How about "no?" [short answer--long answer below...]
***
Showing posts with label survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label survival. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Wild West
Teen Charged With Trying to Kill Teacher, Aide
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 26, 2009
Filed at 7:13 p.m. ET
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy accused of detonating two pipe bombs at a Northern California high school while armed with a chain saw, sword and explosives appeared in court Wednesday on charges of trying to murder two faculty members.
Alex Youshock, a former student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, did not enter a plea to charges that included exploding or attempting to explode bombs in a school to terrorize others and possession of dangerous weapons -- the sword and chain saw. [NY Times, 8/26/09]
***
A sword???????
I wish I had been there. I wish I had been there to scream, "Who do you think you are, Highlander?"
I want to know what happens when this crap goes down. Is defending yourself against imminent death in your job description?
Have you ever seen your job description?
No, neither have I. But we all sign a quote-unquote "contract" every year. Where else in American do you sign a contract SIGHT UNSEEN?
We want to know how much we will be PAID if we have to blockade the door, throw ourselves in front of a bullet.
We're not joking. How many people have been reprimanded for not following the "code blue," or "lockdown," or "the sniper is nearby" procedures? And if we can be reprimanded, scolded, or made to feel as if we aren't doing our jobs, then we want:
1) hazard pay
2) real training, not the joke training we all get
3) an opt out
4) a lawyer to explain to us EXACTLY what we are quote-unquote required to do and NOT required to do
4) a guarantee that if we do put ourselves in harms way to save a student or students, our families will receive a FRIGGIN' LOT OF MONEY.
The question becomes 'are you willing to die for these people?' For little children, probably 100 percent of us would answer yes. But we have heard colleagues, quite reasonably say, "You know what--some of these overgrown thugs have treated us so horribly, in what space-time continuum am I going to die for them? "
And having your own children is a game changer. No, I'm not dying for some of the worst people I will ever meet and leave MY children without a parent. Guess what--I'm not dying for some of the BEST people I will ever meet and leave my child without a parent. We are not the police. Yes, teachers have children, too.
Dumb administrator moment: Our VP scolded us for not taking the most idiotic training seriously, with the admonition, "I have a child, and I'm scared to think some of you would be in loco parentis.
Well, you know what--we have children, too, and they way you have trained us 1) endangers all of us, including our own children, and 2) Who the H-LL do you think you are? You think we should die to save YOUR child? No. My child is coming home to see her Mommy tonight.
Get a grip on reality, America. We are not paid enough to do this. Maybe you need to hire Blackwater.
Just once--JUST ONCE, I wish that when a lockdown drill or what have you is announced, an entire faculty would sit down in the hall with signs that say, "We have no idea how to protect this building."
Peter says, "I work in a district where a guy off the street walked into the girl's locker room after hours and just sort of hung out. That could have been a tragedy."
***
It's very, very true--we don't deserve more money. We should stay after school, after having worked for EIGHT HOURS, and be the police, as well as tutor, coach, paint floats, Xerox, grade....
....for free.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 26, 2009
Filed at 7:13 p.m. ET
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy accused of detonating two pipe bombs at a Northern California high school while armed with a chain saw, sword and explosives appeared in court Wednesday on charges of trying to murder two faculty members.
Alex Youshock, a former student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, did not enter a plea to charges that included exploding or attempting to explode bombs in a school to terrorize others and possession of dangerous weapons -- the sword and chain saw. [NY Times, 8/26/09]
***
A sword???????
I wish I had been there. I wish I had been there to scream, "Who do you think you are, Highlander?"
I want to know what happens when this crap goes down. Is defending yourself against imminent death in your job description?
Have you ever seen your job description?
No, neither have I. But we all sign a quote-unquote "contract" every year. Where else in American do you sign a contract SIGHT UNSEEN?
We want to know how much we will be PAID if we have to blockade the door, throw ourselves in front of a bullet.
We're not joking. How many people have been reprimanded for not following the "code blue," or "lockdown," or "the sniper is nearby" procedures? And if we can be reprimanded, scolded, or made to feel as if we aren't doing our jobs, then we want:
1) hazard pay
2) real training, not the joke training we all get
3) an opt out
4) a lawyer to explain to us EXACTLY what we are quote-unquote required to do and NOT required to do
4) a guarantee that if we do put ourselves in harms way to save a student or students, our families will receive a FRIGGIN' LOT OF MONEY.
The question becomes 'are you willing to die for these people?' For little children, probably 100 percent of us would answer yes. But we have heard colleagues, quite reasonably say, "You know what--some of these overgrown thugs have treated us so horribly, in what space-time continuum am I going to die for them? "
And having your own children is a game changer. No, I'm not dying for some of the worst people I will ever meet and leave MY children without a parent. Guess what--I'm not dying for some of the BEST people I will ever meet and leave my child without a parent. We are not the police. Yes, teachers have children, too.
Dumb administrator moment: Our VP scolded us for not taking the most idiotic training seriously, with the admonition, "I have a child, and I'm scared to think some of you would be in loco parentis.
Well, you know what--we have children, too, and they way you have trained us 1) endangers all of us, including our own children, and 2) Who the H-LL do you think you are? You think we should die to save YOUR child? No. My child is coming home to see her Mommy tonight.
Get a grip on reality, America. We are not paid enough to do this. Maybe you need to hire Blackwater.
