Today it wasn't the students.
Between a parent, a couple of counselors, and our stupid school schedule (different issues), I have a splitting headache.
Let me whine for a moment about the stupid schedule we use at our school. On Monday and Friday we have a standard 6x1-hr schedule. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we have a 3x2-hr schedule--which means that I have math classes for 2 hrs at a time. Some might think, "Hey, that's great!" NO, it's not. Would you want to sit in a math class for 2 hrs at a time? Yes, I know some college students do it. But I'm not dealing with college students, and I'm not given the latitude that college professors are. Imagine a high school pre-algebra class, students for whom math is already not their best subject (to put it charitably). Imagine how excited they are to be in math class for two hours! I don't teach pre-algebra this year, but neither do I have all "upper level" math courses, either.
So far I've only mentioned Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. What about Thursday, you ask? Well, in our district we have Happy Thursday, where students get out of school about an hour and a half early so that we teachers can have collaboration time.
Let's revisit the schedule, then. On Monday we have 6 1-hr classes, on Tuesday we have 3 2-hr classes, on Wednesday we have a different 3 2-hr classes, on Thursday we have 6 40-min classes, and on Friday we have 6 1-hr classes. So on no two consecutive days do we even have the same schedule. Again, it's not like college--I don't have free time on various days to hold office hours, I'm teaching classes each day. My time is spoken for.
Combine that with the parent/counselor issue from today, and I don't think ibuprofin is enough.
Ugh.
17 comments:
I hope tomorrow is better. Treat yourself to something different or muy enjoyable tonight!
I'm having a terrible week as well. Infact, I think everyone is having a bad week this week. Three more days.
I hope first period didn't have anything to do with it.
Our school's schedule sucks.
Although I will say, block days help me with my homework load a bit.
You have my sympathy. Or empathy. We are on accellerated block. Eight classes, two semesters. The kids do classes one through four every day for 90 minutes. Then the next term they do classes five through eight. Right now we are where "normal" schools would be in December. And I am so tired of them. One class has been so unruly that I have taken away their future chances at much of anything other than writing. Clay, paint, sculpture are all banned due to generally bad, spoiled, immature behavior. I have been at school from 7:30 until at least 5:30 every day for the last three weeks. Our normal fall break day was taken away to allow us to finish our exams by Dec 23rd. Personally, I am taking a day off. I need it or I will just start writing referrals until the entire class is in the AP's office. I am tired of ARD's, of training, of mandatory meetings and of endless grading and parental contacts. In this day and age when most people at least have an email address, why should it be so hard to contact a parent? Sorry, I had to vent too. Now don't we feel better? I keep telling them that a margarita machine in the teachers' lounge would avoid all this angst.
Actually, I feel somewhat better now that I've watched the first 3 hrs of this season's Battlestar Galactica with my son. It's one of our bonding things.
And no, 1st period didn't have anything to do with it. I shouldn't say so, especially here, but 1st period is one of the classes I look forward to each day. Along with some others :-)
Margaritas wouldn't have been strong enough today.
too bad im not in ur class this year...i would have made ur day.
ya....right.
.....SAVE FROSTY!
Save Frosty.
That made me smile.
That is one sucky schedule. At my site, instead of too much time, we don't have enough. Our schedule is an 8 period sprint in which each period is only 41 minutes long. By the time I finish taking role, it almost feels like it's time for the students to pack up. I always feel like I don't have enough time.
I went to a high school which had 7 bells- A-G. C, D, and E were always in the middle, but A,B,F, and G rotated- ABCDEFG, BFCDEGA, FGCDEAB, and GACDEBF. Most days were 45 minute periods, but Fridays were 42. Additionally, during weeks with no days off, Wednesdays and Thursdays were block days- I think it was ADG/GDA (each 1.5 hours with a 1.5 hour bell in the middle for tutoring and clubs) and BCEF or FCEB (each 1.5 hours).
Confused yet?
Chanman, I don't know how you get things done in 41 min. a day. We have 58 min. x 6 periods (we teach 5 with 1 prep). One day a week our periods are 44 min. and they fly by. How do the science teachers do any labs (set-up, clean-up)?
Actually, we have teachers who swear that they cannot teach without their 2-hr block periods.
Think lab science and elective classes.
"I gotta ask…what PhD idiot developed this schedule! It is so stupid that only someone with a doctorate degree would think it’s useful."
LOL! Though if academics with PhDs thought this kind of scheduling was a good idea, they'd implement it at the unversity level -- and I must say, our schedules are a lot simpler and more straightforward.
Of course, we don't get "our" classrooms, like primary and secondary teachers do. What's my classroom from 9:05-9:55 will be somebody else's classroom from 10:10-11:00.
Actually, Mike, it's more likely that someone with an Ed.D. (Doctor of Education) would create this schedule!
But alas, it was created by a bunch of secondary teachers.
MR. MILLER complaining goes up always complain to the supervisor and not to your subordinites because it creates a confused working enviroment. kidding, THIS WEEK DOES SUCK. I was sick since friday i have a big math test tomorow and I lost a starting spot on the FBALL team how bout it...
(i still have one starting spot though)
MUY BWENO
I am much better, but far more confused after watching this week's episode of Lost, although I find myself strangely drawn to Heroes....SciFi...the refuge of the eternal optimist.....
Optimistic sci fi--Star Trek.
Cautiously optimistic sci fi--Earth II
Hanging you over the cliff but they don't let go, so I guess you can say it's kinda sorta optimistic--Battlestar Galactica
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