| Final Day |
[May. 15th, 2007|06:02 pm] |
Tomorrow is my last day as a teacher. The journey is almost complete. |
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| Reading buddy |
[May. 14th, 2007|10:02 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  satisfied | ] |
Today was my last day reading with the second grader that I have been reading with since last fall. Two times a week I gave up my planning period in order to read with one of my good friends(a second grade teacher)poorest preforming students. I always joke that to feel like I am making a difference at all here, I have to volunteer. Kind of an absurd thought for a teacher.
At the beginning of the year the student was at a pre-K reading level. What this means is that he struggled to recognize what I call sight words. Words such as: but, and, at, on, the, etc. Today was our last day and I would love to brag that he had progressed to the point where he is ready for 3rd grade. Unfortunately he did not progress three grade levels. But, I can proudly say that the gap is much smaller, and that he is only about 1 grade level behind where he should be. Naturally, the most credit should go to his wonderful teacher, but I would like to think that our practice time gave him some of the confidence that he now exudes when reading. The problem is there are just so many students at this school who have the exact same struggles. If someone at home would just occasionally work with them, their educational lives could be forever changed.
The saddest part is knowing that there are students like him in every school in America. |
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| Graduation |
[May. 13th, 2007|01:15 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
Yesterday was graduation at SFIS. It was held in the school gym and although it was very hot in there since there is no air conditioning it was decorated really nicely. Graduation went exactly like I would have expected. A really nice grand entry as if we were at a pow-wow, and then a lot of disorganization. There was supposed to be a rehearsal for graduation but seeing as nobody showed up for it the two hour service was quite scatter brained. The principal had to preface anything he was about to say with directions as to how it should be done, followed by the kids doing whatever they wanted regardless. It was a pretty good microcosm of how things usually work.
36 seniors graduated yesterday. Of that 10 did not meet the graduation requirements, but somehow were allowed to graduate. Another example of having no expectations for the kids. The people who allowed this would argue that they just care more about the kids than you do if you were to argue with ignoring the graduation requirements.
Of the 36 seniors, 2 graduated on grade level in both math and reading. The average reading level for the graduating seniors was 8th grade and the average math level was 6th grade. So although 36 kids graduated, many of them will have difficult futures if they would like to pursue anything other than manual labor.
The two seniors who graduated on grade level have ACT scores of 19 & 17 respectively. To put that in perspective to qualify to play college sports you need an 18 on your ACT. To me the fact that our top two students have ACT scores barely good enough to get them into a state school is preposterous. It might be the biggest travesty of all. Kids who wanted to do well and succeeded at this school are barely prepared to move on with their education. Another sad fact is that there does not seem to be any outrage over this. Instead this graduation was a celebration "because now they have achieved something that will open up doors for them." Sadly I am not so sure about that. |
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| Takeover |
[May. 11th, 2007|01:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
Last night was the graduating senior honoring ceremony. Although it was not well organized it was still a nice opportunity to give the seniors some recognition. To my great surprise two students got me real nice presents.(a really nice blanket, and a beautiful native american mug) In the middle of this nice ceremony the school board president grabs the microphone. I will paraphrase a bit, but here are the basics of what he said. "The school has had its charter revoked by the tribal council. No I don't know what this means but things could be a lot different around here. This is going to affect every one of you in a different way." Just the voice of reasoning and calm that we all look for in a leader.
This naturally upset a lot of people in the audience. Will the school be open next year? Are contracts still valid? Will the superintendent and administration be fired? What will happen to the $9 million dollars in the budget?
As of today's in-service most of these questions are still open. What it looks like is that this coup will only have consequences for the schools leadership. But, there is a lot of speculation and rumors going around.
I guess it is not every day that the tribal council decides to take over a school.
As for my class, attendance is even more absurd than usual. High attendance for the week on a given day was 7. My low attendance day(and as I said all week, a new world record) was 3 students. Being a naive first year teacher I didn't give me class final two weeks before school let out. Apparently every other teacher knows to quit teaching with about two weeks left, so those of us who missed the memo, are left in a tough position. Do you go ahead with the final(as I have decided to do) or do you just pass everybody as some teachers are doing.
