Just when I finally am feeling on top of things...

They go and change my classes. This is the third week of school, mind you.

Yes, today I found out that the introductory psychology class is going to be taught solely by the woman I have been (nominally) co-teaching with, while I am to teach a new section on sixth grade science. Just when I finally have a handle on the psychology class (I no longer have to spend all night every night planning that class, on top of my prep periods), they give me something totally new. At least there is another sixth grade science teacher, whom I will be able to sponge off of, plus my apprentice teaching was in a sixth grade class, so I do have some experience with this age group. I'm still a little sad to see it go.

They're also trying to trade my 7th grade technology class with the freshman biology class of one of the intern teachers, which is totally stupid. I know they're trying to minimize the number of classes I need to prep for, but I don't prep for that class - the other tech teacher does all the work. All this would accomplish would be to unnecessarily disrupt both the classes. Plus, the tech class is so fun! I'd really have to lose it, as it is the highlight of my day. We do so many neat projects!

I suppose these are the pluses and minuses of teaching at this charter school. Sure, we've got tons of freedom, but we're not terribly organized and (according to one of the other teachers) our institutional memory isn't so good, so new teachers are constantly reinventing the wheel, curriculum-wise. We're like cowboys. The wild children of the educational system.

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When I was at the grocery store, the cashier who was ringing me up was even more brain dead then I was and kept making all sorts of mistakes. It made me feel good, to see someone more burnt out than myself. I reveled in his misery and exhaustion.