Waiting for Apples?

Yesterday's meeting was nice. The snacks seemed to be a hit. Well, maybe not the lemon cranberry cake picked out in the bakery because of the cool shape -- a ring of conifers -- and I don't know why that was, I think it tastes pretty good and I am not a lover of lemony baked goods.

We always have a great group of caring educators who show up to the association meetings. I'm not sure what I appreciate most about those folks who attend on a regular basis; the level of intelligence, their willingness to offer support or their dedication to the profession. Every contribution to the conversation in yesterday's meeting was of value. All questions were discussed in a generally thoughtful manner, punctuated by the wisdom of experienced educators, and the agenda items were quickly and thoughtfully addressed.

The best part of the meeting yesterday was that we were able to say that we have a contract in its final form; it was even made available, in all it's hard copy glory, for attendees to carry home. We can start the bargaining process again early next year -- that's 2011 I'm talking about -- so I have to say an unenthusiastic, "yippee." Don't get me wrong, I understand the value of contract negotiations but this last round kind sucked all the fun out of the prospect of another go at the process.

We had time to talk about how the continuing professional development picture for our guest teachers is developing, or not. I looked at the Commission's November meeting agenda item pertaining to the issue online before our meeting (the minutes are not approved yet) and nothing had been decided previously. There seems to be a lot of wrangling over what qualifies as professional development and how many PDUs to require for substitute teachers who hold a teacher license to renew. So, what is new in the slow turning of the wheels of a regulatory body? Nothing it seems.

There was a lively discussion of everyday substitute teacher trials and tribulations. For instance, what happens when a guest teacher in our district is assigned a job via the automated dispatch system, packs a tasty lunch then treks to the school only to be told they are not needed? Our contract with said district states that if we hold the job number we get the job or are paid for (and work) a half-day. Something that is happening to a number of our guest teachers is that someone or the system calls after the assignment has been accepted to tell the guest teacher they are no longer needed for the job. Because many of us use our cell phones for our primary contact and turn the ringer off once we have accepted a job for the day we are not always getting that notification before arriving at the school site. I have been told that some of those calls come while the guest teacher is driving to the school site so I ask, in that case, where is the cutoff; at home or in transit? If I am pulling up in the staff/visitor parking area and I get call canceling the job, am is supposed to back out of the space and go home with my tail between my legs? Do I stand my ground and argue with the most important person in that school building -- the secretary (or is that the custodian?)-- and possibly an administrator that I have a contractual right to the job? It is a sticky situation that may not be easily cleared up for some time.

On a more upbeat note (pun intended) we found out that the EEA Professional Development Seminars, sponsored by the Eugene Education Association Instruction Committee and Eugene District 4J schedule had been sent out to all members. Exciting stuff since we are fairly certain our guest teachers will eventually have to collect PDUs and/or college credits in order to renew their licenses. The Instruction Committee has come up with 15 different seminars -- I signed up for 5 of them -- and as always they look like valuable and interesting learning opportunities for our licensed educators. The Instruction Committee does not disappoint!

Meeting Apples

No apples on the menu for this afternoon's meeting of the association but other goodies will be in attendance.

Again I have put off posting to this blog for too long and am ashamed of my lax behavior. I don't have a good excuse for being away all this time, just lazy. I do feel a bit ADD these days and wonder if it is part of the grieving process for me? Oh well, I just have to plow on because the holidays are upon me and I have things to accomplish to that end.

Back to the meeting and its agenda. We are going to be talking about the finalization of our latest contract with the district. Whew! We start the process of negotiation again in February so I feel sort of like we have been slogging through thick deep mud for the last one and a half years or so.

We will also be touching, briefly, on the subject of continuing professional development for guest teachers and how it pertains to relicensure. I checked the state commission's last meeting (November 4, 2010) agenda and there is still no final word on how or even if that will be a reality sometime after the beginning of the new year. I feel very much up in the air about the prospect of having to collect PDUs to renew my teaching license and, personally, would like some particulars so that I can get on with my professional life. Again, that feeling of slogging through deep mud.

