Changes Galore!

So, it is has been a while since my last post.  I no longer live in California and I no longer teach high school chemistry.  My husband has since retired, my 2 children are about to graduate with Bachelor's degrees this year and next and I am teaching 6th grade math and science in a remote K-12 school on the small island of Lana`i in Hawai`i.

I have never felt so at home with the parents and students.  I understand them, their culture, their anxieties.  I feel I am one of them.  However, I have never felt so alienated by my peers and the powers above me.  I have managed to piss people off, pushed people away and alienate so many administrators.  I have wanted more from my students and for my classroom and have given 110% of myself.  I work 80 hours a week trying to improve test scores and building relationships with my students.  Yet, I feel that I don't have the respect or support from my administration.  Could I tell you some stories that would get people fired!  Yet, there is no one knocking at the door to replace them.  In fact, if there was, it may be worse.

It sounds dismal but there is one glimmer of sunshine...my students!  They love me, I love them.  They learn from me, listen intently and respond with give us more!  So as with many in similar situations, you shut out the rest of the world knowing you can only affect your own.

No, I know I can't save the world...but it so hard not to try.  Button up that mouth and suck it up, Buttercup it could always be worse.