As a teacher and as an administrator I have always tried to maintain a calm controlled environment in the places I have worked. I have tried to never be angry with students but only angry about inappropriate behavior. I have tried to deal with disagreement about or among students, staff and the school community in general in a dignified respectful way. I always felt that a lot of eyes were watching me and it was my duty to face challenges in the most mature way possible. If I as an educational leader couldn’t do it, who could?
Early on this fall we faced challenges of all kinds! We opened the year unable to use 3 classrooms until the middle of September. We had three and a half sections at third/fourth grade and that was unpopular with parents especially when the half time teacher went full time in another building and we had to hire another person. Several parents went to school board about it and the use of half time teachers were referred to for a long time after as the “Longfellow problem.” Half sections eventually became common in the district. It didn’t hurt that the new half-time person I hired turned out to be incredibly popular.
One afternoon we had a group of Japanese visitors in our school. We have had several here before from many different countries and it is always a rewarding experience. On more than one occasion I have asked the foreign visitors why they are visiting our schools since theirs are supposed to be so good. Without exception, they have all said they would like to have their schools be more like ours. A strange comment since so often we hear how our schools should be more like theirs.
A parent went to the superintendent to complain about me. I expected it but was still somewhat surprised by this behavior. This person is a tough one to figure and so very unpredictable. This person has alienated most of the school community and I have received an number of complaints. Many other parents and teachers are afraid of this person. I hope to talk with the superintendent about this person sometime next week.
Another parent threatened us today by saying she would file child endangerment charges against us for not supervising her kindergartner during indoor recess. The truth is the child was supervised. This parent second-guesses us on everything and it is getting very tiresome. I don’t know why she continues to enroll her kids here if she is so unhappy with us? This is going to make an old man out of me!
At this point I began to wonder what would happen next. All the distractions from parents kept the school on edge and you could feel the tension in the building. For one reason or another some people get some sort of satisfaction out of the turmoil they create. Unfortunately it disrupts the learning environment for a lot of kids. The behavior is unforgivable in a lot of respects and makes me angry when I think about it. There must surely be a special place in hell for people like this.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
90s44 Beginning of the 99-00 School Year
For a while now I have been using journal entries from the 90s for my blog and not really telling many stories although the entries are stories in a way. Part of the problem has been that I have been very busy and sometimes too tired to write much new. The other problem is that many of stories I could tell are too recent and involve people that are still around. I have changed names and references to make it impossible to recognize people or incidents but still tried to give the flavor of the experience. I will visit them again sometime and maybe tell more.
I have eight more entries to finish out the 90s. I have been writing a piece a week for what will be five years when I finish those. Then, rather than writing about the 2000s, I plan to revisit earlier years and tell more stories about those times. I won’t be as driven to write one a week and so they may not show up as often. I think some my fiction may show up in the blog as well.
Now, to finish the 90s:
The 1999-2000 school started off with a lot of changes. We had new superintendent in the district. I wrote that I thought he would be good and that I hoped the media would give him a chance. At Longfellow, we replaced several staff as others moved on. I was pleased with the new hires and optimistic about the year.
During the summer the building windows were replaced and it was determined that there was a structural problem in the classrooms in the northwest part of the building. An I-beam needed to be replaced and that is no small job. We couldn’t use three rooms until the work was done so we were pretty crowded.
I hired a half time person at the third/fourth grade level but after a few days of school she took a full time position in another building. I was very unhappy with comments she made to parents about her leaving even before it was official. I will write later about parent dissatisfaction with the half sections. What it meant was during half of the day students were in three sections and larger class sizes. The other have of the day they were in four sections. The latter was used for reading and math. I saw it as making the best of the situation but parents didn’t like it.
I had a parent that year who was giving me a lot of trouble. He wanted his special needs daughter fully included in the classroom. He was adamant that her daughter was not around those “other kids,” those with special needs. The parent seemed to have great contempt special needs children except for his own child, of course.
The parents were full of contradictions and anger about their child. They didn’t trust us and second guessed our every move. We kept careful notes and documented every meeting and intervention. I’ll probably write about this situation again.
I have eight more entries to finish out the 90s. I have been writing a piece a week for what will be five years when I finish those. Then, rather than writing about the 2000s, I plan to revisit earlier years and tell more stories about those times. I won’t be as driven to write one a week and so they may not show up as often. I think some my fiction may show up in the blog as well.
Now, to finish the 90s:
The 1999-2000 school started off with a lot of changes. We had new superintendent in the district. I wrote that I thought he would be good and that I hoped the media would give him a chance. At Longfellow, we replaced several staff as others moved on. I was pleased with the new hires and optimistic about the year.