Guest teaching has been very slow for me in the last 30 days. I am too bummed out to mention here how many days I DIDN'T work in the last 30 so I won't. Suffice it to say, it has been abysmally slow for me. I hope all the other guest teachers who want to work are getting as many assignments as they can handle. But if you are getting plenty of work I am quite envious. I used to take the attitude that if I wasn't working much it didn't really matter -- my spouse makes a good living (knock wood) -- but I find, every year, that we are dependent on my meager paycheck more than the last. I will say, I anticipated a drop off in assignments, due to the suffering economy and rapidly falling school fund reserves so I am not all that surprised but it is humbling and makes me question my abilities as a professional educator when days go by without even a chance to turn a job down. On such days I wonder, silently or aloud, what I have done wrong, who did I irritate enough that I am not being called back? I am almost ashamed to hope I am not the only one who is feeling left out in the cold -- no pun intended -- by this slow season.

On the upside of the downturn in guest teacher assignments I am experiencing is that I have gotten a few messy storage places in the house straightened and some junk tossed. Just yesterday I went through two of the kitchen 'junk' drawers (I can open and close them with ease now) and the cupboard that holds all the plastic wrap, aluminum foil and wax paper products. The latter effort means that those containers don't cascade out onto the dirty floor every time one of us opens the cupboard door. Life is always better when things are clean and organized, now if I could just motivate myself enough to do the cleaning part.

Question: Do you have 'junk' drawers, closets, boxes, baskets . . . ?

Since I do not expect much in the way of work for the last two days before Winter Break I should have time to post here often. Look for more frequent entries.

Family and Others Apples

I am disappointed that I have not kept my promise to myself to keep up with the blog and post often but I've have been too busy for the last two months trying to cope with personal things to concentrate on this blog . Wow, has it really been that long?

On to guest teacher stuff. Not much to report really. We are waiting on some language changes in our contract with the district and the last time I checked that is what is keeping us from being able to look at a hard copy of the thing. I've had a couple guest teachers ask to see the contract -- negotiations ended a long time ago -- and it isn't there. Of course, the district is dealing with budget issues and everyone in that office is scrambling (I'm guessing) to keep operating so a teeny-tiny little guest teacher contract is not very important to them. Besides, we're still getting a paycheck and in the grand scheme of things that is what matters to most of us guest teachers.

One thing that is going on is that the district is conducting interviews to add 150 guest teachers to the 'sub list' and that worries me. The district contends that they need to add those people to the list but I believe the number is too high. Maybe 50 but not 150. That is a lot of guest teachers and with the economy the way it is more of us really depend on being out in the schools everyday. Too few of us are experiencing that frequency for me to believe the district needs to add that many teachers to the list. Of course, they didn't consult with me or any of the other of those of us who are still on the list or they wouldn't be adding anyone to it -- really!

Well, on that happy note I am going to end today's contribution to this blog. Have a good Monday.

Inservice Apples

Ever wonder where the time has gone? I am in that place right now. Where did the summer go? It seemed to last only a few weeks. Oh, wait, it was only a few weeks in duration, seriously! At this moment (I just checked) the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit and we have had rain for the last few days. It was cool enough this A.M. that I donned a hoodie for my walk. Feels like October, not September.

It being September and officially back-to-school time in my neck of the woods I have gone from mostly fun stuff while on the computer to work. Over the Labor Day weekend I 'tried' to switch gears into checking Aesop mode. That is, checking Aesop over and over and over . . . You get the idea. What I least like about being a guest teacher is having to 'search' for assignments. It used to be that I was severely disappointed that I did not have my own classroom but Aesop had 'helped' me to get past that and dread the hours I find myself sitting at my PC, searching for a job. I call it "Office Chair Butt Syndrome" and hope I don't offend anyone with my coining of that term.

On Tuesday, September 7 our guest teachers had a chance to attend the District's annual Guest Teacher Inservice and about 170 of us were able to make it to the event. It was a lot like last year's inservice. We heard from Mary O'Rourke and K.C. Clark on working with student's with Autism and while it was quite similar to last year's presentation it was full of useful information for guest teachers. Patrick Hughes from Risk Management stopped by to tell us that we had to take a couple online tutorials then pass the accompanying quizzes within the next three months. Less Moore with Computer & Information Services took a few minutes to instruct us on how to change our email information in Aesop -- we no longer have district email accounts. (;_;) After the break Brie (Bruce) Stiller and Melissa Barbour gave us a lot of moral support by making us laugh about the nature of guest teaching and giving us some strategies to help make all of us successful; it is always a plus to have laughter and useful strategies. We finished up by taking a look at some of the technology we might run into in the classroom. A significant number of our guest teachers are less than comfortable with document cameras, Smartboards, Airliners and clickers so Marilyn Williams' presentation was, as always, well received. All we have to do now is search and search and search . . .

