Terrific/Troubling Tuesday

Karen's comment from yesterday made me smile. I have a little easel I keep on my table right outside my door. One side is a chalkboard, one side is dry erase. Every morning, I write a little "morning message" to my babies. Yesterday it said:

Today will be a

Marvelous Monday!

I'm so glad you're here!

This morning, I wrote:

Today will be a

Terrific Tuesday!

Don't you agree?

It was after I wrote the message that I saw Karen's comment, and I thought it was pretty funny!

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OK, so, school....

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Apparently, my dear, sweet Bloggy Buddies, all your praying and positive thoughts have been working. You already know that I've been getting some extra help from Ms. M. every morning for the past 4 days now. And, of course, my darling Ms. H. is always there to help out. Well, this afternoon, as I was dropping my babies off for library, New Principal happened to stop by to talk to the librarian. When she saw me, she said, "I need to talk to you." Uh oh, now what? Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that I received one more student this morning. I thought maybe, just maybe, she'd say we were finally going to half-days. So, I said, "Well, do you have time right now?" "Oh, are you on your prep?" "Yes." "Ok, let's go to my office." As we walked to her office, she was stopped a couple of times, and at one point, she commented to someone, "I'm trying to talk to my kindergarten teacher. I need to ask her for a BIG favor." Hmmm....

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I'll skip right to the punchline - she asked me if I'd be willing to move to preschool. OK, let that sink in for a minute....she asked me if I'd be WILLING to move to PRESCHOOL!!!!!!! Those of you that know me, as in real life, or even if you've been a long time reader, you know that this is the equivalent of winning the freakin' lottery!!!! I literally jumped up and shouted. Yes, like a big geek! First she just asked if I'd be willing to move. I kinda made a face, and asked, "to where?" When she said, "Pre-k," I seriously yelped. [ok, seriously, I started to say, "I'd give my left tit to have preschool!" but I, luckily, caught myself, and it came out "left arm". There's no reason for New Principal to know I have such a potty mouth just yet...;-)] There was a huge look of relief on her face. I know I haven't really been writing about this situation, but let me just say, she has NOT been happy with the way the preschool is run. Maybe I'll share/vent about the whole story on another post.

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OK, now for the catch. I don't actually have my early childhood endorsement. My certificate is K-9. I immediately let her know that, as I didn't want her to be surprised later. She looked disappointed, but then I let her know that there may be a way for her to get a waiver. I am in the process of submitting my transcripts to the state for evaluation. They then let you know what classes, if any, you need to take to get the endorsement you're seeking. I'm hoping and praying that I won't need any, or at worst, just 2-3 classes. Usually, in a case like this, the state will accept a waiver signed by the principal, stating that the teacher in question is actively working toward the endorsement needed.

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I told New Principal I would try to contact the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and see how I can expedite this process. She said she would like to try and get everything settled by the time we go on intersession, which is less than two weeks away.

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Oo, she did say something that I didn't like, though, about a change in classes, AGAIN. When I asked if we would be able to go half-day (whether I move to pre-k or not) she said she was going to make a K/1 split. Huh?! We are severely overcrowded down in the primary classrooms right now. My friend next-door (the one who was supposed to do K with me) has a 1/2 split. She currently has 15 first graders and 15 second graders. Yup, that's 30 students total, in a primary classroom. TOO MANY! The other first grade is up to 35 students, which means there are 50 first graders all together. Um, I don't know about you, but that sounds like 2 classes to me. The other second grade has 27 students, which means there are 42 total. That could be 2 small classes.

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All I know is, a K/1 split does NOT sound like a good idea to me. Even if she would guarantee that she would put the lowest 1st graders and highest Kdg. students together, I don't see this working very well. She has told my friend with the 1/2 split to teach the 2nd grade curriculum to all of her students (which is NOT working for the 1st graders!! They are missing out on an entire year of instruction, for Pete's sake!) So, I assume she would want whoever the teacher is of the K/1 split to teach the 1st grade curriculum to the class. How will that work?! And, what happens next year, when those Kdg. kids are in 1st grade? Do they just repeat an entire year? I am not comfortable with this at all. If it comes down to it, I may just have to tell her I'll just keep ALL my babies.

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Jeez, I was in such high spirits when I started this post, but I hadn't really thought it all through until I started typing. Now, I'm a little frazzled. I'm going to just focus all my (positive!) energy on getting this preschool position, though, and I hope you'll do the same for me. Thanks! I can always count on my Bloggy Buddies!

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Frickin' blogger is acting up again!!! Why the hell does that happen?! WHY does it keep eliminating my spacing?! Argh!