Before we look down the road at the 2024/2025 school year, we look out the window. Kurt’s (father in law) stained glass window caught the early morning sunshine with my shower mist in the air. A lovely way to start Sunday. Chuck is out walking the dogs at the beach, and I look forward to fixing my toenail problem so I’m not hobbled at home. Hobbled at home sounds like a good segue to a Sunday morning blog post.
What’s in a name?
I got my email changed to reflect my preferred name and I see Chuck’s everywhere at Marysville PilCHUCK HS.
Reflections
It was a good first week with a steep learning curve. Three days of staff training and two days with students. I just don’t know how teachers can stick to their contract hours and get all the things done, but I’m way exceeding my contract hours so I can get all the things in. I don’t mind. What I do mind is not actually knowing how much I am getting paid… I am down to $95.00 in my bank account and that is money I shifted over from my shouldering credit card. The move and the lack of income has lead me to dire straights this month. The end of September seems an awful long way away.
But…money is not what I want to reflect on. I feel like I am standing in the presence of some really good people and one person took the time to say that since our principal came on board he has hired/engaged a number of great people as we try to lift MPHS and MSD25 out of the muck and mire of its financial woes. I am determined to try to stay out of conversations about it, but it is in the news almost nightly and it is felt in the lack of funding for office staff, paras, drivers, etc etc.
We had the all day training at Getchell, which was okay, but a lot. It felt a little like checking the boxes for SEL and cultural sensitivity. These are both areas I would truly like to grow in, and am making plans to do it. As I have an advisory period, I will do something with them every time I see them. I apparently have the same kids from 9th – 12th…so that is pretty awesome. I strongly do not want it to be a study hall, so I will strive to connect with them and set our sites high.
I have some pretty big classes and some pretty small classes. My ASL 2 class is huge. I am still tamping down the narrative about the last teacher…may she move forward in peace. But because it is all I hear about – I am rolling in strict. One student, bless her heart said I sounded “honestly, I’m not gunna lie…a little a-holey” – ha ha, that was great. Exactly the term I was going for. I had one student ask to go to the bathroom and come back with a “rocket” frozen ice pop thing…she proceeded to drip all over our new carpet. Second girl shot her hand up and asked to go to the bathroom too. I said no. She could go after class. Shutting down the chitchat early is hopefully a good investment. To be honest…I was a little surprised there wasn’t more phone challenging, but they seemed to get it.
Moving Forward
As I look toward the next week, I am feeling pretty good. My goal is to publish a weekly newsletter with news, reflections, student input, highlights and ‘what’s coming’ – Sounds ambitious, but if I consider it my Sunday work to both blog and publish the newsletter I might develop a good and consistent habit (the stuff of last week’s posts)
Major steps for this week include
- sharing the syllabus
- establishing the newsletter
- generating interest in the honor society
- establishing the “I Can” statements as a means of visible learning
- testing ZipGrade to see if it is a good way to take quizes
- setting up the Google Drive
- setting up the Portfolio
- Being mindful to include signing this week as there is a lot to get going on the tech side of things.
On a final side note – I got my covid shot on Friday Aug 30…and will get my flu shot at the end of sept or early October. – the pharmacist said the flu season begins to peak around October and that the shot takes about 2 weeks – plus only has a 4 – 6 month efficacy. Just trying to get and stay healthy. On Friday the 6th, I will have my hangnails fixed so I can re-up my gym membership and begin to seek a more healthful and balanced lifestyle. I meet my new “forever doctor” (ha ha) on Sept 24th…and I will get all the things done….shit’s gettin’ real now.
Learning is why. 