I have been very glad to have had two weeks plus off from work. I am ready to go back.
While we were on vacation and I could do nothing about it, I received a notice from our very good and kind record keeper saying that my attendance report was overdue. I totally forgot to send it in and felt terrible. I had taken pride in handling the new technology for this on my own when many others of our aging staff could not do so. And now I just let everything go out of my mind after that last day of a Christmas party. I sent it in last night. After unpacking and eating supper, it was next on my to-do list.
Another email I received while on vacation stated that the laptops were found when they were sold or given to two young ladies by a certain MW. We were asked if MW was a student in our classes. Not in mine. I even checked to see if he was a Facebook friend of one of the women who last used the laptop in my class. He wasn't. They will be questioned by the police however. I gave their names to the building representative. How I hope they have nothing to do with it. But if they don't, it will be someone from Sally's class and that too is sad. It is an ugly thing to lose trust.
I never take my purse into class or take money with me. I just don't tempt anyone in that way. The laptops must just be too tempting.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
My Name in Print
I like to blog. I like to keep journals. And I like doing our bi-monthly Family Literacy newsletter. I won't attach it here, but may add it to my Facebook page. I do have permission to use students' names and photos for publicity.
Yesterday the students looked eagerly for their own names in the December newsletter. Many had written short articles; others had their names listed in the Attendance Honor Roll or Congratulations for Academic Gains sections. I had told O that I would write about her GED in this newsletter. She said that her mother had framed the previous one with her article in it about shopping at "Once Upon a Child." That really tells me about the value of putting names and work in print!
Yesterday the students looked eagerly for their own names in the December newsletter. Many had written short articles; others had their names listed in the Attendance Honor Roll or Congratulations for Academic Gains sections. I had told O that I would write about her GED in this newsletter. She said that her mother had framed the previous one with her article in it about shopping at "Once Upon a Child." That really tells me about the value of putting names and work in print!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Bah! Humbug!
I did not have a good attitude going into today's Christmas party. I slept restlessly, I accidentally left my potato casserole in the refrigerator at home (although I remembered the crock pot and the meatball ingredients), and I have just done this so many times and it takes so much energy.
The reality is that the party went very well. Santa, a long time resident of our housing for the elderly and handicapped, was wonderful in spite of my misgivings. He looked great and was right on time to take up his responsibilities. Almost all of the students brought food and lots of it. I always say a prayer for food safety, but I'm not sick yet, five hours later in spite of eating reheated shrimp, flautas, and macaroni and cheese--all made in kitchens far and near. The staff really pitched in to make food, to get gifts ready for parents and children, and to clean up.
But I found myself in the kitchen, wanting to serve and clean up, and not wanting to mingle. I got very irritated with the children who began running wildly at the end and whose mothers were too busy making plates to take home to supervise them. In fact I told one dear mother that it was time she went home with her kids. How could I have been so rude?
This is when I think I need to ask my supervisor to find someone else to run Family Literacy next year and just give me an ordinary ABE-GED class that meets a few hours every week. It's all the other aspects that overwhelm me--the bus, the child care, the food, the parties. Family Literacy is such a worthwhile program. I know we help parents become their children's teachers and the children to be better prepared for school. But it is pretty all-consuming and as my sister has said, it might be better to stop when I am still doing a good job of it. And today I didn't feel had my best efforts!
Two and one half weeks to get over my attitude and to start over in 2011.
The reality is that the party went very well. Santa, a long time resident of our housing for the elderly and handicapped, was wonderful in spite of my misgivings. He looked great and was right on time to take up his responsibilities. Almost all of the students brought food and lots of it. I always say a prayer for food safety, but I'm not sick yet, five hours later in spite of eating reheated shrimp, flautas, and macaroni and cheese--all made in kitchens far and near. The staff really pitched in to make food, to get gifts ready for parents and children, and to clean up.
But I found myself in the kitchen, wanting to serve and clean up, and not wanting to mingle. I got very irritated with the children who began running wildly at the end and whose mothers were too busy making plates to take home to supervise them. In fact I told one dear mother that it was time she went home with her kids. How could I have been so rude?
