Co-co didn't know what the meaning of the word 'vindicated' was. After a year of being 'vindicated' over and over, it's a big joke between us.
Now it's a big joke between me and all of cyberspace.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Vindicated (post 2)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Vindicated, again…got a call asking us today if we would go into another class and help them set it up properly as it should be, for when the reviewers come. So now all of a sudden we are on the 'good' list.
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Vindicated, again…got a call asking us today if we would go into another class and help them set it up properly as it should be, for when the reviewers come. So now all of a sudden we are on the 'good' list.
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Vindicated (Post 1)
Friday, November 07, 2008
I feel vindicated. We feel vindicated.
A certain administrator came to our classroom on Friday, around 10:30 AM. She brought with her 2 people to critique our classroom. They loved the look of the room. Everything was so bright and cheery. There were pictures of the children on the walls. The ladies liked everything. The administrator had to introduce us as co-teachers and basically sung our praises in front of these people. I am sure she was gagging inside, as I am pretty sure we are her least favorite teachers in the program. After making some adjustments like placing the toothpaste in an upper cabinet, moving the convection oven on top of the refrigerator, and making arrangements for a lock for an upper cupboard, the three ladies left. We later found out that our room passed this unannounced 'pre-inspection' with 'flying colors,' her words not mine. The only other change was that my gerbils needed to come home, all they will allow is the fish. The people who inspected our room actually told our administrator that she should have US go and mentor to other teachers who are having trouble putting their room together. I am sure that killed her to hear that coming from an outside source.
So my question to my supervisor was this: if I was not good enough after the end of last year to be a lead teacher by myself, why is it that this year, they are singing our praises and contemplating making us 'Mentor Teachers?' I also asked what they were planning for me next year considering when we come back to work in August I will have my Master's Degree in ECE. Yes it is coming quickly! She said well then they might have to separate us! So punish us because we work good together (splitting us up) and punish us for their not having the ability to proper support their teachers and let situations and children get out of hand (hence we are Co-teachers).
We are good at what we do. Separate or apart. We work well as a team, always did and always will.
So in your face....you know who you are...
(I am posting this as a public record for when the shoe is on the other foot, I can remember her words)
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I feel vindicated. We feel vindicated.
A certain administrator came to our classroom on Friday, around 10:30 AM. She brought with her 2 people to critique our classroom. They loved the look of the room. Everything was so bright and cheery. There were pictures of the children on the walls. The ladies liked everything. The administrator had to introduce us as co-teachers and basically sung our praises in front of these people. I am sure she was gagging inside, as I am pretty sure we are her least favorite teachers in the program. After making some adjustments like placing the toothpaste in an upper cabinet, moving the convection oven on top of the refrigerator, and making arrangements for a lock for an upper cupboard, the three ladies left. We later found out that our room passed this unannounced 'pre-inspection' with 'flying colors,' her words not mine. The only other change was that my gerbils needed to come home, all they will allow is the fish. The people who inspected our room actually told our administrator that she should have US go and mentor to other teachers who are having trouble putting their room together. I am sure that killed her to hear that coming from an outside source.
So my question to my supervisor was this: if I was not good enough after the end of last year to be a lead teacher by myself, why is it that this year, they are singing our praises and contemplating making us 'Mentor Teachers?' I also asked what they were planning for me next year considering when we come back to work in August I will have my Master's Degree in ECE. Yes it is coming quickly! She said well then they might have to separate us! So punish us because we work good together (splitting us up) and punish us for their not having the ability to proper support their teachers and let situations and children get out of hand (hence we are Co-teachers).
We are good at what we do. Separate or apart. We work well as a team, always did and always will.
So in your face....you know who you are...
(I am posting this as a public record for when the shoe is on the other foot, I can remember her words)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCHS Sucks
Here's a blast from the past. I quit my job on October 13, 2009; a year after I had originally posted the following on my former MySpace account. I got in trouble and was told to delete the post or else (they didn't say what the 'or else' part would be). They even told me to take some anger management classes and see a psychiatrist. First off, I have a friggin BA in Psychology. Did you really think that seeing a shrink would help? I've had to be on depression meds basically because of their crap for 4 years. I doubt a psychologist or psychiatrist would have helped. So I deleted the post off my MySpace, like a good girl. I hate that about myself. But I did keep the post on my own hard drive. Actually on 3 hard drives, because I have since gone through 3 laptops. But I digress...
I quit for a myriad of reasons. First, yes they did give me a pay raise of close to $5 after obtaining my master's degree. They tried to get me to stay by 'paying me off.' They knew I could do more damage if I was disgruntled. HA.
After getting my latest diploma and making a copy of it and my transcript, I got written up for stupid crap (again) that I couldn't control. So they were back to their old tricks. Little do they know that I have, in my own handwriting nonetheless, a journal of the last few weeks of my employment there, at Franklin County Head Start. That is probably more damaging that these typed blogs. But I need to move on with this...
