Tag: Teaching

Almost That Time…and That Time…and…

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

As July ticks to its end, it is almost time for a bunch of things. It’s almost time for the NFL preseason games to start. It’s almost time to renew my car’s registration. It’s almost time for my root canal appointment. Hopefully, it’s almost time for this wave of sweltering heat advisory days to chill out. Of course these aren’t the almosts I’m most interested in. So what are they?

Almost time for the nycMidnight Flash Fiction round 1 results

Wow, that was a mouthful. This one is very near as they are due to drop today. I was a little surprised to wake up and find no results posted, but I have since discovered that they usually post around midnight EDT. Yes, that’s midnight New York City time. I see what they did there. Branding at its most literal.

As I mentioned a few posts back, this was my first foray into one of nycMidnight’s challenges. Depending on the results, it might be the end of that experiment. Only the top few finishers in each group go on to round 2. It’s a bit pricey for a one-and-done event, so I’m hoping I make the cut. Of course, so is everyone else.

Good news has been nonexistent for me in the writing category of late, so I really need something to smile about. Godfather Death has been selling like coldcakes (that’s the opposite of hotcakes, right?); my short story submissions have been missing their marks; even my latest work-in-progress has stalled out after a promising start. So I’ll be up at midnight (11:00 PM here) spamming refresh with crossed fingers.

Almost time for school to start

As a teacher by day, this upcoming event is quite profound for me. This being my 24th first-day-of-school as a teacher, it’s kind of old hat, but that doesn’t make it any less of an event. Time to start crawling out of bed before the sun, write my name on the board, and start learning names. Time to instill math knowledge against student’s will. Time to watch the blood-borne pathogens video. Time to train on what to do if a kid decides to come to the building with a duffle bag of firearms and make his inadequacies everyone’s problem. Hooray.

This year does bring some new things. My school now has weapon detection at its major entrances. (Does that make me feel better or worse about the duffle bag scenario?) We are moving to a true block schedule, meaning my students will be done with their course in December and I get a new pack of hooligans pupils in January. (I’ve taught that way before, but it’s been about a decade.) Possibly most profound for me, my child won’t be at the school anymore. Why not? That falls under the next almost…

Almost time for my kid to start college

Yup, they’re a freshman again. Dad doesn’t have any clout to pull strings for them anymore. We’ve already found ourselves behind the 8-ball with late student loan applications and the like, but if you know me and/or my kid, you know how predictable that is. We’re figuring it out. Slowly.

The kid’s going to be a film major, if you were curious.

Am I nervous about the kid crawling out from under my protective wing and striking out on their own? A bit. They’re still living at home, so the striking out is by baby steps, but it’s still scary. In a lot of ways my kid is quite mature. In a lot of other ways…coldcakes.

Almost time for almost to become is

The scariest part of almost, for me, is the anticipation. Once the event arrives, it’s just a thing that’s happening or that already happened. Is that better or worse? Only one way to find out…

Stupid People

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

By day, I teach high school math. I am consistently shocked by the stupidity I see on a daily basis. I am not saying that all our students are stupid or that any of them are stupid, but they sure do stupid things.

For instance, I had a student today turn around during a test and ask the kid behind him, “Is this the ones where we…” Not only did he do this during a test, he did it in my eye line. Then he had the nerve to be shocked when I called him down for cheating.

I didn’t give him the zero he deserved; I isolated him and will take off ten points. It’s easier to defend than a zero. Sad, isn’t it, that teachers have to defend their grading and disciplinary actions these days. It used to be that a teacher’s word was law.

I also find myself constrained by rules designed for students. For instance, students are not allowed to use cell phones during school hours, not allowed to have them turned on. Sound reasonable? But teachers are prohibited from using cell phones “in view of students”. I can’t whip my phone out to call a parent. Coaches can’t use them to verify the status of a game in bad weather. If my daughter’s babysitter calls to tell me something bad happened, I am expected to slink into a workroom before I answer, and I’ll be “talked to” about the simple fact that the phone rang at all.

See? Stupidity. It ain’t all from the kids.

For the record, I agree that teachers don’t need to be making dinner reservations or chatting up boyfriends during class time. But there used to be a line between what was acceptable for children and for adults. That line is blurred now, presumably out of respect for the feelings of the poor dears.

All right, I am ranting now. *deep breath* I just long for the day when teachers are considered professionals again, experts even. We went to college, we know our stuff. Why am I treated like a student and paid worse than a garbage collector?

-Oso