Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[Henrietta23]

That's crazy!!! So you say this behavior is not tolerated in the Catholic school? What type of discipline do they use? Or is it that the children there are just generally more respectful? Just wondering.

gina

Oops, went back and fixed a typo....
They have smaller class sizes for one thing. The kids in the Catholic school have parents who have to pay tuition for them to be there so they follow up and stay involved. I think some of our public school kids are raising themselves. They couldn't care less what their kids are doing at school. Also if the Catholic school kids don't follow the rules they are kicked out. I don't know if any have been.

 

[Blackbird]

The high school I used to go to was similar, had frequent bomb and shooting threats, on and on. Thing was, a lot of the teachers were just as bad at that school. I could go on for days about some of the things I had witnessed, but it won't get me anywhere. Lol. But that's for sure, schools aren't what they used to be, huh?

 

[Henrietta23]

The high school I used to go to was similar, had frequent bomb and shooting threats, on and on. Thing was, a lot of the teachers were just as bad at that school. I could go on for days about some of the things I had witnessed, but it won't get me anywhere. Lol. But that's for sure, schools aren't what they used to be, huh?

Sure aren't the way I remember mine in the late 70s/early 80s. I did find out more about what's been going on. Not being certified faculty and only being there 2.5 days a week I don't always catch all of it. We have an alternative school in town but this year they pulled all of the HS kids out of it and put them in a special program at the regular HS. They can't contain them. Those are the kids I saw out and about all day Thursday. Administration came up with a plan that if the kids refuse to return to their classrooms when asked they will call the police who will have the option of arresting them for breach of peace. Yesterday was much calmer, mostly because a couple of the key players were out on suspension. So who knows how the rest of the year will go.
We haven't had the bomb threats etc. These kids just don't want to do any work, have 0 respect for adults, no accountability at home, and all kinds of baggage that gets in the way of learning. So they go "out of area" and walk the halls socializing with each other. Aside from a few who hang around outside the Special Ed classroom where the medically fragile kids are, they don't really cause problems with other kids. These two guys on Thursday would stand outside the room and making monkey noises, etc. which then causes one of the Autistic students to echo them. He can't help it. But the noises upset the other kids who are at risk of seizures. If you approach them to tell them to stop they take off.


I trimmed Donki's hooves this afternoon. They're dark. I kept blocking my own light. DH did a great job helping and providing moral support. I think I was over zealous on her left rear. She was favoring it for a while. She still seems a little tender on it but I'm hopeful that's all it is. I'm taking her to our church's Blessing of the Animals tomorrow. The hosts are fencing off an unused part of their pasture not far from where their sheep are fenced. We've checked it over and don't see any problem plants.
My big issue here is all the oak leaves that are blowing into their pen. They've eaten some. Don't see any signs of distress but I keep picking them out of the pen and throwing them out of range.
I did Daisy's rear hooves and that went much better. I'll do her front hooves and Thomas' tomorrow.

 

[AL]

We have a couple of bad high schools downtown.... law enforcement escorts the "sportsmanship line" after football games (when the players walk across the fields and shake hands / high five to congratulate / thank for a good game).
The high school I went to has been around since 1878 ( of course it was one room with a sawdust floor then ). There is a HUGE element of pride at that school (several major league baseball players from there, a band that went to Ireland on invitation to play in the St Patricks day parade, etc) and other students don't tolerate a lot of nonsense. It is worse than it was when I was there, but still better than any other schools in this general area.

 

[Henrietta23]

I don't think the majority of our students know the meaning of the phrase "School Spirit".

 

[Henrietta23]

Ugh, is it Monday or what? Not that anything truly horrible happened, just a lot of little annoyances.
First, the barn light keeps tripping when it rains, so I had to milk by battery operated lantern light. And it was raining so the kids wouldn't go out in the pen. Fought with them. Then Donki wouldn't hop up on the milk stand. Too dark? I had to lift her and she must have been lying in wet straw because I smelled like wet goat. I just put fresh straw in and she has to find where it's wet... Squirted milk all over my leg anyway.... Went in and changed. Got myself ready, Mom showed up to stay with DS until bus time. Went to leave and had a warning light go off in DH's car (he had mine for the cargo space). Ugh. Back to the house, get MOm and DS to give me a ride in. Call DH to ask if he can get permission to leave a few minutes early to pick me up so we can get DS after school. No problem. Spill my yogurt smoothie down my pant leg. Sigh, no time to go back and change. Get to school 5 minutes late. Don't realize for 2 more hours that I've left my lunch at home. Grrrrr. Rush downstairs to get my first student out of cafeteria study hall. He's not there. One of the teachers on duty tries to tell me he's not even in this study hall. I've picked him up there three Mondays in a row so I just blink at her. The other teacher said, "He's on my list but he hasn't come in yet" The first teacher finally admits she thought I said Jesus, not Jan Carlos.... Head back upstairs and finish getting ready for the rest of the morning. Student #2 is severely Autistic. Does great for 15 minutes then I lose him. Not literally, he just shut down. Oh well, I got a good 15 minutes. Then walking around a corner, on the correct side of the hallway, a student, ticked at the world crashes into me because she is on the incorrect side of the corner and stomping along. I smash my wrist in the the corner of the brick wall, tears come to my eyes. The security guard who's trying to get her to go where she's supposed to be tried to get her to apologize. "F*** that!" is the reply followed by something about the "dumb b*tch" being in her way. Really really hard not go after her and give her an earful, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind and it would just have caused more problems. The rest of the morning goes well enough. I even manage to buy a small salad from the cafeteria that doesn't necessarily fill me up, but also doesn't make me sick with gluten.
I'm finishing the afternoon when my cell chirps at me. Mom messaging to remind me that DS starts Chorus this afternoon. Shoot, I didn't send in a note that he was staying. Call the school. Get the principal (now the second time I've had to call to say I've screwed something up~and I have a slight fear of nuns.....) Get that sorted out. DH picks me up and we head home. He starts looking into the issue with the car. Turns out the coolant level was low. The car has to have some special VW issued coolant and he doesn't have any. Luckily a friend with the same car does so he's headed over there.
In the meantime I sit down with DS to get his homework done, only to discover he hasn't written down this week's spelling words and he's completely incapable of explaining to me why!
I know I'm forgetting some of it... it was a loooooonnnng day!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Those days when lots of little things happen seem worse than the ones with one big explosion. After all, the one big one happens, its over and done. The little ones just pile up until you feel like you are buried...