The talk of high expectations at this school is nothing but a joke.
But hey on the bright side there are only 4 days left of school! |
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| Buffetology |
[May. 7th, 2007|01:21 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | impressed | ] |
This last weekend my roommate and I went down to Omaha to the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. One of my goals in life was to save up enough money to buy a share of the stock and make it to the shareholders meeting.(some call it the Woodstock of Capitalism) Along with 27,000 other shareholders I sat and listened to Warren Buffett, the second richest man on the planet(worth over $50 billion) answer questions from the floor for over 6 hours. Along with his brilliant insights we were serenaded by Jimmy Buffet(no relation) who has been a shareholder for years.
Overall it was a great time, and hopefully I will be able to attend the event in the future as well. But, being that Warren is in his late 70's this might be one of his last annual meetings. It was really incredible to see so many enthusiastic capitalists. Even my roommate who is not that interested in the stock market thought it was a good experience.
Finding a hotel was the big issue of the weekend. Since Omaha is not that big a city, all of the hotels were full. It took us driving down I-80 to find a place with any rooms. Even then we paid way more than I would have liked for a sub-par room.
Nevertheless it was a weekend that I think was well worth the hastle of the drive and cost of the room. |
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| Lowering the bar |
[May. 2nd, 2007|04:51 pm] |
So yesterday I sat in a meeting with the aunt of one of my students. She wanted to know what her nephew could do to pass his classes.(He is failing all of them) For the record he had attended my class 10 times all semester.(all unexcused with no reason given) There should be no way on Earth he passes my class, and if it is up to me he won't. Yet the group came up with solutions like, "what if he makes a poster about government, then we can give him a semester of government and art". I couldn't make that up I promise. All indications are that the student in question will graduate with the rest of his class. The sad part is he does not have the skills necessary to hack it in the real world. This school has let him down. He has let himself down.
At this point something like this doesn't even surprise me. |
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| Branding |
[Apr. 22nd, 2007|06:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sore | ] |
Yesterday I went to my first cattle branding. It was everything I thought it would be and more. A guy I have become friends with owns a ranch about 7 miles south of Saint Francis and he invited a few of us to come out. I knew it would be interesting but I had no idea how fun it would be to wrestle calves to the ground and pin them down. At first I was trying to be gentle with the calves, but quickly realized all that was going to do was possibly end up hurting myself or others. Once the calf was pinned they were given shots, castrated(for the males), and branded. Needless to say the calves did not like this process one little bit. I don't know that I will ever forget that terrible smell of burning cattle flesh.
After the 750 cattle were branded everybody who was at the branding got together for a huge meal back at my friend's house. IT was really a neat community event. That was one of the most surprising things to me how much of an event the branding was. It was not just work, it was a way of life.
Today I am quite sore but every bump and bruise was well worth it. Needless to say, not a day that I will soon forget. |
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| Drug Deals |
[Apr. 19th, 2007|07:52 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
So today was another crazy day at school. There was a diabetes walk this morning which all the kids were dismissed for, so I only had 8 kids all day. But of those 8 kids one of them decided I must not be paying attention. He pulls out two white pills and leans over to the girl next to him and offers to sell one for $5. I conspicuously went and found a hall monitor. When they searched the kids pockets only, they found nothing. When the hall monitor left, he started bragging that the hall monitors were morons. I then said,"well, everybody in this room knows that you do have pills on you somewhere." He said, "your right, but hey, they didn't find them, and there is nothing you can do about it."
The sad part is he is right. Although I saw him do it and he admitted as much, he was not even given a slap on the wrist.
Just another silly story about this school.
19 days left until summer! |
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| Back to the grind |
[Apr. 18th, 2007|06:12 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Today was my first day back to school after a long weekend in Las Vegas. My dad had a big convention that he attends every year and as a birthday present he bought me a plane ticket to spend the weekend with him. It was a really good time. I hadn't been to Vegas since I was about 15, so I enjoyed exploring the casinos and people watching. I didn't have any birthday luck at the tables, but I had a lot of fun playing anyways. Among the other highlights were gutting sunburned at the pool, eating lots of good meals, and spending a lot of time with my dad.
