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Home > One Week and a Raise! Good Visit w/New Principal

One Week and a Raise! Good Visit w/New Principal

May 19th, 2012 at 06:32 am

Thursday night was our 8th grade graduation. I had to sit up front on the side because as a specials teacher who works with the 8th graders, I had to give a medal. I didn't realize that I would not only be up front, but would be stepping up on a stage. Note to self: wear a long skirt or dress next year!

Today was my last day of media center classes for this school year. In a way it feels really weird/sad, but in another way it is kind of a relief. I'll have a break of a month (from teaching classes at least) before summer school starts.

I was showing the kids today the abcya site with the animation app (3rd) and one of my 4th grade boys made an Angry Birds animation! I've been showing the app to all my classes this week, as a kind of fun end of year tech project, and have been simply amazed at how quickly they figured it out and how creative their projects were.

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Today our new principal talked to me about next year and brought me my contract. I'm getting a raise of 1 %!! Totally unexpected. Apparently they give everyone a 1% raise every year - had no idea.

I'm definitely getting an aide next year, although probably only for 20 hours a week. Better than nothing.

I also talked to the principal about having summer library hours/checkout one evening a week. She liked that idea (after making sure I knew it would be volunteer hours.) Smile

Some other points I raised with her:

Having a technology club/book club on after school activities days. (Again, was reminded that it would be volunteer hours.) Big Grin

Having a library focus group - have students from several different grades to discuss new book purchases, make recommendations, etc. She suggested I do it at lunch time once a month. Sounds good to me!

Scrapping K - 12 power and replacing with online databases. She was good with this idea as long as K12Power hadn't already been renewed. (She agreed with my assesment that it was useless - said previous computer teacher wanted something to have the kids login and be kept busy for 30 minutes while she texted. --well, principal didn't quite say the texting part, but I know that from other sources ...--)

Having a keyboarding specific class 20 minutes 2-3x week for 3rd, 4th and 5th during the first quarter. (Common Core standards expect a 4th grader to be able to comfortably type a one page document in one sitting. Typing class once a week for 7 or 8 weeks isn't going to cut it.) Principal thought it was a good idea, but will need to check with teacher's schedules.

Making 1st and 2nd grade 1 hour classes, and extending 3rd - 8th to 1hr 15 min. Principal was okay with this, but again needed to check scheduling.

Discussed need for major overhaul of non-fiction. Principal suggested that we have the fundraising efforts for one month go towards the renovation of our non-fiction section. Woo hoo! (She hadn't realized there was no library budget and didn't seem too surprised when I casually mentioned my "pocket" budget.)

Discussed the many blind spots in the library. Principal had the idea of installing something like a video baby monitor in the worst area.

Discussed me taking teachers on a tour of library/website during pre-school week. I've tried to make teachers aware of the resources we have, but it's kind of like pulling teeth with some of them ...

Discussed computer lab arrangement. Told principal that I didn't like the way it was arranged either, but I'd been told that the configuration was the only possible way to fit 25 computers in that space. Then I also told her that my big dream was to get some kind of grant to totally renovate and redesign the entire media center (to make better use of the space and get rid of the blind spots!)

--Forgot to talk about playaways ... probably best I forgot, because I think I kind of overwhelmed her. I just had been saving up all of these ideas/thoughts ...

I also asked her how she felt I was doing. She told me that she thought I had a pretty good start and was going in the right direction. Smile That made me feel pretty good. Big Grin

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OH! Before I forget! I had visitors today from a program called Reader to Reader. They donate publisher's seconds to needy schools. I was told about them by the reporter who was here a few weeks ago. They brought a suitcase full of books! Big Grin Big Grin I showed them around our library and we talked about what books we already had, and what books/topics were very popular, as well as our majorly outdated non-fiction. They said they'd be sending some more books our way sometime in July! Woo hoo! Later on I was talking to SrN (our current principal) and she told someone who was there that I was great at finding free book resources. Big Grin Big Grin

*related to the above --- We had this donor couple visiting our campus this week. The wife couldn't get over how much I smile (get really tired of hearing that, but sometimes it works in my favor.) She and her husband are avid readers. They both fell in love with the kids and our school - I let her do the final storytime with my K class :*(. She absolutely loved it (and I think they enjoyed it too.) Before she left she told me that she and her husband want to make a donation to the library, and then she handed me a $20 bill as a start. Seeeweet! I don't know how much they plan on donating, but if it is a goodly amount, then I'd like to use some of it to get a second magazine rack to put my small graphic novels in. I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend nearly $200 on one when that money could bring more books ... but if I don't have a good way to display the books, what good does it do, right? Smile

Last night I was figuring out the dollar amount of books that I added to our library this year. Combining my contributions, the money gifts from mom's friend, and book fair proceeds (from 2 book fairs), it came out to around $4,000. In all, I think that totaled around 450 books + another 200 or so books that were donated last year and have been slowly added, and then another 40 books that were donated to us from a school in Chicago (they did a one for one promotion at their bookfair and used the money to buy us books off the wishlist I sent.)

4 Responses to “One Week and a Raise! Good Visit w/New Principal”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1337437066

    I really enjoyed hearing your synopsis of the year and the possibilities for the future. That school is lucky to have you.

    Could you rig up a display for the graphic novels using a clear over-the-door shoe pouch--the kind that has maybe sixteen pouches? It could hang on a wall. Or put two of them back-to-back suspended from a free standing rectangular frame hammered together from 2X4s.

  2. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1337437692

    Text is http://www.amazon.com/Over-Door-Clear-Organizer-Storage/dp/B000IXOH7G/ref=pd_sim_hg_3/175-9087685-8805156 and Link is
    http://www.amazon.com/Over-Door-Clear-Organizer-Storage/dp/B...

  3. Frugaltexan75 Says:
    1337438252

    Joan,

    Wow! That is a great idea - I wonder if I could cut the pockets and attatched them - I.e. make two pockets into one. I'm not sure if one pocket would be wide enough. I bet I could get our maintenance guys to build a frame Smile or possibly get a garment rack to hang them on. Hmm ...

  4. wowitsawonderfullife Says:
    1337644791

    Wow, your dedication is amazing. Your school is very lucky to have you. What a creative mind you have!

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