And Now for Something Completely Different...

...My 12 year old wishes to speak; to have the experience of posting on a blog. I have not been briefed about the topic and I am somewhat hesitant. After all, how much will I edit? How much should I allow? And don't these children have MySpace, twitter, Facebook and the rest to espouse their ideas without jumping into my private Idaho? Anyhow, here goes...

OK! So I'm sure that most of you with children out there have all heard the wild stories of teachers that your children come home with. The truth is they are probably fantasy made up for their 2 minutes of fame and laughter. Although I have to say I have had some pretty crazy school experiences. In the past years some teachers have been great, going out of their way for the well being of the students. But middle school has been a whirlwind of insane teachers and such.

Last year, I had a history teacher who mispronounced names of famous individuals such as Nicolas Copernicus, and thought that A.D. stood for after death. After I had pointed out that it was actually anno Domini she said oops and told me she had been teaching her kids wrong for years. Great. In the past year I had a teacher who had an imaginary pet bird in her class and would give detention to those who "sat" on it, or uttered its name, ummm.... On top of that, there was a teacher who threw objects at his students, who happened to be married to an insane English teacher who decided it was perfectly normal to talk about having children and fertility treatment every day in class. Let me tell you she had a field day on Romeo and Juliet if you know what I mean.

Why should school systems accept teachers like this? There is an outpouring of young teachers who are perfectly qualified and itching for a job. Yet we keep mediocre teachers who can't even pronounce what they are teaching. People always seem to question why the scores in my school district are so low. Well the answer is right in front of you. My opinion, next time your child comes home with some story about how inept their teacher is instead of laughing and blowing it off do something, write to the school, write to the county, even the state if you have to.

If we want a better education for our children then we have to do something about it, I mean it. Why should my mother have to pay extra to send me to private school when we should be able to get a good education publicly? With the taxes we pay, our school district should be one of the best school systems in the country. Just saying.

As the proud mother of this wonderful and exceptional child, I approve this message.

Milestone

Today I completed the first of two professional certifications that I am currently pursuing. My brain is fried but I am thrilled. In a few weeks I will be done with the second so I'm moving right along. I am working hard to kick my resume up a notch. The job postings are becoming more refined as employers seek only the creme de la creme; those who have jumped through the right hoops. I rise to the challenge.

The sense of accomplishment gives me renewed hope that somewhere there is an employer who will appreciate and pay me for my skills. Can I get an Amen?

The Joy of Education

I have just completed 3 whole days of school this week with 2 more to go. Up until now, I have been scheduled for no more than 3 days a week which is just about manageable. This week is brutal. Though, the hours are technically the same as a work week, believe me, 8 hours on the job is a lot different than 8 hours in the classroom learning the methodology of a profession. Essentially, dull, dry theory that we know never rolls out as neatly in the real world. But, I will not complain.

Though I am starting to get very tired, probably because I stay up too late writing this thing, I am happy to be going to school and I'm happy to have this forum. Besides, by the end of August I will be able to add 2 professional certifications to my resume and possibly some alphabet soup to my name, providing that I also pass national accreditation exams. Hopefully, I can turn all of this into a job gain for the fall. Wish me luck!

School's In For Summer

Today, I finally started school. O Happy Day! This first 8 hours of class, yes, 8 hours, only 3 times a week though, gives one an immediate satisfaction of accomplishment. Career Development education is an excellent remedy for the unemployed blues. The opportunity to add a valuable, marketable boost to one's resume, especially in this extremely competitive job market, should bring out the inner sunshine of any dispirited soul. You can't beat it!

In fact, I learned today that there is a special program for those who were employed in any of the top financial services firms in New York. They get a whopping $11,000 each for career development training. So, if you are one of those lucky 50 or 100 thousand people laid off, there is money for you to learn. I am not one of those but I still got a deal so there is no excuse. Let them misspend some of that stimulus money on you!

Anyhow, due to my new summer schedule, this would be a fine time for me to learn the art of true blogging; brevity. I should stop now, right?