good/bad/ugly

Good:

Yes, we are getting married. I was going to find some better way to bring it up, but I wrote my last post at the mental equivalent of 4 am and basically just didn't notice what I was saying. Anyway, don't plan on going anywhere in spring of '07.

Additionally, we have added a member to our family. Major Major is nine months old, and he is a bundle of love and playfulness. He gets so much attention from us it is kind of obscene. He still does not think it is enough. Here he is on his chair, in a rare moment of observed sleep, atop his blanket, hand-crocheted by my mother.


In-between:

I am getting observed next week by my Program person, and I'm really kind of stressed about it. Observations are always okay, but the anticipation of being observed always reminds me of everything that is going wrong, or not going at all, in my classroom. My senior class, in particular, is kind of a mess and requires a serious paradigm shift. We are down to about 10 students and the vibe is just really weird. They're kind of hating me right now, and I'm not really happy with (most of) them either.

Good:

My morning class is effing phenomenal. I cannot physically give them enough work; no matter how much I give, how many new concepts I introduce, they finish with about 20 minutes to spare before the bell. On top of that, they do it well - my brilliant kids help out my slower kids and my "trouble" kids, they love reading aloud, and on their last test, we had a class average of 86 percent. No one failed. This is the first time ever I have had a class meet our class goal. I about keeled over. They, on the other hand, were nonplussed, and just wanted to get on with their work.

In-between:

My afternoon class has yet to hit its stride.

Bad bad all kinds of bad:

My small learning community is definitely getting disbanded. The name will stay on the books - huzzah - but the teachers, students, classes, focus, and mission statement will all change. Yahoo. The plan as it currently stands: ESL, currently housed entirely on B-track, is getting moved onto all 3 tracks. As of July, our waiver students (those who take all their classes in Spanish) will move to A-track. They will remain there for one year of "intensive, accelerated" ESL, after which they will be forced to move either to B or C track, where upper-level ESL classes will be housed.

Problems with this scenario: It forces our primary-language teachers to change tracks. If they do not want to do so (as many do not,) they will remain on B track teaching in English, while the empty positions will be filled by long-term subs who will likely not teach at all, let alone in Spanish. It forces ESL teachers to make a choice between low-level (like my amazing morning kids) or high-level (like last semester's amazing afternoon kids), which no one really wants to do. It forces students to constantly change tracks, leaving their familiar teachers and friends several times during their high school careers. It destroys our single greatest resource - the mutual support system we have created as teachers. Worst of all, it is completely unrealistic. The idea is that students will get through their primary-language phase in one calendar year, by attending school year-round with no vacations, and taking "accelarated" four-hour-long ESL classes during intersessions. But Admin and The Org are ignoring a few key pieces of information, for instance:
-The primary-language phase, as it stands now, takes two calendar years, assuming each class is taken only once.
-Students more often than not must repeat one or more of the low-level ESL classes during this time. It is not uncommon to take the same level three times - one and a half calendar years for just one of the four classes.
-We already offer intersession ESL classes. They are intended to boost students' skills for the next level, as no one in their right mind believes two months is long enough for a whole level.
-Students cannot, and should not, be expected to absorb four hours' worth of language per day.
-Students cannot, and should not, be required to attend school year-round simply because of their native language.

The absolute bitch of the situation is that I am not really telling you about it right now. In fact, I don't even know about it myself. You see, discussing it would constitute "spreading propaganda." Those with information about the current plan have been expressly instructed not to spread such propoganda - not to students, not to parents, and certainly not to the teachers who will be affected by the changes. So like I say. You didn't hear it from me.