Back to School Apples

Just looked at my Zimbra account and found a message from Eugene School District 4J regarding the Guest Teacher Inservice. The official word from the district is that the event is scheduled for September 7, 2010 -- that's Tuesday -- from 1 PM to 5 PM. More information is promised to arrive later; I wonder what they have in store for us?

Tree Apples

I have been doing some family tree research of late and I have to say, I admire those folks who put so much time and effort into compiling their family's history because it is a lot of work. I have spent hours in the last few days looking at family trees in search of connections. Connections that take me back centuries, into places I can only imagine and while the journey is sometimes tedious it is always one in which I lose myself. Time seems to stand still when I am clicking on tree after tree, hint after hint in search of another interesting tidbit of family history. And to think, the time spent is measured in nano seconds because we have the almost instant results of the internet. Gone are the days of spending weeks, months and even years waiting for the smallest pieces of information to fill in the branches of a family tree. The detective in me finds it fun to ferret out the who's who of our families.

In my latest foray into the back stories of our (spouse and mine) extended family I found that I am related to Daniel Boone. Yes, that Daniel Boone. Oh, I know, many are numbered in that relationship -- I've read of gigantic Boone Family reunions with thousands of attendees -- so my discovery is not a terribly big one. I do feel just the littlest bit special and when I told my husband of my venerable family connection, the pronouncement was met by a skeptical look and an "Oh, yeah." which lacked, too much, enthusiasm. But, like I told him, there were fewer people on the continent at the time and it was a small place. Really, it was. The settlers who had made the perilous journey to the shores of the North American Continent were concentrated in few places in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Settlement of the vast middle of the continent was still a thing of the future save for a very few brave and possibly foolish white men. I figure the chances of being related to those who, early on, made a name for themselves -- good or evil -- are relatively high if you have ancestors who were among some of the earlier settlers. Besides, families tended to be rather large, with lots of siblings to go on to parent their own rather large families thus making the possibility that our family hangs out in the same tree more likely.

History. That's what it is all about, history. One of my favorite subjects and that of my undergraduate degree. Without history we suffer ignorance and a lack of illumination in our lives. With history we can stumble into the future generations with surer footing than without. With history we can see the mistakes of the past and try to prevent them replaying. With history humans should be able to make reasoned decisions and judgments today and tomorrow -- if they do and will is entirely up to them. But, it can be argued that without history humans could create, free of previously proven impossibilities new innovations. Without history humans might . . . Naw! Wouldn't work unless our memories were wiped clean after every thought and then nothing would get done so it is all about history.

Central Oregon Apples

Spent the weekend in Central Oregon. Sunriver and Bend to be more precise. My sister-in-law has some very generous friends who shared their Sunriver vacation home with our families. It was a nice getaway that didn't require airline and hotel reservations. The guys golfed the two nearest courses while us girls shopped -- real and window. In Sunriver I picked up the prettiest pair of pearl and silver earrings for myself and could hardly wait to wear them. Funny how when I travel I spend on things I would never buy at home. It's like I give myself permission to shop when I am out of town.

It had been years since I'd spent any time wandering Bend and the place has really changed. We'd taken a brief trip there during a softball tournament in the late 90s but the Bend I remember was the place I visited almost yearly while I was growing up. My Grandma Stuart, Aunt Leatha and Uncle Howard lived in Bend so our family traveled north from California to visit. I can remember the walk to the park down the street from my Aunt's house on Galveston. We would watch the ducks and geese resting on the grass (or snow depending on the time of year) and gliding on the water. Sometimes we walked on, into the center of town to peer into the old storefront windows. I loved that the place was filled with evergreens; the air smelled of pine and reminded me of camping in the forest.

I didn't notice that fragrance on this visit but the city is nice and the people friendly. If you get a chance to visit Bend, Oregon take it and try to make a little side trip to Sisters. Sisters is kind of amazing looking. The community has done the place up like an old western movie set only prettier and with paved streets. I plan to go back to Sisters soon to check out all the cute shops and restaurants, maybe a day trip.

The mountains in the not so far distance are beautiful and seeing them made me realize that I need to stop taking all this beauty around me for granted and start appreciating the view. The drive over and back was a real treat too. We go the Mackenzie River route which is just gorgeous, so green and cooling on a summer day. I understand why so many cars were on the road -- people love to visit this area.

