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1990. arkymalarky - 1/20/2019 6:13:45 AM

She will do great and she will be happy once she's at University wherever it is. I've seen it so many times as a high school teacher. And I've seen kids who felt similarly that they had been very successful in high school only to not get to the University they thought they had to be in due to the extreme expense. Mose used to tell me when she was a HS senior that if she couldn't go to the school she wanted to attend she would just go to beauty school and forget everything. I don't know why she thought beauty school was something that would scare us the most but that's what she said.

1991. arkymalarky - 1/20/2019 6:20:24 AM

There was a little sitcom called step by step with Suzanne Somers and the guy the Dallas series forget his name. They had an episode that I've told students many times; their daughter-- stepdaughter in their blended family who was the top student in her school and determined to go to Harvard and they had to sit her down and explained that they just couldn't afford it so she was going to have to go to East Wisconsin University which she called Cheese Whiz U. She got schooled on the first day of her comp class when she got a bad grade on her paper and the basic point was that you're going to be in the midst of top talent in a lot of universities that aren't "top tier" because lots of great students don't end up going to those universities.

1992. arkymalarky - 1/20/2019 6:27:33 AM

Do keep us posted on things. One of the things I loved most about teaching high school was watching kids transition from high-school to college and seeing how happy they were. I get to do that little bit in retirement because I've done some things at the local University where some of my kids are.

1993. Trillium - 1/21/2019 1:58:29 AM

The "beauty school" comment is funny to me because I know of two psychology majors who also graduated from cosmetology school (and earn money in salons while students). These women had some interesting stories to tell.

I've been told elsewhere that listening to people talk in therapy situations can be boring, even sleep-inducing.

On the other hand, clients open up to hairdressers working on their hair, and tell the hairdresser the most amazingly intimate aspects of their life and problems during a cosmetic service. People can find relief from the talk therapy while also tending to their appearance.

One of the hairdressers told me that when clients make disclosures that are sad, this beautician makes an effort to turn the client around, so the client won't be facing the mirror while saying disheartening things and absorbing that image of herself. Then, when the cosmetologist senses that the client has "unburdened" and is ready, she turns this client around to face the mirror (usually brightened up and relieved).

There are charities that provide haircuts to indigent people in the community to bolster self-image and improve job participation. Older people at home also remark on how much joy they get from barbering/salon services, and it's something many of patients miss terribly when homebound.

One thing that surprised me most was being told that the drug addiction rate in beauty schools is much higher than I would have expected. There is apparently a high attrition rate due to students being kicked out for shooting up in the restroom etc.

Addiction and lowered ability to concentrate has also led to some cosmetology disasters, burns and mis-cuts etc. This phenomenon would never have occurred to me, although I also recall a medical doctor commenting that a lot of doctors have addiction issues. So why not cosmetologists?

But anyway, a talented hairdresser can earn great money working from home (or dormitory room). People will pay extra for artistic skill in that domain. I remember long ago, a guy who was friend of a friend, who worked from an NYC apartment and took $40-$50 cash from each of his clients for his haircuts -- and that was in the early 80s. Whenever I'd use his services, afterwards random people would always comment on what a great cut it was and how good it looked.. this was better than the response from most salon work I'd invested in. So -- good cosmetology is respectable artwork, just as much as painting, sculpture etc. When kids have an interest in cosmetology, those skills are worth developing -- and don't have to stop their pursuit of other interests.

1994. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:52:43 PM

wow

1995. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:53:00 PM

just noticed

1996. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:53:14 PM

this seems to be

1997. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:53:30 PM

the only thread

1998. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:53:54 PM

anywhere

1999. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:54:08 PM

near a

2000. arkymalarky - 1/21/2019 8:54:33 PM

millennial!!!

2001. arkymalarky - 1/22/2019 10:40:54 PM

Hey Msno what's your view on the outcome of the LA teachers strike and how it might affect things elsewhere in Ca.

2002. winstonsmith - 1/23/2019 2:59:16 AM

Congrats on the 2K Arky!

I will keep you guys posted on the college saga.

2003. arkymalarky - 1/23/2019 7:22:15 AM

Thanks!

