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1. Last In, First Out (LIFO)
LIFO is the procedure by which unionized school districts decide which teachers to lay off first. It says that the newest teachers (no matter how good) lose their jobs first due to seniority. Could there be a worse policy? (Hint: NO!) It’s budget season and many amazing teachers are being handed pink slips, regardless of how well their students are performing. I’m not talking about arbitrary state tests here, I’m talking about 3rd party Literacy and Math assessments…come on, get it together!
2. Spring Break
I know Spring Break is 6 weeks away but I just found out this week that Krista and I are going to Ft. Lauderdale to spend it with her family! The only time I’ve ever been to Florida was a horrendous 12 hour hold over during my first visit to the United Sates. They held me and interrogated for the entire time trying to make sure that I wasn’t a mortal threat to the country. The best part? I was 10 years old. I can’t wait to have Florida reclaim its marred image.
3. Teaching
This week I had the opportunity to lead a classroom (twice) and I really missed it. It’s one of the things that I know I’m really good at and it reminded me how much I want to be a part of children’s learning experience. I’m the kind of guy who gets excited about lesson planning, teacher technique manuals, and videos of champion teachers exhibiting their craft. Just writing about it brings a grin to my face. I know that education is my calling. Let’s see where it takes me.
4. Friends
Recently I’ve been really missing my friends. College friends, high school friends, old work friends, just people I once knew. This isn’t a knock against my current friends but I really just don’t keep up with my East Coast friends nearly as much as I should (my fault) and there’s so much that I want to share and celebrate with them. I want to know how they’re doing, the drama in their lives, how they feel about the latest Glee episode. It’s sad that I’ll probably never have them all in the same place again but I really want to make an effort to get reconnected with them all. Maybe some of them are reading this. Any suggestions?
5. City Year
It’s almost over. There are only 60-ish days left and I couldn’t be more upset. I feel like there’s so much work left to do and that inevitably there’s going to be even more at the end of the year. At this point it’s unclear if there’ll be any opportunity for me to continue my career with this powerful organization but my fingers are still crossed. Our site has its stuff together and there’s no other place I’d rather be than making a difference in young peoples’ lives. We’ll see how that goes.
