Wednesday, August 17, 2005
No Vacancies?
So I visited Underwood a few days ago. School starts in another three weeks or so and I wanted to chat with the roster chair before going too much further with my long-term unit planning. Unfortunately (for me, not for him), he was on a cruise in Aruba. Fortunately (also for me), there were things going on in the main office.
The office was also cursed.
Because the activity in Underwood's nerve center was divided between two main activities:
1. Preparing for today's freshman orientation. Which my beloved academy leader was supposed to be running, before she and her husband absconded for the shore. And surprise, surprise, it looked like they were going to be short staffed. Oh, Ben...could you maybe show up and help us run orientation? And do some experiments? We could really use your help. That last part always gets me, which is why I'm up and blogging at 7 AM.
2. Filling staff vacancies: One reason we are so desperate for volunteers for ninth grade orientation is that around half the ninth grade staff had to leave last year for various reasons. Whether finding nicer jobs in the suburbs or being forced to leave due to certification issues, we're now down at least 2 English teachers, 2 math teachers, and a science teacher. That's 1/3 of the 9th grade teachers right there. And those slots need to be filled before the school year or there will be hell to pay.
Which is what the principal was working on when I visited. Because the district, in all its wisdom, had not updated the vacancy listing online. Perhaps they think teachers really do have that preternatural ability to detect jobs that are left unlisted. Or that principals can spend the summer roaming the city hunting down their ideal staff. In either case, another case of the head not knowing what the tail is doing.
In a perverse way, I missed that bureaucratic inefficiency. No wait...no I didn't!
Ok, must run...I have freshmen to help orient.
Postscript: The Wikipedia blooper reported earlier in the Prairie Home Companion article has been corrected. Still looking for bloopers though...send them along if you see them.
So I visited Underwood a few days ago. School starts in another three weeks or so and I wanted to chat with the roster chair before going too much further with my long-term unit planning. Unfortunately (for me, not for him), he was on a cruise in Aruba. Fortunately (also for me), there were things going on in the main office.
The office was also cursed.
Because the activity in Underwood's nerve center was divided between two main activities:
1. Preparing for today's freshman orientation. Which my beloved academy leader was supposed to be running, before she and her husband absconded for the shore. And surprise, surprise, it looked like they were going to be short staffed. Oh, Ben...could you maybe show up and help us run orientation? And do some experiments? We could really use your help. That last part always gets me, which is why I'm up and blogging at 7 AM.
2. Filling staff vacancies: One reason we are so desperate for volunteers for ninth grade orientation is that around half the ninth grade staff had to leave last year for various reasons. Whether finding nicer jobs in the suburbs or being forced to leave due to certification issues, we're now down at least 2 English teachers, 2 math teachers, and a science teacher. That's 1/3 of the 9th grade teachers right there. And those slots need to be filled before the school year or there will be hell to pay.
Which is what the principal was working on when I visited. Because the district, in all its wisdom, had not updated the vacancy listing online. Perhaps they think teachers really do have that preternatural ability to detect jobs that are left unlisted. Or that principals can spend the summer roaming the city hunting down their ideal staff. In either case, another case of the head not knowing what the tail is doing.
In a perverse way, I missed that bureaucratic inefficiency. No wait...no I didn't!
Ok, must run...I have freshmen to help orient.
Postscript: The Wikipedia blooper reported earlier in the Prairie Home Companion article has been corrected. Still looking for bloopers though...send them along if you see them.
