End of January

I have been working every day this week. There has been some confusion this week. I had a job an Monday and during the day I got a job offer for Tuesday which the teacher was ill so he never put in the job. When I had no confirmation , I took any job at that school. I taught Drama on that day and since he did not have the job in, the admin had just got a warm body in the classroom. The teacher told the students he had not done the subject in over 40 years so he did not even try. I had to reteach the day before and the new lesson. In one of his classes, I was going to re- teach anyway. I will be the same teacher again tomorrow. He is out sick and is hoping to return on Friday. Yet the confusion of who and what topic I am daily, I have been feeling overwhelmed. I would like for him to return, but I would love to work the rest of the week too. There is the part of me which would love to work everyday but there is a piece of me me which likes to have days off every week. I would love to have a day for housework. At this point, if I work in schools everyday, and am at church on Saturday and Sundays. I get around 4 hours of daylight on each day. That does not allow much time to clean the house, laundry and prep meals for the week. This week I have been wanting to make refried beans. That takes a night to soak and a day to cook. Then it takes almost an hour to blend up into refried beans. If I get Friday off I will make my refried beans that day if not I will make it over the weekend. I also need to mop the kitchen, guest bathroom, and hallways.

January 26, 2013

This week I worked three days.  Considering that there were 4 school days this week, I guess that is good.  I wish sometimes that I have my own classroom.  Yet, with the politics in schools and their districts, I am not sure I do want my own classroom.   Right now I do not like the regulations that are put upon teachers.  Between the state regulations, there are district regulations which make "learning" almost impossible.  The standardized test results have huge results for students and teachers alike.  I would love to see something change soon, but I doubt it will. Anymore I am loving homeschooling. It allows learning life skills which are no longer taught in schools.  I substitute in junior high and senior high in the valley and see so much wasted trying to keep the smart kids slowed down to meet up with the slower students who disturbed the class.  The slower students should not be ones that we are exclusively trying to teach.  Each student should be able to taught at his or her own level.  That can only happen in a smaller class environment.  Yet the funding is so low that most classes are over 30 not under 20.  I do understand that most college classes are more packed than that, so I know we are preparing them for college but we are not doing a good at that, either the smartest students or dumbest students lead the class in a good way or bad way.  For most students and classes, they do learn how to think critically and for themselves.  This is lacking in way too many classes.  I would love to see actual thinking on their own done almost every day.  What I see is students doing the work for others and much copying happening which I tell them how it is not helping anyone.  That is does not cause any learning on either parts.  We are just making dumb the next generation. I do like to work and enjoy the students for the most part, but I do like how "learning" is not truly happening in the school environment.
One vent down only 100 or more still to go.  Are you sure you want to read all my crazy thoughts?  I am not sure that they are worth reading. In the weather, it is still too warm to feel like winter.  We needs more snow and rain - I know that almost always also means fog too but without wet, we will be a drought again.  We are barely above a drought and not not sure we will stay above it but the people who declare that do not until June or July.  We have more months with the potential for more wet.  I just want it now and later not just later.

It is now Saturday.  This week, I have made re-fried beans, and rice.  The beans turned out some spicy since I added a shake of cayenne pepper.  It seems to call for something spice-less such as rice or cheese.  Yet we are enjoying it anyways.  I have discovered on the land we rent that there is a lot of poison oak growing on the land, we do not want these to grow into trees but they are beginning to look more tree like and less like a vine.  Hubby wants to burn them off since he is highly allergic to them.  Yet there is no rain in the forecast.  Not sure that will happen.  Yet not sure it will not.  I am still temped to take my pruning shears out and get rid of most of them.  I know the trunks are not the problem.  I could cut them and throw them into the burn  pile.  Yet I know they will return.  That is not good either.
We are still in January, but the days are too warm.  I live at 4500 feet elevation, but we have been in the upper 60's during the day even though we have been dropping down to low 20's during the night.  It is beginning to feel like spring and most of the snow is gone.  We so need more snow, winter is still here.
I hate the fact I work as a contract employee, I do love what I do, but my check this month will be small since there was not school for the last two weeks of December and I get paid for that time on this months check.  I do not like it when I can not work.  This last week was finals schedule for CUSD where I work the most.  They do not use many substitutes during this week since teachers do not want their classes to take finals while they are gone.  I worked on Friday this week.  I do enjoy that once in a while but it seems lately that it has been too much.  I think this is because we just got off of Winter break and now another week where we do not get to work.  I am thinking about finding a job on line where I could work it from home for times like this, but I doubt I would find much work for these times.
Since today is Saturday and the church we are at has services on Saturday and Sunday.  We have one tonight and two on Sunday.  I guess that is how my weekends always go.  On weeks I do not work, those days I do know I will get to go to town.  I hope it ends up being a good weekend.

I begin this blog as a person who wants to do better being a friend, wife, and teacher.  I have a husband who loves to shoot his guns and enjoys going out shooting on most days.  I was bothered by the what the president told the congress.  It did seem as if he is limiting the 2nd amendment yet I also understand that some of the states do have the same regulations.  I bought a handgun last year and there was a safety test I had to take, then there was a 7 day waiting period while they made sure I had no record.  You can not buy in CA magazines that hold more than 10.  Maybe what he is suggesting will not play a role in CA due to our current regulations.  It might play a role in other states though.  It seems anymore that to me that if the media did not talk about every shooting that they would stop or at least slow them down.  The problem as I see it is that these acts are glamorized.  Once upon a time ago, people who wanted to kill themselves, just did that.  Anymore, the people who want to commit suicide, kill multiple people then have then have the police kill them or they just kill their selves.  If our TV did not talk about for years and months, then it would not have become so popular.  I remember when Columbine shooting happened, it was awful, it shocked the nation, that was over 10 years ago.  There have been so many worse shootings since.  Guns in the hands of good people have stopped a few of these shootings.  Yet in schools, guns are not allowed and most people know that.  That is why many of these shootings happen in schools.  I do not have a child, but if I did, I would home school them.  I think too much time is wasted in the schools.  I also think that most home schooled children are better prepared for the "real" world.  Schools try hard, but there is too much testing and students only learn for the tests.  They do not remember much of what learned two weeks later.  It is finals week in one of the school districts I substitute at.  The students are not ready even if they think they are.  Many of them will cheat during the tests even if the teacher is trying to stop it and is threatening them.  The students do this due to the fact they are not ready for the test.  So far in their education they have not needed this knowledge so they will not need it.  Yet once out of school, you can not cheat on most jobs.  Also if you want a good paying job where you do not have to live at home and can pay for your own car, you need college, I have had college classes where everyone in the room has a different test, that way it is about impossible to cheat.  People who cheat in school will most likely cheat in life tool. That ruins marriages, families, friendships.  I wish our world was different.  I will just change my piece of my world.  Today I will get laundry done, exercise (yoga video) and walk (with dog), and make a healthy dinner for hubby and myself.  Hope everyone has a great day.  Focus on what can be changed.  Nothing else you can do will change that.