Friday, November 21, 2008

Are they TRYING to get me to quit??? One wonders...

I didn't protest (much) when the admin made me teach elementary kids. I didn't protest (again, much) when forced to teach 4 preps a day. I actually welcomed taking on the regular education math class. I know it is totally messed up, but over all I am OK with teaching 3 subjects to 4th graders, a self-contained Language Arts class, an LRC support class where I support all 4 subjects, and Math for 6th grade. Its a lot - but its fine.

THIS - however, is NOT fine. This is not, in any way, shape or form, OK. How on earth I got saddled with this is beyond me. I want to ask what I did to really make someone angry or should I just take the hint that they want me to quit???

Every year, as a district, we have to teach Human Growth & Development. Sex-ed to you and me... Its an abstinence based program, pretty mild but still... its difficult material and it makes the kids all goofy and giggly and hormone-crazed for days. In short, we try, whenever possible, to make sure HG&D coincides with either a weekend or a vacation.

I've always taken 'one for the team' so to speak, and have volunteered to teach the boys. I have 3 boys, I will never have to give the "period" talk to a daughter - seemed fitting. I'm also a 6th grade teacher, so I have, typically, worked with the 6th graders. And, as a team, we have always tried to even out the pile - group some of the more 'challenging' kids with some quieter kids rather than dump all the rabble-rousers into one room.

So, I take today off. It was a well deserved and much needed day off. I check, against my better judgement, my work email to find "the list" of kids for HG&D. I suspected that I would be forced to have 8th graders - I had put my protest about this down in writing yesterday and heard nothing back from the administration, so I could only assume they pretended to not see it... BUT THIS??

Not only do I have 35 8th grade boys, which is hell on earth enough by itself, but they gave me every single delinquent in the 8th grade. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!! These are kids who, everyone knows, cannot be in SCIENCE or ART together because of their behavior, but they think it is OK to put them in a room with ME when we are talking about puberty and sex glands and such????? REALLY?? And what, you may ask, did they do to the teacher who gets the other group of boys?? Yeah - the MALE teacher teaching 8th grade HG&D gets the gifted, National Junior Honor Society boys.

I'm seeing red, I tell you... I sent a very carefully worded email to the admin. If they do not change this roster, I will exercise my right to refuse to teach the class. Am I seriously not dumped on ENOUGH already??? GEESH! There's got to be an easier way to make a buck these days!

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