Day 126

Out of the 180 days that I'm required to teach, I'm on the down part of the hill.

March is usually a hard month to get through in the public school system. There aren't any holidays or scheduled days off. Usually teachers take 1 of their personal days off in order to at least get a 3 day weekend. Reason being is that January you've got a holiday or a break every other week. Same thing goes with February. But then March there is nothing. Probably the reason why they've moved Spring Break to earlier in April than before. But luckily enough I've been asked to go to a "conference" on Friday, so I get a break without having to get docked in pay. I get fed and I get some more networking . . . which is what I'm going to need if I plan to survive the next little bit.

I'm beginning to worry about my job situation come fall. They haven't told me anything, which is a good/bad relationship. I really don't stress out, I just get worried.

They've started a new schedule at school and I really don't like it. The students are too used to the old system and they "expect" it to be optional. I've had to mark 4 students truant in the past few days because they just get up and leave even if they aren't allowed to. If they did that in the "regular" class time then they would be marked truant. But since they think it's optional, then they think they can leave at any time. I don't like it. Plus, kids just slack off and when I call them out on it, they get huffy and say that I don't give them enough time to complete what they need to. Kind of like today. Today is a day in the computer tech class that is their make-up day. I'm being nice and allowing them a day to get everything that they're missing for the current unit in without have the late penalty put on. But many of them are just sitting there, not working or just slacking off. That means I take points away from their grade instead of adding them on. When I tell them this they just give me a blank stare; I also had one student tell me he didn't care and leave.

At least my film students are doing something. They've got a hard deadline for the festival and I'm just waiting for the day afterward when someone comes up and asks if they can still submit it. This year they're having the teachers upload them onto the site, so once the deadline passes, then we can't upload them anymore. I'm kind of happy about that. At least that is one deadline I can't push back.

The term ends next week and I can't believe the number of failing grades I'm going to have to give out if this trend continues. I've got 4 in one class, 3 in another, 2 in one and 3 in the other. These are just the computer tech classes. The digital media class has 3 and they are working it out though. Ugg.

That just makes me sick that the students don't care enough to actually get stuff done and then they complain to me that I'm unfair in the grading or that it is unfair that I don't allow them to do attendance make-up and when I tell them that it isn't my responsibility to do attendance make-up I get either crusty stares or they say that it is my responsibility to make sure they're in class and they are passing. EXCUSE ME?!?!?! since when is it the TEACHER's responsibility to get you to class. That is the student's job and that of the parents. I can go in the halls and tell the students to get to class, but it is ultimately their decision to go or not.