The Kids Came Back

Today was the first day back with the children. It went well...they always seem very happy to come back to school after a long break. They all seemed very tired too.

Since it was so cold, we didn't go out to play till after rest time. Only one of the kids had gloves in spite of the fact that I had given them all (donated) gloves before Christmas. I have extras in the classroom so by the time I made sure that they were all zipped up, hats or hoods and gloves on, we only had about 20 minutes to play. They discovered that the water on top of the sandbox cover had frozen and they had great fun using it like their own personal ice rink.

Lesson Plans.....
After work we had a staff meeting to talk about restructuring. Our school has not made Adequate Yearly Progress so we have to make significant changes to raise our test scores. It is extremely stressful for most of the staff. Today our principal went over 12 expectations which included things like having lesson plans visible each day. It is hard for me to understand how teachers, people who call themselves professionals, can think that they can come to school each day without plans. I mean anyone can wing it once in a while and be fine, but to systematically teach the SCOS, you need to plan. Mindboggling....I really feel that if teachers can't even fulfill the most basic requirements (like showing up with lesson plans), well, there are other people who need jobs, people who will be happy to show up with lesson plans.

Prayer in School....
I think it is safe to say that I pray everyday in school. I am passionate about my job and care deeply about my students. I pray for them and their families. I pray that I can give them what they need to succeed and grow to be responsible adults. But, I don't want to pray in staff meetings.

Today after our principal's presentation, two staff workers got up and spoke. I don't know if they had asked to speak or if they had been asked to speak. The first one gave a talk that I guess was supposed to be inspirational...I'm not really sure. But it wasn't....it was mildly amusing at times and did have some truth and good points, but mostly a waste of time.

The second teacher gave a short talk and also led a prayer with the staff. This bothers me on so many levels....first of all, this is a PUBLIC school...open to all faiths and lack of. Yet her prayer was specifically to God, the Father and Jesus. I am a Christian; my faith is very important to me, yet prayer in public places is very disturbing to me. It reminds me of Christ in the Bible chastising the Pharisees for their public display of faith. So, I didn't pray, didn't close my eyes and on the short survey that we had to turn in on our way out of the meeting I wrote that I thought prayer at staff meetings was very inappropriate. I wonder if I will hear any feedback about my comment.

I was tired from staying up late for the last two nights, so after the meeting, I took my Ebay packages to the Post Office and then went home and pretty much crashed on the couch for most of the evening. It's a little after 10:00 now and I am headed to bed very soon.