Thanks, Sally.
I think the hardest thing about all this is the way things work in a
fundamental way. We get our credentials from the state, but if we move
to a different district within the state we lose everything we have
built. Had I stayed living in the Bay Area, I would be safe,
well-compensated, and stable at this point. Instead, I chose to move to
a rural, lower-socioeconomic area, and lost all my tenure, my good
reputation, by security, etc. Plus, there are issues with the
"temporary" status that I think need to be address by the teachers'
association; I have been removed from the seniority list because the
art program is/was temporary (year-to-year), and there are two people
on the seniority list who were hired well after I was. In these times,
it becomes teacher against teacher, and that's an ugly place.
Renee
On Mar 21, 2010, at 5:54 AM, thomas wrote:
Renee
I am so very sorry. I am up here near you as you know and the
districts are
hemoraging (well there's a word I obviously can spell and my spell
check
doesn't work on email!). But it is also a blow to children. It is
especially horrible when someone as gifted as you has to hang in for
children year after year by a thread.
Sally
On 3/20/10 2:31 PM, "Renee" <[email protected]> wrote:
Twenty-five teachers received RIF notices in my district. All but two
of them were permanent staff. I am not even included in that twenty-
five because my art program was a temporary position, and yes, I
received a "pink slip" letter also, as did the four other people in
the district who were in temporary positions. That makes thirty. This
is in a district with only four schools, total: three elementary
schools and one middle school.
This is my eight pink slip in ten years (one of those years I did not
have a teaching position at all). I could wallpaper the bathroom with
them. I keep asking for them to be actually pink, but they are all
official on ivory-colored paper with the district logo on the corner.
My biggest beef at the moment is the specific wording of my pink
slip, which I dislike; I am going to ask the superintendent to issue
another one to me with kinder wording. I've known him for enough
years (he was actually my principal for three years in the district
next door) that I feel comfortable doing so.
California is an utter, disastrous mess. The state could save
millions of dollars a year by just eliminating the high school exit
exam, a fact which Stephen Krashen has been very eloquently
submitting to newspapers all over the state, and probably more
millions by eliminating second grade testing, which is not even
required by NCLB.
Yes, I got a pink slip.
Renee
On Mar 20, 2010, at 1:11 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Oh no! Renee, I thought you were talking about a figurative pink
slip!! You didn't really get a. pink slip, did you? Please say no.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
-----Original Message-----
From: Renee <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:06:42
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email
Group<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fluency
Yes, I am in Northern California.
On Mar 20, 2010, at 10:55 AM, Mary Ann Walker wrote:
Oh Renee, I'm really sorry to hear about your pink slip.
Are you in California?
Mary Ann
Cy-Fair ISD
Houston, TX
----- Original Message ----- From: "Renee"
<[email protected]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 4:49 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fluency
If I had tenure, I would do a lot of things.
Renee .... waving another pink slip in the air.....
On Mar 14, 2010, at 11:17 AM, jan sanders wrote:
Renee, if you had the tenure, you could send back an email
stating the fact about the lack of problem solving and that you
were wondering what was going to be used to fill in that void.
For anyone not familiar with Saxon -they literally tell the
student what to do. I piloted in 4th grade and the directions
would tell the student what to do -no thinking there... One day
(long division) the directions said use the LSD method on this
problem. I had to laugh! LSD!!!!!! Of course LSD was an
acronym for procedures used in the algorithm. Anyone remember
Daddy, Mother, Sister, Brother? Divide, Multiply, Subtract,
Bring down.
Saxon is a very rote program.
Jan
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about
learning how to dance in the rain." BJ Gallagher
From: [email protected]
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:17:40 -0800
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fluency
I agree with Nancy. I am so sick and tired of the "supported by
research" claim that I could scream. One of my principals sent
out an
email a few weeks ago with a link and an article that showed
research
about student achievement with Saxon math. ick. So I read it,
and it
referred basically to test scores AND also mentioned that Saxon
math
did not do well in problem-solving, which was better addressed
with a
different program that was studied. I think it was three or four
math
programs that were compared, and maybe it was Everyday Math that
was
better at problem-solving, but please don't quote me. Anyway, the
point is that it truly is like a game of telephone. Perfect
analogy,
Nancy.
Renee
On Mar 13, 2010, at 3:22 AM, [email protected] wrote:
In a message dated 3/10/2010 11:59:22 P.M. Eastern Standard
Time,
[email protected] writes:
Could you give me a reference for that research?
So I'm behind on email, but don't see a response. I find often
that
something that is supposedly "supported by lots of research," is
kind of like the
telephone game. Everyone has heard that there is, but no one
quite can
pinpoint it. Just the fact that people say there is research
makes
it so? I
agree with Maureen. I have seen a lot of evidence that often
students who read
slowly and methodically with prosidy, rereading and thinking
carefully,
are way better at comprehension than those who are trying to
beat
the egg
timer.
Nancy
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~Yoda
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"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist
once he grows up."
Pablo Picasso
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Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
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