Fair Pay!

The Ides of April

Today is the day! The last day... Well, not really. Don't people have longer if they e-file? Anyway, who cares? I already did mine. One thing that I do before the last possible minute. Well, this is the first year since I have been married that we didn't have to pay. I didn't even realize that people had to pay until I got married. My husband's finances are, shall we say, not so good. I have learned a few things in these (almost) four years of marriage. One of them is that I need to handle the money. He is a wonderful person, but we all have our weaknesses. I think bills should be paid on time; he agrees, but does not do it. Well, such is life. It took me a while to realize that this is who he is and I just have to accept that. I can say that I understand why the number one reason for divorce is m-o-n-e-y. Scrilla. Ducats. Cash. It can put a strain on your relationship when the finances are not right.

Anyway, today is my stepson's 11th birthday. He has been living with us for the majority of the year for two years now. He only sees his mother, who (thank God) lives halfway across the country in TX during the summer and, this past year, at Christmas. I have a problem. He still calls me by my first name. Not cool. I think his father should be the one to tell him about it, though, because he is the one who first introduced me years ago by my first name. When I introduce people to my two-year-old queen, I have her call them Ms. or Mr. So and So or Cousin So and So. Whatever. Some kind of title. I was just raised that way. Call it what you like. I call it respect. I don't think that it is right for me to do all that mother stuff and get called by the same name that my best friend since preschool calls me. Your thoughts?

What am I thinking about today?

Unfortunately, the apathy of this class. My sorority's chapter offers a scholarship every year. They have been doing so for many years. I took the applications in months ago, and they were due on April 1. Do you know how many we received from two large schools with combined enrollement of more than 5,000 students? Three. You can't even give away money to these kids. I know that there are more than three students that plan on going to college. I just wonder what kind of adults we are grooming...

Off of my soap box...

Sisterhood...

Well, I have been upset by something in the media. I want to talk about these third-graders in Waycross, GA, that were planning to hurt their teacher because she "scolded" one of them for standing on a chair. No, she didn't slap or hit one, she scolded one for standing on a chair! I am sure that she was trying to keep the child from hurting him or herself. And what is her reward for doing her job? A murder plot.

What kind of world do we live in where eight and nine-year-olds come up with something like this? Why didn't their parents notice that they were leaving the house with the family knives and duct tape? I just don't get it. Bush is asking us to leave no child behind. Admirable, yes, but realistic, no. What can teachers (who only have these children after they have been with their parents for a few developmentally important years) do with children like these? What? What? But these are the children that will be sitting next to my baby in class because of inclusion. Don't get me wrong. I know that there are many children that are mislabeled and placed in special education classes, and I am more than willing to help those that are going to do the right thing, but there are some children, God bless them, that wouldn't do the right thing for money. These children have been so corrupted by home, TV, or whatever, that they do not value their own lives much less any one else's. I cannot take a 14 year old that has already decided to drop out and make him love school. I can try to offer incentives, extra credit, unconditional love, and all of the patience in the world, but sometimes that doesn't amount to anything if they have already decided that they don't want or can't get an education. If their parents have been telling them that they are stupid for 14 years, eight months of "you are wonderful" may be too late.

I know that this probably sounds negative to many of you. To that I say, teach ninth graders for nine years and then tell me what you think...

Today was rough!

Ok. Several (and by several I mean like a third) of my angels are failing this quarter. In an effort (not my first, but maybe my last) to save them from themselves, I offered the opportunity to come in after school and work on things that they either missed and didn't make up or made zeroes on. Generous, huh? Yeah, I thought so, too. Problem? Only like five kids showed up. I am really glad that they are willing to work in order to bring up their horrible grades, but there are so many more that should have been there.

Fast forward to this morning. I receive a call from one of my parents who is very upset that her son didn't come to the session. So, I talk to this boy and tell him he can come in during lunch and he doesn't (surprised? don't be.)

I just don't understand how much more I (or we, as educators) can do. These children have no idea that they are in the process of either ruining their futures or making it that much more difficult to be successful. I have never heard anyone say that he or she was happy about dropping out of school. Have you?