I had a wonderful little experience last week in my retirement. Three of my students attending three different universities were out for Christmas and meeting for lunch and invited me to have lunch with them. They said they were talking about my AP Lit class and thought they'd like to visit and I was so thrilled. Had a great time.

2004. Ms. No - 1/23/2019 11:28:24 PM

Arx,

I haven't actually had time to look at the outcome. I'm avoiding news again. :-)

I was just talking to a co-worker this morning about how differently teachers unions are treated compared to other labor unions -- cops, firemen, teamsters, etc. When cops or firemen or teamsters threaten to strike over contract negotiations nobody accuses them of hating the populations they serve. Nobody says to cops "Oh, sure, go strike because you don't care about people's safety! You don't care about crime!" or to firemen " You don't care if people's houses burn down." or to teamsters "You don't care if stuff doesn't get delivered," but the first thing you hear when teachers threaten to strike is that they don't care about kids.

Right. We became teachers because we don't care about kids. We do this job because.....it's so easy and we make so much money??

What other professionals are just expected to volunteer their time? People complain about the high cost of medicine, but it isn't a regular complaint that doctors are greedy and ought not to get paid for their work. Insurance companies get accused of that, but not doctors.

Goes to show how work is valued and whose.

2005. Ms. No - 1/23/2019 11:29:50 PM

Trillium,

I couldn't handle the stress of being a stylist. Yet another profession that isn't always recognized for how difficult it is or how stressful.

2006. Ms. No - 2/4/2019 6:29:03 PM

Ugh! Too much stuff to do right now -- four preps starting with the new semester, and now I'm running the Art Club three days a week after school. Don't know how long that's going to last. It gives me four 12 hour days a week and eats into my prep time. I'd be working those hours anyway, but I'd be lesson planning rather than working hands-on with kids.

One of my students asked me the other day what I would do if I weren't a teacher and I panicked, like I was going to have to go out and look for a job again and had no idea what I want to do.

Our district is yet again trying to balance its poor budget decisions on the backs of teachers and students. They reduced our FTE from 12 to 7 and then gave us 5 back under different funding which means that we don't lose any positions, but 5 of our positions are now open for other teachers to bump into.

I'm likely safe since I've got 11 years in the district now, but we'll probably lose both of our other English teachers. So, in addition to mourning the loss of a great teaching partner and our first really cohesive Department in years, I'll be training folks who don't have any idea what it means to teach at a Linked Learning school.

Just when we start to get our stride going, they come and pull the rug out from under us again. Fuckers.

2007. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:11:18 PM

So, today is the day we find out how many of our teachers are in jeopardy. I've got enough years in that I should be okay, but it's not a done deal until it's a done deal.

Fingers crossed that I don't lose my newest teacher. She's so amazing!

2008. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:15:38 PM

In other news I am tired, tired, tired! My big wish right now is to be home alternately gardening and working on refining and revising my curriculum.....oh, yeah, and finishing writing the lesson plans for the course I'm actively teaching at the moment. Sheesh!

Assuming I don't get bumped to another site, I'll be teaching World History again next year for the first time in about 4 years. I'll have two English 12s, two Govt/Econ, and one World History in addition to my zero period teaching Infographics.

I'd really rather teach World History than Govt/Econ, but I'm not wild about having to coordinate with the other World History teacher as far as scheduling goes. He's been using the same PowerPoints to teach World History for the last six years. That's not the way I teach, but I may have to defer to him.

2009. Ms. No - 3/4/2019 6:23:03 PM

Just submitted my revisions for the module I've been writing for the CSU college-prep course for 12th grade English. There are so many things I still want to work on with it, but this is definitely one of those cases where "It's never done, it's just due."

The main complaint I have with the modules and the module framework is that there isn't enough writing instruction and the writing required by the program isn't varied enough to really develop students skills. They aren't all 5-paragraph essays, but they do all pretty much involve responding to a topic with an argumentative paper.

Yet another thing I'd rather be working on this morning than getting ready to teach my seniors. Nothing wrong with them --- they're an awesome class --- just me in a funk is all. ;-/

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