Since returning to Poland he has graduated college, married a beautiful bride, has an adorable daughter, and started his own successful business.
Przemek will turn 30 on the last day of September... Happy birthday, Przemek!!!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Przemek
During the 1995/1996 school year, Gary and I hosted a foreign exchange student. This was kind of a last minute decision, but it was definitely the right thing to do, because within a few weeks of our decision I drove over to the bus station in Show Low to meet a young man, from Poland, named Przemek Baszynski, who quickly became a member of our family. Przemek attended the local high school, played soccer on the school team, visited Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the Grand Canyon, was asked to the Sadie Hawkin's dance, attended a Suns' basketball game, learned to drive and obtained his driver's license, participated in the senior class trip to Disney Land and Magic Mountain, graduated with the class of 1996, and before returning home, visited some friends in Boston.
Since returning to Poland he has graduated college, married a beautiful bride, has an adorable daughter, and started his own successful business.
Przemek will turn 30 on the last day of September... Happy birthday, Przemek!!!
Since returning to Poland he has graduated college, married a beautiful bride, has an adorable daughter, and started his own successful business.
Przemek will turn 30 on the last day of September... Happy birthday, Przemek!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
No good, Rotten, Sorry, Awful Kind of Day!
Did you ever have one of those days, where no matter how much effort you put itno it, everything you did seemed to come out wrong??? Well, that's what yesterday was like for me!
My job is becoming more and more stressful, and less and less enjoyable. It hurts me tremendously to think that maybe, just maybe, I no longer have a desire to teach. Jesse assures me, almost nightly, that I just need to make a change; as in go to a different school, in a different district next year, but I fear the problems of teaching will be there, too. For example: The parent who overlooks the sorted information her daughter tells me on a daily basis, about her family, but comes unglued because I mentioned I could smell cigarette smoke in her hair and clothes. Seriously, I'm pretty sensitive to smells of smoke, and was simply making a random statement that there are side effects to smoking, and the permeation of smoke on hair and clothes is one of those effects!
Or, how about the parent that was upset because I left her daughter outside the door for a minute, so she could prepare herself to come into the classroom. There was NO mention of the fact that this same student, a good solid 40 minutes later, very rudely announced to me, and the class, that it was "my fault" that she was unable to finish her assignment on time. That parent made no mention of this sassiness during our phone call, rather she stated that she would be speaking with the principal. When I suggested to her that it is protocol to speak to the teacher about such issues first, she continued to state that "the principal" was her line of direction. Still there was NO mention of the disrespectful behavior. Oh, and she didn't thank me for calling her to see if she could deliver her daughter's reading assignment, that she accidentally left at home, along with the behavior report. Nor did she thank me for paying for her child's lunch, just one week before, when she forgot her money. And, there was absolutely no mention of her child's dishonest actions, the previous week, and the compassion shown to her when I allowed her to remain the class representative.
And as if that wasn't enough on my plate to handle, there was a third student, just plain acting out, who let everyone know, "She was going to the Recovery Room," as if that is a REWARD! Nope! Not! Not even close! Even the teacher in charge of the Recovery Room said, "Oh, no... You'll spend the day with the assistant principal." BTW: The assistant principal was made aware of "the problem" around 9:15, and promised he would come to the classroom, as soon as bus evacuation was over... I didn't see him again. So at lunch time, I headed for the office, with "the problem" in tow, only to discover, there were NO administrators to be found! And, better yet, the secretaries told me to put the student in another teacher's room, but that teacher was now also at lunch. And, there were already TWO students in the "time-out" room, so they told me to leave "the problem" in the waiting area of the office. Seriously, there is something wrong with this system... The principal and assistant principal are out on lunch duty. If there is a problem, they have to be paged. If they have to come in, someone else has to be paged to take their place. If someone else comes to take their place, the person with "the problem" is standing in the office, or their classroom, or where ever, waiting for someone to come and take care of "the problem" so the teacher can take care of the rest of the children, who by this time are off task, wondering what is going to happen to "the problem."
I'm so glad it was only a 1/2 day, for it seems to me my "strikes" were up, and I was "OUT!" But, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
After work I had to go to the doctor... UUGGHHH! I'm so tired of going to the doctor. And, now they want me to see a surgeon and discuss surgery on my back... I'm REALLY NOT handling this!
My job is becoming more and more stressful, and less and less enjoyable. It hurts me tremendously to think that maybe, just maybe, I no longer have a desire to teach. Jesse assures me, almost nightly, that I just need to make a change; as in go to a different school, in a different district next year, but I fear the problems of teaching will be there, too. For example: The parent who overlooks the sorted information her daughter tells me on a daily basis, about her family, but comes unglued because I mentioned I could smell cigarette smoke in her hair and clothes. Seriously, I'm pretty sensitive to smells of smoke, and was simply making a random statement that there are side effects to smoking, and the permeation of smoke on hair and clothes is one of those effects!
Or, how about the parent that was upset because I left her daughter outside the door for a minute, so she could prepare herself to come into the classroom. There was NO mention of the fact that this same student, a good solid 40 minutes later, very rudely announced to me, and the class, that it was "my fault" that she was unable to finish her assignment on time. That parent made no mention of this sassiness during our phone call, rather she stated that she would be speaking with the principal. When I suggested to her that it is protocol to speak to the teacher about such issues first, she continued to state that "the principal" was her line of direction. Still there was NO mention of the disrespectful behavior. Oh, and she didn't thank me for calling her to see if she could deliver her daughter's reading assignment, that she accidentally left at home, along with the behavior report. Nor did she thank me for paying for her child's lunch, just one week before, when she forgot her money. And, there was absolutely no mention of her child's dishonest actions, the previous week, and the compassion shown to her when I allowed her to remain the class representative.
And as if that wasn't enough on my plate to handle, there was a third student, just plain acting out, who let everyone know, "She was going to the Recovery Room," as if that is a REWARD! Nope! Not! Not even close! Even the teacher in charge of the Recovery Room said, "Oh, no... You'll spend the day with the assistant principal." BTW: The assistant principal was made aware of "the problem" around 9:15, and promised he would come to the classroom, as soon as bus evacuation was over... I didn't see him again. So at lunch time, I headed for the office, with "the problem" in tow, only to discover, there were NO administrators to be found! And, better yet, the secretaries told me to put the student in another teacher's room, but that teacher was now also at lunch. And, there were already TWO students in the "time-out" room, so they told me to leave "the problem" in the waiting area of the office. Seriously, there is something wrong with this system... The principal and assistant principal are out on lunch duty. If there is a problem, they have to be paged. If they have to come in, someone else has to be paged to take their place. If someone else comes to take their place, the person with "the problem" is standing in the office, or their classroom, or where ever, waiting for someone to come and take care of "the problem" so the teacher can take care of the rest of the children, who by this time are off task, wondering what is going to happen to "the problem."
I'm so glad it was only a 1/2 day, for it seems to me my "strikes" were up, and I was "OUT!" But, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
After work I had to go to the doctor... UUGGHHH! I'm so tired of going to the doctor. And, now they want me to see a surgeon and discuss surgery on my back... I'm REALLY NOT handling this!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Introducing Sydnee Annette
This is Tanette Turley... I'm pretty sure her last name should be Wiltbank; I mean, she did spend a LOT of time at my house. Any way, Tanette and Jared gave me the privilege of being present during the birth of their first child, and my grandchild, Sydnee Annette. This was a first for me, and an AWESOME experience! Thanks, Tanette!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)