Headbanging Part XXI

The end of this teaching season is almost upon me. There are officially two and three fifths of a day left to deal with my current crop of students. My feelings for this group are as yet undetermined, but right now, I am leaning on the fact that this group did not seem to be as fun to teach as groups of students I have had in prior years......but in the end, they will probably mesh into that goulash of thousands of young people to enter and pass through my classroom on their journey to where ever life and their own initiative takes them.

And again, I bang my head on the brick wall. Again, just like year after year, I question our administrators as to why grades for grade seven students must be turned in two weeks before the end of school. And I hear the same reason/excuse; with the report card system we have, all grade levels must be turned in at the same time, and we have to know which grade eighters might not be eligible for attending the Grade 8 promotion service. Can they split the grades and turn in grades separately with our report card system? I don't know. Nor afaik, has administration even inquired about this. IMO, there is absolutely no harm in asking the people involved in the report card system for two turn in dates. BANG MY HEAD.

And, I am trying to teach until the next to last day of school. Testing was over weeks ago. Grades have been turned in. Some other teachers, I am told by students and some other teachers, are just showing videos. I collected a project on Thursday. Yesterday and today were readings and discussions on the Magna Carta, legal rights of individuals and its links to our great US Constitution. Monday and Tuesday will be reading a "Choosing Your Way Through History" story about the Black Death, a "Spread of the Black Death" Map Activity and a video clip about a girl in Utah who caught the Plague. So many Standards, So little Time to teach them adequately. I attempt to teach even though we have music concerts by our band, orchestra and chorus, students being pulled out of classes unannounced for an unexplained-to-us-teachers session about the College-going program our school adopted, an all-day-away-from-school swim party for a few students, yearbook distribution and everything that slinks into that, short classes for 7th Graders because of 8th Grade Promotion Practice (for the 3/5's of our 8th Graders who qualified to attend this service). BANG MY HEAD.

I also have to be out of my classroom by Friday, because my classroom will be used for summer school. So, if I care about my personal stuff, I have to remove it and haul it home. And hope whoever uses my classroom does not do like someone did in years past and leave me the remains of their classroom partying, stealing my carefully hoarded teaching supplies or letting their students rummage in my stuff.
I can't really bang my head over this because legally, it is the school's property and they can do with it as they see fit. But you teachers know how it is when someone comes in and abuses your teaching space.

Are you a head banger? Let us know.

Thanks for reading my blog.