The Short Version:
I'm back after a chaotic month and I'll be running my threads again. I hope you're all doing well. ^.^

The Long Version:
For those of you who know how crazy my life can be, this month was no exception. I do apologize for all of those I left in the dark as I left for a couple of weeks. May usually is a pretty hectic month for me without any abnormalities; May contains mine and my twin's birthday, my mom's birthday, mother's day, graduations, my wedding anniversary, teacher appreciation week, and usually the end of the school year. For me, the chaos started at the very beginning of May.

Remember in January when our schools were snowed in and I had to stay overnight with over 100 kids? Well, the board of education decided to reward all the employees in my situation with a paid day off. I decided to take advantage of that on April 25th, a Friday. However, since we're on a weird block schedule and I was feeling particularly stressed, I decided I would also take that Thursday off, April 24th. This way, all my classes would be kept on the same page, and things would be as smooth as possible when I returned the next week. I knew things wouldn't be completely stress-free though, because we had been told since January that all our students would take an 'end of course' exam that was worth 50% of their overall grade. Furthermore, this test was to be written by ACT. For those of you who might not realize it... this news was very scary to us teachers. ACT tests are -not- designed to be even remotely easy for high school freshmen and 50% of an overall grade is more than a little ludicrous. In all honesty, I was fairly certain the board could not feasibly keep that promise, but I couldn't tell my students of my doubts on the off-chance that the board DID go through with it; I needed my students to take this test as seriously as possible.

Due to all the -other- tests students would be taking around the end of the year, time was scarce. I needed to wrap up my final unit and move onto a focus for the end of course exam. We had been practicing ACT problems every Wednesday for four months, but I still didn't feel like they were ready. Therefore, I decided to give the unit test on the two days I took off. I designed the test to be ridiculously easy and crossed my fingers. I expected children might cheat by copying the one formula they had to memorize, but I chalked it off to good fortune on their part.

However, when I returned, I discovered a situation much worse. Instead of taking the test, my students had decided to sit in groups and look up answers on their phone saying "It doesn't matter if we cheat, because Mrs. Singell will just give us a re-take anyways." This was disturbing to me. Due to the pressure from the board and my principal, I had given them a retake of just about every test we'd taken, or curved their grades, or given them bonus points... anything to boost their test scores. (This has been my worst year ever. I feel like a complete failure.) As though their casual feelings on cheating were not bad enough, the test answers they had put down showed an absolute lack of thought. There were questions in which the answer was literally written below the problem, but students had written down nonsense they had google'd because they don't know how to use a search engine when their search involves math.

Most of all though.... it was their apathy on cheating that got to me. I was very sick and tired of my authority being undermined, and I told my students they would not be getting a retake. Most of the cheaters were already failing my class though, and anytime a students gets a flunking grade, I get told I don't know how to teach. I therefore decided that I would let them sweat out their consequences while planning a Saturday session for them to earn points for their tests. I told every parent that their child could come to the school on a Saturday and do busy work for four hours, and that I would replace their zeros with the points they earned. EVERY parent was more than happy with this situation. They thanked me for giving their child an opportunity to show what they had learned, and all agreed to bring their child.

However, there was one parent I couldn't get ahold of. I had left a message on her phone and instead of calling me back, she decided she would email me. She didn't use the right email address and I never received any letters from her. This meant that she thought I was ignoring her and she decided to file a complaint with the board of education.

Now, here's where I have to take a step back and talk about something else that was going on in our school. The week after my four day weekend, all the kids were jittery and gossipy. They kept asking me if I had signed 'the petition', and I had no idea what they were talking about. They told me that apparently, a discussion was happening in the board of education to make our school a zoned one. For those of you who aren't aware, I teach at a school in which kids must apply, test, and interview in order to be considered for acceptance. If our school was made a zoned school, only kids that lived around could attend, and it'd be just like every other city school. In addition, the current students would have to attend whatever school they lived near.

