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Ichabod!

19 August 2004 21:46

its been an interesting few days.

the behavior management is getting better. this morning they were perfect angels, until this afternoon when they just went wild. and i got frustrated by their inability to follow the step by step instructions on the board after i did a demonstration for them.

but before i get into the bad news, first the good news.

i have wifi! today the tech guy helped me install a wireless card in my laptop and set it up to work with our st francis network. the only small problem with the setup is that im relying on a signal from the other teacher house, and adobe is pretty good at blocking the signal. so i can only use it in the front few rooms of the convent, which fortunately enough, include my bedroom.

i feel like my room is complete now. i dont have anything on the walls (except my dream catcher), but i have my books and i have an internet connection. i have my sanctuary in a remote, rural place with my little portal to the outside world. this makes me happy.

now the not so good news.

at least one of my kids does not know his alphabet. at least one of them is dyslexic. at least one of them comes from an abusive household. at least one of them has emotional and sensitivity issues.

my goal for them this year was to introduce critical thinking and original theses for writing. i still have that goal. its just gonna take baby steps for all of us together. they can all read (thank goodness) but very few of them have any good grasp on phonics.

and the even worse news.

apparently, we wont be getting an americorps award for our work. due to lawsuits, americorps is cutting funding to religious education schools. they are still allowing five spots for americorps awards for st francis teachers, on the condition that the teachers receiving americorps awards do not teach religion. how we could possibly arrange it so that five of our ten teachers are not teaching religion at a catholic elementary school, i do not know.

what i do know is that ive got to do this no matter what. i didnt decide to do service for the money. yes, i was definitely interested in programs that could qualify for an americorps award, but it was not my motivating factor. im gonna be here teaching no matter what, but its just one more frustrating blow after a long aftenoon.

i just wanna cry.