Thursday, May 15, 2008

Oy Vey!

Yesterday was tough.
I rode the rollercoaster of emotion. First, my colleague texted me to say that he wouldn't be in due to a sick kid. There are 3 of us assistant principal-types on campus, so normally one being out isn't that big a deal, but the other has been in state-mandated testing seclusion for the last 3 weeks and wouldn't be much help. I knew supervision was going to be my job for the day. The worst part of that was that it was Wednesday, and our schedule is all jacked up on Wednesdays for collaboration time. This is before I even set foot on campus, remember.
Then, the first thing I did upon arrival at school was sign to indicate I'd received my notice that my job had, so sorry, been officially eliminated by the school board. Not unexpected, but still, it sucked. Things improved briefly when I was able to arrange for some substitute teachers to help out with supervision, but went downhill again when I saw the pile of discipline referrals on my desk (teachers and kids both go a little nuts during testing!).
Back up: I got a call from a district I interviewed with 2 weeks ago, scheduling a second interview!
Back down: lunch duty. We normally have 2 lunch periods, 30 minutes each, with about 15 minutes in between, enough time for us to grab a bite to eat. Wednesdays, it's 2 lunch periods of 35 minutes with about 8 minutes in between. I wound up skipping lunch, thinking I'd grab a sandwich after the lunch periods ended.
Wrong.
Way down: call from a teacher: "Student X is under the influence of alcohol!" Pull Student X from class, talk to her, she's in full denial mode. I asked another person to come in and observe her, but still inconclusive.
Back up: I go back to the teacher, ask for more details, and talk to another student in the class (Student X's good friend) and say, "Do you know why I pulled her out?" He answers, "Because she had alcohol!" Call the police, they send an officer out, she blows a .007 b.a.c on the breathalizer. (By the way: this is "up" because I was able to get the answer, not because I'm glad she was drinking. Student X is a sweet kid, but very troubled.)
Down again: Student X names another kid in connection with the booze, who in turn rolls on another, but neither of those really pan out.
Up once more: another district I applied with called to set up an interview- scheduled it for 90 minutes after the other one (district offices are only 10 minutes away from one another).
Down again: Cleared out Student X and her friends, talked to parents, and headed out the door, only to find one of our kids waiting for a ride home. By this time, it's 5:30, and school gets out at 3. 10 minutes later, mom rolls up and I'm on my way to pick up kids and get ready for a cub scout meeting. Still no lunch. Teacher observation writeups/evaluations need to be signed the next day. Only one is written yet. Still need to observe one teacher. Did I mention they are due next day?
Up, finally to stay: Beautiful and patient wife says she'll take the boy to the scout meeting. I get to eat, sit down, veg out for a few minutes before I start writing evals.

Today? Much better!

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