Short rants.

[lordbrook]

Let me rant on a little bit more about my wife's position. We both got home yesterday evening and she told me she had spoken to her principal about varying her teaching for next year. She would like to start teaching health instead of just teaching science. Now before anyone says teaching health is just a way to not teach, my wife has a real passion for health. Like I said before she has an undergrad in Exercise and Sports Science and a masters in Health Education along with her other undergrad in Biology. She was a personal trainer for years while she was going to school and then an Exercise Physiologist at the Fitness Institute of IHC (a regional HMO) for 6 years prior to beginning her teaching career. Not to mention the fact that you could bounce a quarter on her abs and that's after having 3 kids and being in her mid '30s (yes I'm bragging). So she is beyond qualified to teach Health in Jr. High or Middle School or whatever you guys call it. The response she got from her principal; "Sorry but Mrs. X has her teaching endorsement for Health and has been teaching here for 6 years longer than you so she'll be teaching it next year." I understand that there rightfully should be advantages given to workers that have been loyal and done well, but this is just stupid to me.

[Spoonless]

Wait, so is it an open position, or is the teacher who has been there six years longer with the health teaching endorsement the current health teacher?

[weams]

Threads that never die...

What was I thinking back in 2007?? Geez.

I like this thread.

[allstar1579]

Let me rant on a little bit more about my wife's position. We both got home yesterday evening and she told me she had spoken to her principal about varying her teaching for next year. She would like to start teaching health instead of just teaching science. Now before anyone says teaching health is just a way to not teach, my wife has a real passion for health. Like I said before she has an undergrad in Exercise and Sports Science and a masters in Health Education along with her other undergrad in Biology. She was a personal trainer for years while she was going to school and then an Exercise Physiologist at the Fitness Institute of IHC (a regional HMO) for 6 years prior to beginning her teaching career. Not to mention the fact that you could bounce a quarter on her abs and that's after having 3 kids and being in her mid '30s (yes I'm bragging). So she is beyond qualified to teach Health in Jr. High or Middle School or whatever you guys call it. The response she got from her principal; "Sorry but Mrs. X has her teaching endorsement for Health and has been teaching here for 6 years longer than you so she'll be teaching it next year." I understand that there rightfully should be advantages given to workers that have been loyal and done well, but this is just stupid to me.

Ehhhh, I see these issues almost every day (my wife is a Middle School AP, and she's been doing the Master Schedule for 4 years) and I can KINDA see the other side. The problem is the position she wants. There is pretty much universally just one Health teacher (and in most cases they have to teach other classes as well) because it's a 1/4 elective. Because not every student has to take it every year and it's in a rotation with other classes there is only room for one teacher to teach it. Even if your wife is as or more qualified than this other teacher to teach it, you can't just bump a teacher out of a position for another teacher generally. Not sure how it is out there, but I know around here they are guaranteed their jobs after year 3 (aside from a lengthy firing process) so she couldn't just be bumped out the door, and she is more than likely not qualified to teach something else.

From my side of things (I'm in upper level HR) the move could in theory be done, but only under a couple scenarios. A) There would have to be another teaching position open where the current health teacher could be moved to, you can't just get rid of a teacher because someone else wants to teach what she is teaching. B) The other teacher would have to be qualified to teach that other subject. Basically (and I see this one happen all the time) if we are talking about teachers that are qualified to teach Reading and English (separate subjects here), the qualifications are the same for both jobs, so you can move them around at will. If your wife wanted to teach English instead of Reading one year, it'd be up to that department head, but they could move her into it no problem and move an English teacher into Reading. Going from Science to Health is much harder because you are crossing into other departments, and from a class with a much higher enrollment to a lower enrollment.

Sorry to encroach on your rant, just trying to make sense of why they would say that. Part employment law, part teaching logistics. These are the kinds of conversations that my wife and I get into all the time because the HR department in their school system is about worthless. Where in the private sector you can bring in someone more qualified and replace someone anytime you want, teaching is a whole different world when it comes to employment, as it should be, since it's the only profession in the country where their employer allows them to be harassed constantly, they consistently have their contracts ignored, and in some cases their job security is completely dependent on children and their parents and is totally out of their own control.

[McNulty]

Why do people feel the need, on just about every social medium, to tell me what they are eating? What is the point of this, to make me jealous? Is the goal to get others to say, "Ooooh that sounds so good, I wish I was you!"

Eat me.