In August 2009, I received a letter telling me I had a job and where my classroom assignment would be and who I would be teamed with. Not my co-teacher from last year. Probably a punishment for the October '08 blog and for a letter I penned to the director documenting some crap on another employee. I do have quite the poison pen. I was happy to have a job, because of the PA budget issue, the program laid off a lot of good people (and kept some other people for questionable reasons....). They even created a postion for a person who has only a CDA and no education, but so she can tell us degree'd teachers what to do. What an effin farce. I was in a new classroom with a new person, one who I had been warned about and was also the cousin of one of my challenging/annoying families from '08-09. Yep, a punishment for sure. Strike 1 on their part.
Also in August '09, one of my best friends (and my co-teacher from '08-'09) quit the program and moved on. Strike 2, not necessarily their 'fault' but if they'd kept us together in our classroom, we'd probably still both be there. Plus they'd done a bunch of hideous things to her over the past 10 years she was employed there, so it was long overdue to end their strained relationship.
In September '09, they fired another one of my closest friends for inaccurate accusations. Like my co-co, she had a rocky relationship with the program. But her heart was always in the right place. I heard through the grapevine that they were planning on firing other people.
In September, my class started. Let me tell you about my class dynamic without breaching confidentiality, as these are young children and need protected. I had 17 children, only 5 were girls, meaning 12 were very active little boys. 5 of the families only spoke Spanish, so the children were limited in English. I think only 2 of those 5 children actually understood me when I talked to them. I had taken 4 years of French in high school (and that was 19 years ago). So I was no help. My assistant knew a little more Spanish than I luckily. We had several behavior issues in the class. The admin knew this, as I told them repeatedly. My assistant developed illness and needed to be off, and the kids went wacky. I had no consistent 2nd person in the classroom. So I was struggling, doing it all. Meals, cleaning, lesson planning, observation assessments, etc....stressing to say the least. So I struggled for 2 weeks like this.
At the end of September I was written up for what Cynthia Ash stated was and I quote, "borderline child abuse." It was convenient that the write up occurred 1 week after they received a copy of my MA diploma and my pay raise officially went into effect(I had given them my transcript in August when we returned from summer vacation and it was ignored). The write-up was BS, she said I was really stressed, and some of the things I was saying and doing bordered abuse. For example, telling children to put their heads down on the tables to be quiet (which I KNOW I never said, my assistant might have at one point but not me), turning the classroom lights off to get their attention, and placing blankets on children's heads at quiet time. The former I do. I did it to my own children when they were young. I do it to myself at home. I did it in my former positions as Toddler 2 teacher, Preschool teacher, and Assistant Director (at 2 different centers I might add). No one EVER criticized me for it. If there is too much light/noise/stimulation, it does not hurt a child to have a blanket lightly placed over their head to cut out the stimulus. I never held a blanket down over anyone's head and scared them or tried to suffocate them. They could remove the blanket over their head at any time. But I got wrote up for it. So I called off a few days for a mental health day. When I came back to my room, things were moved, my personal things were removed from the room, and some of my stuff had been gone through and put out for kids to use. I don't share my personal items well with others, especially my students.
October 2009: I struggle. I see no end in site, the kids are bad and I am getting no support. I quit. We had Columbus Day off for a holiday, and I called off that next day (Tuesday). I had only like 4 hours personal time left. So after I would have been at work for 4 hours, I dropped my resignation letter off, effective immediately. PA is an at-will state, so anyone could be terminated at will. I just thought that it'd be cool for me to terminate them at will. Kind of my last laugh.
In October they fight my friend for unemployment, so I decided to help her by writing her rebuttal. That is all still pending, but I plan on supporting her 150%. I have e-mails and ammunition to use against them in her defense. Instead of being teacher, maybe I should have been a lawyer. Ha ha.
So the day after I quit my job, I went back to work at my other best friend's learning center. My degree is worth something to her. At least until I get my certification to teach in the public school. I should be ready to go into the public schools come next August. For the meantime I'm not on depression meds, I'm happy and unstressed, and my kids are happy and my house is getting straightened up because I'm not crazy-overworked-stressed.
Got a call at work today (11-12) from a girl I worked with at the learning center before I went to Head Start, the following year she followed me to Head Start. They fired her because she's not a 'team player.' Another BS firing. Not so upset about her firing, but she's NEVER been written up by them (or so she says).
I had to revisit my MySpace blog. I found it and I'd love to share. Read on into the next blog.
I quit for a myriad of reasons. First, yes they did give me a pay raise of close to $5 after obtaining my master's degree. They tried to get me to stay by 'paying me off.' They knew I could do more damage if I was disgruntled. HA.