During the summer the building windows were replaced and it was determined that there was a structural problem in the classrooms in the northwest part of the building. An I-beam needed to be replaced and that is no small job. We couldn’t use three rooms until the work was done so we were pretty crowded.
I hired a half time person at the third/fourth grade level but after a few days of school she took a full time position in another building. I was very unhappy with comments she made to parents about her leaving even before it was official. I will write later about parent dissatisfaction with the half sections. What it meant was during half of the day students were in three sections and larger class sizes. The other have of the day they were in four sections. The latter was used for reading and math. I saw it as making the best of the situation but parents didn’t like it.
I had a parent that year who was giving me a lot of trouble. He wanted his special needs daughter fully included in the classroom. He was adamant that her daughter was not around those “other kids,” those with special needs. The parent seemed to have great contempt special needs children except for his own child, of course.
The parents were full of contradictions and anger about their child. They didn’t trust us and second guessed our every move. We kept careful notes and documented every meeting and intervention. I’ll probably write about this situation again.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
90s43 Wrapping it Up
Friday, May 7, 1999 – Today we got word that a note threatening the lives of Northwest Junior High students was found in that building. The note said the students would be killed on Monday. The building was under lock-down today and the police were there. It will be the same on Monday. Apparently several parents pulled their kids out of school today and will again on Monday. This is absolutely CRAZY!
Monday, May 17, 1999 – Rainy weather lately has made for squirrelly kids. The staff has been kind of testy too, because of all of the end of the year stuff. Tomorrow I am taking a vacation day to be an artist in residence at the elementary school in the L & M district. That should be fun! Then on Wednesday, I am taking a professional day to go to Des Moines to meet with Iowa’s first lady, Christie Vilsack, and to serve on her advisory council. That should be very interesting!
Tuesday, May 25, 1999 – Had a great time storytelling at L&M last week and meeting with Christie Vilsack was neat. A lot happened last week. On Friday I suspended a child for trashing my office and making threats. He is the child of a prominent community member so it could be a touchy situation. Also, late on Friday, another difficult parent called and said they were moving and their child would be attending a different school next year. They have been impossible to deal with much of the time and we will not be sorry to see them go, but the kid will be missed. Actually this move should be good for them.
Today, the student I suspended is returning to school and things could be tense. I am supposed to go on the 5/6 field trip but will wait to see how things are going before I leave. Another student brought a squirt gun to school today and was pointing it at people on the bus. There was also a problem outside with some of Ms. Hill’s students so we are off to a rough start.
Thursday, May 27, 1999 – …I turned in my portfolio today to Tim Grieves. We will have to meet regarding my evaluation before he leaves the district. I am glad it is almost over.
We will be getting about $100,000 from the state and $150,000 from the federal government for class size at k-3. That could help us immensely. We will have to do a new staffing plan as soon as we find out.
Wednesday, June 9, 1999 – School’s out! Some changes in staff for next year. We will be losing some associates and picking up some new ones…We have a student coming in who needs a four and one half hour associate that we will have to hire. We are also losing our strings teacher who is staying in the district but will not be at Longfellow next year. She is upset about not being here but there is not much that can be done about it. We are meeting at the CAO this morning about staffing for next year. Right now the plan is to have two ks, three and a half 1/2, three and a half 3/4, and three 5/6. I think that will change before school starts but we will just have to wait and see. Right now we have about 50 kindergartners so I think we will be having 3 sections there.
Thursday, June 14, 1999 – We are wrapping things up for this year. Julie is here one more day and then gone for the summer. I plan to do a lot of cleaning and throwing away and then planning for next year.
Monday, May 17, 1999 – Rainy weather lately has made for squirrelly kids. The staff has been kind of testy too, because of all of the end of the year stuff. Tomorrow I am taking a vacation day to be an artist in residence at the elementary school in the L & M district. That should be fun! Then on Wednesday, I am taking a professional day to go to Des Moines to meet with Iowa’s first lady, Christie Vilsack, and to serve on her advisory council. That should be very interesting!
Tuesday, May 25, 1999 – Had a great time storytelling at L&M last week and meeting with Christie Vilsack was neat. A lot happened last week. On Friday I suspended a child for trashing my office and making threats. He is the child of a prominent community member so it could be a touchy situation. Also, late on Friday, another difficult parent called and said they were moving and their child would be attending a different school next year. They have been impossible to deal with much of the time and we will not be sorry to see them go, but the kid will be missed. Actually this move should be good for them.