When I asked students where they were getting this information, they told me that our principal herself was going into the classrooms and telling them about this situation while passing around a petition. Albeit I was completely stunned, I told the children that this was all gossip and nonsense. There was -no way- that the board of education would make our school a zoned one, and if our principal was handing around a petition, she could be fired on the spot for her involvement. (I don't know how true that is, but I'm pretty certain she would not be allowed to encourage or start a petition. I'm pretty certain the kids or parents would have to do that.)

Anyhow, that Thursday after my four day weekend, we all came to school to find her office completely empty. There was not a paper or staple in that room, and -nobody- knew why. Not even the secretary or the assistant principal had known she wouldn't show up for work. We were only told by Friday afternoon at 3:30 when the bells rang.... that she had been put on administrative leave. The board of education insisted that it had nothing to do with the petition, but said that the decision had been a personnel issue. (In other words, she got disrespectful at a board of education meeting.)

So what does that have to do with the complaint filed against me? Instead of going to the principal, it went straight to the board of education and was put into the hands of the lady who was temporarily put into charge of our school. Any orders to me were now coming from the board of education, and this situation had been brought to her attention.

Before the complaint, the assistant principal pulled me into the hallway on May 5th or 6th, inquiring about the situation. One student had whined to her and told her that there was no way I could have known they cheated. (Aside from being blatantly obvious, most kids had admitted it or ratted on each other... AND I had caught a group of kids discussing it in the hallway... one of the kids being the one who complained to the assistant principal.) I had told her about my session to be held on May 17th and assured her I had it under control... and she had seemed relatively satisfied. It wasn't something she wanted to deal with, because she was suddenly the in-school authority figure having to take control of everything.

Suddenly, after the complaint was made, she totally changed her tune. That Friday, she pulled me into her office and alerted me about the board now being involved. She told me that it was completely unfair of me to accuse my kids of cheating, and I got lectured on the fact that I shouldn't be giving a test when a sub was present, either. [Now for a mini-rant: I'm sorry, but I had plenty of tests when subs were present, and I know many teachers who give tests in their absences These kids have been in school for at least nine years, so there's no reason they should not know how to behave during a test. I should be able to give a test during my absence and expect that kids still understand cheating is wrong.] Not only did I get lectured on my inability to teach and my lack of understanding towards educational politics, I was also told that I was NOT allowed to give kids their points back through a Saturday session. I was told that I HAD to give the entire class a retake.

This frustrated me for many, many reasons. First of all, this was a clear case of my authority being undermined YET again, and all the parents had been very happy with my solution of a Saturday session. Second of all, we only legitimately see our kids twice a week. Over the last three weeks, nearly all six days were filled with testing of some sort. To make matters worse, we had JUST been told that the end of course exams for some subjects weren't being written by ACT after all. This meant that all the preparation since January had been in vain for those subjects, and we had very few classes to correct this in. I told my assistant principal that I didn't think it was fair to make my whole class retake the exam when only ten students cheated. Furthermore, there were no good dates on which to administer a test. I was demanded to give a date for their make up, and the first free day happened to be on May 20th. This was not satisfactory though, and as I listed off dates, I kept being told to give a new date. I finally suggested the 14th, and it was accepted.... despite the fact that kids had their end of course exams on the 13th and would have no time to study for my retake.

And now.... once more.. I have to do a little side-stepping. Let's return to the whole principal situation. There was a board of education meeting the same week that re-assigned many principals. It was determined that our current principal would no longer be working with our school due to the school's low success. See, our ACT high scores are around 21, but other magnet schools around the country have an average of 31. On top of the low scoring, our principal had apparently been very volatile at meetings in the past, often mocking the board and speaking disdain for their decisions. She showed no respect to them and told news stations (after her removal), that her reassignment was simply a petty act of people not liking her.

And of course, many of our students feel they are quite grown. They decided to ignore everything the news stations reported and started their own petition. You see, they love our principal. And why wouldn't they? She gave them her number at the beginning of the year and said "If your teachers do anything you don't like, send me a text." She had put all the power in their hands, and hardly enforced rules, often siding with students instead of teachers.