It was such a good time that it made coming back to Saint Francis all the more difficult. Today is another parent night so I have to stay late as well. But, as you might expect I have not seen a parent in the 2+ hours I have been sitting in my room.
Next thing to look forward to.....Summer! |
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| Bored and thinking of Vegas |
[Apr. 13th, 2007|11:26 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
I am sitting in class, bored because no students showed up this hour or the last hour. You would think I would be used to this by now, but it still is frustrating. The gossip today at school is that the school will be firing all of the people who spoke out at our employee association meeting(this includes me). This seems to be a clear violation of the first amendment(right to assemble) but with the court system on the reservation I have been told the school will win every time no matter what. The people I feel sorry for in this situation are local people who have friends and family in the area where this is one of the only viable jobs available. People have been coming up to me asking me if I am worried, and the honest answer is no. It would certainly make my decision about next year much simpler.
In other news, I am going to Las Vegas this weekend to celebrate my birthday with my dad. He had a broadcasting conference and he threw me a few of his frequent flyer miles, so all in all it should be a pretty affordable weekend. This semester I have been something of a homebody as far as travel goes. I have not done nearly as much exploring as I did the first semester of school, so for the last few weeks I have been really looking forward to this weekend. When I get back there will only be 21 days left of school, which any way you slice it, is not bad.
Here's to hoping for a little luck at the black jack tables! |
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| School board |
[Apr. 12th, 2007|09:45 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | frustrated | ] |
Now let me start this with a caveat. In college I participated in a fraternity and thus sat through a lot of meetings where stupid stuff was said. But, last night I received a new appreciation for a poorly run meeting. A lot of the staff at the school have been frustrated by the superintendent and some of the decisions he has made. Everything from firing people without cause to publicly berating employees in front of their colleagues. Since there is no teachers union to hear grievances, it is up to the parties involved to go directly to the school board. When the complaints were aired you would have thought that the board members were my high school students. Rather than seeing this as an opportunity to let the staff feel like they had rights/importance, they were made to feel terrible for even approaching them. The apparent solution was to berate the staff about "not caring about kids". Luckily for me, I did not speak at the meeting, but I believe I will still face consequences for just showing up to support other staff members. In any other school district this would lay the ground work for a major lawsuit, but here there is not a court around that wants to touch this political hot potato.
As I have grown fond of saying, just another day in paradise. |
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| A relaxing weekend |
[Apr. 9th, 2007|07:11 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | refreshed | ] |
I had a real enjoyable four day weekend. I didn't make it to church over Easter weekend but I instead went hiking in the Badlands. It was a beautiful day and it really helped me to remember how neat the state of South Dakota is.
We still have South Dakota state testing this week so it will be another out of sorts weekend at school.
As an update to a previous post, the reading incentive program was canceled three weeks early. A total of 2500 book reports were turned in at a cost to the taxpayers of "only" $70,000. The kids were quite disappointed that their "jobs" were through. On Thursday when they handed out the checks it was kind of like Christmas. There were a number of students who made more in one week than I did in two weeks. It wasn't just the kids who were loving life though. One of my colleagues had a bonus check of $650, for signing off on b.s. book reports. Per a question I got from a friend, the writing quality of the reports was as low as you would expect considering that teachers were being paid to sign off on them. Even a week later I am still outraged with the program.
27 days until summer! |
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| Reading Incentive program |
[Apr. 3rd, 2007|05:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | angry | ] |
I have rarely been so mad leaving school as I was today. About two weeks ago the school started a reading incentive program in order to encourage the kids to read. The plan was hatched by a school board member without consulting the staff. The basics of the plan are as follows.
If a student reads a 50 page book and answers 7 generic questions about the book they will be paid $25.00.
That is not a misprint. If they read 50 pages out of any book they receive $25. As the teacher for each book report that is turned in you will receive $10.
