We have a super active agriculture department. They have a huge community garden

3/18/2016 4:43:07 PM

awesome!!!!

well maybe a transcontinental experiment? find a classroom in another part of the world that wants to perform an experiment and gather data from as many countries as you can

with this you can emphasis scientific principles and statistics

or maybe lead the way and demand that your state treat teachers better so that there will be competent ones for future generations?

3/18/2016 5:14:19 PM

or get your students involved in volunteerism?!

or start an afterschool volunteer club type thing

3/18/2016 5:15:03 PM

my grades came out high the previous year and they wrote me a letter about it. i told them the classes needed to be separated into honors and regular and they were convinced. i authored the curricula and course descriptions for the new course. the new courses are on the books for next year. they even told me which ones i would be teaching and then after they saw my semester grades were pretty similar again they wrote me another letter stating my contract would not be renewed.

[Edited on March 18, 2016 at 10:18 PM. Reason : f]

3/18/2016 10:17:17 PM

dude, that's shitty

3/31/2016 1:13:12 PM

hey i got a better job with more money that i never would have looked for if it wasn't for this.

4/3/2016 5:09:31 PM

Whats the new job? I teach a pre-engineering curriculum(3D modeling, drafting, etc) and like what I do, but I constantly have the thought that I could be doing something that is way more impressive.

4/3/2016 5:53:12 PM

Students filmed by another student beating the hell out of each other at school this morning. Administrators are shown the film. All three met with the AP...were not sent home and are sitting in my room right now laughing about it. (less than an hour after the fight)

Thanks, Obama.

4/26/2016 12:47:58 PM

Teacher Appreciation Stuff for today (Tuesday 5/3)

Free sandwich or biscuit at participating Chik-fil-as

Free combo at PDQ

BOGO Chipotle

$5 off World of Beer tab

5/3/2016 9:06:48 AM

^^ the two kids who were fighting are now laughing? seems like the fight worked out their problem, i'm glad they didn't send the kids home

5/3/2016 9:46:45 AM

LOL you've got it figured out.

In this case it's like a wanna be Fight Club. They set up brawls and video tape them for Instagram followers. I get where you're coming from. Totally acceptable behavior in a school setting.

[Edited on May 3, 2016 at 9:56 AM. Reason : a]

5/3/2016 9:53:02 AM

i grew up before instagram fights, so maybe that's worth sending kids home, but i wish schools today weren't so risk averse for normal fights. kids fight, it happens, it's not automatically a big deal

5/3/2016 10:12:31 AM

...until the lawsuits

5/3/2016 10:14:16 AM

^^
I get what you're saying.

^
yep

[Edited on May 3, 2016 at 10:14 AM. Reason : a]

5/3/2016 10:14:42 AM

If you don't send kids to jail for everyone minor scuffle, how will you maintain the school-to-prison pipeline?

5/3/2016 12:10:42 PM

^
If that is what you think happens to kids who get in minor scuffles you're mistaken. Now if you're talking minor drug offenses-- you're on to something.

[Edited on May 3, 2016 at 1:26 PM. Reason : a]

5/3/2016 1:26:11 PM

^ Read the news sometimes about what happens to inner city black kids.

5/5/2016 1:50:18 PM

^^ kids getting charged for minor fights might not happen in your district, but it's a real problem in some places

5/5/2016 4:31:11 PM

K

5/5/2016 10:18:24 PM

There's a definitely a fine line to walk between discouraging/disciplining a kid and feeding into the school-to-prison pipeline. I try and consider that when I'm referring kids for behaviors. Is this something I'd write up anyone for? Is there another way for me to handle this that doesn't end up with the kid sitting in ISS? Have I done everything I can to adjust his behavior? It only takes a few referrals for someone to become "that kid," and so many of kids' problems start at home and aren't being dealt with so they act out. I try to remember that they're teenagers, and from a cause-effect standpoint they dumb as hell. I think it's really difficult for schools/administration because they want 1) respectable suspension rates 2) reputations as safe schools 3) high at-risk graduation rates. I think charging kids for fighting is bullshit though. If a fight is a fight, it should be a disciplinary issue; if a fight is assault, then it should be handled accordingly.

5/6/2016 10:48:24 AM

Quote :

"Whats the new job? I teach a pre-engineering curriculum(3D modeling, drafting, etc) and like what I do, but I constantly have the thought that I could be doing something that is way more impressive. "

That's true. But at least you can pay bills.