So on the week of exams, the students staged a walkout. Yes, in the middle of the day, 100+ kids got up out of their chairs, and walked out of our buildings. They marched 40 minutes down to the board of education.... screaming and chanting "Fire [insert name of the superintendent]". This got much attention, and they sat out in the rain on the steps of the board for hours. The parents were no better, encouraging their children to participate and even checking them out of school. Several parents even told the news station that they didn't care if their children got into trouble because the protest was 'for a good cause'. There were even parents walking through our building and into classrooms all week... doing things like riling the kids up with speeches or holding signs above their head that read 'believe'.

Kids were even refusing to follow school rules and not dressing in uniform, saying that they didn't have to follow rules if they had no principal. There was even a kid who pulled a fire alarm in the middle of a final exam, so that we had to stand outside in 90 degree weather for 20 minutes while someone checked out the buildings. We knew a kid pulled it, but for some reason we couldn't stay in the building.

It was utter nonsense and chaos.

So let me ask all of you following the story so far.... how do you think my kids did on their retake? They didn't know the material to begin with, and tested under the current environment. Despite me keeping the test only 8 questions long... and despite those questions being very basic.... they all flunked... again.

This led to yet another pleasant conversation. However, I need to take a small break. I'll let you guys read this much and in my next post I'll tell you the crazy result of their second failure, and then I'll share the positive news of my birthday and anniversary.

---
I'm going to summon the people I think might have been curious about my absence:

mrfe :
thephantombrain :
rcarter2 :
Eniitan :

Don't get mad, get glad!  You still have a job, and your name isn't [insert superintendent's name here]!  She's probably going through a hard time too, though.  My life feels utterly bland compared to yours  I feel so lukewarm lately, that John might spit me out of his mouth!  (Revelation 3:16).  I feel it's amazing that you were able to type all that up...it's thousands of words long...I barely have the power to write several hundred word posts without starting to be bland and blah!

That's just horrible and utter nonsense.....is this why you couldn't say because they frustrated you to this point? Those kids sure really need to learn discipline I mean....thats so mean of what they did! I'm guessing two people know about this. And I know who they are.....big sis glad to see you on. Though I do try and talk to you elsewhere at times. This is just too much...if this keeps going you will break so watch out for that. Isn't there a way for anyone to believe you, for what such horror has happened? I just find it stupid that kids like that, would do that and not care. Not only that....they flamed you countless of times that's just ridiculous! *Sighs* well I could rant more, but I have seen enough here. So I'll be calm for the meantime. Sorry I don't like it when things like that happens to any of my friends. And it would just pressurize me in a way, as well. Hmm I think if I was to ask this one question before. You would say that its too long to tell.....

I'm ready for summer, but first I have 3 tests to study for and get done so yeah...

Oh my god that must have been a stressful month for you.
 
 Being told you are not a good teacher must have been a horrible feeling since you went through college and know how to teach.
 
 Also I am going to be in 7th grade next year and I know not to cheat on a test.

Singelli : That was rather insane. I feel bad for you because of all the misinforming that got you in trouble. On a positive note, I'm SOOO ready for summer. Our last day is Monday. I currently have an 82 in my college algebra class so I think its safe to say that the cheaters and flunking on and 8 question test are both pretty pathetic. I hope your birthday and anniversary were better though. Wish me luck on my Algebra Final. (it's only 20% of our grade)

supernerd117 : oh gosh! You really made me laugh with the comment about my name not being you-know-who's!  XD  It's not so amazing that I typed that much though... I'm a natural rambler. I had more to tell but got a headache.  I'm going to try and finish the story now that I've taken an hour long nap.

Eniitan :  You can ask your question, it's okay. XD  It is very sad though... our kids have no discipline whatsoever.