When I first heard about the program I quickly came up with about twenty objections, but overall the consensus was that nobody would even participate. And for the first two weeks almost nobody did. But, then the checks were handed out. When students saw checks going out everything changed. All of a sudden everybody wanted in. Every 2nd grade level book in the school was checked out because that was the easiest way to make the money. Kids were making copies of their reports and turning it in to multiple teachers. Kids were pulling reviews off the back cover of the book. You name it, the kids did it.
So today rolls around, the day the book reports are due for this check period. Kids refused to do work today. "They had to make money". And how could I blame them, they were making more money than I was. I was so furious that I was banning outside reading from my class room.
If you asked the kids any questions about the books they had no idea what it was about. That wasn't of any interest to them.
So at our weekly staff meeting I am incensed about this whole thing. The principal reveals that so far the program has cost $20,000 and this week should cost about $20,000 more. This is federal tax money being spent. My mother doesn't make a lot of money but every two weeks the government hits her pocket book hard. All so some kids who are woefully behind in school can get paid to fill out a form on a childrens book that they didn't even read. And ironically, the money paid to the students is not even taxed!
Almost no other teacher saw the ridiculousness of the situation. There defense amounted to something like this, "Little Caitlin had just the best answers on her book report. I am sure she read the book." I replied, "If we gave each of our students $1000 cash for being a human being, some of them would do the right thing with the money. That doesn't make it a worthwhile program."
Nobody argued with the fact that 90%+ of the students were cheating the program. As an economics teacher I had to admit that they were simply following predictable rules that govern behavior. There was a huge incentive to cheat and make money and no disincentive not to cheat.
ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS! |
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| Olympic Guest Speaker |
[Mar. 28th, 2007|04:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
Billy Mills the gold medal winner(1964) in the 10,000 meters came to speak at Saint Francis today. He is a Lakota man from Pine Ridge South Dakota. I had been looking forward to this assembly all week, and he more than delivered. It was definitely a big deal in the community because the president of the Rosebud Sioux tribe was there and it was broadcast live on the local radio station. A lot of people would say that Billy Mills is easily one of the most famous living Lakota people. With all of that, you would hope that the students would step up to plate and behave themselves. That would only be a hope though. There behavior was flat out embarassing. I honestly felt bad for Mr. Mills to be so disrespected. The real tragedy is the kids missed a great oppotunity to hear an inspirational message.
I am sitting at another parent night. I have to be here for the next three hours, so we will see if I can break the previous record of meeting with three parents/guardians.
Here's to hoping!
32 Days until summer! |
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| Another Day, another dollar |
[Mar. 22nd, 2007|07:49 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  apathetic | ] |
Just getting ready for school and I feel like calling in sick. The flaw with that is that I feel just fine, at least physically. This job is mentally draining and I feel it is going to be a tough one today. But I have already prepped for the day, so I will be there.
Over this year I have learned a ton of things but none are seemingly more important than realizing the importance of enjoying what you do. My dad used to say "there are a lot of Monday mornings in life, you better find something that you like doing." It is on a morning like this that I can literally feel the wisdom in those words. The sad part is that I am 22 years old and it very likely that I will have a few more jobs that I don't like.
But, it is off to work I go!
37 more days. |
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| Basketball paradise |
[Mar. 16th, 2007|03:45 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
I have spent literally the last 24 hours watching game after game on television. At least today there have been a few upsets to help keep things interesting. I have not done to much over this mini spring break, but I have had a lot of time to kick around plans for next year. It is a decision that I have been struggling with for months. It all comes down to a question of ego. At what point do you admit failure and just move on. The question itself reveals things about myself that I am not necessarily proud of. The reasons that I originally decided to do this seem to no longer apply to my situation. What to do?
I always have the option of law school, but is that the right path. I could always pursue a job in the finance industry and actually use my degree. Or I could stick around Saint Francis for at least another year. It is no longer a question of whether I can make it at Saint Francis, it is a question of do I want to make it. There were many times this year when I was not sure I could get through the year. I now know that I can, and could do it for another year. But, is there a good reason to continue doing something that you really don't like, just for your ego. I have never really failed at anything, so admitting failure to something so major is a tough pill to swallow. I believe at this point though that even teaching another year would still lead to the same belief that I had failed at what I had attempted.
