| | Spring Break! It seemed like it would be forever until it arrived, and yet, here we are. All I can say is it is a very welcome respite from the daily grind. Do I have any big plans? Nope. Just rest, relaxation and a little bit of work. The only thing I absolutely have to do over break is work on my IPDP for school so I can renew my license. In addition to my time on TEAM the last three years, I'm using my work with the peer mentoring and tutoring program as the biggest contributor to my needed hours - well over 120 hours the last three years. At this point, I just need to sit down at the computer and type it all up so I can get it sent in to DSC. After it's approved, I'll need to send in the paper work to renew, along with a nice big check (at least $200). Yep, that is $200 for a five-year license. Last time I renewed it was $80 for an eight-year certificate. Oh how the times have changed. (Thanks State of Ohio Department of Education, you greedy bastards.) So, not only do teachers have to continue to take classes and complete professional development, often on our own dime, now you are charging extreme amounts of money for a paper pushing bureaucrat to do 20 minutes of work and issue a $1.00 piece of paper to my school district. Thanks! Just....thanks. No, I'm not bitter. Just a little pissed off. I went to the eye doctor today to get some new glasses. I'm getting new frames and lenses for the everyday pair and new lenses for the sunglasses. Should be about a week before I'm seeing in great detail again. Actually, my eyes have barely changed in the last 2 1/2 years, but the lenses did need a slight update. And my current frames have seen better days. I took them off awhile back to take a nap, and then managed to roll over on top of them, bending the Hell out of the frames. They haven't been the same since. Sigh. Morrissey was in town last week. I made the trip to The Palace to see him along with Alex. It was a good show, but not quite as good as the last time he was in town. Maybe that was because I had Alex and Shawn with me that time, and it was their first time seeing the creator of the modern emo music movement. Anyway, he played the usual suspects and a few surprises. I liked the selection of Smiths's songs, but was puzzled by a few additions from the Smiths and his early solo career (Death of a Disco Dancer? Seasick, Yet Still Docked? I Keep Mine Hidden? ). In exchange for these oddities, we did get This Charming Man and Ask, as well as tracks off the new album. I guess the moral is, you never know what you're going to get from Morrissey. My favorite Moz show still has to be the Chicago show with Jim. I'm dedicated to reading a couple of novels over break. I'm halfway through the newest Star Wars novel (Outcast) right now, and the coffee table has another three or four stacked up on it. I'm not sure I'll get to Drood right now, it maybe a summer read, but I'll review that one as soon as I get it done (sorry Teresa). Now that Battlestar is done, I'm hoping for strong finishes from Heroes and Lost. Heroes has been better recently, and Lost has been really good all season long. In Student Council news, MORP is dead. (That sound you hear is me rejoicing.) The kids wanted to have it, but they also wanted an outside DJ for name recognition. Their DJ was going to cost us $865. I was appalled, but it's their money, and despite my protests, they weren't listening. But, when I went to submit the purchase order, the activities account secretary said she didn't think DSC would approve it. They know we have our own equipment, and she doesn't think they would allow us to spend that kind of money on something we can do ourselves for free. Hallelujah! I had my out. It still took a little bit of persuasion, but I convinced them to let it die. If we have Student Council in a few years, that would be the time to bring it back. I was also told the day before break that some of the seniors don't think the Prom Fashion Show is going to fly this year. Seems they are having trouble getting the Fairy Goodmothers people to call them back. The event is scheduled for the Sunday after break - the 19th, I think - so we'll have to see if it happens or not. At this point though, I have no idea what they have done to get ready for it. It may be a moot point. With that in mind, I think we only have a few things left - a last Bloodmobile in late April, DJ services for Prom (but that's just me and a few helpers), and the end of the year picnic. And there's the senior awards assembly for scholarships. Heh. Sooo much better than last year's something-every-weekend-for-the-last-eight-weeks-of-school disaster that left me sick and exhausted. I'm not sure if I'm doing summer school this year or not. They posted the jobs, but lead teacher wasn't there. When I asked Ron about it, he said he wasn't sure if they would have the positions or not. (They are trying to make summer school completely self-supporting, even though it only costs the district about $5000 above what students pay in each year. Seems like a poor place to try and save money, considering what the program does for graduation rates in SWCS.) Anyway, Ron recommended I apply for a teaching position for now, and then if the lead teacher positions open I can apply for one of those. I want to go back as a lead teacher, but I dread having to teach in summer school again. I applied for the 12th grade English position (I'm kind of over the whole OGT thing at this point), but I don't know if I'll teach or not. I'll keep you informed. Man, if I don't do summer school this year and the levy goes down and Student Council doesn't happen next year, I'll be out around $6000. Meh. It's only money, and the time I put in isn't even close to being worth that amount. Wow, I may find myself with a whole lot of free time on my hands.... Well, I guess that's about it. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you know how it is. Take care of yourselves and each other. Until next time.... |
