The Big Decision (Audience Participation Time)

Okay, people. Here's the deal. Last week I got an email from Hopkins about joining their Counseling Fellows Program. In case you didn't know, I'm already taking classes to become a school counselor. At the rate I'm going (about 2 classes a semester), it will take me another 2+ years to finish up this degree.

The Counseling Fellows is a one year deal. I could have my counseling degree by next August and a job in time for the 2011-2012 school year.

Here's the problem: I'll have to quit my job. Now, before you get selfish and panic about the state of the blog, I'll tell you I will have to intern in a school (quite possibly my own) for the year. The blog will not die. Now, quitting is not really the problem as I've been tired of teaching for quite some time now. I know counseling is what I want to do. The real problem would be money. I would have no job and be acquiring a crapload of loans on top of the ones I am already paying back. Now, since this is my 5th year in a Title 1 school, some of my curent loans are being forgiven by the federal government. And there's also something called Public Service Forgiveness where, if I pay my monthly bill for 10 years while I work in Public Service the whole time, at the end of the ten years the remainder of my loans are forgiven.
However, giving up a perfectly fine job with awesome benefits and health insurance is very scary to me. Granted, once I get my degree, I would consider jobs all over the country and be open to just about anywhere not sucky. But the next year would be a very uncertain time and I don't like uncertainty.
I don't like not having any money. I don't like adding on more student loans. I don't like giving up a job with out the promise of a new one. I don't like worrying about my rent and my car payment and food.
I don't like my job anymore. Who the heck even knows what is going on with my school, I may not even have a job there next year anyway. Who knows if I would even want one. I don't really like Baltimore anymore and am ready for a change. However, I've already invested money into this grad program and you can't transfer credits like in undergrad.
I could keep on working at school and pay-as-I-go for 3 more years or I can get it all done by next August and be drowning in debt.

Now it's your turn. This is the audience participation part of our program. Tell me what you think. What should I do? I'm going for at least five comments here, kids. I'm talking to you, person I don't know who reads this. I'm talking to you, friend who reads but never comments. I'm definitely talking to you, faithful commentators. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.

Revisiting the Good Times, Part II

This one is "Prom." I used to have issues with 8th graders having a Prom, and I still get how people would have a problem with it. But very few of my kids went to the same high school together, many of them may not graduate high school or be there for the prom and you know what, sometimes its just okay to have a nice party and let some kids have a good time.

Anyway, I busted my ass for this thing. Other teachers mega slacked off and everything fell on my shoulders. Principal spent a little extra time making hoops for me to jump through (of course), so it's pretty much a miracle that everything worked out.


The kids said they loved it. Another middle school was having a prom in the next ballroom, and those kids kept trying to come to ours because they said it was better. WIN.

Revisiting the Good Times, Part I

Most of these pictures and stories are on facebook, so sorry for the repeat. But since I'm stuck in my house for the.rest.of.my.life. then I'm going to think about the fun times.

First, the trip to NYC to see the Lion King.

It's about a 3 hour drive, and we took 2 Coach buses (50 people per bus, 100 total.)
Somewhere around exit 4 on the Jersey Turnpike, our bus pulled over unexpectedly. He called the other bus and told them to pull over too. He drove up to the other bus and the two bus drivers stood around and stared at the bus for a little while.

We all kind of started freaking out. We had reservations at B.B. King's restaurant in Times Square and then the play. This trip took months and months of preparation and lots of donor dollars to get going, and Broadway does not stop for broke-down buses. So the bus driver has the brilliant and illegal idea to put all 100 of us on one bus and drive into the city. We agree because we are desperate to get there on time. They tell us the other bus will take half an hour to fix and they'll catch up to us after the play.

We pulled in only ten minutes late to our meal, and walked over to the restaurant. My grown badass gangster boys held my hand through Times Square under the guise of "keeping me safe" but I know they were terrified. It was so cute.

Some eating lunch pictures:








We ate and then walked over to the play. It was, of course, amazing. Lion King on Broadway is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

But we came outside at 5pm to ONE BUS. They said our old bus was totaled. If we had stayed in it any longer, it would have caught on fire. Awesome. They say it's now in a bus repair shop outside of Princeton, New Jersey...with all our stuff in it.

