Facebook and Teaching

Okay. I have a serious question for you...

Would you send a friend request to your child's teacher?

...

...

Weird, huh?

I thought so. I got a friend request from a parent I met at back to school night about a month ago. I was kind of shocked. I had never met this person before and wondered why she wanted to be my friend on Facebook. I let the request sit in my inbox, in fact, it's still there.

I don't want to be rude, but at the same time, she doesn't need to know what I did over the weekend or that I played hooky from work to go to the beach. I post random stuff and I don't think its professional to befriend students OR their parents (apparently) on social websites. I mean, do they REALLY need to see me dressed up as a lion for halloween? I don't think so.

What do you think?

xxOOxx

Rubrics are for Everyone!

Through my credentialing program I had this one professor... she knows who she is... who used to make us practice writing rubrics. She would make us do it over and over until we got it right, and then we would have to include on in EVERY lesson plan. She kept telling us to use them and claimed that they were the only way to salvation. haha. Okay, so a little dramatic, but she used to say that they were the only fair way to grade everyone. To tell you the truth, I used to think she was overexaggerating a little. Then I realized she wasn't. Go figure.

A while ago I met a teacher who had never made friends with grading rubrics. One day this teacher asked me if a paper looked like a B paper. I don't know WHAT a B paper looks like! According to my standards or yours?? Geeze people. I didn't even know what to say. I was flabberghasted that a teacher would actually grade like that.

All I can say is "Thank you Dr. PB for enlightening us and not letting me be one of those teachers!!"

xxOOxx

Ouch My TOE!!

Okay, so this story relates to a post from about a week ago that had to do with injuries at work.

This past week, my toes have nearly fallen off due to the large amount of people stepping on them. Albeit, they aren't large people, but after a while it gets old. I swear that when we are five years old, our personal bubbles must only extend one inch from our bodies! Anyway, one boy stepped on my toe bright and early one morning
Me: "Heya! Don't step on me!"
Him: "Sorry Ms. D!"

About twenty minutes later, his feet find mine again
Me: "Peter*, you're on my toe again. Can't you feel my feet?"
Him: [smiling]"Yeah Ms. D., I can feel em."
Me: "Then gerrof!"

After Recess, his feet actually make it under the table i was sitting at!
Me: "Peter, I'm going to charge you a quarter every time you step on me from now on! Okay?"
Him: "Then you won't have to teach anymore."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Him: "I'll give you so many quarters you won't have to be a teacher!"
Me: "HAHAHAHA!"

xxOOxx
*Names have been changed just in case.

Caution: Hard Hat Area

I don't think that non-teachers truly realize the hazards of the teaching profession. No, I'm not talking about crazy parents or insane students bringing guns to school. Yes, these are very real but I was talking more about the daily risks that we take.

You're laughing. I know you're thinking... "What do teachers do that is so hazardous? Get glue in their hair?" Well, YES! and glitter under my nails! Haha. Okay, but seriously, I almost broke my neck today tripping over a five year old! They have this way of getting underfoot and seriously causing accidents. One of my colleagues almost had her nose broken when a little boy bashed his head into it. Another shattered her ankle after falling off a chair while trying to hang up artwork. I've had a couple of serious stapling incidents and a few massive bruises from tricycles. Maybe we should wear shinguards...Okay, so it's not THE MOST dangerous job in the world, but I'm tired of people laughing when I tell them I got injured at work ;P

xxOOxx