Thanks, TRK/ TeacherRant

Yo, so I asked a question the other day, 'cuz I didn't know something. Which happens a lot. I'm known in my group of friends for asking about thirty-leven million questions. As a former know-it-all I still want to know everything sometimes.

But you know what? TRK answered the question! THANKS! I 'preciate that!
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On another note, I was talking to my Mama this morning (Sardy mornings before 8 you'll get a busy signal, cuz Ahm taw-kin tuh mah MAMA. Do Not Disturb.) and she said what she always says, namely "Write all this down, you could get a great book out of it."

What she was talking about this time? I was doing my TeacherRANT thing about how much I've spent on my classroom this year.
Now, since I've remained pretty much anonymous on here, I feel ok letting people know that I made slightly more than eighteen thousand dollars TOTAL income last year.

Do you know out of that I spent a good $300 from my personal pocketbook on classroom enrichment?
That means posters, books and magazines for the kids to read besides the way-too-advanced English textbook selected by DEPR, plus supplies such as cardboard, scissors, glue, paper, pencils, pencil sharpeners, whiteboard markers, alchohol and whiteboard cleaner for the whiteboard, erasers, chalk, photocopies at expensive-butt CopyMaz when the school copier was broken for FOUR months... that's just to get my classroom to what Miss Wolfe and I feel is a MINIMUM-level of supply and enrichment for the kids to begin taking in the language at more than a theoretical level. That's NOT talking the level the classroom would've reached in my home town.

I could have left the classroom as it was when I arrived, and in fact we didn't buy all of those things at once. But had I not done it, my life would've been a bit harder and the kids would've had to work harder to learn less. Since they're at the age and in a culture where learning isn't all that emphasised, we felt it had to be done.
Now, while I wouldn't take back any of those purchases, it GALLED me at the time and still does in fact that I had to spend $300 out of my own blasted pocket when that's almost twenty percent of my pre-tax income!

Dear President Bush: You and yo wifey are worried 'bout no chi'rens being left behind. I understand this. This is commendable on your affluent white protestant parts.
However, I am going to take this opportunity to direct your attention to the TEACHERS of the chi'rens whose behinds are not to be left.
We're already broke, and going through all the training you require, plus outfitting our classrooms in a timely manner means that we are stressed out and beside (as well as behind) our ownselves.
GET TEACHERS PAID ON TIME!
MAKE SURE FUNDING HAPPENS!
LET THE LAWS SUPPORT SCHOOL STAFF!
THEN MAKE YOUR DEMANDS ON US!
I SWEAR, if you could just do that one little thing, you'd see education all over the country improve 300%. Don't believe me? Think of this: The average private-school teacher gets paid LESS than the public school teacher on the island of Puerto Rico. However, the students from the private schools learn at a faster, more competitive rate. Why?

THOSE TEACHERS ARE PAID ON TIME EVERY MONTH!
AND THEY GET THE REQUIRED BOOKS and SUPPLIES at the BEGINNING OF EACH YEAR!
It's as simple as that. ALL schoolkids here wear uniforms, many of the private schoolkids get scholarships, so don't tell me it's about parents' level of cash. It ain't. It's about the government being so darned bureaucratically slow.
FIX IT! OR I AS YO BOSS AIN'T GON' SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR LACKEYS IN 2008!

Sincerely,
TwennyTwo
Urban Public Intermediate Schoolteacher

And since I actually had to pay la isla del espanto $233 in taxes this year, you can imagine just how prendida (on fire or hot) I am. I love living here but not that much.

Turns out, that this coming Monday Miss Wolfe and I get to go spend $400 each at teaching supply stores all over the island. This makes me feel slightly better, but still furious. What the heck did the guy teaching before me spend his cash on?

Not dictionaries. I supplied my own.
Not school supplies. Those were bought or donated.
Not teaching games. The few we used we made up or didn't require boards.

Dude ran off with the money free as a bird.

That's aiight though. I'll sleep on Sunday evening with visions of the Oxford SpanishEnglish Dictionary dancing in my head, paired with highlighters, and neon-colored paper, and scissors and rulers and whiteboard markers.

Better than Christmas. Better than Eid, even.

ttyl, I gotta get out of this lab.

Oh, before I go, check out the below. They describe me pretty well, even though I am really an ENTJ. Guess they didn't steal that part from Kinsey.

love yall!

Your #1 Match: INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

Your #2 Match: INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can. Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge. Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat. A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

What's Your Personality Type?