{She Said} Another Year, Another Dollar

A lot of changes at my school this year. For those of you that will know what I am talking about and care, here is the general run down.

1. From a 9 weeks schedule to a 6 weeks schedule
2. Flexible Scheduling which means a normal 8 period day M, T, F and blocked schedule W, Th.
3. Mandatory weekly department planning meetings
4. Grading policy changes which include but are not limited to the following:

•  Late work can only be deducted a maximum of 10 pts (even if the assignment is weeks late)
• Late work can be turned in at any point in the 6 weeks (yes, even on the last day of the grading period if it was assigned the first)
• Test grades can only account for 10% of the overall grade
• All grades (including papers and projects) have to be entered into the grade book and returned 72 hours after the assignment was turned in
• Every assignment can be redone for a grade of up to 100 if the original grade was failing. If the student chooses to redo an assignment, they must be offered a time outside of class to be re-taught.

5. Considerably larger class sizes
6. A 20 minute tutorial period has been added two days a week- we are supposed to develop curriculum for at least half of this time
7. Our white boards must have the following written and updated every day: date, objective, agenda, warm up, guided activity, independent activity, closure, homework.

So, I'm tired, overwhelmed, and barely treading water but they pay me so I guess I'll keep with it.

On top of that, I don't know the kids yet because, you know, that takes time. Whatever. So, they don't get my jokes- my funny banter is often met with crickets chirping and me laughing at myself on the inside (or on the outside, and then I look REALLY cool). When I inform them that I just made a funny, they do the pity laugh and I have to force back the phrase that comes to mind then, "you know, I am way cooler than you just by being 15 years older than you." They are starting to get me but are a little scared (as they should be) and I will hope to keep that bit of fear throughout the year but a balance needs to be struck so they will at least laugh at my jokes because, you know, I'm funny.