Official Apples

On July 7, 2010 myself and a guest teacher colleague made our way to the Oregon Education Association offices in Portland, Oregon for a meeting of the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. The reason for our trek to that particular meeting was to question a proposed change in the teacher licensing process. The proposal switches from a minimum number of days worked over the life of the license to a professional development requirement for all teacher license (nothing is changing for those holding a Substitute Teacher License) renewals in the state. At present only a contracted teacher must fulfill continuing professional development to renew their license. Before you start voicing your assertions that a good teacher should seek CPD let me stress that professional development is NOT a bad thing.

No, not a bad thing except that upon first hearing about this proposed change for guest teachers seeking to renew their teaching license what came to mind was logistics - purely logistics. How in the world would the 400 or so guest teachers I represent be able to fulfill a proposed twenty-five (25) professional development units in each year of the life of their license? We guest teachers don't have a guaranteed source of income so paying for professional development seminars and workshops is out of reach for most of us. There are free continuing professional development opportunities available to teachers so I breathed a sigh of relief only to suck it back in when I realized that every guest and unemployed teacher in the state would be seeking low and no cost PDU's -- all at the same time! Locally, we have a fantastic resource for PDU's through the parent association. They have done a wonderfully complete job of meeting the many and varied needs of their teachers' when it comes to CPD but to add 400 guest teachers to the number of professional educators taking advantage of the classes they provide would, undoubtedly, cause strain on the program. The Eugene Education Association likely would not be able to meet the added demand.

And, what kind of paperwork nightmare would this change in the renewal requirement lead to for the already over worked TSPC offices in Salem? Not my problem but that thought led me to hope this proposal would lose it's appeal when the commission gives it enough consideration and scrutiny to realize the burden it would place on their office staff. Since contracted teachers have their CPD 'passed on' by their administrators (in this district) nothing but the PEER form with the appropriate box checked is necessary for license renewal. Guest teachers have no administrator to 'sign off' on their PDU's so how will the 'proof' of completion be verified? Well, TSPC plans to audit 10 percent of the guest and unemployed teachers claims statewide. I guess two thousand (give or take) is less a burden than more than twenty plus thousand audits of PDU requirements met but still a burden.

Long story short, the meeting on July 7th put my mind at rest, a bit. The Commissioners seemed amenable to allowing at least some of the days worked in the classroom to count as professional development -- as it should. The kind of classroom experience guest teachers get by going from school to school, classroom to classroom, grade level to grade level is invaluable. As I pointed out to the Commission, that classroom experience is so rich that every contracted classroom teacher should have to spend at least a few days in the same capacity as a guest teacher; called at 6 AM and dispatched to an unfamiliar school, classroom and grade level. That isn't going to happen but I felt my statement had some positive (for the guest teacher's argument) impact on at least a few of the commissioners. We also found out that the definition of professional development is very broad and includes many opportunities for guest and unemployed teachers to fulfill the seventy-five to one hundred twenty-five PDU's required in the license renewal proposal. That being the case I feel certain all guest teachers who want to keep their teacher license -- and not opt for the Substitute Teacher License thus avoiding the PDU requirement -- will be able to with only the expense of time. Definitely doable for most of us.

Apples in the News

I remembered that I have been holding onto a couple clippings from the local newspaper. The clippings both have to do with substitute teachers and the vital role they play in the community. One is from the substitute teacher view the other is from the districts'. We (local guest teachers) were pretty darned pleased with the job Register Guard writer, Anne Williams did reporting on guest teachers in her day-in-the-life style story.

Above you can see Ron Gilmore, one of Eugene's finest guest teachers hard at work. Don't let his cool demeanor fool you, he was nervous about having a reporter and photographer watching and recording his every move. He felt fortunate that he knows all the students who were in the classroom that day and that it was a school in which he was well known and comfortable. True professional he is he didn't skip a beat when on a cloudy day in March, 2010:

One boy refused to take his backpack off his head.

Then, when they were supposed to be sitting quietly at their desks for an opening coloring activity, several children took turns hiding behind the coat rack.

"Cade's not here today," one girl reported with mock seriousness, dissolving in giggles when the classmate by that name peeked out from his hiding spot. So began afternoon kindergarten . . . with a substitute teacher . . . Ron Gilmore, who after 29 year as a substitute, is not easily rattled . . . certainly not by kindergartners with a case of the Friday wiggles. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

As Ms. Williams continues:

This is not the career he pictured for himself: He wanted to be a classroom teacher, and for a long time he held out hope of getting hired. But he's proud of what he does. Over the years, he's cultivated relationships with scores of teachers who have asked him back again, building up a reliable "clientele."

