Pedagogy and Praxis Day 18

I had to jump in and teach this tobacco prevention class this morning. That sucked. The kids were unhappy the teacher just up and left them hanging. Guy found another job. I hear that though. I left Woodstock. But I was a sub there. This guy was signed on to teach a certain number of classes. Kids were just being rude and I wasn't having it so I just assigned long hours of detention. Makes me less stressed out. I just take it out on their contract.

Then my meta class.... off the fucking wall. We got soft the past two weeks. We thought we had things under control. And today.... so many people sent out of the room. So many low numbers assigned on contracts.

So many unhappy kids. Interesting timing. End of STAR testing, nothing like taking lots of tests to make you feel inadequate. Family problems. Progress reports and their impending doom. Teenage boyfriend/girlfriend problems.

It's a trip thinking about the hormonal things going on during the teenage years. Surging hormones through the body make it hard to think. PMS... it does exist. I remember being a teenager. Painful and awkward was my experience. Not knowing shit and so unsure of myself. So many kids there going through that.

After that I had class at University. Last week of classes. That's been stressing me out too. So much shit going on. Planning for a wedding. Got to take courses during the summer for my credential. But here's the motherfucker... my class during the summer would end on the 13th of August. The day before my wedding. And if I'm kept at the school (The principal said she'd hire me unless I majorly fucked up. Those were her words), teacher prep for next year starts the week of the 15th. The day after my wedding. We're thinking of honeymooning possibly in the winter and maybe making a short trip during the week. But dammit this blows. Teacher credentialing is a stupid process that is unreasonably hard for very little pay in return. People want to be teachers but the process is so expensive and so hard. So many tests you have to pay for, so many forms and money you have to pay. The process and the constant cuts are driving good people away.

Public education is being ghettoized. The people that can afford to send their children to private school do so. Those that cannot are given inadequately funded and staffed public schools. It's equal. Equally bad. But even that's not true cause most of education is funded by property tax. So rich areas have far better everything. Plus parents are able to kick down to the school. I know that in Palo Alto they have children of Packard (Hewlett packard) and other real real real real rich folks. The child of the guy who makes Klutz books was in Palo Alto. Mom just wrote a $40,000 check to the school to buy stuff. It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Who cuts $40,000 checks?

Allison was telling me about a protest planned on the 25th of May against Schwarznegger. Nurses, teachers, everybody. I'm thinking about going, maybe trying to get the school involved.