Okay, so here's the rest of the chaos that I can remember:

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After the cheaters flunked their test, I still let them come in on Saturday to get extra points. It didn't really help though because they absolutely refused to do anything.  I think one child ended up making a 60%, but the rest were still F's.  Since I was instructed to send the changed grades to the assistant principal so she could forward them to the board of education, I did.  On the very same day, she pulled me out into the hallway, folded her arms over her chest, and began to chew me out. "How in the world can you feel right about -accusing- kids of cheating, and then still flunking them?"  She actually brought this point up several times, each time emphasising 'accuse' as though I was assuming and being totally outlandish.  She went on to tell me that (once more) I didn't understand educational politics, and that I didn't know how to teach.  After all, she said, if I give seven kids a retake and they flunk their test, what does that say about my ability to reach those seven children?  When I told her that three of them refused to try and turned in a blank paper, she blamed it once more on me, saying that they clearly didn't attempt the test because they didn't know the material.

As she continued to bash my ability to teach, she even brought up the fact that I had no children.  "And Mrs. Singell, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have no children.  Do you see how this all ties together?    The fact that you can't is another sign of your inability to teach.  I have four children, and I can tell you with pride that they are very successful."  At this point in the conversation, I was really only biting my tongue.  I was fed up with the situation  I also get really tired of being told I can't teach, when most children will tell you the exact opposite.

The conversation only got worse. See, I had done an interview the week before.  She started railing on the prospects of me getting the job, claiming that I have a bad reputation and that the reputation is going to follow me.  "Didn't you just have an interview last week? How do you expect to get another job when you can't even handle this one?  You honestly think you can move on up in education?"  And yes... that kind of talk went on.  I went from feeling apathetic about my interview.... to very much hoping God put it into my lap for a reason.

So yes, yes.. I guess it's time to talk about some more positive things; First, the interview.

Sometime in the middle of all this nonsense, a lady came to visit us who is over the math teachers for the whole city.. I can never remember her title. Anyways, she sat across from me and asked "How would you like to work outside of the classroom?"  This caught my attention (even though as of late.... I'm wondering if it's their sneaky way of getting me out of teaching without firing me...), and so I asked for more information.  Apparently, they're creating a few new jobs next year which involve writing the curriculum for the whole district.  They've had a team discussing how this would be done for a year or so, and now they need to hire two teachers from every discipline to actually write the curriculum guides.  I'd work the same days and hours as a teacher, and I'd be getting a teacher's pay.... so I'm guessing I'd still be called a 'teacher' where all legal paperwork is concerned. However, I wouldn't be working in a classroom or with children.

One of the things that intrigued me about this offer was that I had actually been interested in something like this over the summer. I had attended a workshop which discussed lesson designing, and learned that some people get paid JUST to write lesson plans.  At the time, I had realized that lesson planning CAN be interested if it weren't for being piled on top of all the other teaching obligations.  I even remember telling someone "Hey, if you separate the two jobs, they're not so bad. I'd be quite happy if I could teach without having to write lesson plans or grade......  and I'd be quite happy if I could write lesson plans or grade, without having to teach."

Thus, I applied to the job. Applying was NOT easy. I hadn't updated my resume since high school, and needless to say, I wasn't going to keep high school rewards on a resume when I graduated 9 years ago.  However, once I removed all those things and added my teaching experience from this ONE school, my resume looked so empty!  Not only that, but I thought I would wait until the weekend to apply.... only to be called two days later and be told that the application needed to be in by NOON.  We were supposed to be testing that day, but due to children walking out and general chaos, the exams had been moved to the next week.  We weren't told this until that very same day, meaning I had to suddenly find something to keep my unruly kids occupied.  while trying to keep them occupied, I had to fill in an online application that was -ridiculously- long and complicated.  It involved dozens of pages and tons of questions that required paragraph answers.

I did manage to finish and score an interview though.  The interview was set for Friday, and my husband was supposed to pick me up and drop me off at the interview.  Kids had been planning another walkout that day, and our school was full of police to make sure it didn't happen.  One of the policemen had decided to park in the parking lot.... but in the driving aisle between the rows of parking spots.  When my husband went to pull out, he wasn't paying attention and rammed RIGHT into a police car.  Although he rammed it pretty hard, there wasn't even a mark on either car.  My husband went in to tell a policeman what happened regardless, and they wouldn't let us leave.  I was already running late because the coworker supposed to take over my class had come in 15 minutes late. I rushed into the school to find a ride and had to end up searching on the second floor. As I ran up the stairs, however, my heel caught on my brand new dress and ripped it.  Just imagine how I felt as I finally got to that interview!

