Teachers

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Tissue paper goes faster than any other supply in my classroom. As soon as a box is put out, every kid seems to need to use 3-4 sheets at a time.

That's why I use toilet paper (a former colleague suggested that) instead, because there's a stigma to using it, so students take less of it. Plus, I give the piece(s) to them, instead of leaving the box out (I go through about 8-12 rolls a school year, costing about $2-4 total) for them to pull and pull and pull...

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

I visited my old room at my elementary school this past Tuesday to finish moving and I made sure I stuffed a few bags full of construction paper, white composition paper, and of course tissue paper. I don't feel guilty about doing it since I was in that school for 6 years, it seems we rarely put a dent in the amount of paper in the store room. Besides, the paper will be put to good use.

Toilet paper does sound like a good idea, but what sounds even better is limiting the amount of supply as BCJ stated. Or even better, forget doing arts and crafts since students "aren't tested on it."

[TeeEye7]

Thanks to the Dollar Store, my house now looks like we're a time capsule repository for art supplies with all the clear plastic shoe boxes Mrs. TI bought. Don't really want to get into the Mother of All Ziplock Bags stacked on the living room floor....

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Toilet paper does sound like a good idea, but what sounds even better is limiting the amount of supply as BCJ stated. Or even better, forget doing arts and crafts since students "aren't tested on it."

Other "hidden items" in my classroom include the tape dispenser (after a brief let's-tape-anything-and-everything phase), paper towels, paper clips, hand sanitizer, calculator, back-up handheld pencil sharpeners and staplers. And keep in mind, I teach high schoolers. I can't imagine the touchy-takey of elementary kids.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Next week is last-before-school-starts. Yay?

The freshmen orientation day was Thu. of this week. Got an email warning us, then another thanking us for letting (as if there was a choice ) them us the rooms and apologizing if things weren't properly put back. I can easily move a desk or chair back, but keep the sticky half-eaten candy and popped balloons off the floor and erase your writing from the board, please. Sigh... :doUntoOthers:

[TeeEye7]

Mrs. TI7 is ramping up for the next school year. Time for me online is at a premium. The house looks like a school supply store exploded in the living room. She gets to dive head first into her class room next Monday to start setting up for her next crop of third graders. Stress levels in the house are rising....

[TeeEye7]

Today is Mrs. TI7's first day of the new school year with kids. Last week was spent with meetings and setting up her classroom. Last night was the traditional 11th hour chores before the first day.

We live just around the corner from her school and our street was filled with overflow parking with parents taking their kiddies to their first day. My dogs barked for about two hours straight from hearing all the car doors slamming shut (good little watch dogs are they!). All is quiet now.

Here's wishing another good year to my wife (this is year #15 since she changed careers) and her students! Here's hoping all knock it out of the park with Star Testing like last year!

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

Good for Mrs. Tee Eye.

Being a career changer, how long does she plan on teaching? Most teachers who are hired out of college put 30 years in here in NYS, while career changers all have different benchmarks to reach, depending on the age they hire.

Also, there is an initiative in our area to have Dad's bring their kid to school on the first day of school. This is part of the idea to get father's to take an active part of their child's education. Apparently it has been featured in big cities for the past few years with a lot of participation on the first day.

[TeeEye7]

Good for Mrs. Tee Eye.

Being a career changer, how long does she plan on teaching?

This is just a guess on my part but I think she has at least five but maybe as much as ten years more to go in her career. Politics (NCLB) and other drama might have an effect on that, though. I wouldn't blame her for walking away given an experience last year. I may have posted this already but she got in trouble with her administration for teaching. She had the AUDACITY to teach her kids a concept with a book outside of the current curriculum. The kids didn't get it, so she used a source that was always successful. The administration caught wind of it and she got in trouble for it. BTW: the kids understood the concept with the other resource rather than the current "approved" piece of trash. If the politicians would stay out of it, I think we'd be graduating smart, prepared kids again.

I like the Dad's initiative. I was extremely active with my son from K-6. Back then, I worked 10 hour shifts and had three days off (I worked week ends then). At least one day a week and frequently three days were spent at school in my son's classroom. We were a lucky family in that his school was also the school site in which my wife works. Because of my weird schedule, I was able to spend time with both of them. Oh, the days of reading groups and cafeteria lunches with Mrs. TI7!

[Maradona]

I've got two more weeks of vacation before school starts here in LA. I've been meeting with the journalism class kids since last week, though, so we can have a paper out for the first day of school. When I was asked to teach the journalism class last summer, one of the first things I encouraged the students to do was create an issue of the paper for the first of class. The kids were motivated enough to come in during their vacation and work on it. The same has happened this summer. High school kids often get a reputation for not achieving, well-deserved in many cases, but there are also kids who refuse that distinction and can work wonders when they want to.