So, it has come to my attention that I have not been updating this little blog of mine with enough frequency. Well, maybe, life has been a bit too busy for me, or maybe I just like getting emails from people that I don't hear from all that often.
Here is the scoop... I was all set up to be a teacher for the coming school year. A little district just south of where I live had a position open for a Setting III EBD teacher. They hired me the same day that I interviewed for the job. I was pretty excited to be a full time teacher again with my own room and all that nice stuff.
I spent first half of the summer finishing up the paper for the Readings class that I never finished in Nebraska. It was a lot writing the Master's paper again, except I knew better this time. I was very conscience of how I had done things and how to document what the outcomes were. I made a database and reports and cited a lot of other people for the knowledge that I read. I had two people proof read what I ended up submitting to my former advisor. It was such a relief to have that done and out of the way. I had plans for the rest of the summer to learn bit more about webpage stuff and database management. I was excited to get some of my curriculum on-line like some of the survey things that I have kids do on paper. It was slow going and I actually came up with a sketch of a web site that might actually do some good for teachers.
All of that was ground to a halt... Kim decided that we needed a dog. Not just any kind of dog, but a frickin' Puggle. A hybrid mix between a beagle and a pug that is against the laws of nature. This is the kind of designer dog that people breed to make money based on a fad and also gets a segment on "The Best Week Ever"( I saw it once on Youtube, but I could not find it). So, this dog entered our (my) life and has been an ever involved process of cleaning up poop and going for walks. This meant that I was now a dog trainer rather than a coding master with databases and web pages all hooked up together. Sit - followed by a treat and a rub - Off - followed by ignoring - Sit - followed by a treat and rub... and on and on it goes.
While all of that dog stuff was happening, I started my training for the new school that I would working at. Things started out with an OK training on the Individual Education Plan management system. It wasn't the same as EasyIEP that they used in the first school district, but it was close enough. There was a review of how to write goals and objectives. I got to meet some of the other new teachers for the district as well. Then came the train for the language arts curriculum. The district (special education department) paid for us and paid us to be sent to this training for Language! , a total package that hits literacy, sound symbol relationships, writing, composing, the whole picture for under achieving students. I had looked at this package while in Nebraska and I knew quite a bit about the research that went into it. The training was not so great, but the package was fine. The way it was all laid out really made it easy for a teacher to pick up and use. I guess the previous edition was very user-friendly. So, for an edition change to happen meant the research had been done and results were found to be good. At the end of the training, we were told that we would be using the previous edition. I about fell out of my chair. This was shortly followed by there will be no more curriculum purchased this year.
I didn't understand. Why were we sent to and paid for being a training for which we could not even use the material? This especially didn't make sense in a district that claimed they didn't have much in terms of resources. However, what really didn't sit well with me was the fact that we were trained to use one set of protocols and then told to use another while provided the same stated results. The researcher in me did like that at all. This was basically dismissing the research that had been done on the program. Basically, I figured out that I wanted to still be in school and not in the classroom for the sake of the benefits.
So, I resigned from the classroom teacher position and here I am substitute teaching again for now in my first district that I worked for while taking classes at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I just talked to the person who will possibly be my adviser and things look good. Kim is finishing up her job and starting a new one shortly.
I am MrPeabody and I am finally getting back on track after a year.
Here is the scoop... I was all set up to be a teacher for the coming school year. A little district just south of where I live had a position open for a Setting III EBD teacher. They hired me the same day that I interviewed for the job. I was pretty excited to be a full time teacher again with my own room and all that nice stuff.
I spent first half of the summer finishing up the paper for the Readings class that I never finished in Nebraska. It was a lot writing the Master's paper again, except I knew better this time. I was very conscience of how I had done things and how to document what the outcomes were. I made a database and reports and cited a lot of other people for the knowledge that I read. I had two people proof read what I ended up submitting to my former advisor. It was such a relief to have that done and out of the way. I had plans for the rest of the summer to learn bit more about webpage stuff and database management. I was excited to get some of my curriculum on-line like some of the survey things that I have kids do on paper. It was slow going and I actually came up with a sketch of a web site that might actually do some good for teachers.
All of that was ground to a halt... Kim decided that we needed a dog. Not just any kind of dog, but a frickin' Puggle. A hybrid mix between a beagle and a pug that is against the laws of nature. This is the kind of designer dog that people breed to make money based on a fad and also gets a segment on "The Best Week Ever"( I saw it once on Youtube, but I could not find it). So, this dog entered our (my) life and has been an ever involved process of cleaning up poop and going for walks. This meant that I was now a dog trainer rather than a coding master with databases and web pages all hooked up together. Sit - followed by a treat and a rub - Off - followed by ignoring - Sit - followed by a treat and rub... and on and on it goes.
While all of that dog stuff was happening, I started my training for the new school that I would working at. Things started out with an OK training on the Individual Education Plan management system. It wasn't the same as EasyIEP that they used in the first school district, but it was close enough. There was a review of how to write goals and objectives. I got to meet some of the other new teachers for the district as well. Then came the train for the language arts curriculum. The district (special education department) paid for us and paid us to be sent to this training for Language! , a total package that hits literacy, sound symbol relationships, writing, composing, the whole picture for under achieving students. I had looked at this package while in Nebraska and I knew quite a bit about the research that went into it. The training was not so great, but the package was fine. The way it was all laid out really made it easy for a teacher to pick up and use. I guess the previous edition was very user-friendly. So, for an edition change to happen meant the research had been done and results were found to be good. At the end of the training, we were told that we would be using the previous edition. I about fell out of my chair. This was shortly followed by there will be no more curriculum purchased this year.
I didn't understand. Why were we sent to and paid for being a training for which we could not even use the material? This especially didn't make sense in a district that claimed they didn't have much in terms of resources. However, what really didn't sit well with me was the fact that we were trained to use one set of protocols and then told to use another while provided the same stated results. The researcher in me did like that at all. This was basically dismissing the research that had been done on the program. Basically, I figured out that I wanted to still be in school and not in the classroom for the sake of the benefits.
So, I resigned from the classroom teacher position and here I am substitute teaching again for now in my first district that I worked for while taking classes at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I just talked to the person who will possibly be my adviser and things look good. Kim is finishing up her job and starting a new one shortly.
I am MrPeabody and I am finally getting back on track after a year.
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