Message To Administrators

I just saw this on a friend's Facebook page and had to share it here for many of the administrators at Packemin and other schools who read and hate this blog.

This is for all of you!!!  You can't teach and don't know the first thing about your subject area.  You have know idea who is a good teacher and who isn't one.  And, if you did notice a good teacher you would harass that person out of the building because of your fear of being shown for what you really are.

Shame on the Principals who appointed you, and shame on the superintendents who appointed you, poor excuses for a Principal because you know as little as the APs in your cabinet.

I'm gone and have the freedom of saying what others left behind cannot.

Interesting Sign

I bet they got some donations, too.  These kids were a lot luckier than  fall 2011 students who need the extra help but won't get it anymore.  Some not so brilliant administrator decided that ICT classes (classes with a main stream and a special education teacher) are the way to go.  Putting 34 low functioning kids in a room, with close to half needing special help and only one extra teacher, is a sure way to doom these kids to failure. 

I Know This Administrator!

South Bronx and I work in different schools, but the administrator he is describing sounds vaguely familiar.  Read his post here.         

Today's Newsday is still blaming teachers for all the woes of the schools.   When will the media open their eyes to administrators who fall into this category?

Feeding Your Pet Snake

Manuel was in my geometry class last year. He was (and still is) a quiet, sweet boy who was absent quite a bit. When I questioned him about his absence, he told me about his different illnesses. I foolishly believed him and let the whole thing slide. I assumed (and made the ass out of u and me) incorrectly that his resource room teacher would look into the problem. I guess it was better late than never but I did start looking into the problem, got his ISS guidance counselor involved and we did our best to help him.

One of the things I discovered last year was that Manuel's Math A regents grade was not on his transcript. Manuel told me he took the exam and passed it and the teacher he had for Math A confirmed this. I spoke to Mr. AP about the missing grade, I spoke to Ms. AP Guidance about the missing grade, I spoke to the teacher about the missing grade, but it never appeared. I was worried because if Manuel straightened himself out, he would graduate in 2010 and I did not want him to be missing the credit for an exam he needed and already passed. (Unfortunately, he only got a 60 on the geometry regents, short the points he needed to pass.)

A few days ago I got an e-mail from the ISS guidance counselor asking me if I knew anything about the algebra regents. I'm sure my screams went from Texas to New York. This poor kid will have to take the algebra regents in January and while I am guessing he will pass and not even mind taking it, I mind. I resent the incompetence that is making him do this.

Packemin HS is too big but even if we were smaller, mistakes would still occur. Guidance counselors, teachers and even assistant principals, even in smaller schools, have huge case loads which make it impossible to avoid mistakes like this. Someone needs to take the fall for Manuel and it shouldn't be someone from Packemin. I HOLD BLOOMBERG AND KLEIN ACCOUNTABLE. They are the ones that refuse to do anything to reduce class size. Schools will keep failing and they will keep closing them. They will shift the kids to different schools with the same over sized case loads and the problems will continue.

NOTHING IS CHANGING. KIDS WILL ALWAYS BE LOST IN THE SHUFFLE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT BLOOMBERG, KLEIN AND THE PEOPLE LIKE THEM DO NOT CARE. TO THEM, THESE KIDS ARE THE MICE THE PET STORE SELLS TO SNAKE OWNERS.

Saga of My ID Card

This term my room at the college requires a swipe card for entry. Once inside, there is a computer hooked up to a projector. I can use a graphing calculator without having to drag one from room to room. I can put a book on the projector instead of using the old fashioned overhead.

I don't have a swipe card so the secretary typed out a letter authorizing the ID office to issue me one. This office is not open evenings so I ran over during lunch (and prep) to pick up the card. The college is only about 5 minutes from the high school I teach in and the secretary told me the whole process would only take about ten minutes. Everything usually goes well at the college, so I was not concerned.

Wrong.

The highway had a lane closed for construction. The five minute trip took fifteen minutes.

Mr. Homeland Security, the guard at the front gate, did not want to let me in to park. He told me that the school does not issue swipe cards. I had to wave the letter in his face to gain entry.

The secretary told me to go to a room *** but when I got there, I found a sign directing me to room ###. Of course there were no signs around pointing out the location of that room and no one was around to ask. (It was hidden in a corner behind the Bursar's office.)

The line to get into the ID office was 50 people long. Since I am faculty, I walked in without waiting. Faculty ID's could only be taken at one of the two machines and the woman, Ms. Discombobulated, that worked the one I needed, was on a break. By the way, the office opened at 11:00 and I arrived at 11:10. Ms. Discombobulated wouldn't take the picture until she ate her gum drops. She needed the sugar. Then she took a phone call. Next, she insisted I needed my expired ID (which I did not have). The number she needed was already on the computer, so she really did not need it at all. She finally took the picture, but the computer did not hold it. How anyone could lose a digital picture on a computer is beyond me, but lost it she did. I then sat for another one. It came out awful, but at that point I did not care. I just wanted to get out of there. While all this was going on, the other ID person, Ms. I Don't Give a S***t was busy doing something, I'm not sure what that something was. Meanwhile, the line outside grew longer. The kids on the line became agitated. The ten minute process was up to forty minutes but, I did get my card and I got out of there before any of the kids on that line got violent. In all that time, only two students had been taken off the line.

I still have to wait a week before I can use the card. A locksmith has to put my number into the system and like all NYC contractors, he is only in the school one day a week. But, unlike Ms. Discomboboulated and Ms. I Don't Give a S**t, the secretaries in the math department are efficient. They are the ones in charge of getting my card to the right person so it will be activated. I know that it will be working soon.