[Edited on May 17, 2016 at 11:20 AM. Reason : ;]

5/17/2016 11:19:26 AM

I'm doing a lot of that over the summer retrospection stuff, and one of the things I'm thinking about is how to arrange my desks. I'm looking for something that facilitates collaboration and discussion without centering things too much on me. I've typically got tables of four to six desks, but I'm looking for any novel sort of suggestions.

7/20/2016 10:20:51 AM

Anyone on here an elementary art/music/pe teacher? My wife teaches art in Wake county, now she's wondering if she'll have a job next year.

4/6/2017 9:46:37 AM

No but some friends in Durham are having the exact same concerns. They're both specials teachers.

4/7/2017 11:49:30 AM

I'm having that concern myself being the second Literacy Coach and Reading Lab Specialist.

4/9/2017 10:52:05 PM

Its good to have kids reading blogs, if that is what will get them to read.

I HATED stupid typing class in elementary/ middle school as a kid. The programs to teach fast typing were boring as all hell.

But then, AIM entered my life. And I was typing away, chatting with friends. AIM totally taught me how to type fast and without looking at the keys.

So letting kids read internet stuff they are interested in, as opposed to force feeding them classic lit all the time (I like classic lit btw) is not a bad thing, and can definitely help kids work that "reading muscle" the way AIm helped me.

[Edited on April 16, 2018 at 8:31 AM. Reason : AIM]

[Edited on April 16, 2018 at 8:31 AM. Reason : .]

4/16/2018 8:30:29 AM

I get what you are saying and like it but Aim is not professional typing (or maybe it will be soon?) in the same way a blog is not academic literature. Students need to learn how to read scientific literature and not just blog posts about it. This is how we end up with flat earthers imo.

4/16/2018 9:55:38 PM

I use Google classroom to respond to text a lot in my class. I also have the discussion about "what you put online is always online" (except for tdub, of course ). I'm working with 4th graders though. They love using it to communicate with me about assignments and to get feedback from me that is specifically in response to their work.

4/25/2018 7:18:44 PM

Long ass blog post about maternity leave, sick time, and annual leave time:

My wife teaches at a Wake county elementary school. We are expecting our first child in early August. She has a ton of sick time, and annual leave time accumulated over 10 years. She does not want to exhaust all of her sick time for maternity leave, she wants to keep a bank of sick time for after the she goes back to work, and for if we have another child in the future. The first week of school is all work days, which generally she could use annual leave days for if she wanted to take off, since there are no students present, and there are many more workdays throughout the semester. An HR person that was at her school today told her that since she would be on maternity leave, she could not take those as annual leave days, but had to use sick time, and could only use annual leave days once she has exhausted all of her sick time. I have looked through the Wake County handbook, as well as the NC Public Schools Benefits and Employee Policy Manual, and can’t find anything stating that you must exhaust your sick time first, and in certain places it seems to specifically state you do NOT have to do that (I do understand that you can use your annual leave days for days when students ARE there once you exhaust all of your sick time, but she only wants to use them on work days). I told her to call and talk to a different HR person and see if they say the same thing, and if they do to show her where that is stated in writing.

Does anyone else have any experience/knowledge regarding this type of situation?

2/19/2019 9:16:47 PM

This is common practice in the private sector as well. Many companies will require you to use your vacation as part of your maternity leave.

The US has the worst maternity/paternity leave policies.

2/19/2019 10:22:31 PM

Yes she has to use her accrued vacation time for maternity, and she is fine with that, but they have 2 different types of accrued vacation. They are saying she must completely exhaust her “sick leave” vacation before she can use her “annual leave” vacation. If she wasn’t on maternity leave there would be no problem with using annual leave before sick days

2/19/2019 10:31:12 PM

This is governed bound by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Because FMLA leave is by definition "sick leave", if you want to be paid, you can use that leave pool and not vacation time. If you want to preserve the sick leave, you can take the time as unpaid. It seems that an employer can require you to use the sick leave if they want. I'm sure they have this written down somewhere.

NCSU lets you use whatever kind of leave you want under FMLA in any proportion you want according to their FMLA page. My wife's company made here use her sick time first IIRC.

With a good leave coordinator, you should be able to coordinate when your FMLA starts in order to use up some vacation time before the FMLA clock starts in the case that you can expend vacation time while on the FMLA clock. You can also stop the FMLA clock and switch to vacation time. However, using FMLA saves you from the vulgarities of supervisors and leave approvals.

2/20/2019 2:14:10 PM