OH I'M ANNOYED.....

Well, I tried, I really did try to go along with all the chaos and organized mayhem that this mid year change brought. I took most things in stride and had a very philosophical approach to the every day grind. When the kids acted up (and still do at times) because they have had no discipline and stability all year, I didn't get upset; when nothing seemed to work right in my room and all the technology was stuck in the 19th century, I didn't hit the roof; when some of the clerical staff was stalking me with useless paperwork, I didn't throw a chair at them.

 Now though, I think I'm getting a little tired of half ass answers and cantdothis or dontoknowhowtodothats every time I have a problem or issue. I'm not the world's most efficient person, but I like to get things that work and when something doesn't work I either a) try to fix it, or b) find out why it's not working and try to come up with solutions. Apparently, when the geniuses in the IT department moved all the kids over to my name from the teacher whom I replaced, they didn't bother to move over any of the assignments and grades that had been put in until then. I have been putting in grades under his name since March because I had to and because in my naiveté I thought the IT people would include grades and assignments when they moved the data, you know, since they work for a school district and all.  However, after talking to one lady from IT, I found out that they were not 100% at fault.

 It turns out that the software the district uses, which I'm sure they paid a little fortune for (well actually a large fortune), has a few 'glitches' which mainly affect teachers. Things like, when a kid is transferred from one period to another, a teacher has to re-enter all the grades for the assignments because that data doesn't follow the student. Mind you, all other data follows from one period to another, except for the stuff that a teacher needs to do his/her job. After all, teachers are a bunch of lazy asses, who do nothing besides waiting for summer, can't ever be fired, and are a general economic drain on society, so a little more work won't hurt them.

Ok, I should get off my soap box, but since it's my soap box, I think I'm staying on a little longer. Now I know that most people don't feel that way about most teachers, at least I hope they don't. And I'm not looking for sympathy or a pat on the shoulder (though a little check in the mail might help...), but the news I hear on tv, read in the newspaper or online about education and teachers all over the country is right down depressing. Teachers cheating on the state test in Georgia (and who knows where else), teachers molesting kids and principals covering up for them for years (another 'news' story here in Ca), teachers held accountable when test scores go down (but not when they go up), a school district in my own town that refused to celebrate the day of the teacher last week because the district and the teachers' union are at odds over furloughs, layoffs, benefits etc. Don't get mw wrong, I think there are plenty of teachers who should probably be fired on the spot, people who don't deserve the job they have, don't know what they're doing and worse are probably doing more damage than good, but doesn't that happen in every profession?

Well, I don't know what to make of all of this, but I do know who to blame, George W. and his stupid ass No Child Left Behind law, which basically punishes teachers for students' failures. That makes about as much sense as blaming the doctor if the patient dies. Ok, I'm officially off the soap box now, cause I gotta go to work tomorrow and I can't afford to be in a bad mood, or I might get written up for causing mental anguish to my students...