Want to make a teacher’s day? Notice something that needs doing and volunteer to come in and do it. I have to say that of all the volunteer jobs I’ve done in my time, I felt most appreciated for the hour I spent binding student portfolios this morning so they’ll be ready for the school Open House on Thursday. She asked if I could come in last week to make up a scheduled volunteer day that I inadvertently blew off a couple of months ago and I started the project with another mom. But there are 27 kids in the class and each portfolio takes roughly 15 minutes to punch and bind, so it was clear by the time our 1 hour volunteer stint was over that it was going to take a lot more time to finish the job. So I offered to come back today. You would have thought I’d just handed her a winning lottery ticket.
This is the kind of job that suits me. I mostly get to work alone in a quiet room doing something that occupies my hands but frees my mind. I plotted out a short story and thought about how to polish up my article. It was a pleasant morning. And I like the satisfaction of a job I can finish in a short period of time. I worked until my box was empty and I knew I was done. It was a nice change from what I usually do, where the end of the job is often somewhat arbitrary.
Afterwards I filed AJ’s paperwork stating our needs for next year. I find these things so difficult to write. I feel like I’m just bragging about my kid. On the other hand, the teacher needs to know what’s up. AJ’s teacher was really helpful in getting the parental statement written. There was some language that we needed to learn (”modified” versus “differentiated” curriculum). And it took us a while to figure out how to ask that AJ be given his own work but also incorporated into class activities without sounding like I was telling the teacher what to do. But I think we got the tone right in the end. Now we just have to wait and see. We have no idea who is teaching second grade next year. Only one of the current teachers is returning and the team leader, a school legend, is retiring. In addition to the filling two open slots, they need to hire a fourth teacher if the classes are to remain below 33 students (the state average is between 21 and 22 per second grade class) . Otherwise we will have huge classes to look forward to next year. Not a good thing. We are not likely to know what’s happening until August, when the class lists get posted.
On the walk home, as I passed the Park District building, I saw scads of tiny girls running into the building in little white uniforms for what must have been a preschool Tae Kwan Do class. They looked so cute, their pigtails flying out behind. By the time I got home, the sun had emerged from the clouds and it looked like spring, although it still doesn’t feel like it. It’s going to be a long, cold two hours sitting through AJ’s baseball game tonight. Today’s temperatures are supposed to top out around 45 degrees. It’s funny, because it doesn’t bother me to sit through a football game in this weather, but I am opposed to baseball with temperatures like this. It’s just wrong. And also, AJ’s baseball games last twice as long as his football games. I’m planning on wearing many layers and bringing a thermos of tea.
April 29, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’ve promised Dusty I will try to be more active at her school next year – at least chaperone a field trip (omg) at the very least – now that things at work have settled down (like, I have a boss). That sounds like the perfect task to me! But, 33 kids in a class? Wow. That’s insane. Dusty’s got 18 or 19 in her classroom and 13 of them are boys (which she reminds me of all the time). I’m nervous about second grade – she’ll continue to be G&T but we’ll have to start all over with a new teacher in a new room. She’s worried she won’t be in the same class as her bff. Time will tell. How is it that first grade is almost over?
April 29, 2008 at 10:54 am
I’m sad to hear that the teacher is responsible for that job, esp. with all those kids in the class. awful.
April 29, 2008 at 11:25 am
I think, Cranky, that this is typical of most public schools. There is no staff to help with anything. It’s like every small not-for-profit I’ve ever worked for. There are lots of people doing their best because they believe in the project, but if they want to do something, they have to do it themselves. And I think that many of the teachers like the hands on aspect of their work. But they definitely wish there weren’t so much of it. I know that AJ’s teacher, for instance, works at home late into the night many nights. She’s got two preschoolers at home and is well into her second trimester of pregnancy with her third child. I honestly don’t know how she does it. Fortunately for this school, there seems to be an endless supply of willing volunteer help. We’re not a super wealthy district, but for the most part, people who move out this far from the city are not double income familes. Mostly they move here so they can afford not to be. Freshhell, that class size is typical of the other grades at AJ’s school, each of which has three classes of between 19 and 22 kids. AJ’s grade has two classes of 26, one (AJ’s) of 27 and one (an ESL class) of 24. Next year’s our last year before a formal G&T program kicks in. Starting in 3rd grade, the G&T kids will be clustered within classes. But next year we’ll be winging it like this year, except that there’s less built in flexibility in the classroom. First grade is set up to handle multiple levels because the kids come in at such radically different levels. By second grade, the thinking goes, they will have mostly evened out. And based on my experience of looking at their work across the year as I bound their portfolios, I’d say this is mostly true, with a couple of exceptions. AJ is one of those exceptions. I’ve been told that for the exceptions, it helps to make a bit of a ruckus. Hence the filing of a form which is not really designed for this kind of thing. It’s intended for special ed uses — people who need physical accomodations or aids, in particular. But it’s a chance to draw attention to the issue and I always take those chances. Even if nothing comes of it, at least it’s another reminder to the school that we’re paying attention. And given all they’ve got going on, I think they need frequent reminding.
April 29, 2008 at 11:58 am
Wow. I wish there were some general standards across the country not only in terms of class size (which I know is dependent on things like tax base, etc but still) and G&T. The more I read, the more I can’t believe how lucky we were to move to a county with a decent school budget, a fabulous elementary school (apart from the Jesus cameo appearances), and a great G&T program. They usually test for G&T in kindergarten in the spring though I think some of it’s dependent on parents (like me) making sure our kids are tested. The G&T curriculum is general for first, second and third, and then is broken down by academic area – some kids can be G&T in math, say, but not nec reading. For first grade, there’s a wholistic curriculum so that all areas are worked into the lesson plan. This G&T label will follow her all the way through to 12th grade so she’ll be flagged at every future school as long as we stay in the county. She never would have gotten this kind of attention or these kinds of lessons if we’d stayed in the city. Every time I miss living in the city, I remind myself of this. The city can wait. I want Dusty to have a better education than I had.
April 30, 2008 at 9:23 am
Harriet, you’re a good role model–boy, do I agree that the teachers in public schools need more volunteers, and that it’s usually non-arduous–and you’re a good virtual friend. Thanks for making me stretch my new blogging muscles with the meme. I posted it today. See, I couldn’t wait, once I got to thinking about it, and who I could tag.