Weekend in Maine

Spent time over the weekend on a hike in the mountains of western Maine with good friend Bonnie. Foliage is going by as leaves continuously fell from the trees as we walked & stacked firewood the last two days. Good chance to decompress the craziness of the beginning of another school year. We reminisced about our great trip on the Allagash this past summer. Bonnie is co-owner of Maine Explorations a wilderness canoe company that takes paddlers to the Maine wilderness for wonderful opportunities to connect with nature, it is tough not to be "in the moment" when you are surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors.

The kids are what make it all worth it

Went into school today to learn according to police reports there was a person with a handgun in the area of the school yesterday but not inside our school as had been phoned into the police. Scary but we all know this is the reality in our society today. We did have many grateful parents and wonderful notes for the compassion and comfort we provided to the many students in our care. PTO's brought coffee and muffins to school, thank you notes, emails and several verbal expressions of gratitude. Those in charge have talked about lots of things that we need to work on to make it run more smoothly next time. For this time and these families I am proud to say that my colleagues have proven that the reason why we teach is because the bottom line is that we are there for and because we care about the kids.

Secure in place

We had a Secure in Place (lock down) in school today for two hours! Twenty minutes before it was time to send the kids home today we had an emergency lock down at school. There was never any discussion of why but I am sure we will read it in the paper tomorrow. I guess we were all over the news while it was happening. Everything went pretty smoothly, luckily when all the local and state police showed up they were very professional and thorough. Classroom teachers were fantastic and kept the students calm, safe and protected through the whole ordeal.

Meeting with administrators

Had a meeting with administrators last week and we are still working on more equitable schedules among fellow P.E. teachers. Very interesting conclusion from the meeting. During the meeting it was stated that last year during budget time it was decided that I would go from .8 to full time by becoming the Adapted Physical Education teacher. Some point after that my kindergarten class load added four 45 minute and four 30 minute classes a week. When it came time to make my schedule this year I had a full case load of classes with just my kindergarten, first and second grade classes in two different schools, after classes had already started 3 Administrators got together to say I had to cover their Adapted classes and added 5 more classes to my schedule also adding a third school. I could not understand why I was being treated so unfairly until last week when I realized that there was little or NO communication between administrators! My schedule was created without anyone realizing it was 2 positions being carried by one teacher. Man, no wonder this year's beginning has been so hard and frustrating. The schedule won't change it has been 6 weeks and anyone who has ever worked in a school knows once it is in motion there is no way to make any major changes. At this point I need to make adjustments and find ways to get through it and educate administrators before next year's schedule starts being created.

great week of teaching

I had a great week of teaching and love my adapted P.E. classes the most, it is so rewarding to be working with my students and who could not enjoy a kindergarten student's enthusiasm.

Making a Change in the Climate

Dave Finnigan   came to Newburyport yesterday to present his program on Climate Change. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dave for many years as the ultimate juggling teaching professional in school program. Dave has written many books about juggling and is now incorporating the need for society to help the environment. This new in school presentation incorporates a variety of teaching styles so that students can learn this important information through different modalities. The program also has a family night component that brings families back at night so students can share what they learned and brainstorm how they can individually make a difference. Check it out.

Enough is enough

As a teacher I am sure any of you would understand the ramifications of a daily schedule that needs to be set early in the year. Well it is October and I am still having some discussions about problems with my schedule. The biggest problem is the unequal schedule among the 3 elementary P.E. teachers. I AM a team player and am always willing to do whatever I can to help out but when it comes to being taken advantage of because I have my Master's degree in Adapted PE (and the district needs to make sure the classes are covered) I feel I have not been treated fairly so ................ the saga continues .......... and discussions continue as I continue to teach more classes, (at three different schools!) than my 2 other full time colleagues. I have a hard time standing up for myself but I have had to take a stand this past month enough is enough. So far my plead for equality has fallen on administrators with deaf ears and I recently meet with our Asst. Supt. so I am hoping she has listened and something can be resolved soon!

Word from overseas

Mike has arrived safely in Iraq, now if we can just keep him that way for the next seven months or so. My thoughts and prayers go out daily to the family & loved ones of all our troops stationed anywhere and to each and every individual Marine and soldier serving us as well. God Bless each and every one of you and let's please bring you home safely as soon as possible. Mike says the accommodations are much better than they were the last time he was there and all is well.