As luck would have it, the lady I ended up giving me a ride ( I don't even know the kind woman's name!) actually knew ALL about the interview process for this job!  O.o  She hadn't gone through it herself, but she had a friend who did, and she was able to tell me what to prepare for. It was only because of her that I felt a little prepared for what happened at the interview.  (God does amazing things, doesn't He?)  See, when I got to the interview, the first thing they asked me to do was write a five day curriculum guide.  This is like writing (BY HAND) lessons for five days. Since most of you aren't teachers, let me briefly tell you what goes into a lesson plan. You must describe what you will do before, during, and after the lesson. You must include state standards, which you need to look up so you can have the correct numbers. You need to list objectives for the students, materials for the lesson, vocabulary and concepts learned, and descriptions of how you will test knowledge both formally and summatively.  You need to give teachers 'additional notes' which should cover things like warnings about things that might happen or ways in which kids might be confused.  You need to include ways you will change the lesson for extra slow kids and for extra smart kids....

etc. etc. etc.  I had to do ALL this for FIVE lessons in FORTY FIVE minutes... BY HAND.  I actually didn't have enough time for this, and I ended up using a cop-out; I combined the last two days and stated that the children would complete an in-class project.

The actual interview wasn't much better. A huge binder was pushed in front of me and I was told that my two interviewers would randomly pick questions from inside the binder.  I thought this was odd. Why would I want to hear them ask me a question, then read it for myself before answering?  However, this is -exactly- what they wanted me to do.  One lady would say "Okay, I'm going to ask you question five on page 4."  I'd wait for her to ask me the question, but they would REFUSE to ask until I opened to that page.  "It's on page 4....", she'd repeat.  I'd open to the page then, and keep waiting for the question.  "Question five...."  They'd -refuse- to read the question unless I was looking down at the page.  This was already awkward, but the pages themselves were ultra confusing.  Everything was all jumbled up into tables and each page had objects listed with other things I didn't even understand.  It was as though they had attempted to design each page of questions like a lesson plan itself.

I don't feel like the interview went well at all.  It was technically only the second interview I've ever done in my life. Although I held 6 part time jobs at one point, all of those jobs were just kind of given to me without an interviewing process.  I HATED the questions for this interview.  As an example, one question said "Tell us about a situation and how you managed it."  To me.. the question was so vague. I asked them if they wanted a classroom management situation, a confrontation with authority, a time management issue..... And they simply repeated the question back to me.  Another question was worded something like "Tell us about the last deadline you had and how you met it."  Maybe I'm just weird, but I can't possibly see the point of this question.  Am I supposed to say I invented a time travel machine, found some magical unicorns to aid me in doing a better job, then froze time while I worked steadily away?  Instead, I simply mentioned putting stuff aside that I might have -wanted- to do in favor of the deadline material... and added that I had stayed up to make sure I got things done on time.  In all honesty.... is anyone supposed to answer otherwise?

Anyways, I don't feel confident about the interview and haven't heard back.  At first I didn't care since it was a job I hadn't sought, but after the speech on my inability to teach, I feel conflicted. On one hand we're getting almost a brand new staff next year: new principal, new assistant principal, new secretary, and almost all new math teachers (at least).  Maybe it's my chance to finally get along with my superiors, and maybe they'll let me go back to teaching algebra II once they see how horribly I did with the freshmen?  Then again.... I've been wanting a break from all that comes with teaching.

The main interviewer did tell me she'd call within a week, and when she didn't even respond to my message a week later, I assumed  I hadn't got the job. However, the board of education math lady came to tell me the interviewer was in the hospital until next week. I suppose this might mean a small glimmer of hope about the job, but I also think someone else could have called me. I guess I'll just find out where my future lands in ten or so days.

See, our board of education is not a very good one.  I'm supposed to be told at least 45 days in advance of the next school year if I have a job or not.... but the board doesn't really abide by that policy.  I've known about teachers who were told 3 days in advance.... and from what I've been hearing from my own administration, I'm not sure I'm wanted at my current school any longer.


