Je Suis Fatigue

I'm teaching regular ed this year in an amazing Grade 5 class with 20 students who I can reach and teach at their level because the class size is superb. Next week however it will become a 4/5 split with 27 students because the school registration (not my grade or even my division) was down 30 children on the first day of school. Now all classes in my school are going to splits except for Grade 1 and Grade 8.

The government is "Putting Students First" though in case you haven't heard.

A teacher has to move schools 2 weeks into the year into a split grade that is new to him, while another one has to work .25 time at a different school and .75 in ours. We have to get to know our new students and catch up on their assessments and get-to-know-you activities in the following week which will put us behind approximately 2 weeks (while the kids we've had do what?). Now if that isn't "Putting Students First", I don't know what is.

Split grade teachers (and Special Ed teachers) do not get paid any more than a straight grade teacher and we don't get any more prep time even though we have to teach 2 curriculums and administer and grade 2 sets of assessments, and 2 sets of report card comments. At the same time. Who accepts a second workload under these conditions?

Keep on putting those students first McGuinty. 

Such a shame that children are being used as pawns in a media game that only tells one side of the story, forgetting to point out to those incapable of reading between the political lines here, the real situation - the actual issue: doing away with unions and collective bargaining. Anyone realize how much this is going to cost tax payers in legal fees when the government is taken to court by the unions? Think about that one.

The general consensus appears to be that teachers do not want to strike (who does that help? We have kids too.). Teachers are accepting of a pay freeze and acknowledge that we make a good salary. What teachers are not okay with is having our contract legislated by a democratic government who believes in the collective bargaining process.

I may have to brush up on my inferring skills. How again is this putting students first?

This %&*# exhausts me. The media disappoints me. This process is insulting. The negative energy created by Bill Wolf In Disguise does not put students first.

Select members of the public will say how selfish teachers are if we end up 'working to rule', how WE'RE not putting students first. To those people I would ask if they've ever heard the saying that sometimes in order to take care of others you have to first take care of yourself?
Or don't let anyone bully you?
Or stand up for what you believe in?

I am just too tired though. Because I've been working my ass off teaching my students and slaving away at night and on weekends because I put students first.

http://cherrywoodgrade5.blogspot.ca/2012/09/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year.htmlhttp://cherrywoodgrade5.blogspot.ca/2012/09/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year.html

A Summer Review

This post has been brewing for a while but I hadn't uploaded the pictures or sat down to write it and on this beautiful sunny morning while Steve is golfing and Brennan is playing Handy Manny puzzles on the iPad, I'm going to do it. Because although tomorrow isn't officially Fall, it is to me, so before I start gushing about mums and fall leaves, here's some of what we did this summer:

Steve and I coached Brennan's soccer team on the weekends in July.

He was quite proud of his medal

We rented a cottage in Haliburtan with Steve's family for a week in August.

Brennan and his cousin Grayce learned to fish

The 3 Amigos

Brennan became obsessed with fire and marshmallows

Steve booked a romantic getaway for us for 2 days last week. We went to a stunning bed and breakfast (Irish Mountain) in Meaford. It was the most relaxed I've been in over 3 years!

Hiking

Georgian Bay

Steve sailing

We went to the coolest winery called Coffin Ridge

The view from our room

Sunrise

Brennan was very helpful around the yard. Steve bought him a mini wheelbarrow that he filled with the weeds I incessantly picked in our backyard thanks to the field behind our house.

I took Brennan on different day trips and for playdates at parks. He had a blast. It was really neat to see the difference in him from last year. He remembers so much now and was talking about our adventures weeks after and would ask me, "You remember when we went to see the lions Mommy? You remember that?" He would get excited about what we'd be doing because he understood what was going on.

I did take a couple of days to do 'Mommy' things. I strolled around Niagara-on-the-Lake and on one rainy day I stayed in bed all day. It was fantastic.

I spent a great deal of time in my new classroom. I'm moving back to regular ed this year, into a Grade 5 class. It's been 5 years since I've been in this world. I feel like I did when I had my first LTO 8 years ago...this strange combination of excitement and nervousness.
I cleaned the room and painted the boards, unpacked my millions of boxes and then got down to some serious decorating/organizing business.

This bad boy took me a whole afternoon to measure in order to make sure all the words would fit properly

My class library

Books are all organized by author or genre and labeled to promote independence (and my sanity) when returning them 

Kids supplies and manipulatives

Learning goals and criteria boards

Our Math board being used for the how-do-you-learn unit we'll be doing. All pictures were created by a colleague (Colin Strickland)...I cannot take credit for their fantasticness.

The desks until we get into our Tribes

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Before heading off to do mountains of laundry, I did want to say thank you to those who read, commented, and shared my last post. More people read about the volcano in 3 days than a whole year's worth of blog writing!! I didn't realize it would go as far as it did, since it's usually just a handful of friends on Facebook who read what I write. I'm not usually too exciting ;)

To answer the biggest question: Why aren't you sending it as an editorial to newspapers? My answer is simple: I write for me. I did not have the intent of it spreading the way it did...I sure would have done more research and added more detail if I were looking to speak on behalf of others. I am also not interested in the back and forth banter that would come of it in the opinion section, because that is what sells papers. It would just add fuel to the fire. 

Thank you again for supporting me, but more importantly for supporting teachers in general. And to those of you who got the real message...what the government is starting to do to unions and the collective bargaining process...great inferring!