A dog... but no ponies this time

Thanks for all your feedback regarding Meet the Teacher nights and Parent-Teacher interviews. It seems that most, if not all, of you consider those events pretty important, at least at the elementary level.

When the OnlyChild was younger, I went to all of those meetings, too. It was easy for me, though. From Kindergarten to grade 2, Mr. P and I both worked in the same school that she attended (it was K-12) and from grades 3 to 5, we lived in a small town and knew all her teachers socially as well as professionally. The junior high years were a little different, but I still made the attempt to attend as often as I could. Rarely did I hear from her teachers, though, with good news or bad news. They were not good at keeping parents informed. Since she attends the school where I teach now, I hear everything... whether I want to or not (and quite often, I do not want to know what's going on...).

Our school is different, as some of you know. I work in a self-directed program. We don't have regular classes (seminars once or twice a week) and there are no homerooms. Instead, the students all have Teacher Advisors. When I get a new student in my group, I set up a meeting with the parents and the student; these usually take place in June or August, before the new school year begins. I become the school contact for those parents. If they have a question about their child, regardless of the course it pertains to, they call me - not the course teacher - and I find out what they need to know. The parents love this system because it simplifies the contacts. I have to stay in touch with the parents throughout the year, by phone or email, to let them know how their child is doing. Some parents want to hear from me every week; some prefer once a year. I let them decide the frequency.

So... no wonder we have such a poor turnout at Meet the Teacher night. The parents have already met the one person at their child's school that they need to know. And we're in regular contact.

Plus, it's a high school, and it's a well-known fact that parental interest in education decreases as the child gets older.

Okay, onto other things...

I marked assignments for three hours today. I had a meeting at 9:00, then I came home and made coffee and was at my desk by 11:00 am. I told myself I 'd work for two hours and then take a break, but I really wanted to get through the whole pile so I kept on going.

When I was done, I finished my September Bunny Hill block:

It's about time. Cute little Scottie dog, eh? I started it two weeks ago and all I had left to do was the embroidery. I actually feel a little guilty because I've spent the last two hours eating lunch, sewing, and now blogging. I really have an unbelievable amount of work still to do this weekend.

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Mr. P had to sit me down last night for a talk about this. He thinks I am getting far too stressed out. He's right. Between work and the course I'm taking and all the other things I want to do, there's just not time for everything. He thinks I should drop the course, but I'm determined to see it through now that I've started it. Really, though, it's work that's got me in a tizzy. The marking is unmanageable and I still have course materials to write. Plus, my department head was on me yesterday because our diploma (government exam) results from last year were not great. Apparently that's my fault because I 'teach' the course. Remember, self-directed learning. I spend only 80 minutes a week with these students in seminar, and that's if they bother to show up. There are no consequences if they don't. I told him he should find someone else to teach the course because I was tired of worrying about it.

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Yeah... so my day went downhill from there and I had a self-pity bout last night. Mr. P and the OnlyChild are both out of the house tonight so I've got some time to work on writing. Tomorrow I'm going with my friend Sandi to a scrapbook day. I thought about bowing out, but Mr. P convinced me that I need to do those kinds of things - activities I enjoy - or I'll go completely bonkers. Well, he didn't quite put it that way.

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Thanks for letting me vent again. I know (I hope) things will calm down soon and I'm looking forward to a time when I don't perpetually have a four-inch pile of marking, when the learning guides are all written, and all the tests and exams have been made up. Then I will be able to breathe easier.

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I hope your weekend is going well and you're making time for fun!

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Dog and Pony Show

http://www.cards2clients.com/pages/images/DogandPonyShow.jpg

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Tonight was Meet the Teacher Night at school. What a dog and pony show that is! It's such a production, with a speech from the principal, introduction of staff members, and a wine and cheese reception to follow. We all have to attend; our jobs are on the line if we don't show up!

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It's rather funny at my school, though. We have over 100 staff members and every year we outnumber the parents... by at least 4 to 1.

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Yep, 100+ of us... and about 25 of them!

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No parents ever seek me out during the reception. They don't need to talk to the Social Studies teacher. I just try to find a friendly colleague to hang out with so I don't look like a big loser standing by the wall alone.

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Are you the type of parent who attends (or attended) Meet the Teacher Night and every Parent-Teacher interview? I want to know what you think of these events... are they worth your time? Do they make you feel more comfortable with the school? Is it different for parents whose children are in elementary school than those whose children attend high school?

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p.s. The dog in the photo above reminds me so much of my Derby. He can jump that high too!

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Buried

Unless you want to hear me complaining (again) about how busy I am at work, I really have nothing to share with you.

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Or show you... I worked on my Bunny Hill September BOM block last weekend, but don't have the embroidery done. I made the cards for my ATC swap, but haven't mailed them yet so I can't show you those either.

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Not much has been happening in the sewing room, other than frantic typing of tests and learning guides on the computer and even more frantic marking of assignments. I'm even at the point where I'm trying to combine my leisure activities with school work - marking while watching Glee in the OnlyChild's room Wednesday night, choosing the movie Sicko as our Saturday night entertainment because I had to preview it before I show it to my grade 12 Social Studies class, taking my marking into the porch in order to enjoy this beautiful sunny Sunday.

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Arrrggghhh. Busy. In fact, I'm so buried in marking and other work right now I haven't even had time to go online to post responses for the master's course I'm taking, so that means I'll get behind in that also.

