tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73673302011-04-21T23:16:56.217-04:00Inside the walls of the classroom, the teacher has all the power. Outside of them, she is nothing, has nothing: no respect, no pay, no fun. Inside the walls, the teacher can pretend that she is powerful. Inside the walls she can make or break a child, shape his future, and change society. Outside the walls, she is just Mrs. C. Inside the walls, she is Mrs. C, the favorite teacher of so many and according to them, the best teacher in the world. Now how many of you are that lucky?jackienoreply@blogger.comBlogger81100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1140358487774157902006-02-19T08:59:00.000-05:002006-02-19T09:14:49.703-05:00

My head hurts most of the time. Is it stress? What, me worry? Maybe I should just list them, get them down here and out of my system. Bird flu. Yeah, I worry about bird flu. I just finished reading a book about the flu epidemic in the early 20th century and it scared the bejeezus out of me. WTF? We could all die, right? Of course, some of us won't die. They're talking maybe 140 million people

jackienoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1096242236971525452004-09-26T19:27:00.000-04:002006-02-19T09:19:19.300-05:00

People ask me all the time, "Do you have any regrets?" The honest truth is, no. I feel right at home this year and find myself looking back on the first six weeks and thinking about how well it's gone this year overall."My fourth grade...." I groan loudly to my fifth grade class. "They are so pathetic and pitiful.""You said that about us last year!!!" they tell me."I did? Are you sure?" I

jackienoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1091061886863771992004-07-28T20:32:00.000-04:002004-07-28T20:44:46.863-04:00

Today was the first day back. First days are never fun, and usually begin with everyone catching up in the hallway on the way to the beginning of the year faculty meeting. They herd us all down to the cafeteria where we sit on itty bitty stools (my butt was too big, and I am not a large person) throw KrispyKremes at us and deliver the exact same opening of the new year speech that they gave last

jackienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1089560842439872082004-07-11T11:36:00.000-04:002004-07-11T11:54:09.410-04:00

I've been making myself sick lately. The skin is peeling off my hands and fingers, my stomach has a gigantic hole in it, and I've been having panic attacks. I can't look at myself in the mirror and smile anymore. I can't do this. I have decided to write a letter to the private school and tell them that I just can't fulfill the terms of the contract and teach there. My position is still open at

jackienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1089248360778512312004-07-07T20:18:00.000-04:002004-07-11T11:35:17.376-04:00

I hate it when I am indecisive. I hate it when I second guess myself and have a change of heart. Most if all, I hate it when I just plain can't make up my mind. Sometimes it makes me wonder what's wrong with myself. I've been feeling heartsick about my decision to leave public school. I think about it and realize that I really did love what I was doing and will miss it terribly next year. I even

jackienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1087862506977939802004-06-21T19:54:00.000-04:002004-06-21T20:01:46.976-04:00

I worked for awhile packing up my old classroom in preparation for the move to the new school. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn't on, so I only lasted for about two hours. I left in a puddle of sweat, totally exasperated with the lack of progress. It seems that I will be teaching only math and science next year. For the past 5 years I've been teaching math and reading, so all my

jackienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1087724659756775202004-06-20T05:20:00.000-04:002004-06-20T05:44:19.756-04:00

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. Arthur Schopenhauer For the past five years, I've has the privilege to be a teacher of gifted and talented students. Our state refers to them as AIG students.(I love the way the state likes to categorize exceptional students by a series of letters like OHI,or BEH.) People would often refer to me as "the gifted

jackienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367330.post-1087677905658980112004-06-19T16:29:00.000-04:002004-06-19T16:45:05.656-04:00

Sometimes, it's all about the decision. If you are like me, you find it difficult to make a decision when you know it is going to be permanent. I mean, who wants to screw everything up? Usually, it all starts with a rash decision, an event that begins innocently enough but leads to a choice that is irreversible. For example . . . I got really angry when the school system decided to

jackienoreply@blogger.com1