20 more days!

Only 20 more days of working at Uintah School District. I found out that I started with 4 students on grade level in reading and now I have 9 and two are only 1 point off. While I would love my entire class, more than doubling is progress!! I also pre-tested them on math and they all did so well. They are ready for second grade. I am going to miss them so much and yet I am excited that I only have 20 more days with them..confuses me as well. The new seating arrangement is going well. I am just so busy these days! Oh and I got the opportunity to evaluate the person who is one of the reasons I resigned. My first thoughts were be malicious, slam her like she did me. Nevertheless I went the better way and was honest. Then she took away some of my re-licensure points. I think she does not want me to ever teach again. Anyway, 20 more days is all that I can say.

New seating

So my kids acted horrible (along with most of the other first grade classes) but surprisingly we got a lot done and they are so smart! They nearly made their music teacher cry. She said she screamed and they still would not stop talking! So I was lecturing them on respect when the PTA came in to do observations. Basically they take your kids for 20 minutes, kick you out and ask the kids to evaluate you. Yep haha after my not-so-very-nice lecture, my class gets to observe me. I never have good timing. Haha! The best part was I was aloud to take a 20 min nap--yes a nap! Heavenly was a great word to describe it. I finished out the day and then we all just complained. So now I have all rows that are separated. I hate teaching this way. Uhh if only we could just have fun and not have to do this, I would enjoy my last few weeks with them.

Oh well tomorrow is another day:)

Moving on and having fun

So I am trying to have fun with my kids and cherish the less than 5 weeks I have with them. I am avoiding the administration at all costs and when it is unavoidable, I say hi as if we are best friends. The problem is, is people are now starting to talk so I get it brought up over and over again. I received very sweet letters of recommendation today that made me nearly cry. Today was a good day. We finished reading testing and they did very well. We also took pics of what a good line looks like, etc... and completed looks like/sounds like charts. Overall it was a really productive day. After school, I found out some good news. I visited the dreaded district office. I viewed my personnel file which looked good. I got my fingerprints to renew my license completed. I found out that if I resign from this district (which I did) that I can still get my level 2 license in 2 yrs instead of 3. I also discovered that a bad JPAS is 9/10 times never asked for. So good news today. Tomorrow I have a very important meeting that I am so nervous about. 2 against 1 again. Oh goody.


On to write lesson plans. G'night

Fridays are my relief

Well I turned in my resignation letter this morning (Friday). It felt weird but liberating. I got the standard, "thanks and good luck in your future endeavors," speech. I felt like I can just relax, have fun, be a good teacher: everything before this whole endeavor happened. My caseworker said that she would like to present my case to a higher power and say that my district has to say something nice whenever anyone calls regarding me--some kind of legal document that is going to be included. I had no idea they could do that. It is so liberating to have an attorney and caseworker on your side.

As for work: my class was great! We got everything done and I loved the day. Now on to finding a new job.

Early morning results

So the union let me know that there is nothing that they can do because of one letter loophole in the district policy. They all agreed that it was rude, unprofessional, but not illegal. The attorney thought he or she found something that would work and then discovered another loophole. My district really covered themselves. They did just enough not to get in trouble. So the advice they gave me is to keep my chin up and resign from the district. So I am going to be in that process soon. I have some other job leads. The hard part will be letting my boss know.

Too horrible for a title

Ok, I think I have calmed down a little to at least discuss it. So I had my meeting with my JPAS evaluator and my principal. I felt like I was a lamb about to become slaughtered or about to go to the electric chair.  I actually was humming, "Lamb to the Slaughter," from the Nashville Tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith CD as I was walking down to hear my fate/sentencing. I went in and they were being really nice, which is never a good sign with administration. They told me that I failed JPAS and that they could give me another chance but the district has decided against it. They also told me that I won't be able to upgrade in licenses or apply to grad school this summer. I just sat there wishing I was getting a root canal, surgery or anything else but being here. I was informed that my job is in question as well as all future jobs because no one wants to hire someone who fails JPAS. Only the really bad teachers fail JPAS. You know the ones that come late, don't prepare anything, etc... Yeah those ones. I failed worse than them. Nothing positive was told to me. I went from an 89% to about a 12%. I was then forced to make goals and sign it. I was then told I could contest it. I had my head down and left not at all happy. My dream of teaching was slowly dwindling away. The worst part was because I am a first year teacher,  I have no rights. I tried to say I was sick, etc... but they thought they were all excuses. Ok fine, I failed I get it. What I don't get is why I am not being offered another chance?

Yesterday...
I decided to contest it. So I filled out the paperwork to contest it and had a long meeting alone with my principal. I told her that I did not think it was fair and I am frustrated. She listened and told me she would ask why I am not being offered another chance. So I continued on the day. We had a field trip to Lowe's and to the Library. It was my first ever field trip with my own class. I was so sick. I had not eaten or slept for I don't know how many hours. I felt nauseous and was dry heaving. I couldn't throw up because I had not eaten anything. Plus, I would start crying random times of the day. I asked a parent if she could stay with me all day long not giving a reason. The reason was so that she could stay with them while I left to cry. I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. I got through the day thanks to that parent and attended a meeting with my mentor. I vented and cried with her. I then asked my boss what the reason was for not offering me another chance. She said simply that they don't have to and they are not. She also told me that they don't have to offer me a reason. What a load of garbage! I literally hung my head down and told her thanks anyway. Then I decided to go to my union representative and they sent me to a caseworker that is deciding if they can win my case. Finally a twinge of hope.

All I want to do is teach. I am most likely putting in my resignation in the next few weeks.

Blindsided

So I had a really good day with the kids acting well. My hardest child told me that today was his last day.  While he was so hard, I will miss him. We have come so far. He would not let go of my hand the entire day practically and told me that he will never forget me and that he loves me. I hugged him and basically let him play computer games all day so there was no way he could get in trouble. Hey I wanted him to end on a good note. Then my parent volunteers gave my class an egg hunt. It was a great day! Then after I dropped my kids in, I walked into my classroom to find my boss wanting to talk to me. 


She was not smiling or anything. I instantly felt sick. What did I do? She asks me to sit. She explains that there will not be a few more requirements for me. I now have to give her daily lesson plans to fix and objectives for everything that I teach. I felt like I was in trouble. They only do this for people when they are not satisfied with your performance. I began to get a migraine and get very sick. So I just sat there, took the what I felt was punishment and said OK like I was in trouble. She did not tell me any of the specifics. I asked if this is because of JPAS and she said she does not think I passed. All I heard was, "You are a failure" in my mind no matter what she said. I tried to sound grateful and professional, was I was mad. How dare they hold me to the same standards as someone who had taught for 4 mo. longer and had procedures established. How dare they get me in trouble for teaching sick. I was mad and angry. So I just sat and stared and cried. I cried for hours straight and went to bed. They told me all would be decided when I returned back from Spring Break. So instead of starting Spring Break today, I had to postpone my plans. Life sucks!


P.S. I woke up today and felt a little better. I decided to arrange a meeting with my boss and defend myself and get some things clarified. I used the excuse that I had a migraine and did not feel like talking yesterday but I want to talk. She agreed for when I get back to have an informal meeting. Hopefully I will have a job when I get back.

Good and Sad News!

Ok so I had a parent come in and stay with her difficult student. After 3 hours, she was like, "I am finished, I can't take it any longer." I was thinking to myself, "I get to deal with your little angel 7 hours a day/ 5 days a week and I can't say I am done. So she decided to home school him if this is the behavior that he gives me everyday. It is funny after all of the calls home, notes, etc.. until she witnessed it for herself, she did not believe it.