I am mad. I am frustrated. The more I think about how mad and frustrated I am, the more mad and frustrated I get!

I am what is considered a “specials” teacher. For those of you who may not have young children or be older and not know what I mean by this let me explain. Elementary school kids go to “special” classes. In some schools they are called a different name but basically what I am talking about is P.E. (gym), music, art, library, and computer lab. I am the odd man (or woman I should say) out because I’m not even hired as an actual “teacher” so I don’t get teacher pay. This means I do as much (if not more) work than every other teacher in the school but get paid way less.

The regular classroom teachers have been complaining that we specials teachers have too much planning time. The teachers are saying they have too many meetings during their planning time and therefore are not having time to get their things ready for their classes. I have been where they are at. When I taught in Lexington, I had meetings a LOT during my planning and it was extremely annoying. But…at the same time, the teachers are planning for 1 class. Us specials teachers are planning for 21 classes. Not only that, but a lot of us do “extra” things too. I fix computers, update/create webpages, install programs and games, have classes come in to do projects, research, and typing, etc. The list really goes on. Teachers call me up when I have classes in the lab to ask me for help or to fix something for them. They send students to the lab when I have classes to work on things they need me to help them with. Apparently, one teacher often sends students to the library when there are classes in there with a dollar so the librarian can go buy this teacher a drink in the workroom. How rude!

So I guess the teachers started looking at our schedule and realized we do have a lot of “free” time. My “free” time is spent working on computers and such or testing kids or whatever else I need to do. See, we are down a teacher this year so the spot we would have had that teachers’ class is now empty for us. The teachers need to realize that we did not create the schedule. The schedule was created for us.

well I guess someone got the bright idea that we should start our specials at 8:00 (not 8:10) and keep each class 10 minutes longer. This will mean that we will not have a five minute break between classes anymore. Do the teachers not realize that they will have to be waiting in the hallway for the next class to get logged off and leave? This isn’t going to give me any time to set anything up for the next class. And did the teachers not stop and think that now their meetings can just go for 10 minutes longer? This extra 10 minute thing may not sound like a big deal to some of you, but it is going to throw off the entire school’s schedule. I’m talking lunch schedules, special education teacher schedules, reading invervention groups, etc. It is absolutely ridiculous.

I am really feeling like I am being taken advantage of. I work as hard, if not harder, than a lot of people at work and I get paid a lot less for what I am doing. If the teachers are going to push for this extra 10 minute thing, then they are just going to realize that I am not going to be able to run to their room and fix their problems at the drop of a hat. I’m not going to be doing anything to their webpages – they will just have to do it themselves which they should be doing anyway. I’m not staying after school to help them since I’m not being paid to do so.

There is still a LOT left of the school year, so a lot can still change, but I don’t know what I’ll be doing next year if stuff like this continues to happen. Ten minutes now and then what? It was discussed that maybe we’d have an extra class of each grade level each week. If that happened, there’d be two days a week us specials teachers wouldn’t have a planning time at all. I don’t want to sound like I am bragging or anything, but if I quit my job, there would be chaos. I do a whole lot of things the teachers take for granted. Without me there, a lot of things wouldn’t get done because no one would know what to do. I am beginning to think though, that maybe it will take me leaving for them to realize that.

Friday after school and after Colin got off from work, we went down to Nashville to spend the night. This was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I needed to do some birthday shopping for Katee (whose birthday is the 23rd), and I wanted to go to Nashville because there are stores there that aren’t anywhere around here. Plus, Colin and I both have had a few long, tough, busy weeks of work, and a little trip seemed like a fun idea. PLATO testing has worn me out. Plus last week I had a professional development training after school and then two other days I stayed late to help teachers with their webpages. Enid went to school with me a lot last week, but I was so busy that she mostly just sat around my desk. I finally finished PLATO testing on Friday, and getting out of town was a reward of sorts.

When we got to Nashville, we went straight to the Opry Mills Mall. I got a lot of shopping done that first day. I got a really cute bag for my laptop at the Sanrio store. When we went back to the hotel that night, Colin and I tried out the wireless internet access and played some games. We also made a late night run to the McDonald’s because I was starving. We got Happy Meals. The toys have really gotten pathetic over the years. The toys used to be good. Anyway, Enid made a new friend from our Happy Meal (See the picture here.)

Saturday morning we went to Rivergate Mall and did some shopping there. We also went back to the Opry Mills Mall. I wanted to go to a few more stores, and I wanted to go back to the Sanrio store to pick up one more thing, and I’m glad I did. Guess who was at the Sanrio store? Hello Kitty! Enid had her picture taken with Hello Kitty herself! It was cute. You never know when you might see a celebrity in Nashville.

Colin, Enid, and I ate lunch at the Aquarium restaurant. This was our first time ever eating there. It was really neat! So many fishies and sharks and stingrays and scary eels! I took a lot of pictures (see some here) and Enid enjoyed seeing some fellow sea creatures. She was also happy no one wanted to eat her! She also made a new friend- a beluga whale named Hazel.

We drove home from Nashville yesterday and rested for 45 minutes or so once we got home and then headed to the races. My dad did a lot better last night! In the first race, he came in 3rd place out of 11 cars. In the second race, he came in 5th place out of 22 cars! He’s getting a lot better.

Today I’ve been playing around with my laptop. I’m going to be mailing Enid back to Bubs tomorrow if I don’t have to stay after school for some reason. I’ve had fun with Enid, and I think it’s time she moves on now so someone else can enjoy her.