Random Thoughts--Part II

My meeting with the principal went just as expected. We are on the same page concerning the problem teacher in my department. We both agree that she lacks the nurturing personality necessary to teach 14 year olds effectively, as well as the personal skills necessary to communicate with parents effectively. What to do about her is another problem altogether. It was brought to my attention that she is contemplating leaving at the end of this year to take another position, the constant stress created by dealing with her “problems” is getting to her both mentally and physically. I will regret it if she leaves because I feel she has much to offer—if only she could acquire a personality transplant.

The changes the other teacher wanted to make to his budget were shot down, as I expected. The teacher is angry and has made this known to all who will listen. The principal and I both agree that the other teacher in his area is a far more effective instructor, even though he is much less experienced.

The student teacher has taken over all the supervising teacher’s classes while the supervising teacher is out with pneumonia. Because of this I have to take care of incoming freshmen registration Sunday. Nine thirty till 2:30 talking to prospective students who all think they should be Honors Biology even though they tested I the bottom 1/3 of the incoming class. I spent four periods today marking registration sheets with my recommendations for the new students.

The principal looked over the list of prospective A.P. Biology students looking for permission to take the class next year. As I mentioned the last time we had several requests from “marginal” students who I rejected. She decided to reject all but one of the requests. The girl she is allowing to take the class probably won’t be a problem—she is certainly the best of the group we rejected. Neither the teacher nor I are fighting her placement.

The computers in the chemistry lab were repaired. It seems that the new central server was stopping them from recognizing the lab equipment. The solution involved installing the software for the equipment on each individual computer and running it locally.

As I’m writing this, my students are taking their “Gas Law” exam—one of the most difficult exams of the year. It is the last test grade of 3rd quarter and will have a significant impact on their quarter grade. So far they say it is not difficult, but very long. The grades, so far, have been disappointing, though three students have gotten 100%.
The test is “open notebook” which means that they do not study like they should, thinking they can just look up the answer during the test. Unfortunately, if they do this they run out of time before finishing the exam. Several students have done very poorly, 50-60%, leaving several problems unsolved. I have warned them of this all week but they ignore my advice and try to take the “easy way” out. How does the old saying go? ‘Experience is the best teacher—but her fee is the most expensive.” On Sunday I will write about the interesting conversations I have with parents during the registration process.