After getting my latest diploma and making a copy of it and my transcript, I got written up for stupid crap (again) that I couldn't control. So they were back to their old tricks. Little do they know that I have, in my own handwriting nonetheless, a journal of the last few weeks of my employment there, at Franklin County Head Start. That is probably more damaging that these typed blogs. But I need to move on with this...
In August 2009, I received a letter telling me I had a job and where my classroom assignment would be and who I would be teamed with. Not my co-teacher from last year. Probably a punishment for the October '08 blog and for a letter I penned to the director documenting some crap on another employee. I do have quite the poison pen. I was happy to have a job, because of the PA budget issue, the program laid off a lot of good people (and kept some other people for questionable reasons....). They even created a postion for a person who has only a CDA and no education, but so she can tell us degree'd teachers what to do. What an effin farce. I was in a new classroom with a new person, one who I had been warned about and was also the cousin of one of my challenging/annoying families from '08-09. Yep, a punishment for sure. Strike 1 on their part.
Also in August '09, one of my best friends (and my co-teacher from '08-'09) quit the program and moved on. Strike 2, not necessarily their 'fault' but if they'd kept us together in our classroom, we'd probably still both be there. Plus they'd done a bunch of hideous things to her over the past 10 years she was employed there, so it was long overdue to end their strained relationship.
In September '09, they fired another one of my closest friends for inaccurate accusations. Like my co-co, she had a rocky relationship with the program. But her heart was always in the right place. I heard through the grapevine that they were planning on firing other people.
In September, my class started. Let me tell you about my class dynamic without breaching confidentiality, as these are young children and need protected. I had 17 children, only 5 were girls, meaning 12 were very active little boys. 5 of the families only spoke Spanish, so the children were limited in English. I think only 2 of those 5 children actually understood me when I talked to them. I had taken 4 years of French in high school (and that was 19 years ago). So I was no help. My assistant knew a little more Spanish than I luckily. We had several behavior issues in the class. The admin knew this, as I told them repeatedly. My assistant developed illness and needed to be off, and the kids went wacky. I had no consistent 2nd person in the classroom. So I was struggling, doing it all. Meals, cleaning, lesson planning, observation assessments, etc....stressing to say the least. So I struggled for 2 weeks like this.
At the end of September I was written up for what Cynthia Ash stated was and I quote, "borderline child abuse." It was convenient that the write up occurred 1 week after they received a copy of my MA diploma and my pay raise officially went into effect(I had given them my transcript in August when we returned from summer vacation and it was ignored). The write-up was BS, she said I was really stressed, and some of the things I was saying and doing bordered abuse. For example, telling children to put their heads down on the tables to be quiet (which I KNOW I never said, my assistant might have at one point but not me), turning the classroom lights off to get their attention, and placing blankets on children's heads at quiet time. The former I do. I did it to my own children when they were young. I do it to myself at home. I did it in my former positions as Toddler 2 teacher, Preschool teacher, and Assistant Director (at 2 different centers I might add). No one EVER criticized me for it. If there is too much light/noise/stimulation, it does not hurt a child to have a blanket lightly placed over their head to cut out the stimulus. I never held a blanket down over anyone's head and scared them or tried to suffocate them. They could remove the blanket over their head at any time. But I got wrote up for it. So I called off a few days for a mental health day. When I came back to my room, things were moved, my personal things were removed from the room, and some of my stuff had been gone through and put out for kids to use. I don't share my personal items well with others, especially my students.
October 2009: I struggle. I see no end in site, the kids are bad and I am getting no support. I quit. We had Columbus Day off for a holiday, and I called off that next day (Tuesday). I had only like 4 hours personal time left. So after I would have been at work for 4 hours, I dropped my resignation letter off, effective immediately. PA is an at-will state, so anyone could be terminated at will. I just thought that it'd be cool for me to terminate them at will. Kind of my last laugh.
In October they fight my friend for unemployment, so I decided to help her by writing her rebuttal. That is all still pending, but I plan on supporting her 150%. I have e-mails and ammunition to use against them in her defense. Instead of being teacher, maybe I should have been a lawyer. Ha ha.
So the day after I quit my job, I went back to work at my other best friend's learning center. My degree is worth something to her. At least until I get my certification to teach in the public school. I should be ready to go into the public schools come next August. For the meantime I'm not on depression meds, I'm happy and unstressed, and my kids are happy and my house is getting straightened up because I'm not crazy-overworked-stressed.
Got a call at work today (11-12) from a girl I worked with at the learning center before I went to Head Start, the following year she followed me to Head Start. They fired her because she's not a 'team player.' Another BS firing. Not so upset about her firing, but she's NEVER been written up by them (or so she says).
I had to revisit my MySpace blog. I found it and I'd love to share. Read on into the next blog.
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