They say another bus is "on the way" to pick us up and take us home. It's a New York company though and they won't take us past New Jersey. So we'll have to take this bus to Exit 1 on the Turnpike, and change to a Baltimore bus there. After we go to this repair shop and get our stuff.

It's 5pm. We stand in Times Square with 90 kids FOR TWO HOURS waiting on this bus. We couldn't let the kids wander around (we were told the bus would "be there any minute") At 7pm (the time we were supposed to be getting home), the bus finally shows up. Waiting in Times Square should have been really stressful, but the kids were great. They made games of counting how many people were wearing all black and trying to make mean New Yorkers say hello to them. It was pretty funny.

We then made the 5 hour drive home (that's right...FIVE) and got back just after midnight.

Everything seemed to go wrong, but nothing actually bad happened and we had a great time. Definitely one of memories. Thank you to everybody who sponsored a child for this trip.

SNOMG

30 inches on Saturday plus another 20 forecasted for tomorrow. We may not be back in school until March.

Let's hope Principal uses this time to sit back and reflect on the decisions she has made. (Like a grown-up timeout.)

Awwwkward.

So we had a meeting. Our school has been identified as "low-performing." There are nine low-performing middle schools and some of them are closing. We are not closing, but instead are being put into a "turnaround model." This means an "outside partner" (whatever that means) will come in and fix us. Supposedly 50% of the staff will be fired.

Principal got up in front of the whole staff and said that the only reason we aren't closing is because of the IB program (which is actually the biggest joke ever). She then proceeded to tell everyone that the rest of the staff should thank us for their jobs.

Also during this meeting, she told us that she "could've retired yesterday" so these problems we're having "aren't her problems" and it's "up to us" to get this stuff together. She said that if our standardized tests come back low then she is going to retire because she doesn't want to deal with it, but if they are high then she will stay on (to take the credit).

It really makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Spreadsheets are hard.

For those of you who've been on the edge of your seat waiting for the new schedule, today is the day. That's right. January 22 was the beginning of the 2nd semester and today, February 5th, is the day we received the schedule for the 2nd semester.

And it's crap.

Of course it's crap. Why would it be decent? They are giving me a new class of 7th graders and taking away my sweet 6th graders because they hate me and want me to hate myself. That's the theory I'm working with now, anyway.

Several teachers spoke with Principal about possible scheduling options, one of the office workers even made a perfectly feasible and logical schedule. One of the administrators made 3 separate schedules and Principal rejected them all in favor of her assbackwards version.

This schedule was handed out today 10 minutes before school let out, it starts Monday and Principal was "too busy" to talk about it today after school.

We did, however, listen to extensive rants about how difficult and time consuming and stressful and etc. etc. etc. the schedule process was. yaaay.

Quotes by Joseph

[after I cleaned off desk graffiti with some bleach] "Miss Vinson, you is the only teacher who keeps they room clean. It's cause you was raised right. That's why."

[After another teacher had accidentally called me by another teacher's name, a teacher who is in her 50s and African-American] :"Haha, that's funny. They don't even look alike because that other lady has a ugly nose."

we don't like to make sense here

today started the 2nd semester. last week our administration decided to push the 2nd semester back another week because the kids are out thursday and friday of this one.

mostly they decided this because they still don't have a schedule for 2nd semester. they had one which changed every.single.teachers. schedule in the entire school but they don't really consider it important that we see this schedule any time before monday.

today could have been my last day with some of my classes, or it was just the half-way point. nobody knows. we'll probably find out friday if we have entirely new classes or not.

i mean, it's not like it's important or anything.

Ms. Vinson We Be Bustin' Dis Work

Two Things

1. Cortez, Eric and Derrick all got suspended today for freaking out on their teacher, cursing her and kicking her door in. They also ran around the building for about an hour. Once they got caught, they were all really pissed. Nobody answered the phone at Cortez's house so they sent him back to class. Pissed. And already suspended.

2. Chantea's mother told her not to eat school lunch anymore because it makes her stomach hurt. Chantea's mother, however, does not provide her with any food to replace it with. Chantea said she couldn't go in the cafeteria anymore because even though the food makes her stomach hurt, she's still HUNGRY and wants to EAT so she has to get away from the food. All week she's been sitting in my room eating my lunch instead.