Friday, September 13, 2002
The food drive ended up being a great success. We collected 38 boxes of food and over 1100 cans for the local food bank. The kids were pretty thrilled about doing something good for the community and posed for pictures for the yearbook staff. It was a good feeling. That was about the highlight of the week, because the rest of the week was like banging my head into the wall and getting nowhere.

I spoke with the next county about getting in to their AP pool. They have a new rule that requires me to participate in a leadership program after I have completed the requirements for certification. The idea of this program is to shake hands, network, and gain a bit of experience prior to becoming an AP. I really felt that this would be a total waste of time, so I went to speak with the director of the human resources program in the next county. When I walked into the office, I was surprised to see a woman who looked like she had eaten the woman who used to work there. She was a tremendous figure and a bit intimidating because of her girth, but she was extremely pleasant and helpful. She suggested I call the person who is in charge of the leadership program and see if I could get into it. I called the woman and she indicated she would think about it, because she had never had a request from another county. I guess I will wait and see...

The department meetings this week totally sucked. Our department head still speaks at us rather than to us. It is getting boorish and old. She claimed that she had 100 new books. Since I have an addition class of 8th graders this year, I needed about 33 new books. I waited a week to ask her about the books and she told me that there was no chance of me getting the books. Just like that. No rationale. Fuck her!

Her best friend is my team leader. We sit in these meetings before school a few times a week where I listen to our team bitch about the bad kids and administrative fuck-ups. For the last two years I had a great team, but this year it sucks. The new team leader is a nasty bitch.

Anyway, I was assigned a kid to my class who failed the 8th grade last year. He failed my class and did no work the entire year. So I wondered why he was reassigned to me. I said nothing to the kid, but went to the counselor and asked her if it would be better for the kid's sake to be with a different teacher. Just as an aside, she is a totally ignorant person who spends most of her time in her office trying to sell people a beverage called 'Noni Juice' which supposedly keeps you healthy. All I ever see her eat is Whoppers and Fries. So… the next day, the team leader tells the entire team that I embarrassed this boy in front of the entire office. I listened to her and then replied that the story was absolutely incorrect, but regardless, I informed her that I could really care less about what she thought the story was. She then replied that she thought it was her duty to explain to the teacher the story she heard, but she neglected to do it privately and instead tried to embarrass me. So fuck her and fuck her fucking friend.

Friday, September 27, 2002
Its been two weeks since I've last documented my experiences and it seems kind of quiet at school. Progress reports went out on Wednesday and Thursday and I am sure that I will get a bunch of make-up work on Monday morning.

It is becoming pretty clear to me that not only will I not be able to get into the next county's AP pool, but that my current situation at school is going nowhere. The new AP for curriculum knows absolutely nothing about curriculum and is not a very cool person. She asked me if I wanted to work on Saturdays but then never called me to the work meeting. When I asked her about it, she claimed that she had asked other people instead. That shit would have never happened before.

So the teacher's union has decided to increase my health care costs by about 85% for the upcoming year. I am pretty pissed and continue to think that this union is a total piece of shit. They are anti-labor and self-serving.

The only eventful thing that has happened in the last few weeks is that I have been sponsoring a student for community service for high school graduation. He is a former student of mine.Each afternoon he comes to the class and helps grade papers and tutor the kids.

Overall, it has been an uneventful two weeks. I am sure that will change in the very near future.

Wednesday, October 9, 2002
The vibe at school has definitely shifted in the last few weeks. I walked into the bathroom yesterday to see a kid picking up another kid and body slamming him on the ground. All of his friends notice me and are yelling 'Don't do it!' He picks up the kid again and slams him on his back on the concrete floor, looks at me and says, 'I was just playing.' Meanwhile the kid who got slammed is trying to catch his breath on the floor. I could not even find an administrator and had to look around the school for 25 minutes.

Which brings me to my next point. Where the fuck are the administrators at our school? They are totally non-existent. Some of them seem to hide out and do absolutely nothing. We attended a faculty meeting that lasted for an hour and discussed absolutely nothing. Zero. Then, we were told that our new AP of curriculum is the Regional AP of the year. No one else must have applied. To top it off, the woman who formerly had the title of Chairperson of the Special Ed. Program, who did less than nothing, was introduced as the Educational Leadership Intern. I guess now she has an official title that allows her to totally fuck off. Kids seem to be running all around the school, and there is very little organization going on. A lot of teachers are pissed because they did not get extra classes to teach this year. Many are considering transferring.

I'm kind of trying to stay out of getting emotionally involved in the whole fucking thing because I am really looking forward to the next step in my career and am only viewing the remainder of this year as a bump in the road. Even our stupid ass department chair doesn't bother me. I have gotten used to just ignoring her and laughing when she talks at us rather than to us.

However, the kids remain to be the coolest part of the teaching experience. Last night, we had Open House and most of the parents run up to you and beg you to tell them how their child is doing. I've gotten to the point where if a kid is a pain in the ass I ask the parent if they have any Preparation H at home. This usually sends the message in the clearest fashion. The funny thing is that these parents, most of them anyway, already know how their kids are. I seem to be the only teacher at the parent conferences who is not yelling or bitching up and down. I just tell the parents the truth and don't try to sugarcoat things.

Wednesday, October 11, 2002
A sick day, and well deserved. Sick days are for when you feel really good. If I feel sick, I go try to go to work.

However, being sick gives me time to reflect a bit and be thankful. I am glad that I actually have a job that makes me feel like I make a difference. I have seen more and more of my kids that I taught a few years ago and they are all tell me that I really made a difference. How many people can say that about their jobs?