TheAndrew.net

Set up a website for the CHS Business Department.  Hopefully in the future our whole curriculum (or most of it at least) can be put on the web and so on…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so here we are.

Had a meeting with my principal today to talk about this past year and this coming year.  It went well.  Just a couple things I need to work on, mostly not being a smart ass every once and a while.
Almost every day I’ll say something and maybe include a gesture that I shouldn’t.  About 5 seconds after I’ll wonder why the hell I did such a thing.  I don’t know if I’ve ever come up with a reason other than wanting to show how smart I am at the expense of others.
This especially happens with Em…so sorry Em!

Towards the end of last year I decided that if I could not teach without the aide of drugs I didn’t want to do it at all.  I survived the last couple of weeks without drugs and the summer of huge ups and downs (engaged to a wonderful gal vs. that wonderful gal’s father passing away) until TODAY.

After my meeting with the principal I met with the other business teacher for a little while to talk about the advisory committee we’re putting together and the upcoming business education conference.  While doing all of this I started to feel the anxiety building up like it did at the beginning of this past school year.
Thinking about: what to do in the advisory meeting, what I’ll do that day between the first practice of cross country season (and what to do for practice, and what time) and the advisory meeting, if I’m going to have clothes that will fit for the conference in a couple weeks, if I can get student aid for my Masters program at UCM, and so on.

So I did what I did at the beginning of last school year.  Came home and curled up on my bed.  Em went home yesterday so I sent her a message and talked with her a little bit.

I guess we’ll see what happens and if I can start the year off without the need of anti-anxiety medication.

I vividly remember an evening in high school when mom came home and I told her she had the wrong sleeping bag dry cleaned for me.

She said, "I just can’t do anything right can I?" with a quiver in her voice, went into her bedroom, shut the door and went to bed.

I believe I can understand how she felt.

Today was one of those days where I spent half of the day trying to figure out if it would be worth teaching another year.  Until school let out and I was able to vent a little bit to the other business teacher my answer was almost a loud "hell no, it’s not worth the shit you have to put up with from students and how little money you’re paid for it".

Today students were terrible, I got no break, and there was no network/internet connection in the Ag/Science Building.  Apparantly the head I.T. guy thinks a mouse chewed through the wires.  I highly doubt it….but there’s a good chance we won’t have any connection until after school is out…which means I have to figure out what to do for year end finals for six classes in the next day….everything I had planned means using a computer…which most likely will not be possible.

In the words of Sean Connery, suck it Trebek.

Yesterday was terrible.  Students were aweful.  No break.

Bad day to stop taking my medicine.

I’m ready for this first year of teaching to be over.

I don’t understand how, but it seems like I’ve got more stuff going on now than I did when I was coaching.

Overall, I’d say this year was a great success.  There’s tons to work on for next year, but I think I’m off to a good start.
I’ve also talked to a couple young ladies the past couple days about joining the cross country team next year and they just might do it!

On a different note, Grand Theft Auto IV rocks!

At school on a Saturday….

I was thinking about coming in today instead of the usual Sunday trip and a student (actually a student’s mom) asked if they could work on some things today, so from 10am-2pm he is working in my room.

I got a bunch of grading done, no lesson plans, I tried but just couldn’t do it.  So those will have to get done at home tomorrow.

On tap for tonight:  going to see Leatherheads with Em, and then it’s xbox time

3.2 million - Number of teachers working in U.S. public school
2.8 million - Estimated number of new hires needed by 2015
30% - Estimated percentage of new teachers who quit the profession within three years
$7 billion - Estimated annual cost of teacher turnover

Why Teachers Quit:

Lack of time to prepare - 60%
Too heavy a teaching load - 51%
Class sizes too large - 50%
Poor salary or benefits - 48%
Student behavioral problems - 44%
Lack of influence in school - 42%

From Time magazine, February 25, 2008

Today was rough.
Basketball practice this morning was good. It’s not fun getting up that early, but I can get used to it.

Classes, one in particular, were rough. Don’t know if it is because for three of them it’s the last time I’ll have them before Thanksgiving break?

Then there’s the whole “I’m not making much money and I have to ask mom for a little bit” situation I’m in. I’ll have to call MOHELA again, I don’t see how I should have to pay $350 per month for my loans. I have a decent amount of loans taken out…but $350 per month????

I’d have no “money situation” if I didn’t have to pay those loans.
And I guess I wouldn’t have those loans if I would have been a “typical” poor college student and not raced bikes, etc. Then I wouldn’t have had lots of great experiences and stayed in shape up to the point that student teaching started.

Oh well…that’s life. Gotta deal with it and move on.

Haven’t had a lot of time to post lately.  On my blogroll to the right you can check out Coach Reynolds’ blog, a blog I created to help with my Web Design class.  It gets updated more regularly because I try to post every time I have students post, which is almost every class period (since we have a block schedule that means basically every other day).

I’ll be so happy if I can ever get ahead in writing lesson plans.

Really wanted to watch part of the Tour of Missouri this weekend, but too much school work to do.
The final stage, in St. Louis, went through Forest Park, a place I can’t wait to go back to.

Oh well, maybe next year…