June 26, 2008 by Tiffany.

Those who know me have probably heard about me complain about my school, Belmont, on several occasions.  It’s true that Belmont is a tough school to work at.  It was overcrowded, I have to change classrooms and move everything two times each year, (if I’m lucky enough to have  a classroom), and since it’s horribly under-performing, we constantly have to jump through hoops of fire to appease various state and federal agencies.  I have worked there five years, but have been around six if I include the year I was student teaching.  I have cursed the school, hated the school, wanted to quit about 700 times, and I can’t even count the mornings I have woken up at 5:30 a.m. thinking, my God, I can’t believe I have to go to Belmont today.  Or BLEmont, as Jason likes to call it.

However, tomorrow is the last day I will ever work at Belmont High School.  At summer’s end I will be moving to The School for the Visual Arts and Humanities at the Roybal Learning Center, just down the street.   The good-bye is admittedly bittersweet, for as much as I’ve complained, I’ll actually miss the place.  Belmont has shaped me in more ways than I can count.  I have had the privelege of working with some incredibly dedicated people, some of whom I may never see again after tomorrow, and working with the Belmont students has affected me greatly.  Sometimes I feel that I’ve learned more in the last six years than I have in all of my days.  I ramble about the different things I’ve experienced, and I’m sure a lot of this comes from my sentimental sensibilities.  Still.  It’s hard to look at the last six years of my life, which have undeniably been the toughest to date, and not appreciate, for better and for worse, all the ways in which it has made me grown as a person.  Tomorrow, as I walk through the graffiti-ridden hallways one last time, I can only say thanks to the institution that professionally, and personally, has made me who I am.

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June 25, 2008 by Tiffany.

After Friday, I’ll have an entire eight weeks off to spend at my discretion.  Obviously, I can’t wait, but unfortunately I’ll have some work to do over the summer for the opening of the new school.  Still, I can’t be too sad about having to attend some meetings over the summer.  I could have a crappy summer job like this:

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June 21, 2008 by Tiffany.

Last night my academy, (Belmont High School is split into several small learning communities called academies), Visual Arts and Humanities, had its graduation celebration for the seniors, some of whom aren’t actually graduating.  Well, you know, Belmont isn’t exactly known for pumping out the graduates; over half never make it to senior year.  That being said, this was an occassion to celebrate, even though it meant a 14 hour work day, (and several previous long workdays getting ready and rehearsing). It was long, but worth it.  More pictures can be seen at my school website.  Next year should be more meaningful on a personal level since I will know a lot more of those students.

Only one week left of school!  I am sooo excited for summer, but admittedly, it’s bittersweet.  More into that later.

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June 13, 2008 by Tiffany.

We recently studied the Beat Generation in my American Literature class, and as a culminating activity I asked students to write their own anger, angst-ridden poems.  Needless to say, I was rather shocked at some of the results.  As extra credit, I uploaded some of the poems online, for your listening pleasure.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a teen today, or if you’re simply bored, here’s a disturbing window into the psyche of a 17 year old.  And a sample of what I deal with daily.

Teen Angst Poems

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June 9, 2008 by Tiffany.

Have you ever heard this term before?   I hadn’t, until I heard it mentioned in relation to my job.  Apparently it’s a mandatory unpaid leave of absence.  It’s one possible solution to deal with the budget shortfall.  Sounds like a lot of fun.  Good thing my car is a mere few days away from being paid off!

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June 5, 2008 by Tiffany.

Tomorrow the local teacher’s union has decided on a one hour “job action” where teachers will not sign in for the first sixty minutes of the school day and instead stand outside and protest Governor Schwarzenegger’s cuts on education in California.  Now, it’s not that I don’t support the message.  I, for one, think my job is tough enough without $4 billion dollars less, which will lead to less resources, job losses and higher class sizes.  However, I’m just not sure that the best way to say “cuts hurt kids” is to leave the kids roaming around the school, not learning a darn thing, while we are on the streets protesting.  Couldn’t this wait until after school?  Or perhaps have a minimum day where we could protest the budget cuts without skipping out on part of the school day?  It’s now my task to decide whether or not I should participate.  On the whole, I’m not really into radical union politics, but who wants to cross a picket line with all of my colleagues and friends?  Not I.  This is definitely one I’ll have to sleep on.

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