It has been far too long...I know

I'm back - at least for this one post - we'll see if I can keep posting on a regular basis, what with my new work schedule! I certainly have more than enough stories to share now that I'm back to school - goodness posting the crazy things that go on could be a full time job!

Some of you know this, but being back to school has not been the easiest thing ever. There have been a few hurdles to jump over and I think I've barely cleared most of them. ALL last week I had meetings, etc for school. NO, I didn't get paid for them either - I was told that they were all "Conditions of being hired". Those darn CPDU's were not even enough to make it worthwhile (oh, for the non-teachers reading this, CPDU's say you did stuff to further your education in your teaching area & you have to earn a ton of these every 5 years to keep your certification current.)

Anyway, this week that sort of thing continued - and thankfully I was able to get my classroom set up between meetings.

Last week I managed to tick of my predecessor who is still in the building in a new position. Some of you know this, but I can be a bit of neat freak. When I got to my classroom last week - it was a total junk pit. She was "leaving" me all her stuff. How thoughtful?! I'm not interested in keeping all of someone's unorganized stuff that I will have to spend countless hours sorting through to figure out what it all is. So when I asked for it to be removed, I met some pretty tough resistance. It got moved, but I'm afraid I now have an enemy at school, or at least until I prove that I am capable on my own. Fun Fun stuff!

Then, we had some scheduling difficulties, no class lists until the morning of the 1st day of school, not enough books to hand out, really HOT days & no A/C, trying to talk & hear above fans, kids trying to find out what they can and can't do in my class.

Today, I had a few folks who think that classwork or homework is optional. They just sat like lumps in my classroom. They are going to find out all too soon that their grade will reflect that. I can't MAKE them do anything. I will honor their choices, but some of them are just choosing poorly. I have never been lied to as much as I have in the past two & a half days. It is really sad. However, that said, there are some really great kids too. Mostly I have really great kids in my classes. It will be good, but it may take a while to get there - for all of us!

More later!