Today, the student I suspended is returning to school and things could be tense. I am supposed to go on the 5/6 field trip but will wait to see how things are going before I leave. Another student brought a squirt gun to school today and was pointing it at people on the bus. There was also a problem outside with some of Ms. Hill’s students so we are off to a rough start.
Thursday, May 27, 1999 – …I turned in my portfolio today to Tim Grieves. We will have to meet regarding my evaluation before he leaves the district. I am glad it is almost over.
We will be getting about $100,000 from the state and $150,000 from the federal government for class size at k-3. That could help us immensely. We will have to do a new staffing plan as soon as we find out.
Wednesday, June 9, 1999 – School’s out! Some changes in staff for next year. We will be losing some associates and picking up some new ones…We have a student coming in who needs a four and one half hour associate that we will have to hire. We are also losing our strings teacher who is staying in the district but will not be at Longfellow next year. She is upset about not being here but there is not much that can be done about it. We are meeting at the CAO this morning about staffing for next year. Right now the plan is to have two ks, three and a half 1/2, three and a half 3/4, and three 5/6. I think that will change before school starts but we will just have to wait and see. Right now we have about 50 kindergartners so I think we will be having 3 sections there.
Thursday, June 14, 1999 – We are wrapping things up for this year. Julie is here one more day and then gone for the summer. I plan to do a lot of cleaning and throwing away and then planning for next year.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
90s42 More From My Journal
During my time in education I have been directly involve in a lot of troubling things. But nothing quite as horrifying as what happened at Columbine High School in the spring of 1999. Every educator was shocked by this event and things have never been quite the same since. I am very sad to say that we are probably just as vulnerable to this kind of thing as we were then.
Monday, April 26, 1999 – Last week there was a terrible tragedy in Littleton, Colorado. Some students entered the building with guns and bombs and killed several people and wounded several others. It sent a shock through the nation and especially the schools. There have been some copycat incidents but nothing nearly as serious. I am hopeful that something will be done to protect the children from this happening but educators have pleaded for help for years and nothing has happened so we will just have to wait and see.
I have an ICN meeting after school today to talk about an evaluation for one of our students at a state institute. I don’t know what they will be able to tell us? This has been a very stressful situation for some time and we can’t really trust the parent. This is the person who didn’t like the associate that works with the child. I have spent many long hours with this person and am convinced that he will never be happy with us.
Wednesday, May 5, 1999 – I participated in the Penn Elementary Principal interviews yesterday. It was very interesting. A teacher from Longfellow was one of the candidates. She did a very good job! The job is being offered to another person. She teaches at Penn and has been assistant principal there. She will do a good job. I think the Longfellow teacher would have been good, too, but she needs some more experience. While I was there a student here used a stick as a weapon so I had to come back and deal with that. I suspended him for three days—two in school and an out-of-school day.
We had our last administrative council meeting of the year this morning. It included a luncheon for Barb and Tim. It was a nice event. This afternoon is the Silver Salute to recognize retirees and staff that have 25 years in the district.
I have a few teacher evaluation things to finish up and I’m done with that for the year. I haven’t met with Tim about my evaluation yet, but I think it will go well.
We had a meeting last night with the elementary principals about salary negotiations for next year. We are not very satisfied with our settlements in the last few years. There is not much money available this year so I don’t think it will be much better. Several of the principals are seriously considering returning to the classroom because the pay per-diem is not that much different and the stress is much less.
Monday, April 26, 1999 – Last week there was a terrible tragedy in Littleton, Colorado. Some students entered the building with guns and bombs and killed several people and wounded several others. It sent a shock through the nation and especially the schools. There have been some copycat incidents but nothing nearly as serious. I am hopeful that something will be done to protect the children from this happening but educators have pleaded for help for years and nothing has happened so we will just have to wait and see.
I have an ICN meeting after school today to talk about an evaluation for one of our students at a state institute. I don’t know what they will be able to tell us? This has been a very stressful situation for some time and we can’t really trust the parent. This is the person who didn’t like the associate that works with the child. I have spent many long hours with this person and am convinced that he will never be happy with us.
Wednesday, May 5, 1999 – I participated in the Penn Elementary Principal interviews yesterday. It was very interesting. A teacher from Longfellow was one of the candidates. She did a very good job! The job is being offered to another person. She teaches at Penn and has been assistant principal there. She will do a good job. I think the Longfellow teacher would have been good, too, but she needs some more experience. While I was there a student here used a stick as a weapon so I had to come back and deal with that. I suspended him for three days—two in school and an out-of-school day.
We had our last administrative council meeting of the year this morning. It included a luncheon for Barb and Tim. It was a nice event. This afternoon is the Silver Salute to recognize retirees and staff that have 25 years in the district.