The school will be giving out contracts in the next few weeks, so either way I will have to make a decision. As of right now I am about 50/50.
No matter what I decide in the future, tonight all that matters is...
GO Cats, Beat Nova! |
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| Spring Break |
[Mar. 14th, 2007|07:49 am] |
It is silly to call it that, but that is what the two days we get off are called. It is nice for me as a big basketball fan because now I can sit around and watch those exciting first round games. Earlier in the year I had pondered whether I would be one of those "cool" teachers who during the first round of the NCAA tournament turned on the TV and let the class watch the games. Lucky for me, now I can keep demanding teacher reputation while still keeping my love for the tournament.
In our staff meeting yesterday we learned that 7 of our students have had suicide attempts in just the last week. We were told to be ever vigilant. For me it is just such a disconnect. It is one of those things that helps me to realize just how blessed a life I have led. Don't get me wrong there have been struggles. From parents divorce, to serious relationship break-ups, to this tough job, I have had times of struggle but none to the point of suicidal thoughts. In this community there is this fatalistic attitude that high school is the best time in your life. It all goes down hill from there. This attitude seems to be self-fulfilling, in that many adults due seem very unhappy with the course of their life. When the teenagers hear this is the happiest time of their life, I believe it sometimes causes them to think that the rest of life might not be worth living.
I realize I don't have the proper degree to be making those type of inferences, but those are my laymen observations.
40 Days! |
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| Another bout of the flu |
[Mar. 12th, 2007|07:48 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
Last week there was just no time to write. I spent most of the weekend either sick in the bathroom or preparing to get sick in the bathroom. By now, I am pretty much back to full strength, at least I hope.
At least it was a an okay week for basketball. Although both the Cats and Cards had disappointing exits to their respective tournaments, I am still hopeful that one if not both of these teams will do some real damage in the "Big Dance".
On other fronts, this week is a three day week, which serves as our "spring break". With attendance low usually, I am expecting this week to be exceedingly light in the attendance category.
42 more days of school! |
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| In-service |
[Mar. 2nd, 2007|07:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | tired | ] |
So every once in a while the school has after school programs that they pay the teachers to go to. I always try and make it to them, but they are usually pretty boring. Yesterday's was quite interesting though. The school brought in some dancers from all over the reservation who showed us different styles of traditional dance. They also had some beautiful costumes, which they explained the meanings of in depth. It was the type of thing that when I moved here I expected to see much more often. It was a good reminder of the beautiful culture that still exists here.
What is sad is so many of the kids that I teach look up to the pop culture icons of American culture rather than the neat parts of their own community. One of the big points to the in-service was our responsibility as educators to try and validate their life experiences. Not that I am sure I know how to do this, but I am happy to keep learning myself. A neat afternoon.
TGIF! |
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| March is here |
[Mar. 1st, 2007|08:04 am] |
March is here and there is already a different spring in my step. As tough as this year has been, it seems like the end is in site.
This week has been an interesting one because the Boy's basketball team had its big district game this week. This is the same team that went to state when these four starters were just sophomores. People in the community had very high expectations for these kids. But, as they got older something happened apparently and most of them seemed to lose their passion for playing. On Tuesday night this culminated in a loss in the first round of the district playoffs. The big crowd packed into the little gym was very disapointed. Yesterday many of my students were hung over from drinking their sorrows away the night before. And that wasn't even the players, not one of them showed up for school after the loss.
It is sad to see a community so fixated on a high school sport, where these kids are told this is the highlight of their life, and then to come up so short. It is sc trite, all I am reminded of is a famous little song called, "Glory Days". When most of these kids on the team struggle mightily with reading and mathematics, what is sad is that this might be the highlight of their lives.
I can't think of too many things more fatalistic than that.
Only 49 days left of school!(but who's counting) |
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