August 15, 2012
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3 I had started it on Sunday night, had written almost all of it, pushed some button or other, and the entire thing vanished.
4 We just shouldn't have school in summertime, I swear to you.
5 Summer erases our minds.
6 I remembered immediately that when I write the DN, I constantly have to push save, just like anything you write.
7 Duh.
8 But you'd be surprised at how often I forget to do that.
9 And I took fifteen units of college courses as recently as 2009.Whaaaaat?
10 I even TEACH students to save as they go.
11 Well, Monday was a sort of test pilot for all the teachers. Almost to a person we had forgotten the various passwords we need to get into our computers, our gradebooks, our emails, our use of the copy machine, etc. It was a hoot watching all these people walking around with a summer mind suddenly having to begin work.
12 We are geared to do that in September, not in mid-August. It's the law.
13 We forget that last year we got out early. Our heads tell us we still have at least a week more until school begins. So our heads tell us that we don't need to think for at least another week.
14 It was pretty funny, because nearly every teacher I talked to felt a bit out of it, even the younger ones.
15 I'm okay today, because we already got the first day of school under our belts yesterday.
16 But Monday was monstrous, and the DN gave me a bit of a struggle. Fonts wouldn't work. They wouldn't do what I told them. I could center some pictures on Mozilla, but not on Google Chrome. But Google Chrome made the DN email gigantic.
17 Plus my laptop jumps letters, so that the word "department" came out to look like this: "deptartment."
18 Too many companies, and too many things working against one another.
19 But it's all cool.
20 You'll just be getting these odd things all year. Just laugh. We are at the mercy of these technological monsters.
21 It's funny, because in the past, each Sunday night/Monday morning prior to the first day back I would have a "jumpin'-out-of an airplane" dream.
22 We've all had them, you and me.
24 It's like when you can't sleep, and you dream of jumping out of an airplane involuntarily, and suddenly screaming, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" with three G's flapping our lips.
25 I'm pretty sure anyone going through something immensely undesirable about to happen has the same dream.
26 Fear of firing. College midterms. Job interviews. Haircuts. You get the pic. Your personal world events, coming together like a storm in the sky.
27 You don't have to be Jung to figure those dreams out. "Jumpin'-out-of an airplane" dreams. They usually happen right before you awaken in the middle of the night.
28 Yup. Jumpin'-out-of an airplane dreams. Nuthin' quite like 'em.
29 Moving on, Part One: The good news is that my classes were wonderful yesterday. I got to school relatively early, met this brand new teacher, and showed the guy the ropes.
30 The guy got a phone call on Monday telling him that he was hired. It's a long story, but we had a sudden opening that nobody expected, and b-bay-um! This guy was there. My principal introduced him to me and asked if I could show him around.
31 That energized me, because there is an entire younger generation out there with enthusiasm and eagerness to come into this unique profession and make a difference, yet jobs seem to be scarce. I faced the same thing when I was looking for a teaching job.
32 But this is the time for them to look. The opening of school is stressful for administrators as well as teachers, custodians, support staff, and students. If the school suddenly loses staff members, jobs open, and they need to be filled quickly.
33 This guy was alert, ready, and excited to be there. It was like two days ago someone called him up and offered him a career with benefits. What young person doesn't dream about that?
34 After his interview, I was one of the first teachers he met. He asked if he could watch my seventh period class, and I told him that he certainly could.
35 The lesson was awesome, because I've done this before. I didn't lecture the kids about rules and other boring stuff. I told them a story.
36 It was a story about my daughter Caitlin. Each time I tell it, she rolls her eyes, but it's cute, and adorable. I received applause in all five of my classes, the first time that ever happened in my career. He sat in and watched, so I made sure that every punch would land. Each did. And I've gotten applause before, but not in all five classes on the same day. Yesterday was a first.
37 All real stuff.
38 We have some wonderful young teachers on our staff. As an older teacher, I find it incredible to work with all that energy. Young teachers can make everything around happen. They look to us for wisdom; we look to them to remember why we got into this profession in the first place.
39 Right now that guy doesn't have a classroom. He can't get into a room probably until tomorrow, but what an exciting time for the guy. Our school is an awesome school, and is beginning finally to mature. The younger teachers I met when I first got there are turning into veterans right before my eyes. The place is maturing the same way I watched YB mature so many years ago.
40 It's like watching good rookies mature into professional players in sports. It's the only analogy I can offer.
41 And it makes me want to play better, and to constantly improve my game.
42 I have to. They're watching. And there's nothing worse to watch than a complaining, miserable old teacher. I refuse ever to become that.
43 That's why I'm not going gentle. I still have tons more to do to become better, and I truly think that I can learn from the new generation.
44 But this isn't about me. It's about a new generation of teachers bringing modern methods, technology, humor, and their own generation's experiences to the front. I watch how much heart and soul my own daughter Nicole puts into her job, and it far surpasses what I do.
45 There's a generation out there that is going to step up and make this a better world, and they are showing up everywhere I turn.
46 Makes me smile.
47 It's time to start hiring them, and in droves. It's their time.
48 Let's hand the world over to them. I think they're ready.
49 It's their time.
50 It's their time.
51 Peace.
~H~
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