I have a few teacher evaluation things to finish up and I’m done with that for the year. I haven’t met with Tim about my evaluation yet, but I think it will go well.
We had a meeting last night with the elementary principals about salary negotiations for next year. We are not very satisfied with our settlements in the last few years. There is not much money available this year so I don’t think it will be much better. Several of the principals are seriously considering returning to the classroom because the pay per-diem is not that much different and the stress is much less.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
90s41 End of the Year
From about April 1st on things get hectic in an elementary school! Teachers are working frantically to cover material, complete end of year reports, do all of the required “end of the year” assessments and everything else. At the same time the district is planning for the coming year. That includes enrollment projections and staffing for the next school year. Some staff are notified that they will be moving to another position or building. It all makes for a very tense time of the year!
Each year there is a meeting at the central office when you get the official enrollment project and staffing for next year. I always dreaded that meeting! I dreaded even more having to go back to my building and share the information with the staff. The very worst part was having to tell someone they wouldn’t be in our building next year.
Monday, April 5, 1999 – Wow! I have been very busy and not had much time to write. We are doing staffing for next year and the budget. Enrollment will be down so we will probably lose a teacher. It looks like we’ll be having two kindergartens, three 1/2, four 3/4, and three 5/6. I don’t know how the parents will react to that. Time will tell. Negotiations are still going on so when that is resolved it may change things.
We are interviewing for our interpreter/associate position. We have done three and will probably do three more.
Tuesday, April 6, 1999 – We probably made a big mistake today, but I really didn’t know any way out of it. We have a special needs student who has a full-time associate during the year. We were discussing whether the child would need extended year. The team unanimously felt that it would benefit the child. Thinking the parents would want summer school we were trying to decide how we could pay for it if the parents didn’t want to pay themselves. The parents were 25 minutes late to the meeting. We agreed the child could benefit from extended year, identified the skills that would be maintained and then the parents said they didn’t want summer school. Our AEA consultant then came up with the option of a tutor for 45 min. a day, four days a week, for six weeks. That will definitely be unpopular at the central office, but had painted ourselves into a corner and weren’t able to be quick-thinking enough to get out of it. The problem is it sets an expensive precedent. It will cost the district about $360.
Monday, April 19, 1999 – I sent my self-evaluation over to Tim last week but forgot to include this with it. I’ll send it over today. We are struggling to get everything done before the end of the year. I’m trying to get all of the teacher evaluation stuff done but it is really time consuming. The Seminar in School Leadership class met this morning and had an interesting session. It was primarily about accommodations for special needs kids. We used two or three of Autry’s pieces from Life and Work. We only have one more session. That will be on May 3rd.
Each year there is a meeting at the central office when you get the official enrollment project and staffing for next year. I always dreaded that meeting! I dreaded even more having to go back to my building and share the information with the staff. The very worst part was having to tell someone they wouldn’t be in our building next year.
Monday, April 5, 1999 – Wow! I have been very busy and not had much time to write. We are doing staffing for next year and the budget. Enrollment will be down so we will probably lose a teacher. It looks like we’ll be having two kindergartens, three 1/2, four 3/4, and three 5/6. I don’t know how the parents will react to that. Time will tell. Negotiations are still going on so when that is resolved it may change things.
We are interviewing for our interpreter/associate position. We have done three and will probably do three more.
Tuesday, April 6, 1999 – We probably made a big mistake today, but I really didn’t know any way out of it. We have a special needs student who has a full-time associate during the year. We were discussing whether the child would need extended year. The team unanimously felt that it would benefit the child. Thinking the parents would want summer school we were trying to decide how we could pay for it if the parents didn’t want to pay themselves. The parents were 25 minutes late to the meeting. We agreed the child could benefit from extended year, identified the skills that would be maintained and then the parents said they didn’t want summer school. Our AEA consultant then came up with the option of a tutor for 45 min. a day, four days a week, for six weeks. That will definitely be unpopular at the central office, but had painted ourselves into a corner and weren’t able to be quick-thinking enough to get out of it. The problem is it sets an expensive precedent. It will cost the district about $360.
Monday, April 19, 1999 – I sent my self-evaluation over to Tim last week but forgot to include this with it. I’ll send it over today. We are struggling to get everything done before the end of the year. I’m trying to get all of the teacher evaluation stuff done but it is really time consuming. The Seminar in School Leadership class met this morning and had an interesting session. It was primarily about accommodations for special needs kids. We used two or three of Autry’s pieces from Life and Work. We only have one more session. That will be on May 3rd.
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