Fear



He walked the halls, going from room to room looking to admonish the teacher who had a student or students walking in late.  There was glee in his eyes as he saw one enter the room of the person he is out to get.

I am no longer a part of it, but it still bothers me.  How can anyone work in an environment like this?  How can anyone concentrate on helping their students when they are constantly afraid for their jobs?  Fear is the predominant feeling of the classroom teacher today.

You Have Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

I was talking to a neighbor today about teaching, retirement, what the future holds for us. She can leave any time she wants (tier 1 and over 55) but she is not ready to go yet. She spent the last two days getting her classroom ready for next week. I told her that there was no way I would set one foot in the building until tomorrow. She answered, "We have one of those new, young principals. She is always writing everyone up. I don't want to get written up."

I don't know what a tenured teacher, one year from retirement is worried about. It is teachers like this one that permit the system to keep abusing us and to force us to work all these extra days. I don't have a classroom to set up, but if I did, it would get set up on school time, not my vacation time. If an administrator expects me to get something done, they better give me free time during the day to do it. (Of course this does not apply to doing extra for my kids--I am always around to tutor or to talk to them.)

Last year, College Board started requiring teachers of advanced placement courses to submit curriculum. This took hours and hours of work. When we were first told about this, I asked, "When will we be given time to get this done?" After hemming and hawing, we were relieved of regents proctoring to write the curriculum. (I am proud to say that mine was one of the few approved on its first submission.)

The abuse of teachers will continue as long as teachers allow it to continue. I understand the newbies--they have no tenure and must go in extra and work extra. I did the same when I first started out. I don't understand how the old timers, like me, can still be intimidated. Two years ago I had a disagreement with my Principal. He told me that since I don't "share his vision", I should transfer. I told him "Good school, near home, easy to park, I'm not going anywhere. Learn to deal with it." I haven't spoken more than a few words to him since (except when he handed me my Heart Award in June).

TEACHERS--STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS! NO ONE ELSE WILL DO THAT FOR YOU.

Sad Shape of the World

Bullet-proof Backpack

DANVERS, Mass. - New for this U.S. schoolchildren this
fall -- stylish yet functional -- it's a backpack with
a bulletproof lining. The item is being marketed by MJ
Safety Solutions, a company founded by Mike Pelonzi and
Joe Curran of Massachusetts. "I'm a parent and so is Joe
and we wanted a way of keeping kids safe at school and
this is what we came up with," Pelonzi told The Staten
Island Advance. The company sells two sizes, one for
books and the other for laptop computers. Both have a
light metal plate sewn into the back, guaranteed to stop
bullets although weighing no more than a bottle of water.
The MJ Solutions Web site says there have been 328 school
shootings since 1999, with 229 dead and 422 injured. "In
almost 97 percent of these documented incidents, MJ Safety
Solutions' backpack could have provided the ballistic
protection that could have saved lives," the site claims.
The makers say the backpacks will also protect against
knives and other weapons

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