After the last drama-filled entry outlining students in various circumstances of peril, I'll let you know what has happened to them....a real mixed bag.
DJ, the cutter who was taken away in handcuffs on Parent Night, apparently spent time in a psychiatric ward on suicide watch (I found this out after asking her cousin if I could send her and card and she told me she couldn't have any sharp objects). She returned last week and appears to be slightly more comfortable with life...but far from a happy camper. I made sure she knew how much we missed her and are glad to have her back with us.
LJ, the kid who caught the firecracker on the bus and tossed it back out before it could do any harm, is back with us, but not without a fight. Our Principal automatically suspended him for 3 days, and it took an additional week before he actually got to return. Our students mounted a campaign to "be heard" so that what they saw happen would come out in the hearing in addition to what the adults reported. We teachers also wrote letters outlining what we knew about his character. Apparently, these efforts made a difference because our Principal reconsidered her decision to OT (opportunity transfer = kick out to another school) him. Everyone is pretty happy with this outcome.
The other two boys arrested for "lynching: inciting a mob to violence" have been OT'd to other schools. One of them is 18, so he pretty much lost any rights as a minor to continue in the public schools, so his academic future is in his own hands. The other, who was a terrifically kind, hard-working, positive-attitude, Special Education kid is at a nearby high school and apparently feels lost in the big campus shuffle again. We have not given up on getting him back. My students are making a poster telling him how much we miss him (on which I have glued one of his perfect Biology assignments with some encouraging comments) and we'll send it to him. Other teachers are counseling him to absolutely toe the line so that he can keep possibilities alive, rather than act out and kill off possibilities.
I, along with thousands of other teachers in my huge district, received a letter advising me I will be "terminated" (what a lovely word!) as of June 30. Not only am I not worried about losing my job, I am using this as another opportunity to be a noisy advocate for my students. I am one of the very few teachers in my district with the unique creditial to teach geoscience and Biology, which combined, allow me to also teach Environmental Science. I teach in a program whose first word is "environmental". I am the only one at my school qualified to teach that subject. I think this gives me job security. The weakness in that argument is that logic is not what drives hire/fire decisions....time served and credential status is. The other weakness is my status; I am still classified as a Probationary teacher, not permanent.
I have refused to participate in a 2-year "Beginning Teacher" program which is the final step in "clearing" my credential and filed for an exemption years ago. I have never had an acknowledgement of my request, let alone had it granted. The program I am declining to participate in adds many new, time-consuming, useless paperwork burdens on teachers that I am unwilling to bear. In addition, it is extremely poorly designed and administered. It is a lot like the free District Intern program I participated in for two weeks when I first began teaching, bu then dropped out of due to similar concerns. In that case, I wound up going to an expensive private college to meet my preliminary credential requirements and was happy with the quality and rigor of the program. Another reason I think that I should not have to be a student in that program is that I have been sought after to become a mentor in the program....so I'm going to use this pink slip situation to renew my request for an exemption. If I don't receive it, I will no longer be a teacher in California public schools....that still leaves a lot of open territory for me to explore. If they grant the exemption, I would be happy to remain where I am!
Little did they know that pink is my favorite color!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
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