The Pope Has Been a Bad Boy…

I was reading the online version of our local newspaper when I read the following headline, and I was shocked.

Honestly, sometimes these reporters and editors need to think about what they write as the title of an article. I couldn’t imagine that the pontiff had been stealing around here in my part of the world. I really was picturing Pope Benedict XVI in jail for stealing something.

Just food for thought today!

Saying Goodbye to Aaron

This morning we learned that our brother in the blogosphere, Aaron @ A Beautiful Chaos has decided to leave us. It is difficult to believe that it has been a year since Aaron arrived on the scene. He is such a remarkable young man, and I am constantly in awe of all he has accomplished in such a short life. What I love most about Aaron is that he has never been afraid to speak his mind or let us into his life. He has documented (very well, I might add) his life this past year and his struggle coming out and coming to terms with who he is in this world. It is obvious he knows who he is and what he wants in life. We all could take a lesson or two from him.

Aaron, I sincerely hope that your life continues to thrive and that you get all that this world has to offer you. I have no doubt that you will continue to be a leader, but I predict that your leadership will take on a more worldwide audience. I look forward to the day when you are on that world stage and everyone is watching!

Take care and keep in touch!

As a gesture to Aaron, I am leaving this song from the Muppets. It is one of my favorites and the one I look to when saying goodbye to someone.

Saying Goodbye–The Muppets Take Manhattan

Glee's "Teenage Dream"

I am such a gLeek! Today I found the video below. It is from the upcoming episode of Glee titled "Never Been Kissed." The song...Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. I LOVE THIS SHOW!

What About Love…I’m Here

No, this posting is NOT about my love life. (That non-existent portion of my life at the moment…No worries!) This post is about my love of Broadway!

Last night I ordered my tickets to see 9 to 5 : The Musical. I have loved the movie for years. I love Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda. They were hilarious in the movie. When the show opened on Broadway I wanted so badly to go see it, but I never got the opportunity to make it to New York. Alas, it closed, and I was sad. Then I learned it would be opening a nation-wide tour. My hopes were raised.

My joy increased as I ordered my tickets and got FRONT ROW SEATS! I am now more excited than ever. I have to wait until January 7 to see it in Greenville, SC…I will wait.

Here is a snippet from the show.

January will be a great month. I am also going with best friend, Jenny to see the national tour of The Lion King in Durham, NC. I cannot wait. Also coming up this year are the national tours of Spring Awakening (yes…again!), Wicked, and others.

I did want to leave some music from one of my favorite musicals…The Color Purple. I have been listening to that soundtrack today.

“Hell No” & “The Color Purple” on the Tony Awards

“What About Love” from Best of the West End 2009

Test Scores and a Questionnaire

Last night I received an email from the state department of education stating that my standardized test scores from last April were available online. Like so many of my colleagues at school, this left me shaking in my boots. So much of our school's livelihood is based on how our students perform on a single test to assess everything they learned throughout the school year. (Ridiculous, I know, but thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act my life now revolves around standardized testing.)

I was unable to access my scores last night because the login required my original teacher licensure number, which I no longer had on file. I had to contact our HR manager at the Central Office to get the information.

Around 8:30 this morning I was able to login and get my test scores. I was still shaking as the PDF file loaded onto my computer.

Test scores alone are not the determinant in teacher effectiveness. Our state subscribes to a concept called Value-Added assessment. In a nutshell, value-added score show a students progression from the previous year. A score of 0.0 signifies that your students made NO progression from the previous year. A score of 1.0 signifies a year's worth of progression, which should be the minimum for every teacher.

Before I go on, let me just say that this past year was a year of great change across the state. Our state curriculum standard had a drastic reformation. Before the modifications occurred, our state standards were listed as 41 out of all 50 states in difficulty. Since the change our standards are ranked as the second hardest in the country...only outdone by the great state of Massachusetts. That is a gigantic jump in rigor for our state. Of course my school system jumped on the bandwagon and tackled the state standards. We worked the entire year to make sure we met all standards.

Back on track...

I opened my scores and this is what I learned:
- The state average for 6th grade science was -1.3 (Yes a NEGATIVE 1.3)
- My school's average was +1.3
- My value-added score was a +4.8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was jumping for joy. Not only did I blast past the state average, I am one of the top science teachers in my school. I know that this is vanity, and I agree. However I cannot help it. I am always so worried that my students will not do well. Getting the scores I received helped put my mind to ease and lets me know I am doing something right in my classes. My students are learning!

This just made my day and week!

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The second part of my day was also quite interesting. I went to the mailroom at lunch and found a questionnaire in my box. The questionnaire was titled "Reconfiguration Placement Survey."

This questionnaire was distributed before our system does a school reconfiguration. Currently our elementary schools are Pre-K through 5th grade, our middle school is 6th to 7th grade, and our high school is 8th grade to 12 th grade. After the reconfiguration in 2012 we will be as follows

Elementary >>> Pre-K to 4th
Intermediate >>> 5th to 6th
Middle >>> 7th to 8th
High >>> 9th to 12th

As part of the reconfiguration, there will be a number of teachers shuffled to fill needed positions. The survey sent out today was done to help our leadership make decisions on where to place everyone. We were asked about our current placement, our licensure endorsements, Highly Qualified Status, etc.

One of the most pertinent sections was our preference of placements. We were first asked which schools we would choose. I chose Intermediate first, Middle second, and one of the elementary schools third.  Then there was the question of what subjects we would like to teach. I asked for math first, science second, and social studies third. I asked for math first in hopes of being moved back to mathematics. I miss teaching it terribly.

The final question was very perplexing. The survey asked "Which is more important to you, the school or the subject taught?"

This question was hard for me. Do I put school is more important in hopes of staying at my current school? (I love my school very much!) Do I put the subject first in hopes of being put back in math? This was not an easy choice. I chose "subject." I decided that I could teach anywhere and make the best of the situation.

Honestly, I really wanted to put "Just put me wherever!" In the end, the decision of placement will be left to the administration. I also know that I am Highly Qualified to teach all subjects (Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies) from Kindergarten up to 8th grade. That is a rarity anywhere. So I know that I will be one of the last ones placed to fill a needed position. I will manage!

What would be my ideal placement? I have two options:
(1) I would teach 5th or 6th grade mathematics at my current school.
(2) I would teach 7th or 8th grade mathematics at the new state-of-the-art middle school.

Only time will tell. We are supposed to know our placements before the end of this current school year. The anticipation will build as time flies!


What a day!!!