Drama Llama Ding Dong!
Well, the fun never stops as Drama High!We had a scheduling conflict...Mrs. Spooky was asked where a new seventh grader should be placed and she responded, in her infinite wisdom, in the sixth grade class. "We're just balancing numbers at this point," she proclaims. She also says that the seventh grade class already has some sixth graders because it doesn't really matter.
So I check...The seventh grade class has eight students and the sixth grade class has five or six...Now, the maximum number of students our middle school program should have is 48...on average 12 per class. I taught more than 30 back when there was only two classes, so forgive me if I don't see an eight student class turning into a nine student class as much of an issue. As I told Mrs. Placeholder, who is now offficially our principal for the remainder of the year, if we hit twelve in a class, then we can discuss balancing numbers, but not at 66% of capacity.
Also, the claim that the seventh grade class has sixth graders in it was a bit erroneus. The plural sixth graders is actually singular...one sixth grader...and he's older than some of our seventh graders. For right or wrong, one of the things our school does is it gives students the opportunity to get back in their proper grade. We're supposed to help him get back on track.
I didn't win too many fans when I questioned that placement.
But the big winner was when I asked about doing something about students coming to my class to use the bathroom. See, we expanded to four teachers mid-year a couple of years ago and the district scrambled to get two more portables. Well, I don't know if it was just what was available or what the district was willing to pay for, but the two new portables didn't come with bathrooms, which has been a continuing problem. It shouldn't be, but it has been. See, we can't, apparently, deny a student access to a bathroom if he or she asks. The available bathrooms include the gym bathroom, where either there are high school PE classes going or no one there at all; the office bathroom, where students disrupt the office staff and students in trouble sit in eager anticipation for their prescribed discipline; there is a general High School bathroom, but then you have Middle School students wandering the High School halls...We try to minimalize contact between the Middle and High School students.
So, for the two classes, the bathroom is a bit of a problem. We were discussing the possibility of implementing a level system in the Middle School tying certain, small uniform options to behavior. While discussing privledges to be used I asked if we could tie bathroom use in the last two portables to the levels. I said, "Can we make it a part of the level system that if you are on the lowest level you can't get a bathroom pass from Mr. Loafer's and Mr. Bearing's rooms? I mean, Student X comes to my class the same time every day, exactly 30 minutes after gym class."
Well, Mr. Loafer was OUTRAGED! He told me later that day, "Mr. Asshole, I'd appreciate it, if you have a problem with my students, that you tell me rather than bring it up in front of Mrs. Placeholder."
Well, clearly he felt I was singling him out despite also mentioning Mr. Bearing. And it's not Mr. Loafer that I have a problem with...It's the policy that if a student says "bathroom", we have to comply. I was looking for other possible solutions, and no one seems to like my porta-potty idea.
Well, we'll see what fun this week will bring. I can't hardly wait...
posted by Bodog @ 6:47 PM
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