On a Roll

It seems after a two year hiatus I am having difficulty not writing.

Now that the initial shock and sadness over the last two years has worn away I can again begin to focus on writing. I really miss teaching. I loved seeing faces that were glad to see me everyday. The trust a child has that you are a constant in their lives when madness is all around the rest of the city.

I just read in the Chicago Tribune yesterday that last month we had 303 shootings in the city. School was the one place these kids can go to that is stable, a constant. The teachers I had in school were fixtures. We expected and saw the same faces everyday. These poor kids today will not have the same luxury.

There are so many excellent Teachers that have been burned by a system that scapegoats teachers as bloodsucking leaches on taxpayers dime. It is so far from the truth. American schools are loosing a generation of Teachers that wanted to make a difference in the lives of children and the world.

Percentile Points

It's funny, we were told all during the school year that we had to bring our student's ISAT percentile points up. I worked so hard with my Reading class and brought up my percentile points up, not the standard across the board 4 points but a whopping 12 percentile points. My CPS Teacher Report Card has me at 5 percentile points higher than the city's and yet I was told that my pedagogy was not to the curriculum of the school's.

Funny how my position (Did I mention I was just a few months away from being tenured?)was given to a favorite of the Principal who is not endorsed nor qualified to teach my subject. I really hate office politics. You work so hard to make something of your life. Over come obstacles just to be shown the door.

2 Years???

Has it really been 2 years since my last post? It seems like an eternity. It was difficult posting during those years teaching on the southside as much of my time was filled with travel.

As of June 18th this year I seem to have an abundance of free time. Chicago laid off hundreds of teachers at the end of this past school year, I was one of them. I went from having a job I loved doing, health insurance, security for my family and a real chance at possibly owning my own home for the first time to unemployment, figuring out which bill I have to pay this month and which one I can put off to be sure to make rent this month.

I have worked full time since the age of 15. Often working 2 jobs at a time. This is the first time in 25 years I have not had at least one job. It is very frightening. I really wanted this last year of high school to be a good one for the boy. Filled with excitement, not anxiety.

Funny, I had just begun a savings program of my own at the beginning of this year. I was putting away into savings $150 a paycheck and $50 a paycheck into the boys saving account. It is that money we have been living off of. Funny, that was going to be the down payment money for a home of our own.

What a horrible time to be a teacher. God forbid if you are a new teacher in the city of Chicago.

My kid rocks!

My kid rocks! He decided to join the debate team this year at school. Yesterday and Friday were the first tournaments of the year for Chicago Public Schools. His school had 2 teams of 2 for the Junior Varsity section. His school walked away with 1st and 2nd place. My wonderful son walked away with 2nd place speaker! I went on Friday after work to see the first rounds but yesterday the kid was there all day from 7 am to when he came home at 8:30 pm. It was a long day but so worth it to him.

As he gets older he is such a marvel to me. We have always had a pretty close bond. The young man he is growing into makes me proud and more importantly, happy that he is someone I love being around. He is so incredibly intelligent and not afraid to use it. He marches to his own drum and could care less about fashion or fitting in. You can tell that he will become more intellectually stimulated once he begins university. High School is almost half over and his true intellectual exploration can begin.

Though he is way smarter than I was at that age, he and I are so much alike it is scary. I could not have asked for a better kid. I am just happy that he is mine.

Cheating is no big deal???

I've finally finished administering the Illinois State Constitution Exam this week. (A requirement to graduate 8th grade and move on to high school. Federal was administered in 7th grade) For all 4 sections I caught 8 cheaters. What really bothers me is how little the humility and shame was. I had one student ask right after I took away his cheat sheet, so when can I re-test? Anther girl was caught with several numbers written in her hand. When I asked her what they were she said she didn't know. So I proceeded to tell her all of the questions that the answers reflected. She actually wanted to argue with me and tell me she was taking notes during study group right before my class (even though she has Language Arts and the teacher would never allow a cram session during her class) and forgot the numbers were there. She thought the louder she got with me the less likely I would be to call her mother. Well, all of the cheaters got in school suspension and a zero for the test (worth 30% of their quarter grade). They will be able to retest next quarter.

At least the weather is beautiful. We have had 50 degree days and 30 degree nights. I am in heaven. I love fall and winter!

Welcome to Albany Park

I've also included the expressway that runs along the technology company my husband works for. This underpass is the exit you would take to get to his company.



Thought I'd share some photos from my neighborhood. I usually love living by the north branch of the Chicago River. This weekend is not one of those times. I am very lucky our building is on higher ground but the flooding has been so bad they have evacuated several blocks in my neighborhood. We exceeded rain fall, making records. We haven't seen this much rain since 1987, 21 years ago! We have a big leak in the ceiling of my son's room and the rain won't stop till tomorrow.



This is Foster Avenue! It was closed down yesterday! Foster is one of the busiest streets on the northside.



Keep your fingers crossed we won't have to evacuate!








I know I've always said I love the rain, but this is going a little overboard.

Counting the days

Things are much better than they were a week ago. My Grandmother is adjusting to her new facility. She seems smaller and more lost without my Grandfather but the facility is much better than the last place.

We have our reviews in two weeks. Our Principal wants to see us in action during Reading. I really wish it were during Social Science, my subject, but she wants to see Reading. After the review, we have our wonderful Fall break. Two whole weeks of recuperation.

Open House is next week and the Constitution Test is still a month worth of work away. I really need these kids to be ready soon. Or that parent will be breathing down my neck again. I may just test his son early. If I do, I have already stated to parents I am not doing re-tests for students who pass. Only for the students who have failed.

Nothing worse than a cold just as the weather gets cooler. I rarely get sick and this weekend I have been in bed with sinus congestion and a head flu. Hopefully the NyQuil will work it's magic by Monday.