Jae's Rants

A friend just posted on Facebook about her first back to school dream.  Yep, we teachers have them too. I think of them as our subconscious's way of trying to gently ease us into the reality of the new school year coming soon. Sort of the way fall and spring ease us into the coming winter and summer.


This year's first back to school dream came a couple of weeks ago. I think it might have been influenced by my watching Unreal, the show about the making of a Bacheloresque type of show. Myself and a few of the teachers I worked with at my former school (male and female) were participating in a show where the best teacher would be chosen.  Were we being judged on our awesome lesson plans? Differentiation? Data collection and analysis?  No.

The whole thing was more a Miss America meets Bachelor meets America's got talent.  Luckily, I woke up just before the swimsuit portion began.

I have been a very bad blogger. I’ve let it get away from me. My only excuse is actually two excuses. First there is the wonderful world of standardized testing. My school took the state mandated standardized test last week. This means that in addition to the stress of the normal school day we added the stress of testing that will mean a difference between pass and fail for some students, the score anxiety that teachers experience and the actual testing tension as well.

My state takes what is known as the CRCT (Criterion Referenced Competency Test). It always reminds me of the book “Testing Miss Malarky” which shows the testing week from the student’s point of view. The only difference in the book and real life is that the kids in the book come to believe the test isn’t so important after all. Our kids know it is important. You wouldn’t believe the number of stomach aches and the amount of vomiting going on. (And yes, one of those was me…I’ll get to that later.) Our kids know these are gateway tests and that they have to pass them at the third, fifth and eighth grade levels or they can’t go on no matter how they have done in classes throughout the year. In other grades, the kids know that placement in things like foreign language and gifted courses along with remedial connections classes are also determined by the test. If you do badly you could find your two elective classes taken up with remedial math and study skills.

The teachers are wound just as tight. We know that it doesn’t matter how great a job we’ve done with our kids that year, if they don’t pass this test it reflects on us and our school. The No Child Left Behind act was wonderful on the surface of it’s intent, but there has been no financial support for schools to implement the standards and even more the standards set are nearly impossible to reach given the current social climate.

I teach reading to seventh graders. If they are in my class it means they have problems with reading and didn’t score high enough to earn placement in foreign language or that they have behavior issues that excluded them from the invitation only foreign language program. I have about 50% of my students, and remember this is of the kids assigned to me not of our school population as a whole, reading at least 2 to 3 years below grade level. I have several 7th graders who read at a 2nd grade level. But I’m expected to have these students ready to pass a test in one year? I have occasionally been able to work miracles but I am not divine. My questions of how did they get to me in this situation are never answered. I’m just told to fix the problem because someone has to.

And when there is support from home or even just the drive from the student we can accomplish a great deal. I had one student, 15 years old in the seventh grade. He transferred in from another state. His reading level was 2.3 in August. I will never forget Alex. When he turned in his first book report to me, there was a note on the bottom that read, “This is the first chapter book I ever read all by myself.” I sat down and cried. Cried for Alex and for me. How was I going to get him ready for this test.

The answer in Alex’s case was that I didn’t, he did. He worked hard for me and I know he did it because I had his back. In conferences (the few we had) I told his father how polite and respectful he was. I told his father how proud I was of his work. I spoke out for him when he got into trouble and took ownership of him. I even stood up before the police and told them that Alex hadn’t done what they said he did. I think that meant something to Alex. At the end of the year we allowed him to take the 8th grade test so he could move on to high school and not be 16 years old in middle school. Alex passed all parts but math and passed that after two weeks of summer school.

This isn’t my achievement, this is his. And if it seems like I’ve gotten myself off topic, I have. And I needed to. I needed to remind myself why I do this. Why I put up with the lack of respect, the no money. Why I put up with the attitudes and the rules that are supposed to make sure I do my job but simply end up making my job harder to do.

I needed to remember Alex. And Neilson. And Andrew. And Lucan. And Nick. And Drew. And Monty. And…

The second reason? The nausea is still here. It doesn’t seem so important now, but throwing up in the middle of the CRCT social studies test certainly seemed like a big deal at the time.

First off the good stuff:

Mating Stone got 4 angels from Fallen Angel Reviews. Ashley reviewed it and seemed to really like the guys in the story. "...the men in this book are to die for. Mark is sexy and charming. It is easy to see why Sarah fell in love with him so fast. You can relate to Sarah after Mark makes a huge mistake, and you can feel for him when he tries to fix it. There is also his brother, Luke, who has just enough bad boy in him to make you want to claim him as your own. Then there is Tarris, Mark’s close friend, another sexy and mysterious man. These two stuck out and I hoping they get their own stories soon. Elyssa Edwards has done a great job with Mating Stone. She has written a unique shapeshifter story that any paranormal fan will enjoy." Thank you Ashley!

The hero of Mating Stone, Mark Ursine is a Were-Bear as is his twin brother Luke the hero of the upcoming July release, Lovers’ Stone. The Ursines present their lady loves with stones rather than engagement rings. For Mark and Sarah it’s an amethyst. So to win the 17” freshwater pearl and amethyst necklace here’s what you need to do. Write a brief answer to the following question and send it to ElyssaWrites@aol.com with “Mating Stone Contest” in the subject line. I’ll pick the best response as the winner, and two honorable mentions to receive smaller prizes. The winning entries will appear in my blog on April 13th.

In Mating Stone, Mark falls in love with Sarah. Sarah, a young human woman who has no idea that Were’s even exist beyond novels and movies. Strictly fictional. As a human woman, how do you react when Mr. Yummy tells you he’s the one with claws and may just leave fur on the sheets? So tell me: What type of Were is Mr. Wonderful and how does he break it to you?


Now to the title of this rant.


Why did I go to college? I mean, I spent four years of under graduate studies and a year of graduate school and for what? To be someone's scapegoat? To continue to have to scrape and stretch to make ends meet? To be treated with total disrespect and disdain?

Yes, that's right it was parent-teacher conference time again. Another day of listening to someone tell me that I don't care about their child because I didn't give him an extra week to complete an assignment. Another day of listening to someone tell me I am picking on their child because I expect him or her to follow the same rules that apply to everyone else. Another day of listening to someone tell me and my administration how I have no concern for parent involvement because I won't stay two hours after school for a conference because that's when they get off work.

Now I love teaching. I do. I love the kids and I love working with them. What I hate and abominate is babysitting, hand holding and nose-wiping. That’s why I teach middle school and not kindergarten.

So let’s get this straight. I apologize to all the great parents out there. You know who you are. You’re the one who volunteers for fundraisers and who helps pass out maps at orientation. You’re the one who returns my calls or actually has a phone number at which I can reach you if I need to touch base about your child. You’re the one who knows that budgets are tight and so you donate paper towels and tissues. You’re the one who shows up for conferences even when your child isn’t failing and we haven’t had to send the social worker to your house to force you.

Sorry to bore you with my ranting, but it’s absolutely ridiculous and some days it’s just too much to let roll off your back.

Maybe I should have been a plumber. We had to call one today because our bathtub wouldn’t turn off. Of course the estimate came in at almost a grand. Lovely to ya’ll, too.