Augusten Burroughs, one of my favorite authors, came to speak at the Clark County Library a few weeks ago. He spoke for about an hour, answered questions, and was kind enough to sign books for his fans. I unexpectedly ran into my dear friends Deanna Rilling and Toni A., along with her husband, Scott. That was a nice bonus, and it was nice to have someone to sit with. I was also pleased to see that the 400 seat was PACKED with fans. See? Las Vegas isn't as culturally unaware as you all might think.
On June 8th, Steve and I went to see the band Girl in a Coma play at Burt's Tiki Lounge in Salt Lake City. This band was amazing. The band is made up of two sisters, Phanie and Nina, and their friend Jenn, all from San Antonio. They met back when they were in junior high. What I really like about them is that they care about their MUSIC, not sex appeal. This band is a great model for young women, especially the young ladies of Girls Rock Vegas.
Their show was freaking amazing. Nina, the guitarist, played the guitar like a woman possessed. Also, they were really cool. After the show, they talked with fans and took photos, signed CDs and were generally really cool. While their opening band was playing, the band members of Girl in a Coma were even selling merch- totally down to Earth.
Have I mentioned that I hiked in the Grand Canyon? Well, I did. And I survived. It was amazing and beautiful and I can't wait to go back after I get in better shape. We also visited Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. I traveled with these awesome people from the Geographical Alliance of Nevada, led by Chris Ryan. This group was made up of teachers and university professors from both southern and northern Nevada. We learned a lot, traveled a lot, and had a great time.
Gee, I'm sure glad I got an undergraduate degree in Media Arts from BYU. Some kind stranger has posted my TMA 285 project on YouTube!
This was created in a class where we formed a "film crew," wrote an original script, shot it on 16mm film, and edited it using Avid and ProTools- all in one semester. I had some awesome team members, including: Kirsten Bales-Heder Jason Conforto Jonathon Dayton Robert Fewkes Todd Hamilton Daniel Heder Sarah Heder Ryan James Heather Rampton Jana Schurig
Seriously though, I've been trying to find a copy of this for, like, the past five years. So thank you, kind stranger!
As I'm closing one chapter of my career and preparing to begin a new chapter, I felt a little purging was in order. Nevermind that I have 13 giant Rubbermaid containers full of teacher junk. Nevermind that I own enough children's books to start a smalltown library (thanks to Scholastic, eBay, and Goodwill). Since purging junk and books takes a degree of organization that I can't muster at midnight, I decided to start small... just a little facebook purging. It's not like I'm super snotty about facebook; I am "friends" with enough childhood friends and former coworkers to start a marching band. However, there are just some people that I don't care to be in contact with anymore. These are former coworkers that generally spread drama wherever they went and created a toxic work environment... for fun and sport. I just don't want these negative influences in my life anymore. So I blocked them.
...and I feel better already!
Note to self: #1 Task for tomorrow: tackle the 13 giant Rubbermaid containers.
Thanks to Denise Rosch and Channel 3 for visiting our camp and telling our story!
Aired June 12, 2009 on the 4:00pm news
I can't even begin to describe how amazing our first annual Girls Rock Vegas Summer Camp has been. The campers, counselors, and musicians worked so hard to make it a success! We are empowering girls, one chord at a time!
(I realize that sounds cheesy in general blog conversation, but that's our camp slogan.)
As I went to the office to return my classroom keys, a certain admin stopped what she was doing to exclaim, "I need to check you out and inspect your room!" even though the member of the office staff assigned to inspect classrooms had already done her job. That person explained that I was already checked out and that my room was fine. So the admin grabbed my checkout sheet and scrutinzed every last thing, even though I had gone above and beyond, creating my own typed and categorized inventory sheet for items in my classroom (this school has NEVER inventoried their materials, even though they have had millions of dollars of state and federal money poured into it when they became an empowerment school). I also provided receipts for everything I had purchased for my classroom in the last two years (totalling over $4,000).
"What about your whiteboards, sweetie?" she asked.
"I never received white boards from this school." I answered. During my first year of teaching at Vegas Verdes ES, I went to Home Depot, ordered a large piece of melamine tile board, which I had cut into 1' by 1' squares. Ghetto? Yes, but a much more economical solution than the Lakeshore Learning addiction that this school suffers from.
"Well, every classroom received whiteboards." she said.
"No, they did not." I wanted to tell her that some classrooms also received easels, smart boards, curtains, custom tiled floors and paint jobs, furniture, plastic trees, etc...
"I'm sure they didn't just grow feet and walk off," she said, trying to rally the support of the office full of other teachers and office staff. "Hmph. I guess next year we'll have to take an inventory and make a sign out sheet so these things don't just continue WALK OFF when people leave."
"Um, okay. Here are my keys."
I may be a perfectionist, I may be a little messy, and I may come to school with wet hair a few times a year... but I am NOT a thief. I haven't stolen so much as a paper clip from that freaking place. It infuriates me that Dr. G would try to imply that I stole from children, when in fact, she and her inner circle had been misappropriating funds for the last three years. I'd been harassed for the last few weeks of school, but trying to publicly call me out on whiteboard theft while I'm dropping off my keys? Unbelievable.
More "Fun and Exciting" things that I choose not to be a part of:
Multi-age classrooms (1st grade - 3rd grade) where older gifted students are required to "teach" remedial students. Kids don't come to school to teach, they come to school to learn.
Not making Adequate Yearly Progress for several years in a row due to a lack of structure and actual teaching.
Spending tens of thousands of dollars to fly out personal friends and pay for their travel expenses, under the guise of hiring "consultants."
General misuse of state and federal money.
Teacher turnover rate of more than 50%
and many, many more...
From our Union's website: NRS 388.132 requires schools to provide a safe and respectful learning environment. This applies as much to students as it does to teachers. Teachers often discuss issues regarding parent and/or administrator threats, abuse, and harassment. There are statutes and school district polices to protect teachers from these types of actions. Because of the requirements of NRS 388.132, the school district promulgated Policy 5137 which provides that teachers have the right to work in an environment free from harassment, abuse, and threats.
