:: Dillondesk -- the blog of LCD ::
Weblog for a teacher of English, lover of Peeps, Tori, Ben, the Beatles, TV, movies, and Star Wars.
:: a child of the 80's looks at the world through Smurf-colored glasses -- a blog by calvin dillon :: bloghome
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:: Friday, June 25, 2004 ::
:: Calvin 9:10 AM [+] ::
Today, I plan to go by my new school and drop of my clearance to teach and hopefully find someone who can assuage a few concerns about infrastructure at the school and the process by which I can get some webspace.
I like how Orange County is moving toward giving teachers who want it FTP access to "as much space as they want" for web stuff -- that should be an automatic for teachers who want to do it. The problems that districts have had in the past have resulted from mandated teacher pages that go unupdated because people are scared of them -- that doesn't make it okay to erect barriers for people who have been doing it for a while or who know what they are doing.
It will all work out.
I also want to walk around a little -- going from Hungerford to this school is like going from the Gainesville Regional Airport to OIA -- major building shock.
After that, I plan to come back and watch a movie or two and work on the FCAT curriculum so I have something substantial to show Dr. White come Monday.
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:: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 ::
:: Calvin 5:28 PM [+] ::
Well, I successfully bested the Hillsborough bureaucracy and got my clearance to work for them.
Employee processing was an adventure - I filled out the 17 pieces of paper necessary, and then they tried to tell me I was teaching elementary social studies -- I had to show the woman my certificate and the original transaction request from my new boss to prove I was teaching English.
After that, we got our fingerprints done -- the machine scanned them into a database -- I felt like I was in an episode of CSI.
Then, we were told to come back at 2:30 (it was 12:30)to meet with Certification (which we both thought was a little strange since we already hold Florida Certificates -- but no one asked us about our status, so we dutifully went to the Spaghetti Warehouse and waited to go back to Certification.)
When we got there we went over our insurance documentation (which was done on glossy magazine stock in full color, not a ream of colored copy paper like in OCPS), then several other people filtered in. There were several baby teachers who needed to apply for a certificate, but it looked like there were some verterans there too.
The Certification lady came in and broght applications for Florida certificates, and after about 20 minutes she asked if any of us already held a certificate. THere were about 8 or 9 of us, and we went into the next room and had one lady verify our status one by one and sign us off. Why they couldn't have asked us in processing whether we held a certificate and then sent us next door I will never know. Oh well.
I also am being "strongly engcouraged to attend five days of Language Arts training from the 14th to the 20th, and then three days of induction training, from the 21st through the 23rd. The $50 per diem will be nice, and hopefully I will be able to network and get some technical questions answered. If we spend five days learning about KWL charts and center rotations and Think-Pair-Share I think I will scream internally, but such is life.
I also discovered to my chagrin that Dillondesk is blocked by the Hillsborough filter. I don't have an email, so my guess I that I can't do an unblock request, and my second guess is that they will laugh in my face that I want a personal web page unblocked. I think they should give FTP access and a web address to every teacher, or at least make it avaiable to those of us who depend on it to teach. Orange County will begin to do that in the fall, and maybe it is in the wings for Hillsborough.
Six peeps. Carting fridges up the stairs Fu. Learning bluegrass licks Fu. Debating murals in media centers Fu. Getting frustrated with how much I don't know that I didn't know I didn't know Fu. Hoping I can charm my way into an unblock or free space sith FTP fu.
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:: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 ::
:: Calvin 10:08 AM [+] ::
Well, we are off to do battle with the HIllsborough bureaucracy and try to get our new teacher stuff taken care of today.
Yesterday I went by school and found out my teachinhg assignment was a little bit different than I had previously thought. I will be teaching Intensive Reading the first semester to juniors who have not passed FCAT, as well as advanced reading to ninth graders. Then second semester I will teach intenseive writing to kids who have not passed the writing test and an SAT verbal prep class -- all of which sound like fun, and this way I don't have freshmen all day :)
I spoke up in class last night because my teacher was trying to impose a lecture/test structure on a class that she began as a constructivist seminar, and I made my point tactfully instead of stewing about it on the way home and complaining to anyone who would listen. The kid is finally growing up.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday.
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:: Sunday, June 20, 2004 ::
:: Calvin 2:12 PM [+] ::
Happy Father's Day
The kids and I just got out of the pool -- the water was a brisk 86 degrees. Obi went swimming as well -- he has that whole dogpaddling thing down pat.
I have the electronics all hooked up in the apartment -- video, audio, and guitar. We can now survive on paper plates and plastic cups until the house is ready.
Joe is now as tall as Miss Kathy (from a couple of angles he is taller) and Sam is getting there, too.
We got blackout curtains and I hung the rod this morning, so tonight hopefully we won't have the security lights shining on us all night.
Tomorrow I meet with my new department head, and then it is back to Orlando for my first I-4 commute. We'll see how that goes.
I haven't heard from most people for their articles for the Monday class yet (http://dillondesk.com/supervision) -- they have another think coming if they think they can mail me on MOnday and I will have it posted by that night.
Seven peeps. Done nesting with electronics Fu. Happy daddy day Fu. Off to open present Fu.
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