It was great waking up to SUNSHINE this morning. Although it was only 18 degrees outside, it just put a jump in my step; especially this time of year living in the northern part of Pennsylvania where it is quite gray and drab looking.This past week flew by! It was packed with little surprises, lots of changes at work, a student teacher's arrival, exercise, eating to nourish the mind, body, and soul, looking for joy everyday, and finally a birthday party for my great niece Aubree.
If you happen to be in education or are retired from working in education, you know it's that time of year where teachers become somewhat crazy attempting to cover all their students need to know prior to taking the upcoming standardized tests. In Pennsylvania, we are preparing to take the PSSA's. Our students will take them in the junior high in mid April. They will then be ranked Advanced, Proficient, Basic, or Below Basic based on their score. Thirty five percent of the students' scores reflect upon the individual teachers final score we receive to show if we are considered a Distinguished, Proficient, or a Teacher that Needs Improvement. It is part of the newest rating the state uses under the Educator Effectiveness Plan. Well, let's just say, it makes some teachers act like students tend to act when there is a full moon!
I am one of those people that work in Special Education. I work my a$* off to help these kids socially as well as intellectually do their best. I teach Basic English classes, organize IEP meetings, Write IEP's, hold meetings, check their grades, progress monitor, and oh yeah, teach, adapt, make study guides, etc. . . You get my drift. I love it! You have to be flexible in this field or you will not make it. If you don't have a sense of humor or cannot go with the flow, you are not going to survive in a room full of students with various disabilities. Some of my students this year have the typical disabilities (reading, writing, reading comprehension, math). Sprinkle in those who also have Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, Auditory Processing Deficits, Schizophrenia, Mild to moderate mental retardation, and Emotional Support students. You now have a picture perfect glimpse into my classes. If they are in my class, they are not reading on a 7th or 8th grade level. The majority of my kids this year are reading between the 3rd grade reading level and the beginning of the 7th grade level with comprehension deficits.
The Special Education Staff (as well as our Regular Education staff) work diligently to prepare our students to do their best. We also supply them with study skills and test taking skills to help them narrow down the best choice. We do all we can think of that might help them show some improvement in their scores from last year. We have even been completing Math and English prompts during the quarter, practicing our reading and writing skills, reviewing literary components, poetry vocabulary, and how to answer a prompt completely. It has been exhausting! We are all feeling the pressure.
However, for the first time in a long time, I found myself having to stand up to another colleague as far as where a child should take his test based on his IEP. I won't go into the details, but I must say, it was quite disheartening. My colleagues are usually the best to work with! They know where to send students that have specially designed instruction listed and require accommodations. We do the same thing each year for PSSA's based on their IEP. This could have been completely avoided. I can't say it brought me joy-which is what I am supposed to be practicing while I am taking chemotherapy, but I did what I had to do.
It's quite sad when a standardized test has brought adults that have worked together for years to quibble about who is going to have more or less time to prepare their students due to testing schedules or who the students take the test with. It is not about the teacher's wants or needs. We are working to prepare the students! Even our elective teachers are upset. They don't want to lose time with their students due to testing. It's great we value our time in making a difference with our students, but enough is enough already! It's like a full moon has been shining down upon us and we are all turning into werewolves. . . After being a part of this as well as an observer of this behavior, I have taken a big step back.
We ALL want the students to do well on the standardized tests. However, I am not going to let it push me over the edge. We are ALL doing as best as we can for preparing the students. I am hoping it was just a few days of psychosis last week and that everyone gains perspective of what the goal is; to help the students perform to their best ability. I only wish I could get the PSSA police to give my students that are performing below grade level the test at the level in which they are performing at. Then maybe we would actually get to see how much progress they are really making without frustrating them along the way. Some day, I hope.
On top of teachers' turning into werewolves, we were told there will be several administrative changes next fall and we also have some retirements and openings that are being posted. There will be lots of changes next school year. Not everyone likes change, me included. However, sometimes change can be good too. I plan to come in with a great outlook and make the best of it!
I have had a student teacher, Miss Boots, join my class this past week. So far, she has been a breath of fresh air! I didn't have to say anything to her and she jumped right in to help out with the students. They really seem to respect and enjoy having her with us. I look forward to seeing her in action mid week as she starts to take over some of my classes. Don't worry! I'll still have plenty to do!
While I was napping yesterday from a busy week and a great aerobics class in the morning, seven seventh graders visited my door. They were participating in the 24-Hour Famine. They raised money for those who don't have enough to eat and then did their own fast from 6 pm Friday night until 6 pm Saturday night. They sleep over at the church and do all sorts of fun activities and scavenger hunts to keep them busy until it is time for Church at 5 pm. Then they get to enjoy in a great meal together. They brought me a beautiful card and handmade cross. I am fortunate to have such sweet students participating in learning about community outreach through their church. I just wish I wouldn't have been sleeping so I could have thanked them in person.
The highlight of my week was going to my great niece, Aubree's 3rd Birthday Party! She and her little sister Morgan are so fun! Morgan is definitely the ham! She is always smiling and giggling. Aubree is more serious and shy. However, she really warmed up to us quickly this time. Each time we see her she is more willing to sit with us and tell us stories. They love their Uncle Mat, his girlfriend Jessie and Grandpa Pakela so much.
This is my niece Shannon and her oldest daughter, Aubree.
Little Morgan and her daddy are both hams! They're always smiling.
The snowmobile lego set Aubree got gave Mathew and Jessie a rough time putting it together! hahaha
We also had some special guests show up for the party. Aubree couldn't get over it! Four of their chickens hopped up on a window sill and were peeking into the window at us! We also learned that the white chicken and one of the black chickens were given names months ago. They are Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Pakela! My mom thanked her for naming her chickens after them. She and my mom will be having a baking day to plan. One of the gifts they got her was a rolling pin and Easter cookie cut outs along with a pouch of cookie dough. I think they'll have fun doing that.
The birthday girl became quite shy when we started singing to her. Maybe we scared her?!?!
As for me, I cannot complain about these chemo pills. I just listen to my body and rest when I need to. I still have those moments of nausea that swarm over me, but I am handling it pretty well. My Joy Journal is filling up even with the not so great work week that is thankfully behind me. I hope all of you find some Joy in your life this week. There is too much negativity in the world. We need to pay special attention to the good that is happening around us. Next week I want to tell you about a great book that my oncologist, Dr. Krivak and a cyber friend, Susan Evans wrote together about her discovery of having ovarian cancer. Stay tuned!
Thank you Sue for the update!
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