Just once--JUST ONCE, I wish that when a lockdown drill or what have you is announced, an entire faculty would sit down in the hall with signs that say, "We have no idea how to protect this building."
Peter says, "I work in a district where a guy off the street walked into the girl's locker room after hours and just sort of hung out. That could have been a tragedy."
***
It's very, very true--we don't deserve more money. We should stay after school, after having worked for EIGHT HOURS, and be the police, as well as tutor, coach, paint floats, Xerox, grade....
....for free.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Myth of Tenure
Our blog posts are often too long, and we live in the age of the sound-byte, so in brief:
We call this the myth of tenure:
If they want you gone, you’re gone.
***
Veteran teachers know:
If they like you, you can do anything you want--come late, never hand back papers, dress crazy, not bathe, and you're golden. You're untouchable.
It is so much like being back in high school--you know, the arbitrariness, the impossibility of figuring out how to "get liked"--
....you may not know what you did--perhaps you looked at someone funny, perhaps your sub plans were on the right side of your desk instead of the left side of your desk, perhaps you made friends with the "wrong" people....but once "they" have set their hats against you....you may as well put in for a transfer and get your resume in shape.
We speak not from a place of bitterness, but from witnessing others disappear. Haven't you noticed this? One day someone's there, the next they're gone? And we often assume that because it is "so hard to fire a teacher," that person must have done something morally reprehensible, unforgivable, a crime against nature. They deserved to go. Why else would the administration go to such trouble, given that it is so hard to get rid of a "bad" teacher!!!
And, of course, administrators, being paragons of virtue and entirely lacking in human emotion, never act out vendettas...[SARCASM ALERT!!! SARCASM ALERT!!!]
We call this the myth of tenure:
you ain't got tenure; you ain't got squat. [Technically, this teacher wasn't fired...we are researching what happened to her. However, harrassment, poor evaluations, and constant beratement is one of the tools employed to drive people out...]
***
We have found that frequently, when someone vanishes, the rumor mill actively reports that the person did something abominable; months later, we find out not only was the person exonerated, but is happily, successfully teaching elsewhere, or, living on a beach enjoying the interest on the hefty settlement and hush money they received...
***
When a colleague is "disappeared," we suggest that you find out what really happened before you pass judgement.
***More examples to follow, and ways to avoid being placed on the sh*t list. In the main, we aim to make this a forum for the real, secret knowledge all veteran teachers have, which is usually transmitted via oral tradition in faculty rooms, at bars, and psychically, through looks and expressions.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Koolaide spill on aisle five!!
http://k6educators.about.com/cs/helpforteachers/a/avoidburnout.htm
Hmmm...interesting.
"Ask for Help
"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
"Don't Play the Teacher at Home
"Take Time for Yourself
"Remember Why You Teach - Look past all of the annoyances and hassles, both big and small, and remember why you became a teacher in the first place. I left a job in Human Resources at a Fortune 500 company to become a teacher. Some days, I do question my sanity."
Look past all the annoyances...big and small? No. That's what we refuse to do anymore....
Why do NONE of the "combat teacher burnout" suggestions include:
To be fair, she vaguely alludes to all of these things:
"Parents, school volunteers, friends, and students can be a valuable time-saving resource in your classroom, but only if you take the time to ask them. With a little planning and time invested up front, you can set up routine times and duties for the people available around you."
Translation - don't do crap for which you are not paid, except--DON'T ASK YOUR FRIENDS!! Are you crazy? Why should your FRIENDS help you disguise the fact the schools are underfunded in supplies, time, personnel, equipment?
Time to practice your new mantra: "HELL, NO."
"Do you stage a Broadway-style dramatic production each year for yourself more than anyone else?"
I don't know where she teaches, but where my colleague Deirdre teaches, if she does NOT stage a "Broadway-style dramatic production"....she's FIRED."
Hmmm...interesting.
"Ask for Help
"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
"Don't Play the Teacher at Home
"Take Time for Yourself
"Remember Why You Teach - Look past all of the annoyances and hassles, both big and small, and remember why you became a teacher in the first place. I left a job in Human Resources at a Fortune 500 company to become a teacher. Some days, I do question my sanity."
Look past all the annoyances...big and small? No. That's what we refuse to do anymore....
Why do NONE of the "combat teacher burnout" suggestions include:
- demand more money
- get uppity
- act up
- teach to the contract
- get another job
- enact work stoppages and slowdowns
- live extremely frugally, invest wisely, and ASAP, bail
- make like a professional and get paid for the work you do
- don't work for for free-PLEASE EVERYONE STOP WORKING FOR FREE
To be fair, she vaguely alludes to all of these things:
"Parents, school volunteers, friends, and students can be a valuable time-saving resource in your classroom, but only if you take the time to ask them. With a little planning and time invested up front, you can set up routine times and duties for the people available around you."
Translation - don't do crap for which you are not paid, except--DON'T ASK YOUR FRIENDS!! Are you crazy? Why should your FRIENDS help you disguise the fact the schools are underfunded in supplies, time, personnel, equipment?
Time to practice your new mantra: "HELL, NO."
"Do you stage a Broadway-style dramatic production each year for yourself more than anyone else?"
I don't know where she teaches, but where my colleague Deirdre teaches, if she does NOT stage a "Broadway-style dramatic production"....she's FIRED."
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