about my first two weeks of school?? it should. it's been insane, to say the very least.
- our cafeteria is over capacity according to fire code during both lunches. there are freshmen sitting on the floor because there aren't enough tables. kids who get down to lunch later don't get food until five or so minutes before the end of lunch bell rings. we've also had several fights break out during lunch...can't necessarily attribute this to the overcrowding during lunch, but i'm sure it doesn't help.
- one of the teachers decided to take a leave...and made this decision one week before school began, leaving an open position and very little chance of finding a quality teacher to fill it. we had a day-by-day substitute for the first week or so. we now have a permanent teacher...first year, english...flakey as hell. there is a reason she didn't have a job when called in for this position. but the department and the administration is behind her, so hopefully that's enough of a safety net to help her out.
- the school paid several hundred-thousand dollars for an electronic gradebook program...that doesn't work. there are "bugs" that still need fixed...and no one has been trained to use it. i'll stick with my good ol' paper and pen, red gradebook and and free, online, engrade.
- i have 90 students and 25 I.E.P.'s...lots of add/adhd, lots of specific l.d.'s and a handful of miscellaneous disabilities and disorders...including a severe depression, a bipolar, a defiant disorder...i'll be attending a heck of a lot of staffings this year...
7 comments:
Wow! It sounds like a long couple of weeks. Good luck on all those IEP's. I worked at a high school a few years ago where 30% of the students had IEP's. I haven't gotten any IEP's this year, but I did get a few 504's. Apparently I have a student who cannot remember to do his work and has to be constantly reminded. [eye rolls here]
Hope the next few weeks mellow out a bit!
hmmm...can't remember to do his work? i think that may be a disability that affects a lot of students. accommodations for all!!
Good luck. Every school has lots of challenges at the beginning of the year. The biggest is always trying to stay positive in the face of all of the challenges. :)
My little rule is to take care of what is inside of my 4 walls. It's really all you can do.
I have had a great beginning inside my 4 walls and a little less than great otherwise, but it will get better.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you were teaching down the hall from me! That sounds like my first coupla weeks, too! Congrats on making it through...I'm still planning on sending you that stuff about junior theme, by the way. :)
We also have a new gradebook program. Parents will have access by January. I anticipate problems. Unfortunately we have to post to the county's system since parents will be looking at it. It's not very user friendly and I'm exactly a newbie on the net.
What's the name of the gradebook program y'all are using?
We're using a system called S.D.S., and it's very un-friendly.
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