That really stinks about your high school. I can't imagine students speaking to a teacher like that. I once got a paddling from my mother, in front of the principal, for not wanting to pick up grapes that were under our lunch table. It's a long story, but I got smart with the teacher when she told us to clean up "our mess". Called my mother, who was there in 15 minutes and gave me three licks.

Yes, that was 14 years ago, but wow... times, they are a-changing.

 

[Henrietta23]

Those days when lots of little things happen seem worse than the ones with one big explosion. After all, the one big one happens, its over and done. The little ones just pile up until you feel like you are buried...

That really stinks about your high school. I can't imagine students speaking to a teacher like that. I once got a paddling from my mother, in front of the principal, for not wanting to pick up grapes that were under our lunch table. It's a long story, but I got smart with the teacher when she told us to clean up "our mess". Called my mother, who was there in 15 minutes and gave me three licks.

Yes, that was 14 years ago, but wow... times, they are a-changing.

That they are.... very discouraging! The encouraging part is that we had Cub Scouts tonight. One of my boys has an older brother who is an Eagle Scout and a 10th grader at the high school. Good kid, not perfect, but the kind of kid you hope your kid grows up to be like. He's bright but will never be top of his class, he's just consciensious and does his work. He's in the band, plays football, goes to class, ignores the stupid stuff and rises above it all to get the best education he can in that school. He came with his brother to Scouts tonight, as he often does, to help out. He asked me if I'd had a rough day because when he saw me in his study hall looking for a student I looked really fed up. What kid would notice that, nevermind care?
Anway, the car is fine. The coolant was low, DH got some and now it seems to be okay. Got DS's spelling words from a classmate's mother and he did the work without complaint. Fought for a separate room for my Den meeting and got it! Had 6 out of 7 boys and got the chance to get them back on track when they got fresh and mouthy. We actually had a little fun while we got stuff done.
At my school,if a teacher asked a kid to pick up grapes from under the table, most of the parents would take the teacher to task for it... what a mess our world has become!

 

[lorihadams]

 

[Henrietta23]

Thanks, better day today. I was the elementary school, which always takes a little pressure off. My non-verbal kindergartener who understands no English was out. That gave me an extra 45 minutes of planning time. I saw one group of kindergarteners then was supposed to see my tough 3rd grader. She was out too. I was busy in the afternoon with back to back groups but that felt normal!
The cats had us up two nights ago, chasing mice. They caught and killed two. We set traps but haven't caught any more.... yet. I feel like I'm missing some sleep.
DS has no school tomorrow for a teachers' work day. He asked to stay at my parents' house which is great. It means Mom doesn't have to get up early to get him at my school (half way between her house and mine) and I don't have to get him ready! So it's been quiet here this evening with DH at band practice and me here with all the animals. Okay, maybe quiet's not the right word! I've been feeling really tired and sluggish again and I know it's because I've been bad about what I've been eating. Sneaking too many carbs... I sat down and did more reading, mostly to remind myself why the carbs are not good for me and to remember how bad things had gotten. I've spent so much time and energy making sure DS adjusts to his new school, that he's getting the foods that he needs, that I don't have the energy to do the same for myself and I can't do that. Long weekend this weekend for Columbus Day. I hope to get some food cooked and frozen to help make evenings easier. And to do some planning for lunches.
Now that I'm typing this I'm remembering that every school year we all look forward to Columbus Day weekend but we've put a lot of energy into the beginning of the year and we're TIRED! We've got a workshop day the day after too. Even though we still have to go in to work, not having students is a bit of a break in itself.
Sheesh, all I do is whine this week.....