Saturday School

At the beginning of every year the administration asks who would like to be put on the Saturday school rotation. This means that every so often you are in charge of watching the "bad" students on Saturday morning for 4 straight hours. Because I was not full time, I thought that this would be a good way to make at least a little bit of money. The first time I was up on the rotation it was really really easy. I only had 10 students and they followed directions and it wasn't that big of a deal. Well now it is a lot harder. I am currently sitting in a room full of 29 students that do not want to listen or do the work that they were supposed to bring with them. We have been here for almost 4 hours and I am not going to lie...it sucks. This is the kind of sucking that you think to yourself, "this is honestly not worth my $38.21 an hour pay. It sucks. I am honestly just a babysitter. The students are to sit silently and work. They are not supposed to talk to each other or take out any sort of electronic device. It is lame and I don't like doing it. I had never signed up before so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.

I have a feeling by the time we get closer to noon it is going to degrade into "as long as you are not talking I don't care what you are doing" ugh this sucks.

FML

So my classroom is really really cold. the last time they came in to check the heat with their little sensor gun it said 46 degrees. Well the maintenance department has been trying to fix my heater (an subsequently stuck on AC) for about a week. They needed to order a part so it has a very cold week. On day 2 of these escapades the maintenance men brought me a small heater. This is not nearly big enough to heat my entire room, which is huge so my TA and I have been hoarding it next to the desk because everybody else is up and moving around anyways...

So yesterday I came up with the brilliant idea to put the heater under my desk so that it would hit the desk and fan out a bit more around me. This worked like a charm. This morning when I got in my room was inevitably freezing so I tried this again. I was nice and toasty as I worked on the computer. The bell rang so I went to unlock the door. As I walked over to the door I noticed a bright red spot on my sweater sleeve. As I unlocked the door and walked back to my desk I was trying to figure out what this spot was because it wasn’t on me when I got to school. In my quest to find the source I found this mystery substance smeared elsewhere on my jacket as well…then there was a HUGE glob on my pants. Apparently in the desk drawer over which sat the heater was a bright red crayon. The heater melted this crayon and it dripped out of the desk onto my pants and subsequently got onto my jacket and smeared a lot…I now am sporting a pair of pants with a bright red spot the size of a mandarin and red smeared all over my jacket which I was able to take off….I am an idiot. Apparently a big one.

Working Drama

It is really strange to think about life when you really set back and look. I have been trying to do this at work lately. I know that I don't have the big picture and I am aware of current economic situation where we are all lucky if we even have a job. However, I also know that there are decent ways to treat people and there are some things that are just unacceptable. When I was originally called back to Vanden they offered me a full time position. Over the next few phone calls the position just kept falling until it landed on 60%. Ok, well I can make 60% work somehow. I will figure it out. I was told that I would be done teaching by 4th period which would give me the entire afternoon to do other things. I currently teach first, fifth and sixth period. In case you don't know how schooling works because you didn't pay attention or you have just forgotten how to count, five and six do not usually follow one. It is just not how things work. Because of my schedule I have this lovely 4 hour break in the middle of the day that I do nothing. I cannot get another job because there is nowhere to work nearby. It is beyond frustrating and simply exhausting to tell the truth. Since that initial hiring back I am also having the problem that they keep offering me opportunities to teach new classes and then taking them away. Every time I turn around the powers that be are changing something that inevitablly messes me up. I am tired of battling. I am tired of working incessantly and yet not being paid. I long for the simplicity of former years where I would teach all day and then go home.

There is nothing that I can do about my current situation except quit. There is not much I can change that will help provide for my family or help put money back into my savings account. Ultimately I have only one decision: keep working at Vanden or leave for something else. There is nothing else so that leaves me with the former.

I am almost 90% sure that I will not be at Vanden after June 4...now we are just counting down the days until the torture ends.

Welcome Winter

So I am well aware of the fact that winter has been here for a very long time; however, it has never been more clear than it is right now in my classroom. The heater broke over the break. That is right. The heater that they just fixed before the break is now broken again and they need to order a new part. This wouldn't be too bad if the AC was not just stuck on. It is not only clod because we are in winter but it is also getting colder in my room because of the wonder that is the modern AC. Thank you very much.

Beyond the cold that I am going to die of...not much is going on.

I am happy...well when I am not freezing to death in my classroom.

New Year's

So I don't particularly care for resolutions. I think people resolve to do too many things and then they never happen. I always make resolutions that never really ingrain themselves into my life and then I feel like I have failed or let somebody down, or course that somebody is always me and I really don't like that feeling. So instead of making resolutions...I make lists. There are a million different things on these lists. I try to separate them based on the area of my life they deal with: personal, health,work, social...you get the point. I like lists better because I can cross things off of them and I can get very very specific. Now mind you, this is the first year I have tried the list idea and so we will see how it works. I just know that I have always enjoyed making lists and crossing this off...so I am hoping that this is going to stick. I will let you know.

In other news. I was playing boxing on the wii fit and my arms really hurt. Mind you I did this boxing adventure 2 days ago...I am still in pain...I think that calls for more boxing more often.