Okay... that was a lot more than I anticipated.  I'll get to the birthday and anniversary after another break. lol Sorry for being so rambly, everyone.

That's quite a story there, Singelli. Life is always hard and I don't know how I'd manage if I were in a situation. I do admire the fact that you were able to live through that chaotic disaster. I wish there was something we could do to back you up when that happened, all we could do is wish you best of luck in the future.

Too much to read on the long version, so I can tell you just went through a living hell. Well yes, I'm ready for the summer.

Omg....

Big sis you went through such pain like that?

Things are like a jungle there right now isn't it? Don't worry god will always look out for you no matter what. I'll keep you within my prayers. This is quiet a story here and yet that felt intense....I was thinking of making a another thread about me and where things are headed for me and how I feel right about now. Or I might not do it. Either way keep on fighting big sis. Love you. ^-^

Singelli : Should you ever apply for another job, you should totally go with the magical unicorns and the time machine next time...if but to see the looks on your could-be employers' faces

Man that was a tough month! I couldn't imagine how that would feel to have to give the kids a retake, when you know the kids think your going to anyway. (Authority undermining in the schools gives the ones who need authority nothing.) I hope you will have a PERFECT summer!  I'll be praying for you!

I have to say that all the responses here made me pretty happy.   I can tell that several people actually read my little rants, and I hadn't expected that.

The crazy life of a teacher, eh?  I'm sure that it's much worse for me simply because of WHERE I teach, though. I'm almost positive most schools or systems aren't as crazy as my own.

As for my birthday... it was... really, really great.  My husband took me to a hotel a week before and we enjoyed a day away from the city being lazy.  Then my in-laws took me out a few days before my birthday.  I got to spend all day hanging out with them. We ate at  a restaurant, went shopping for hours, came to Olive Garden for desert, and then separated ways.  The shopping was a little embarrassing because they wanted me to pick out some outfits and I'm terrible at picking clothes. Several times, they laughed a bit at my choices and told me 'no'. It was all fun though, and by the end of the trip, I had a brand new dress and a business shirt for work.  I also managed to score a nice stuffed animal to add to my newest collects:  Stegosaurus plushies.  The dino was actually a dog toy and they didn't believe me when I stated that I liked it... but my husband convinced them that I was being serious.  (Hey, no one needs to know it was meant for dogs! Who would give a dog such a cute and awesome thing, anyways?!)

I discovered after they left that I'd really need heels if I didn't want to drag the dress on the ground, so I convinced my husband to go through several stores and buy me a pair of heels. (I'm not a girly girl, so this was an accomplishment!)  We went back home to discover that his mother had left me several presents including a solar powered nodding daisy, several bags of food for my kitchen, and a birthday ribbon.

Here you can see the lovely dress and dino (the birthday one is the tan):




On the day of my actual birthday, there were several awesome things that happened, though now they elude my memory. I do remember that I thought I was going to get into trouble for something and didn't end up getting in trouble.  I even wore my little birthday ribbon Jason's mother got me... something I never would have done in the past. Two of my classes sang happy birthday to me, and after I convinced Jason to take me to Olive Garden for dinner, I got a free dessert!  It completely took me by surprise.

When I got home, things only got better. My vizzed wall was filled with birthday messages, and a few people had even pm'd me and written me poems. I felt so very loved, and very special, despite how often I've been absent over the past nine months.  I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to know that so many of you thought about me. 

That's not all... this was the first time... ever... that I got gifts from... friends.  I've never had friends in the past, and I received several packages from the people I've made friends with here.  Talk about spoiled!

My uncle Robert (Jason's side) sent me a card with some money, a pack of paper with some lovely Disney forever stamps, some pens, and a letter.  I'm a simple girl, and the pack of paper thrilled me to pieces. It was his way of telling me to keep writing to him and all my friends, and it made me skip all the way to my apartment quite happily.

