A teacher was in the workroom this afternoon and mentioned test scores from last year for current students. I have been WAITING for this kind of data so I asked, "Where? How?" I was shown the website. So I went to the website and it turns out you have to log in. So I tried that. My password didn't work. So I clicked on "forgot password." Got a message that my account may have been locked or deleted. Or...I never had an account. So...I tried to register...got another message that I may already have an account. And don't even get me started on reCAPTCHA. I clicked on the crosswalk pictures. I checked every traffic light photo I could find. I spent way too much time on the reCAPTCHA portion of this process. No success. So I called the 1-800 number. They are closed, of course, because who works teacher hours? So I left a message. So frustrating.
So then I tried to set up my parent teacher conferences online as instructed. You know what? We only do this twice a year and it is not memorable. Last time we had conferences, the school secretary came to my classroom to personally thank me for being just one of two teachers in the whole building who did it correctly. That's not my usual...in case you were wondering. I don't even know how I did it correctly. I think I followed the tutorial. But the whole rest of the faculty got it wrong and she was not happy! So now I'm terrified! I'm going to get this wrong. And I looked at the tutorial and...my heart is fluttering inside my chest. I don't think I can follow it. I don't believe that I ever successfully followed it. I don't even want to attempt this. And do you know how much time this is taking? I have Cub Scouts and presidency meeting tonight and I haven't had dinner yet. I am angsty.
I don't like it when people say, "Just watch the tutorial." Or how 'bout this one, "It's on the drive." Or..."It's all right there online." All of this stuff takes time, People! Time I don't have. I made a brave attempt tonight in the quiet of my classroom, but I am backing down for now. Perhaps tomorrow I will find my way. I can't mess this up! The secretary!
I'm super dreading the Teacher Self-Evaluation thing I have to do, because you know what? Without FAIL! Every stinkin' year I do it and cross my t's and dot my i's and triple check and it all looks good and then I talk to my administrator and ask them to check pretty please on their end of things to make sure it looks okay and that I accomplished the task and...no exaggeration! EVERY. STINKIN'. YEAR. The administrators say, "Yes! We've got yours! It looks good! You did it right!" And every stinkin' year I breathe a sigh of relief because I finally jumped that hurdle and then...every. stinkin. year. My administrators send me an email and say, "You haven't completed your self-evaluation yet. Please get on that."
And I cry. Because there are no points for best effort. There are no points for painstaking attention to details. There is no credit for watching the tutorial or taking notes on the tutorial or even printing the tutorial out ahead of time and, ahem, highlighting it. There are just other faculty members who flippantly comment, "Oh, I did that already." Or, "Yeah, that didn't take me long." Or even, "Don't you remember from last time?"
No, no. I DON'T remember!!!
2 weeks ago