Will you sub for me?
Today teachers at my school were informed that going forward we will need to secure our own subs on days that we are out.  A couple of teachers have taken scheduled leave, but the majority of teacher absences have been for illness.  When teachers are out, the system at our school is to have other teachers substitute for the sick teacher during their planning periods.  That system is not very

Suspension may be imminent....
So...I spoke to my union rep and there may be a suspension soon.  Finally, the student will receive a just consequence for his action.  All is right with the world, and I can return my energies to raising student achievement. Not so fast! The suspension she's talking about is not the student's, but mine.  Apparently, in the district, what I did is considered corporal punishment and I can be

Ego
Apparently, I've bruised my principal's ego.  Last week a student hit me.  I'm not sure why, but the principal is dead set against doing anything about it.  As I've refused to let the matter go, he's become nasty towards me.  He wrote me up for being tardy, something he's never done since school started.  He's also questioned my initiative and professionalism for not going downstairs to file the

Miserable Monday / Burn Out
There must be something in the water today.  The ninth graders have revolted and become completely unmanageable in class.  They complained in first period that their grades, the grades they earned, were too low.  They revolted in second period when I started teaching a concept that they claimed they already knew.  (Those who attempted the classwork without the benefit of the instruction could not

The Good With The Bad
Since I've given myself license to rant on occassion, I feel it only fair to note the good stuff, too.  I am pleased to report that the IT people at DCPS are competent.  When I came in this morning, my internet was out.  Of course I was all prepared with my scathing review of DCPS technology, but I couldn't post because, well, the internet was down. So I called the help desk and the guy was