Memorizing 106 Names

and writing a letter to the editor...

I have finally memorized my students’ names....all 106 of ‘em.

This year, instead of teaching all subjects to one class, I am teaching one subject to all classes. In order to meet our state, district, and school objectives, our grade level departmentalized and I became the Math Teacher. I have to admit it has its downsides: there are hundreds of papers to grade, the schedule is fast paced, and the time we have with them (1 hour 15 min for each of the four classes) never seems to be enough.

But on the upside, I have been given the opportunity to get to know 100 plus students with a variety of lives,personalities, and learning styles. Some students that stand out are “M”, who, despite a really bad stutter, has a lot of confidence in himself, which I find very admirable. There is also “H”, who tries to pass himself off as a waayyy cool boy, but is very nerdy at heart. I have another boy, “C”, who is caught in a custody battle, and is doing the best he can at school despite all this bitterness in his life. I also enjoy having “J and J” for one of my classes; they are two wonderful, respectful, and intelligent girls who give 100 percent every time they walk into my room...they are such good role models for their fellow classmates. I could name so many more: class clowns, smart alecks, athletes, bookworms, gifted ones, cute-as-a-button ones... but I think I’ll run out of room here. Maybe I’ll leave them for some of my other articles.

Anyway, aside from being worn out, overwhelmed with paperwork, and a bit dizzy with the quick moving pace of my work day, I am enjoying my school year overall thus far...I really am.

On a side note, some JERK wrote a letter to our local paper’s editor saying teachers in my district didn’t deserve a pay raise. He ranted on about us not doing as good as we should have on test scores and questioned why we should be given more money...I was so PiSSed, I shakily wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper to put him in his place...and It got Published on Friday!! I hope the moron read it.

I wanna try to put a link to it if it’s still there ( from el paso times.com)...in the meanwhile, here it is as it was published:

This is in response to Javier Garcia’s letter on August 22 regarding poor teaching in Ysleta schools. Mr. Garcia, how long has it been since you have witnessed teaching in a classroom? If you think the TAKS is merely about basic reading and writing, then I’d say it’s been decades. I invite you to take a look at the TAKS objectives on Ysleta’s web site. Many are very difficult to teach. But you know
what , these teachers rise up to the challenge, and do their darned best to get their students to succeed.

Furthermore, teaching goes beyond a standardized test and state rating. Teachers serve as role models, counselors, and confidantes; they work unpaid overtime, often buy classroom materials at their own expense, spend countless hours doing lesson plans, attending professional developments, and using personal time to make themselves better teachers. To say we do not deserve a pay raise shows much ignorance on your part. Educate yourself on the facts, sir, unless you need us to teach them to you. We’d be glad to.

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