Troubled Minds

I am having such a tough time getting this post started. I want to come up with some clever and witty opening, but I don't know what I want to say, which does make it hard to be clever and witty. Now, I could just resort to the lowest common denominator and fart a few times, or I might say a few choice words or tell a dirty joke. Nah, that doesn't work as well in print as it does in other media. I think that what I really want to get at is the frustration I'm feeling about the direction my school is heading.

This is the week where teachers are preparing for the opening of school. For me it is the most stressful time of the year, hands down. Why, you might ask? Is it the need for bureaucrats to justify their lofty salaries by insisting on jamming useless and pointless information down our throats in lengthy power point presentations? Yep. Is it the fact that it's Friday, students arrive in my class on Monday at 7:30 am, and I haven't had more than two hours all week to get my room arranged and my lessons planned? Yep. Is it the fact that today I get to hear for the tenth time that I'm not to touch bodily fluids? Yep. Is it that fact that an entire summers worth of work was flushed down the toilet because the principal has promised no duty-time to too many teachers? Yep.

I could go on and on and on. I think what bothers me the most is the level of distrust between administration (my school and up) and the teachers. Teaching is such a weird profession because if you are good at teaching, there is no way to get promoted except to leave the classroom. So, you have a wonderful classroom teacher, and if he wants to earn more money he has to quit teaching. Great plan, huh? Anyways, I digress. Administration worries so much about treating everyone the same that rather than dismiss or confront those teachers who would abuse the trust that all professionals seem to have, they just distruts all of us. Ahhh, bring on the kids and get the adults out of my life!