Thursday, September 07, 2006

PTSA, Being an "other" teacher, and Dress Code enforcement First PTSA meeting of the year was held last night. Some times those things can drag on just a bit too long. Encouraging thing was that the new PTSA president is one who really seems to have his act together. This should have positive effects, though he does have an uphill battle in trying to get parents involved. Oh, and yes, it is a he. In an environment where you assume that almost every kid is without a father in the home, it is refreshing to see the men of the community stepping up. One thing that peeved me a little at the meeting was that when the faculty was introduced, I was introduced as one of the "support staff," along with the school nurse, social worker, and tech support guy, rather than as a teacher. Now it was just a human error I'm sure made by someone to whom the task of organizing the power point was delegated. But it reminds me of the fact that as the ESOL teacher, there are scores of people who really don't understand what I do. Let's make it clear first of all that I teach. I do teach. And I don't teach Spanish, I teach English to non-English speakers. And I don't "teach the Hispanic students" which is a line I have gotten before, seriously, "oh, you mean if they speak English, they are not in your class?" And no I don't teach my students all day or every subject, like a self-contained class. And no, the girl in my class who is from Ethiopia doesn't speak Spanish, either. You would not believe the ignorance of otherwise intelligent people. Sometimes I'm not sure if even my principals understand what I do. Which isn't a bad thing 'cause how can they really evaluate me?!?!? :). JK, of course. But they do kind of let me do my own thing. The big heated discussion of the night was on the newly implemented but completely un-enforced dress code. The assistant principal was going over the policy, with a straight face as if it were actually truly in effect, and a parent quite boldly stood up and said, why don't you just enforce it, it will make my life easier, either do it or don't do it. The whole room applauded him. The dress code was introduced at the end of the last school year with great fanfare. Parents were sent a letter with guidelines about what kinds of clothing to purchase for their student, and the first week of school a majority of the students actually showed up in compliance. But as soon as they realized it wasn't being enforced, now by the fourth week of school, about 10% of the population is in compliance. Baggy jeans, big t-shirts, short skirts, and tight blouses are still the order of the day. Did I really think that we could pull it off? It's like there is a fear of enforcing certain rules. 9:56:06 PM    comment []trackback []