Hey! Another post!

So I made it to a second post. That is quite an accomplishment! I fear that this novelty will wear off soon and I'll just eventually neglect it like I've done with so many other things. Although doing this has reminded me of how much I loved writing in a journal. It's been about 10 years since I've written in a real journal. I started my first journal/diary when I was in 5th grade. You might think, "Wow, that's pretty young!" For me I had a lot to say, I guess, but also the fact that I love to write. I've written to express pains, anger, happiness, and everything in between and I'd forgotten how releasing it can be. The only issue now is the fact that it is being broadcast all over the internet for all to see. It makes me think twice about writing certain things, which is a shame because then it's not 100% me, but I guess I can leave any "hurtful" venting to my close friends or in another form. I was watching the news last night and they interviewed this guy that got fired at google.com because he wrote in his blog that google was doing well. It really shocks you when you hear that kind of thing. I believe he did this before google went on the market or something so I guess they saw it as a form of insider tips but I just think he was just making an offhand comment about it. Nothing more. Thank God it doesn't really matter what I say about my job because I highly doubt Washington Elementary will ever go on the stock market!
Today was a normal work day. I'm in the middle of testing right now since report cards for the 2nd trimester are going on in a couple of weeks. I've been knee deep in testing of all sorts. I am not currently testing my kids on their reading. It's a bit depressing to see that some kids are a lot lower than I thought they were. The goal is to have all the kinders at a Level 4 reading by June and so far a majority of the ones I've tested already are at a Level 1 or 2. Although I shouldn't make a big deal about it since I have 3 1/2 months to get these kids up to grade level, it's still quite a disappointment. I was expecting most of the kids to at least be at Level 3, but that just means I have to focus on reading a lot more, even though we already spend an hour a day on Language Arts!
Lately I've been reading my education magazines and it's quite depressing. All you hear now are those damn budget cuts and how a bunch of ignorant people (including our Govinator) think that teachers don't do shit and therefore should not be paid as much as they do. I'm sorry but I didn't realize that a $42,000 yearly salary was A LOT! Maybe in frickin' hicktown in the Midwest, but do they seriously think that teachers in the Bay Area and other metropolitan areas are being overpaid?!?! And for those assholes who think that teachers don't work enough to "deserve" that kind of pay needs to be a teacher for a month to see that they are full of ignorant bullshit! For the people out there who are ignorant but not assholes, understand this. The kids may leave at 3pm but that doesn't mean the teachers do. I have friends that work from 7 a.m-6, 7pm EVERYDAY and that's STILL NOT ENOUGH! For non-teachers, you don't have to deal with 20-30 kids who have different personalities, different needs, different attitudes, different learning abilities, and let's not forget the crazy, needy, overbearing parents that are in your face because they think their child should've gotten credit for the homework that wasn't complete, and then there are those administrators (thank God mine's isn't one of them) who don't give a shit about you and don't help compensate for the hundreds of dollars you have to spend out of your own pocket to pay for supplies and other resources to help enrich these students' lives. If you think that coming into work at 7 a.m and sometimes not leaving until dusk and spending your weekends grading paper is not enough for the pay we get then you need to be shipped to a deserted island and shot! Obviously a threat to my job sends me off the rocker but how many people have to hear others say that they're getting paid too much and working too little when that's not the case? Hardly ever, right? Well, imagine how that feels for me and my teacher friends especially when you hear it from the immigrant-born governor who's never been through the California, or even United States schooling to act like he knows shit about the education over here. He is the reason why I have finally registered to vote. I have never registered to vote since I turned 18 but because of his ignorance in thinking that merit-based pay for teachers is the answer has pushed me to want to kick him out of office! So believe me, once elections come around again I will make sure that I put my two cents in to kick him out!
Well, enough of that, I hope everyone had a sunny day. Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving.