Conference Notice

It's that time of year again!!!  It's time for parents to all of a sudden care about their kids' grades and we have a gajillion parent conferences a week.  Yay!  I shouldn't complain though.  At least some of the parents care enough to schedule a conference.  I had a conference with one of my repeaters mom the other day.  It was the first contact/conference I've had with her since August 2009.  I wanted to ask her did she just realize that her child has failed most of his classes and is repeating but I didn't.  I provided my input very nicely and left the conference.  The child came to class today unchanged.  Whenever my parents would have conferences with my teachers, I'd act right at least the next week after the conference.  I had to at least make it look like I was trying.  It's all a part of the game.  *Sorry momma and daddy*  Anyway, this kid was obviously unscathed by his momma's yelling and fussing.  Oh well, he can have his same desk next year.

Monday was Valentine's Day and love was in the air.  Girls walked around with their teddy bears and boys shyly placed roses and other gifts on the girl of their little 9th grade dreams desk.  *Sigh* It was so sweet in a pubescent teen kind of way.  I even got little happies from my kids.  I ended up with 3 roses, a teddy bear, and a coffee mug.  It was kind of funny to watch my boys give me their gifts.  They were embarrassed or something.  It was cute.  I'm just glad they thought enough of me to buy me happies.  I have them all on my desk on display. 

I've been reading about teachers getting fired/suspended for blogging or Facebooking about their kids.  This naturally caused me to think about what I was doing and double check what I'm saying.  I decided to investigate a little bit and see what all the commotion was about.  Uuummm, they were obviously absent the day in teacher school where they talked about some stuff you just don't say because you don't know who hears you.  Then the word LAWSUIT was used.  I paid attention that day because I like having a job.  Everything those teachers said may have been true but it's the way they said it.  I'm not picking sides (I love my job) I'm just saying that they should have used a little discretion.  I get free speech and blah, blah, blah but if you make your school look bad or you piss off the wrong group of parents, you can hang it up.  Teaching can be an extremely frustrating and disheartening career and it's real easy to get caught up in griping and complaining about lazy kids, unsupportive administrators, and parents.  We just need to be careful that we don't lose sight of our purpose in the classroom.  Those kids need us and if we're full of negativity, we can't be effective in teaching them.  It may be cliche but it really does take a village to raise a child.  We see our kids more than some of their parents see them.  We play a huge part in their development.  If you feel yourself getting irritated, take a mental health day.  It'll do you and everyone around you some good.  I've taken mental health days before and I felt better when I returned to school.  And if you must gripe (I'm guilty of it myself) don't put it on the internet.  Save it for a close friend or your mother.  I call my momma everyday after school to tell her about my kids.  She lets me fuss, gripe, and be frustrated then we move on.  *gets off soapbox*

My school is having a book sale to raise money for our athletic facilities.  The date of the sale is March 5th and will take place in the cafeteria.  Come out and support us as we try to raise money!

I got asked today how many followers I had following my blog.  I have no idea!  I'd like to see how many people read my blog.  If you will put your initials and maybe a city or state so I can see where you're coming from!  Thanks!