And forget the stereotypes of children running amok or whiling away the hours watching movies when the regular teacher is away. Classroom time on Gilmore's watch is put to good use, he insists.

"It's not lost instructional time," said Gilmore, a big man with a gentle voice . . . "We basically follow the teacher's plan that they've set out, and what the teacher planned for that day is what we will teach. So there's no lost flow." -- Anne Williams; The Register Guard. 3/7/2010

What Ms. Williams of the Register Guard doesn't miss is the important roll guest teachers play in the schools and in the lives of the students, teachers, support staff and administrators:

Still, this is not a job for the faint of heart, or the large of ego. Substitute teachers fill a low-profile and sometimes awkward role in education. Compared with their full-time counterparts, there's little in the way of autonomy or recognition, and for many there's constant uncertainty about when the next job will come. Except for some long-term gigs -- filling in for a teacher who's on parental leave, for instance -- there's scant opportunity to bond with students or other teachers. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Contract negotiations between the guest teacher union (Eugene Association of Substitute Teachers, EAST) and the district was one of the reasons Ms. Williams was reporting on the subject:

Last month, Gilmore and his colleagues appealed to the ** School Board for a pay raise that district officials have so far indicated no willingness to grant. The district is one of only three in Oregon whose substitute teachers are unionized, and the group -- Eugene Association of Substitute Teachers, or EAST -- has been working without a contract since last June. A mediated bargaining session in early February yielded no progress.

Pay isn't a big issue for every substitute teacher, of course. Some work merely to enhance an already comfortable household income. A goodly portion -- about 20 percent in Eugene and 7 percent in Springfield, according to district estimates -- are retired educators, some seeking to supplement their pensions and many keeping a hand in because they love teaching.

But for a core group, the work is critical. Some are like Gilmore -- "career" substitutes either by choice or default. Others are recent college graduates who have yet to land a permanent position and may be repaying student loans. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Ron Gilmore wasn't the only guest teacher Ms. Williams talked to about the state things for guest teachers and as is the case with many of us:

"I don't want to get rich, I just want to pay my bills and not have to worry, worry, worry," said Sage Siverstein . . . who has worked off and on as a substitute teacher since 2003 after being laid off from her first teaching job in Washington state. She still hopes to land a permanent position but recognizes that Oregon's financially strapped school districts anticipate hiring few teachers over the next couple of years.

Silverstein said she doesn't object to the pay rate; in fact, according to the National Substitute Teachers Alliance, it ranks among the highest in the country. Pay in some regions runs as low as $20 a day, with the average hovering around $105.

The bigger problem, as Siverstein sees it, is the scarcity of work. That may have something to do with the size of the substitute pool . . . Though Silverstein has built relationships with teachers who request her and tries to "market" herself aggressively, she doesn't work as often as she'd like . . . Last summer, she nearly became homeless.

Despite the many challenges of substitute teaching -- financial and otherwise -- Silverstein said it's a job she loves 98 percent of the time. She prides herself on her ability to hook the students in the opening minutes of class, make them want to work for her and proceed with the day's lesson without missing a beat. Most of the time she feels respected by students and teachers alike. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Yes, guest teachers -- AKA substitute teachers -- have earned and deserve that respect.

Silverstein and other substitutes said it's rare to walk into a classroom and find no lesson plan, especially since the advent of e-mail. On those rare occasions when they have to improvise, they draw on a time-tested "bag of tricks."

More difficult, they say, is understanding and managing the personalities and particular needs of the students in their classes. Many teachers leave a seating chart and let the substitute teacher know which children might be likely to misbehave or need extra assistance, but that's not necessarily the norm.

"In some buildings, everything they know about a kid is available; in others, you go in cold," said Pat Kessinger, a former high school teacher who quit to raise her children, then returned as a substitute and found the flexibility and lighter workload to her liking.

She recalled . . . a high school student who repeatedly got up in the middle of class to fiddle with a light fixture, then mutter on the way back to his seat . . . to later learn that he had obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Most guest teachers can relate to what Pat Kessinger was telling Ms. Williams.

Both Kessinger, 62 and Gilmore are among a small group of substitute teachers who take advantage of health coverage provided to those who work at least 80 days a year. Maintaining that insurance coverage was a central issue when the substitute teachers' union last bargained its contract two years ago.

Gilmore said that for the first time, he's starting to worry about sustaining his hours. . . Last year, he earned about $14,500 as a substitute . . . he typically supplements his income in the summer doing jobs that have included painting houses and working at a packaging plant.