This is when I think I need to ask my supervisor to find someone else to run Family Literacy next year and just give me an ordinary ABE-GED class that meets a few hours every week. It's all the other aspects that overwhelm me--the bus, the child care, the food, the parties. Family Literacy is such a worthwhile program. I know we help parents become their children's teachers and the children to be better prepared for school. But it is pretty all-consuming and as my sister has said, it might be better to stop when I am still doing a good job of it. And today I didn't feel had my best efforts!
Two and one half weeks to get over my attitude and to start over in 2011.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The downside
Two laptop computers are missing. Two of my students used them in Sally's classroom with minimal supervision from me. Sally had checked one of them out and neither one of us checked the other out-probably because we were pulling it out together.
I called both students. One student said she left her laptop on the counter; the other said she put it in the computer chest. Sally had students present in the room and was not in the room every minute. It makes me sick to think that someone took them when we were close at hand. Sally called our man from the church that owns the building and equipment. The police will be called and there are tracers on the computers. But I feel such a presence of evil and I know I was not careful enough and too trusting.
The other sense I have of the downside is looking at O's wall on Facebook last night hoping to find the photo of her son and her diploma. Instead I found a posting about her eagerness to hit a hotel and really get drunk after two years of no drinking because of pregnancies. This is part of it:
ONLY GOT 1 MONTH UNTILL I HAVE THIS BABY!!!! THE WEEKEND AFTER I HAVE HIM ITS A HOTEL PARTY 2 GET AS DRUNK AS U CAN!!!!! LET'S GET WASTED!!!!!
What a stupid thing to look forward to after delivering a child--and how stupid to put it on public display on Facebook. This kind of posting is why I am reluctant to "friend" students on FB and why I have hidden almost every one of the former students who are my "friends." Actually I am not even her "friend", but her Wall must be open to public view.
I called both students. One student said she left her laptop on the counter; the other said she put it in the computer chest. Sally had students present in the room and was not in the room every minute. It makes me sick to think that someone took them when we were close at hand. Sally called our man from the church that owns the building and equipment. The police will be called and there are tracers on the computers. But I feel such a presence of evil and I know I was not careful enough and too trusting.
The other sense I have of the downside is looking at O's wall on Facebook last night hoping to find the photo of her son and her diploma. Instead I found a posting about her eagerness to hit a hotel and really get drunk after two years of no drinking because of pregnancies. This is part of it:
ONLY GOT 1 MONTH UNTILL I HAVE THIS BABY!!!! THE WEEKEND AFTER I HAVE HIM ITS A HOTEL PARTY 2 GET AS DRUNK AS U CAN!!!!! LET'S GET WASTED!!!!!
What a stupid thing to look forward to after delivering a child--and how stupid to put it on public display on Facebook. This kind of posting is why I am reluctant to "friend" students on FB and why I have hidden almost every one of the former students who are my "friends." Actually I am not even her "friend", but her Wall must be open to public view.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Another GED and why I need a new cell phone
O sent me a message on Facebook saying she wanted to send me a photo. Apparently she tried to send it to my home phone and that didn't work, of course! I rarely give out my cell phone number and would not really want to receive a photo on it with our reduced plan.
The photo was of her 11 month old son holding her GED diploma! She knew as soon as she saw the words "Do not bend" on the envelope that it was going to be good news! She said she couldn't have done it without me--which may mean, we agreed, that I would not accept oversleeping as an excuse--even for a woman who was 7 months pregnant and had a 9 month old baby.
It's a "snow day" today and there has been almost no snow. Apparently a few miles west of here, still in the same school district, there is plenty of snow. I have been a bit bored although it has been a pleasant, lazy day. Again, signs that it is not yet time to retire--a happy phone call has made my day!
The photo was of her 11 month old son holding her GED diploma! She knew as soon as she saw the words "Do not bend" on the envelope that it was going to be good news! She said she couldn't have done it without me--which may mean, we agreed, that I would not accept oversleeping as an excuse--even for a woman who was 7 months pregnant and had a 9 month old baby.
