Education in America is in the crapper. We allow kids to get away with murder and we remove any power a classroom teacher may have. To make matters worse, we allow lazy, under inspired teachers to be in a classroom.

Reform?

Teach for America seems like a scam to me because it doesn't recognize that there are some experienced teachers out there who can do the job and do it well. Everything I learned in school and in the classroom indicates that the best teachers are those who are intelligent in their jobs, experienced and well-supported. Throwing unexperienced 21 year olds in a class of kids who could care less because they have been treated poorly and have not been given a fair shake doesn't seem to be the fix either.

Now we could go after teacher's unions. They are responsible for the teacher attitude of "I don't have to do that" as in, "I don't have to go to my student's concert because it's not in my job description." Really? Shouldn't teachers be interested in the growth of their students. I know I appreciate seeing another side to my students. More importantly, they enjoy knowing that I've seen their talent outside the classroom. This was true even in private school where it was mandatory to attend concerts and such. However, teacher's unions don't make bad teachers; they make mediocre teachers lazy and then bad. Good teachers are good teachers regardless of the system they're in.

Lack of funding seems like the biggest flaw in reform. Throwing more money at schools will not make them better. Paying lazy teacher more money will not make them less lazy. Giving students who need glasses and a some real food a new computer won't make them math geniuses. Professional development is a joke and many teachers only attend because they have to. Very rarely do I see teachers return from any conference charged like I returned from the NCTE conference four years ago. Schools don't want to send teachers to the conferences that are meaningful either. When I interviewed this summer, one administrator gave me grief because I asked if the school would allow me to go to a conference on what's new in young adult literature. God forbid I want to know about what might work for students!!!

The lack of discipline is killing education. Kids are not responsible for their work. Parents attack teachers when their child fails because they automatically assume their child actually did the work. Schools force teachers to accept late work. Students don't have to give up precious lunch time to use the restroom; they can just leave the classroom. Seriously, when did you ever sit in a class and have to go so badly that you pitched a fit? For me, never. And, I never used the time-of-the-month excuse either -- ever.

I have a co-worker who is considering leaving teaching because he's tired of the crap. I am getting that way too.

Deadlines are killing me.

But what really bothers me is that the deadlines I thought I was meeting are moving closer to me. When I started at the school I knew I had to do about 9 online courses. You know, Identifying Harassment; Bloodborne Pathogens; Creating the Safe Work Environment. These courses are -- well, actually, were initially due on Oct. 21. then I got an email from my immediate supervisor a couple weeks back. She said the courses were due on the 19th. Today? This afternoon I received an email from my supervisor saying I had to be done by tomorrow -- the 18th. Seriously, that's just ridiculous. I did the work, but I'm still annoyed.

Another looming deadline -- grades.

Everyone here crows about the merits of Nevada Day. Yay! I get a three day weekend. But wait, I have to do the end of the quarter grades. Again, seriously???? I'd rather have had Columbus day off and no Nevada day off. A day off to do work just seems not like a day off. I should have made arrangements to go home for a long weekend instead of this silliness.

I am really disliking my job this year. Is it me or the system?

Did you ever see people line up at the baggage carousel at the airport? What a bunch of impatient pests! REally, if I am waiting for my luggage, get out of my way when I walk forward to grab it. Is there any reason for people to be in the way? NO!!!

Let's give each other space.

Another rough night with the loud neighbors.

At 2:30 I got up to call the service my apartment uses for such incidents. The problem, however, is that the service does not work for this property alone. In fact, the guy was in Henderson, NV -- an easy 40 minutes from here. Since my neighbor uses his patio as a smoking lounge, he and his friends are not there all the time. They just go out, have a smoke, and head back inside. It's really important that I get sleep. Getting woken up more than once in an evening is very annoying. Getting woken up several times since I've lived here by the same neighbors is inexcusable.

Is there anything I can do?

For starters, I am going to write a letter to the management of this property and let them know the service they've used to cover their asses doesn't work. (Incidentally, when I called to make the complaint, the guy said he'd already been at the property earlier in the evening.) I will simply continue to be the squeaky wheel here and hope the neighbors move soon. Aside from that, is there anything else I can do?

I also have an issue with bugs in this apartment. I'm currently vexed by tiny hopping bugs similar to no-see-ums we have in NY. They are all over the place in my office. I guess they like paper. I don't like them. Another complaint.

I wish we had assigned parking here. It seems that the row of covered parking where I park my car is the most popular row in the entire complex. Seriously? So, if I go out at night, there's no place to park near my apartment. Ugh.

And I still have nine months to live here in the dreadful desert.

Pet peeve week from the menopause mama.

Today's gripe:  grocery baggers.  Really, does it take a college degree to realize you don't put cans of tomatoes on top of the tomatoes themselves?

When I was a kid, baggers NEVER put cleaning products in the same bag as any food product.  Now, they just throw the stuff in the bag.

Is the problem that these young baggers don't actually put groceries away at home thereby being oblivious to the havoc they create?  Do they not spend any of their money on groceries to know that ruined stuff sucks?

Back in the day, real people worked in the grocery stores.  They were there day after day, year after year.  They build their careers there; paid rent and took care of their families.  Mrs. Lau and Mrs. Sabel worked at the local Grand Union -- they were it.  They knew their job and they did it well.  Now it's young people who don't know an artichoke from an avocado who work in these stores until a better, more prestigious job comes along.

We need to take pride in the work we do and stop just showing up for a paycheck.

America is over-coddling its children and will pay eventually.  I cannot believe how many parents contact me because they want me to give their children a retest.  Don't get me wrong, after 7 years of teaching Latin, I recognize the value of giving kids a second chance.  But I don't believe that students should take a retest on material that is straight forward.  I gave a matching quiz a couple weeks ago.  My students admitted that they did not study.  Their scores show it, too.  Still, they are looking for a second chance.

I think this business of giving so many chances is hurting a student's work ethic too.  I have students who are failing my class.  They do no work and beg for mercy.  On the rare chance that I give mercy, they turn around and screw up again by not doing the next assignment.  In Clark County, the middle schools are instructed to give students retakes.  Further, they are allowed to submit late work all quarter.  What are we teaching kids with this?  I receive these students in high school and they are far from prepared to face the challenges of the class because they didn't really master the correct behavior.

Often I hear that students have an A in every other class.  So.  In my class, where work actually means something, poor behavior and failure to do work equal poor grades.  I write kids up to be ineligible for their sport.  No extra credit.  If they didn't bother with the assignment in the first place, why should I have to design yet another assignment to help these lazy beasts?

Teaching is getting more tiring every year.  I suspect this culture of hovering parents is playing a role.  I wonder if these same parents are the reason the US is not doing well in comparison to other countries educationally speaking.

Just a thought.

Being far from home has its obvious problems, but the biggest one is not being able to be with friends when they need it most.

As I approach 50 I guess my friends will begin to lose their parents.  It's sad.  We move through life thinking we've got it under control, then a death occurs and suddenly it throws you back some years.  At least that's how it feels now.  My dear friend Gretchen lost her father today.  It was sudden.  In some respects, that's easier to swallow.  He died in peace and pain free.  But the family is left with what's behind.  When you consider that the family dynamics are not the greatest, the stress of grief can tug at the seams of the family structure.

Gretchen, seemingly the weak link -- unmarried with two children and struggling to make ends meet in Manhattan, has stepped forward and shown her leadership skills.  She has clarity of purpose that would make her father proud.

We show who we are, not on a daily basis, but when the chips are down and it's either sink or swim.  I am saddened that my friend has lost a father.  But in so doing, she seems to have found her voice.  So, my prayers to the Schell family.