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Okay, enough complaining already. I'll pop my head up for some air soon and, hopefully, will have interesting stories and exciting projects. Maybe...

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Blissful

All those tomatoes... What's a girl to do?

I made Fresh Summer Salsa. Want the recipe? Okay, I know Pat and Sara don't want the recipe, but others might. ☺

Fresh Summer Salsa

4 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp white vinegar
pinch of pepper
2 pinches of salt

Combine all ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips or (my favourite) pita chips.

Pita chips? Take a pita; cut it in eighths then peel the layers apart. Place on a cookie sheet, spray with cooking spray, and bake in 350 oven until slightly browned. Yummy - and much healthier than tortilla chips.

This salsa will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for a week, give or take a couple of days.

Sorry, no photo. I'm too lazy to trek downstairs with the camera right now.

Plus... I have other things on my mind. Such as...



After searching high and low in bookstores across the city and not being able to get my paws on a copy of Blogging for Bliss, I was prepared to order online. But now I don't have to.
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The lovely Jeanne of A Bushel and a Peck picked my name ~ MY NAME ~ in her draw for the book. I'm so excited. Thank you, Jeanne. Thank you! I'm so looking forward to curling up with this book during my (ahem) spare time some weekend.
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And speaking of spare time, it's becoming rare around here. I picked up the marking from my mailbox today and it is ~ no exaggeration ~ about 5 inches tall. The kids have only been in school for a few days. Little keeners. I wish they'd slow down. Arrggghhh. It's so busy at work!
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Yeah... so why am I messing around on the computer...? Sigh.
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(I won, I won!) ☺

Harvest

Tomatoes of assorted shapes and sizes.

Beets and potatoes.

Carrots (and a couple of baby parsnips - not quite ready yet).

And an artful arrangement of vegetables photographed by the OnlyChild.

Yum.

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M.I.A.

Sorry... I didn't mean to be gone so long. It's been such a busy and tiring week. This working thing stinks! Haha.

Back to school... the grade 10 students arrived on Wednesday, all eager, excited and nervous. There were no grade 11s or 12s there that day, so they had the teachers all to themselves for orientation. As I've mentioned before, I teach in a self-directed program, so the system is a bit different for students who have been used to traditional classrooms and bell schedules.

Now, lest you think my job is easier than being in a classroom all day, consider this: In one of my 'classes' I have 65 students. That would never happen in a traditional system. No way. Well, except for that year I had 54 students in grade 10 English class. Yeah, that was fun.

Anyway... We do teach some classes. We have 'seminars' every week for each class we teach. I also teach one class every day (80 minutes) in the upgrading program. The rest of the time we are working on the 'learning floor' providing one-on-one help to students. And marking. And writing learning materials. And taking care of our 16-20 'advisees'. We are responsible for their education plan, schedules, contact with parents, giving them a much-needed kick in the butt every so often, counselling when they have personal problems, etc.

My school is a very busy place to work!

But I like it... most days. If I didn't, I would have found something else to do by now because it's just not healthy to work at a career you don't like... especially when you're dealing with adolescents. They can be trying, to put it politely.

Now it's the weekend. It's a glorious, sunny Saturday. I have lots of work to do, but not today. Maybe later. Today, I'm going to try to enjoy a bit of relaxation. Maybe go to the gym (I've been neglecting/avoiding it this week), perhaps take the OnlyChild to a movie. She wants to see The Time Traveller's Wife. The book was excellent!

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Thursday night I went with a couple of friends to see Julie and Julia. Loved it! Meryl Streep is so good in the role of Julia Child. If you haven't seen the movie, I would highly recommend it. But go with your girlfriends, rather than your husband/boyfriend. It's not a 'guy movie'.

And did you see the new t.v. show Glee? I hardly ever watch television, but Mr. P was away Wednesday evening so the remote control was in my hands. The OnlyChild and I really enjoyed Glee. I think we might have to pencil it in on our calendars for the rest of the year.

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It was nice chatting with you again. I've missed you all the past few days. I hope you liked my sunflower photos. I grew these flowers myself! I can hardly believe they actually bloomed, since my past experiments in gardening have been dismal. I had a whole row of them but then Mr. P dumped a load of sod on half of them that he'd scraped off the back lawn when he built the deck. Ooohhhh... I was upset! But the survivors grew very well, as you can see.

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I think Autumn is coming... although the days are warm, the mornings and evenings are chilly. This is my favourite time of year. I liked it better when I lived in the Maritimes, though, because the trees burst into a riot of reds, oranges and yellows and Fall lasts for weeks there. Here, it's yellow leaves one week, bare trees the next, and then snow.

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(Shhh... I said a dirty word - SNOW)

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Have a great weekend!

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The first two days...

I survived the first two days of school. The transition from summer vacation back to work wasn't quite as painful as I'd anticipated. In fact, it's just like I never had a holiday. Wait a second... that's not a good thing.

Anyway, as the saying goes, I'm back in the saddle.

We've had two days of meetings and... church. We all attend an opening mass at the beginning of the school year. I took this photo with my cell phone from the choir loft (I was in the choir). People were just starting to file in around 8:30 this morning.

The mass is held in the professional concert hall downtown. It's a beautiful facility with great acoustics. There were about 25 of us in the choir plus two cantors, an organist, and a 9-piece brass band.

Tomorrow is the first day with students. The grade 10 students come for orientation, then on Thursday grade 11 and 12 students have their first day. It will be busy. Yep, we hit the ground running!

Teaching: Wimps Need Not Apply!
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