A taste of fall

We got our first taste of fall today. It was very pleasant :) I got *most* of the fence pressure-washed - just the back section (both sides) to go. I've never been so dirty since I was a kid - it was WONDERFUL!!! Don't you just miss those days - you can just go out, play in the yard/mud/woods and get totally filthy and you just don't care? After the fence, I decided (since it was so beautiful out - breezy, sunny with a few puffy clouds) to stay outside and get the back area cleaned up. I mowed yesterday, but the back area has been infested with weeds and errant grass - so it was time to pull em out. I raked some of the leaves and junk - although all the trees really haven't finished dropping them yet, so I'll have to do it again soon, but that's okay.
Jedi liked being out with me. He almost got a bath - I just didn't have the strength left in me by the time I got done. I'll shoot for Tuesday - since I have to finish the pressure-washing then so I can get the fence sealed next weekend.
We are off for fall break - I LOVE this schedule here :) It's absolutely fabulous!

On a personal note - I need to find someone to kiss on. I miss kissing. It just hit me yesterday for some reason. I'm okay without much else, but to kiss someone who REALLY knows what they're doing is just divine. I know - guys don't really get into that as much as girls do. There's just something about it. Running the hands through the hair, your heart beating a little faster - there's just something intimate about it that just cannot be replaced or replicated ...sigh.... so not in the cards right now :(

Historic visit - yeah, right!

I had an actual visit from an actual state senator - Senator Chip Rogers - District 21. He was canvassing the neighborhood (I've ALWAYS wanted to use that word - "canvassing") with flyers - up for re-election obviously.

Here's what pissed me off....He introduced himself and I responded "Yes, I know who you are. I met you at the town hall meeting we had back in February." Now, rather than saying "Thanks for coming out." or "I'm glad we've already met." or "Did you have any other questions about the meeting?" He replied, "I'm running for re-election. Here's some information (handing me his pamphlet) and my home number is on there if you have any questions."

I think it's safe to say that if you are THAT arrogant that you think you don't need to spend an extra 10 seconds with someone who says they have met you before and do not even acknowledge them, then you must think you are a shoe-in for re-election and don't need to spend time talking to your constituents. He obviously cares more about getting elected then finding out anything about the people he represents.

Well - there went my vote - to someone else. And hey, Chip, guess what? I AM A TEACHER. Based on the legislation you have sponsored in the Senate this past year designed to take money OUT of public education, you're not real popular with us right now. To top it off, I've already emailed the Ga Association of Educators, and talked with the PAGE rep at my school as well as about 10 other teachers - the word is spreading. You don't care about people - you just want to be re-elected and apparently feel as though you are a sure thing. Well, we'll see. I might only be one vote, but email works wonders for letting others know how you really treat people.

She should get a raise

I subscribe to a list serve kind of thing for education stories, and a union in LA was trying to get an elementary school principal removed. I don't know the whole story, but I see what the principal states in the article - teachers using cell phones, 6 teachers calling in during a schoolwide testing day in May, etc. Here's my take (on the very limited information that I have - so it's a very small grain of salt...)
I, as a teacher, personally HATE it when I see teachers using cell phones DURING THEIR CLASS TIME. We tell students they are not to have them or use them while on campus, yet we flaunt it in front of them. When I was in the situation with my mom, and literally on-call 24/7 - I spoke with my assistant principal and asked for permission to have my cell phone on my person in case I had to take a call. I stepped OUTSIDE my classroom maybe 3 times in 3 months to take calls that I had to take (from my sister-in-law, doctor). Now, it stays in my purse on silent. We should be setting the example, not the exception.
Another pet peeve - teachers who LIE on the sign in sheet as to what time they get to school. That's stealing, plain and simple. You are stealing time - which is money. You are contracted to be there at a certain time and leave at a specified time - I see more than a few leaving early and I KNOW they didn't ask permission or sign out. This is stealing. I would have no problem going back to an electronic form of sign in during the morning - we have bar codes on our badges - why don't we use them? If you are consistently late, you should be docked for that time unless your assistant principal has been called, notified and approves it.
Not being there to administer a test on a state-wide testing day? You need to be in the hospital or have a legitimate family emergency. That puts an undue amount of stress on your co-workers to cover for you. I hate that. Substitutes cannot administer state tests.
Teachers bitch and moan that they are not treated professionally and they deserve better. Well, wake up to the real world - if you want to be treated professionally - ACT professionally. Don't abuse your time - you were hired to teach children - you should be in the room and your attention should be focused on them. Don't steal. Be respectful of your co-workers and, most importantly, your clients - these are your students.
Correct me if I'm wrong - but if you are in the real world and are consistently late to work and lie about it on your time card, use work time to place personal calls (rather than using your lunch hour), and miss important meetings or work sessions that are essential to the health and overall functioning of the company, my guess is that you would be looking for another job in a short time period.
This principal needs to be given a raise. She said she was visiting classrooms and observing what's going on. That is HER JOB. She should know what's going on in each room. The kids like seeing administrators in their rooms. I've ALWAYS maintained that they could come in at any time and observe. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. Administrators should always question why a teacher or teachers are opposed to them walking into their classrooms unannounced - what are you hiding?
Be professional. Show that you are professional - a responsible adult. Then maybe, just maybe, teachers will be treated professionally. It's a case of a few "bad apples" ruining this for those of us who take our jobs seriously and got into teaching to help kids - not to get summers off.