Spring break...sort of

The kids aren't out until Good Thursday, but I'm already on 'vacation.' Before school started, I negotiated 7 professional development days with the district so that I could attend conferences and maintain my academic stuff-strutting. The American Educational Research Association's annual meeting is this week, and I was scheduled to give a talk. It's a tough conference to get accepted to, so I was pretty psyched to get to go. Paper went well. Principal, however, was totally annoyed that I was going to miss 3 1/2 days of school.

I left foolproof lesson plans, I think, but I'm not expecting any of the work to be done. The 'subs' in our building are just poached kindergarten/Pre-K aides, women who are wonderful with the 3-4-5 year old set, but barely literate. The principal is either too cheap or too isolated to get it together to recruit and pay for real substitutes. Whenever I've been out this year, the kids end up playing kickball all day instead of doing any of the work I leave. The same is true when other teachers miss. I feel a bit guilty that my students will not be learning a damn thing while I'm gone, but it's not my job to hire substitutes...and damn, how many fifth graders in Anacostia get a teacher who needs to take off to present at the AERA?

Meanwhile, I'm at Stanford, enjoying being treated like a human being with a brain and something to contribute to the world. The longer this year goes on, the less I think I'll be in the classroom next year...