[Icterus galbula]

Why do people feel the need, on just about every social medium, to tell me what they are eating? What is the point of this, to make me jealous? Is the goal to get others to say, "Ooooh that sounds so good, I wish I was you!"

Eat me.

I'm currently eating the Italian hoagie from here http://steinsdeli.net/menu/


You may now swoon with envy.

[Icterus galbula]

I think it's because people are boring but food is potentially interesting and it's an excuse to post/share/tweet

[Don Quixote]

I think it's because people are boring but food is potentially interesting and it's an excuse to post/share/tweet

Probably.

[Can_of_corn]

#9? Really? Gold Glove, Fielding Bible, slugged .450 and #9?

[Dr. FLK]

Stomach flu...go away and leave my family alone.

[allstar1579]

Stomach flu...go away and leave my family alone.

Ugh, we passed that around for a couple weeks. Both girls, the wife and I all got it one after the other. It was BRUTAL too. I thought we had caught the Norovirus for a while there (I had that back in 2004 when it broke out real bad at MD)

[twoBshorty]

Stomach flu...go away and leave my family alone.

Had that a couple of weekends ago. I was in bed for 5 days, during which time I think I ate a total of four pretzels. It was awful; I haven't been that sick in years. My sympathies to your family.

[Dr. FLK]

Ugh, we passed that around for a couple weeks. Both girls, the wife and I all got it one after the other. It was BRUTAL too. I thought we had caught the Norovirus for a while there (I had that back in 2004 when it broke out real bad at MD)

My 3 year old got it first. Then, my wife and 1-year old got it at almost the same time. And, when the 1-year old and wife were done, the poor 3 year old still had it. Somehow, I have managed to avoid it (so far).

[Dr. FLK]

My 3 year old got it first. Then, my wife and 1-year old got it at almost the same time. And, when the 1-year old and wife were done, the poor 3 year old still had it. Somehow, I have managed to avoid it (so far).

No sooner had I written this, then my wife calls me saying the 1-year old just threw up again.

[lordbrook]

Ehhhh, I see these issues almost every day (my wife is a Middle School AP, and she's been doing the Master Schedule for 4 years) and I can KINDA see the other side. The problem is the position she wants. There is pretty much universally just one Health teacher (and in most cases they have to teach other classes as well) because it's a 1/4 elective. Because not every student has to take it every year and it's in a rotation with other classes there is only room for one teacher to teach it. Even if your wife is as or more qualified than this other teacher to teach it, you can't just bump a teacher out of a position for another teacher generally. Not sure how it is out there, but I know around here they are guaranteed their jobs after year 3 (aside from a lengthy firing process) so she couldn't just be bumped out the door, and she is more than likely not qualified to teach something else.

From my side of things (I'm in upper level HR) the move could in theory be done, but only under a couple scenarios. A) There would have to be another teaching position open where the current health teacher could be moved to, you can't just get rid of a teacher because someone else wants to teach what she is teaching. B) The other teacher would have to be qualified to teach that other subject. Basically (and I see this one happen all the time) if we are talking about teachers that are qualified to teach Reading and English (separate subjects here), the qualifications are the same for both jobs, so you can move them around at will. If your wife wanted to teach English instead of Reading one year, it'd be up to that department head, but they could move her into it no problem and move an English teacher into Reading. Going from Science to Health is much harder because you are crossing into other departments, and from a class with a much higher enrollment to a lower enrollment.

Sorry to encroach on your rant, just trying to make sense of why they would say that. Part employment law, part teaching logistics. These are the kinds of conversations that my wife and I get into all the time because the HR department in their school system is about worthless. Where in the private sector you can bring in someone more qualified and replace someone anytime you want, teaching is a whole different world when it comes to employment, as it should be, since it's the only profession in the country where their employer allows them to be harassed constantly, they consistently have their contracts ignored, and in some cases their job security is completely dependent on children and their parents and is totally out of their own control.

Sorry I've been doing a big upgrade at work so I've been off the web for a bit.

There is currently a Health teacher that is retiring at the end of the school year. Because there is a teacher that has been at the school for 6 or 7 years and asked to take over teaching health (I think my wife said she teaches Spanish right now) the principal said she gets the Health position because she essentially asked first. It's frustrating to me as a parent because I want the best person in there to educate my kids. I know this sort of thing happens all the time, but it pisses me off. I see it in my job in IT and it makes me mad in that area as well and I'm one of the older guys.