Krizel (Mistress) sent me a gorgeous card which had CHICKADEES on it.... ack!  And she also sent me an adorable lamb stuffed animal to represent my Christian faith.  Jon (becerra95) sent me an adorable stuffed Stegosaurus which you can see in the first picture of this post. It's the one with black stripes. And Eniitan sent me a three page poem, a lovely card, and a blue charm bracelet.

Never, ever have I felt more loved. Thank you all for being there for me and really bringing the end of my year to a wonderful and positive close.






My anniversary was also a lot of fun, though there perhaps isn't as much to tell.  My husband took me out of town again, and on the way there, we saw seven hot air balloons flying! That was pretty awesome albeit unplanned. After that, we went through this Safari thing in Huntsville, Alabama.  You get to drive around with your windows half open and feed exotic animals.  ^.^  You can see some pictures in my Photography thread.

I like summer, I am sorry if you are having a hard time?

I honest;y cannot wait until summer gets here, I have so much planned for this summer, going to the beach, posting on vizzed a lot more, I also have swimming lessons and I plan on practicing for lacrosse next year, so as you can see I am very eager for this summer to already be here. I am sorry you are under a lot of stress, I can only imagine what it must be like as a teacher juggling grades, unruly students, birthdays and everything else in between. When does the school year officially end for you? School is over for me on the 13th, so all I have left is another 2 weeks, a lot of which are half days. 


Just hang in there, its almost over because summer is nearly here!

I am not really ready for summer. Right now I am stuck in the month between school and work, so I wish it would stay like this instead of going into full summer because I am so free and I can pretty much do anyuthing.

I can't think about Summer right now. You see if I think about Summer I cannot focus on my exams whatsoever. Even though I only have one exam to really study for it's my worst subject (play can confirm this =p) physics. SO I just cannot think about Summer right now.

Sorry to hear that you were having a hard time with your students. I remember when my school had a walk out similar to that one as well. I didn't go because

A) They were showing King Kong in class (because f*k learning)

and

B) Too lazy to get up.

But just hang in there, it'll all be over soon. At least you don't have to show grades too your strict as hell parents ha ha

So sorry I'm late here and missed your birthday. Happy belated! btw- what day is your anniversary? Mines May 24....

These were amazing posts and you know I was totally rooting for you while reading about the interview. I've probably done 30+ interviews in my life (which is probably not something to be proud of). The number of interviews and the fact that I aced Public Speaking in college gives me the unique ability to deal with any question asked in those situations in a calm and jovial manner. That being said, those were some tricky questions to produce an answer for.

As for Mrs. What's-her-name getting administrative leave. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!! That lady (and the entire B********* school board seems to have some serious issues. Here's an idea, let's teach the children to be accountable for their own actions! I truly feel sorry for their future employers.

My summer? I don't get excited about summer anymore. Nothing really changes except the outdoor temperature.

thephantombrain : Freeeeaky... you and I share the same anniversary!    Seriously!

Haha... thanks for rooting for me. I don't know if I mentioned it in the posts above, but I'm a bit worried that I was approached for the job because  the board wanted a way to get me out of the classroom without firing me.  However... I'm not too stressed about that. I wasn't really sure which job I preferred since we have a new principal next year, but when I got the acceptance call, I did pump my fist in happiness.

That's right... I got the job!!!!!  I'm very much looking forward to a job which has a LOT less stress.  I won't have to grade, deal with angry demanding parents, or handle degrading administration.  Plus, it's a great opportunity to learn more, delve deeper into the 'education of politics', and make my resume look more experienced. I think most future jobs would be impressed with the variety of educational careers... even if it's just 2.

As for my interview, I only gave an example of two questions because I remembered them. The others were either pretty standard, vague, uninteresting, or just odd. I didn't feel like any of the questions were particularly strong.

And as for my principal...?  She was put on PAID administrative leave... what kind of a statement is that?  At the conclusion of everything, she was only placed as a principal in a new school. 

I too feel sorry for future employers....  Part of the reasons kids feel so self-entitled is BECAUSE of how teachers and staff seem to be afraid to do anything to offend them.  As an example... the kids that left the school for  the walkout?  They were told they were going to be suspended but guess what... they didn't even get a slap on the wrist.