Skip to main content

Bits & Pieces

  • *The kids love to sweep and vacuum in class. They love to clean off the desks with 409. They beg to be allowed to wash my car. (I do not, in fact, let them. I'm sure that's a violation of many laws.) How much do you want to bet that doesn't happen at home?
  • *For anyone who missed why it is 'light skinded' instead of 'light skinned' - the kids were reading aloud today and every single child said 'lookded' instead of 'looked.' We had to go through the word sound by sound to see that there is only one 'd' sound. That's just not how you say things here.
  • *One of the kids came to me in tears today to tell that another kid was calling him a 'buck-toothed beaver.' I realize that that would be hurtful when you are 8 years old, but it was really really hard to not laugh at him, especially when he kept repeating 'buck-toothed beaver.'
  • *Because of the No Child Left Behind law (don't believe it, we're leaving children behind left and right and I have a hard time talking calmly about it), our school was reconstituted and next year we're going into incubation to be a new small school. I could explain what those mean, but really, don't those words make you think of frozen orange juice and baby chickens? Who says schools are 'reconsituted' and 'incubated'? For that matter, who declares 'sanctions' against elementary schools? Your administration, that's who. I don't take credit for them. I've decided to be Mexican.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Don't blame me, I voted for Grover.
Jessamyn Harris said…
grover! that is super weird...

I don't think there's any trouble in taking the pictures, or showing them; I just don't know what the law is about posting them in a public space... isn't there anyone you can ask?
Jessamyn Harris said…
ps my favorite was when the little girls were trying to guess how old I was (anywhere from 20s to 60s!!) and they were like, "oh you up in your 20s. I'm up in my 8s! no, no, wait, I mean, I be up in my 9s, I just had my birthday party!"

at first I thought they were saying I'm getting up there in my 20s. but then I got it - "up in my 8s" - and I liked it!
Anonymous said…
How about we reconstitute and incubate whatever committee came up with NCLB? Or turn them into orange juice and eggs. Then your kids could eat breakfast. Paging Professor McGonagall...

Popular posts from this blog

Volunteers

I had some of the most overqualified volunteers ever in my third grade class.  This may have had something to do with the fact that I shamelessly begged my friends to help in any way possible.  I think there were a few friends who I asked to come as soon as I met them, before I was entirely sure of their names.  Some of my volunteers included: -Someone with an MFA helping kids read -a PhD candidate in chemical engineering from Stanford helping with math -a PhD candidate in civil engineering from Cal helping with math -several PhD candidates in engineering from Cal teaching about construction (several years in a row) and helping with a field trip -my extremely talented brother bringing his drums several times -a friend from Pixar who got us tours three different years, once when they were no longer giving tours - and came to the class to sign the kids' toys from Cars . -a physical therapist (who I think has a masters') who helped the kids with reading -many athlet...

The Best Mistake

I recently wanted to get a pedicure (I promise this will be important) and was looking at nail salons nearby. I knew there was a place called Kim's Nails near my exercise class, so I quickly googled to see if I could make an appointment online (I hate calling on the phone) and it let me, so I made an appointment for a few days later and went on with my day. Later that day, I got a text confirming my appointment and I realized that I had made the appointment at the wrong Kim's Nails! I meant to make an appointment for the one in my city and I made one at a nail shop in the next city over (Kim's Nails is a common business name). Because I had already made the appointment and they had taken the time to text me, I figured I'd just go with it. OK, if you're still with me, this is where it gets exciting! A few hours after I got the confirmation text, the owner of Kim's Nails texted me again. the text just said, "Are you a teacher?" I didn't know why they...

The Endless Cycle of Teacher Strikes

 As I write this, teachers in San Francisco Unified School District are on strike for the first time in almost 50 years. Principals and custodians are also striking in solidarity. I looked up salaries to see how bad they were and... they're bad. If you're reading this from outside of the SF Bay Area and thinking "oh, this isn't this bad," please remember that San Francisco is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. I think it may be number two after Manhattan. The average rent for a TINY studio apartment (400 square feet) in the city is $2,415 per month. The average rent for a three-bedroom apartment is $5,637. A month. (Teachers can't afford to buy property without generational wealth or a spouse who makes good money, so I'm only talking about rent)  So when I tell you that a beginning teacher starts at just over $80,000 a year in SFUSD , Again, that may sound fine in many places. That is, literally, poverty wages in San Francisco. ...