It's a "snow day" today and there has been almost no snow. Apparently a few miles west of here, still in the same school district, there is plenty of snow. I have been a bit bored although it has been a pleasant, lazy day. Again, signs that it is not yet time to retire--a happy phone call has made my day!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Frustrations!
Several of our present students were in special education classes in school--or should have been. They will never pass the GED exam without accommodations and may not even do so with the extra time and calculators that could be allowed. I can't ask for accommodations until they have been tested and that is quite a process through Vocational Rehabilitation services. Then they have to prove to me that they can pass with those accommodations and I process the request.
Usually math is the greatest difficulty for students, although those who can't read well are really handicapped on the other four GED subtests.
Sometimes I just want to yell "THINK!" when students can't seem to solve anything in math but simple computation. Poor reading skills do not test my patience like poor math skills do. I'm not sure why that is. I try to get students to read the question and not just do any old thing with the numbers. Some do not seem to have the ability to do multi-step problems. I try to stress that there is not only one way to do a problem, but they want steps they can memorize. Generalization to a new problem--that is the problem in itself!
Hands-on work, manipulatives, real-life examples, drawing pictures, using money, working with partners, frequent review--I try many strategies. It is hard to overcome the attitude many have when they say "I hate math" or "I never was any good at math." And sometimes I think it is true that there really is no number line in their heads--when even the concept that the part of something is smaller than the whole seem difficult.
Amanda Serenevy has asked me to be on the expanded board of the Riverbend Math Center. She is doing good work here in South Bend to promote math education. I am honored to be asked to be on her board and will probably say Yes.
Usually math is the greatest difficulty for students, although those who can't read well are really handicapped on the other four GED subtests.
Sometimes I just want to yell "THINK!" when students can't seem to solve anything in math but simple computation. Poor reading skills do not test my patience like poor math skills do. I'm not sure why that is. I try to get students to read the question and not just do any old thing with the numbers. Some do not seem to have the ability to do multi-step problems. I try to stress that there is not only one way to do a problem, but they want steps they can memorize. Generalization to a new problem--that is the problem in itself!
Hands-on work, manipulatives, real-life examples, drawing pictures, using money, working with partners, frequent review--I try many strategies. It is hard to overcome the attitude many have when they say "I hate math" or "I never was any good at math." And sometimes I think it is true that there really is no number line in their heads--when even the concept that the part of something is smaller than the whole seem difficult.
Amanda Serenevy has asked me to be on the expanded board of the Riverbend Math Center. She is doing good work here in South Bend to promote math education. I am honored to be asked to be on her board and will probably say Yes.
Back to posting
This is the longest I have gone without posting. I'm not sure why that is. Christmas is a busy season and we had a wonderful, but exhausting trip to NJ and NYC last weekend.
Leaving the class for such a weekend involves much planning. Another staff member took six students to IVY Tech for a meeting with the admissions director and a tour on Thursday so I could catch a late morning flight. Two students were excused from class because they had gone on the tour last spring. I made sure all plans and files were ready for Monday morning just in case we were delayed. And we were delayed but ending up driving a rental car from Cincinnati and arriving home at 3:01 am! It's that kind of weekend that tempts me to consider retiring and to have the freedom to come and go more easily.
Right now I have just two students who are able to learn easily. And one of them has had a crisis at home and is moving out to live with a brother in Indianapolis. The other one could probably pass the GED tomorrow, but is happy enough to take a few weeks to prepare and be sure. And the rest--I think I'll separate this and write about my frustrations in the next posting.
Leaving the class for such a weekend involves much planning. Another staff member took six students to IVY Tech for a meeting with the admissions director and a tour on Thursday so I could catch a late morning flight. Two students were excused from class because they had gone on the tour last spring. I made sure all plans and files were ready for Monday morning just in case we were delayed. And we were delayed but ending up driving a rental car from Cincinnati and arriving home at 3:01 am! It's that kind of weekend that tempts me to consider retiring and to have the freedom to come and go more easily.
Right now I have just two students who are able to learn easily. And one of them has had a crisis at home and is moving out to live with a brother in Indianapolis. The other one could probably pass the GED tomorrow, but is happy enough to take a few weeks to prepare and be sure. And the rest--I think I'll separate this and write about my frustrations in the next posting.
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