"A lot of my people are reaching retirement age," he said of the teachers who regularly request him as a substitute. "It's made the last couple years kind of tough." --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

And, with the cutbacks necessary to keep school districts afloat in this economy, the next couple years may be even tougher for guest teachers.

E-Apples

I am now able to use the district's Zimbra email system. I attended the required workshop so now they can transfer my Webmail to Zimbra - yippee - can't wait. Seriously, it is nice that I can use the email system almost everyone else will be on and kind of, sort of, fun to look forward to learning how to use a new tool. On that note, it looks like (easy for me to say having not used it yet) Zimbra is jam-packed with features. Of course, I probably won't use most of them or use them so seldom that I will have to go to the tutorial to re-learn it every time I do try to use a feature. Today's workshop was a bit unorthodox though, the network was down so all the seven of us could do was passively sit, take notes and ask questions on something we hadn't seen. Oh well, I will muddle through.

Summer Apples

First day of Summer and back from Lewiston, Idaho. I was only there for a few days so I didn't get to see all the really cool stuff like museums and recreation areas but I can see that it has a nice small town feel to it - a nice place to raise kids.

I Googled Lewiston and found that one of it's claims to fame is that it is home to the farthest inland seaport in the western United States. Yes, a seaport more than 460 miles from the sea. There are many inland seaports so that isn't so unique but the fact that it is located on the Snake River makes it, well . . . interesting. I also read that it takes 50 hours for a loaded barge to travel from the seaport in Lewiston, Idaho to Portland, Oregon. The same is true of the trip from Portland, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho. Also, Lewiston has the Spiral Highway or The Old Lewiston Grade, a twisting turning road that travels up (1500 feet up) and out of town. A favorite of some motorcyclists and one source cites it as the inspiration for the 50s rock hit "Hotrod Lincoln" but the lyrics were changed later to say San Pedro and Grapevine.

Just below our room at the Red Lion, looking out on Memorial Bridge, are a couple statues - I'm guessing they are depictions of Lewis and Clark - and one of the statues is standing, one arm extended and thumb sticking up as if the figure is trying to hitch a ride. I had to laugh because it is at a busy intersection. If I ever get over there again I am going to take the time to snap a picture of the scene.

And last, I am almost embarrassed to mention that one of the most fascinating things I encountered was a Safeway store perched atop a hill on Thain Grade Road(?). It looked so majestic up there I had to visit the store which proved a bit disappointing since it was like any other Safeway store built in the last 5 or so years.

Interesting place and so far away from the big city.

Cold storage

Well, Monday was not my last day guest teaching. In my last period of the day a teacher from across the courtyard asked me to come in for her for a half day on Tuesday. I had a nice 'last of the school year' experience. Finished.

Read on facebook that the district is in a hiring freeze situation. I am guessing that will lift (somewhat) by August but certainly sounds ominous for the time being. sigh.


Taking a weekend in Lewiston/Clarkston, Idaho with husband. It is sort of work related for him but I am hoping to see something wonderful. I have never been so am looking forward to the drive up the gorge, past the lavender fields - ahhhhhhhh - and whatever else is out there. I hear the weather is more June like than what we are getting in the Willamette Valley but I don't trust weather reports so we will see.

I have decided that this summer I must do some brushing up on my math and writing skills (not sure I have any to begin with) because I was not always comfortable in those classrooms this school year do to an invasion of rust. I would love to be able to afford the cost of taking a few college courses but the money is not there.

Later

Fresh Apples

The association has a contract. Negotiations concluded after a surprising turn when the district found that the daily state rate would be $159.47 per day. With that we got the raise (and then some) we were wrangling over. WHEW!

We can start bargaining again after January, 2011 -- yippee.

I work tomorrow and I expect that to be the last time for the school year. The school year ends on June 17 and the likelihood I will get another assignment between tomorrow and Thursday is slim. At any rate, I will be in for a math teacher and all but her 6th graders will be gone so it's line designs for us. I may have a bit of spare time to help the librarian too.

Worked Friday at a middle school and watched the 8th graders play volleyball and basketball against the teachers and staff. What a hoot! Some of those 8th grade boys have some amazing moves and I swear one of them actually flew! As one of the teachers said, "If the 8th graders had been taller we would have been in trouble." I saw a lot of groaning and stretching from the adults later in the day but the students who had played were in fine form. Ah, to be young again