Posted by Michael New on September 03, 2007 at 17:33:25 from 65.32.178.7:
In Reply to: Re: Annual JFAS meeting posted by The Yuletide Kid on September 03, 2007 at 11:56:02:
Yuletide, my heart bleeds for you.
My dear wife taught English literature at the High School level in New York and subsequently Florida for 30 years. She retired a year ago. She still has a love for teaching but it has been ruined by the paperwork and endless rules (something called FCAT)that afflict education in Florida. She is currently teaching 9th grade (15 year olds)for three weeks to fill in for a sick colleague. They have segregated the 9th grade this year, so that the young ones will not be contaminated by their elders and the teachers have been told to "win the hearts and minds" of the little kiddies. No wonder when I get to work with the results of this fine education, I find them to be whiny, with a sense of entitlement and the expectations of being rewarded for just doing their job. She was given one class, an honours level, that had 38 kids. The principal told her that while he wished she was staying the whole year; she wasn't and needed to relax. She now remembers why she retired.
I will not be able to attend your meeting, since my annual trip home to Newbury is this month. Next year, I will also be retired and will have more flexibility. One of my retirement goals is to re-read all of my Farnols and try harder to fill in the gaps in my collection.
Michael