These last two years

(Warning: self-indulgent, navel-gazing post)

As teachers wrap up a school year, we usually think forward to the summer. There’s always some consideration of the past year. But today, as I avoid grading final exams for another moment, I am thinking of the past two years.

At the end of the 2004-2005 school year I was finishing my 3rd year in a 3-year-old school. I was the original math teacher, the only scheduler, and the union rep. I was having trouble (and feeling stress) with a very difficult principal. I was also on the exec board of the state professional association for mathematics.

• June 2005. I investigate leaving my small school (for 2006-07, not 2005-06, giving it one more year). I get two positive responses and one “Jonathan, when you need to come here, come. You have a job.” I never left, but that was the closest I ever came to doing it.

(much, much more, below the fold —>)

• Summer 2005. My summer gig at the local college got cancelled, and I took a real summer vacation (Athens, Crete, Sporades). I worked every summer up to that point, and do not anticipate working another anytime in the foreseeable future.
• Fall 2005. UFT negotiates a lousy contract, and I get involved in opposing it. (Personally, I voted against the previous one. Trading time for money undoes what the labor movement has always worked for, but this time I actively campaigned). Edwize went live, and I began commenting on Edwize. It was the first blog I had seen, and soon I was commenting on several others as well.
• School Year 2005 – 2006. Develop electives in combinatorics and logic. Preparing first graduating class.
• December 2005. Approached by New Action about working with their caucus. As I am focusing on building chapters and developing local leadership, and New Action has a similar focus, it makes sense, and I become involved.
• April 2006. I start the first jd2718 blog, at blogspot. It’s still there, idle. I few weeks later Kombiz convinces me to jump here, to wordpress. Sitemeter (added soon after) counted 1000 visitors in May.
• May 2006. Begin service on UFT Negotiating Committee (as a New Action nominee). This still needs a substantial post.
• June 2006. New term as Chapter Leader. (no opposition). Principal announces retirement (plus had been a bit easier this year. I had already decided not to jump to another school).
• Summer 2006. Rome (one day, one hundred degrees), Salonika, Sporades, 2 days on boats, Alexandroupolis, a long train ride, Istanbul!)
• August 2006. Met new principal. Prince. (at least for now. Maybe it’s just a 10 month honeymoon.)
• School Year 2006-2007. Develop and teach off-track last 3rd of Geometry, 1st half of algebra II/Precalc hybrid. Will not be taught again. Teach combinatorics and logic a second time.
• October 2006. Term on professional association exec board ended. My extra-curricular activities are now divided 2, not 3, ways (school related stuff, including scheduling, and UFT stuff)
• November 2006. Negotiating Committee produces a fairly non-controversial contract, overwhelmingly ratified.
• Winter 2006 – 2007. Start posting salary schedules and contract information on jd2718. Monthly visitors double from 2000, +/-, to 4 – 5k. Relieved of much daily stress, I notice I’ve grown. 2718 is more like 3105. Need to resume smoking, or exercise, or reintroduce stress, or live with it and buy new pants.
• January 2007. I begin submitting to 2 carnivals: Education and Mathematics. I like the latter much better. I am skeptical about the former, and soon cut back my submissions.
• March 2007. I run for a UFT officer position (on the New Action slate). I get trounced.
• Spring 2007. I begin service on the District Representative Selection Method Committee (as a New Action person). My mantra is “accountability.” We’ll see.
• June 2007. Hosted the Carnival of Mathematics. #9. Likely to have 10,000 visits to jd2718 this month. Stress over end-of-year stuff (finals, grades, report cards, graduation, regents, prom, next year’s scheduling) has trimmed me back towards 2718. Love that stress.
• July 2007. Going to an AFT thing, then (if I ever buy the lousy over-priced tickets) off to Europe – not certain where, but Iceland might be in the mix.

So here I am, two years on. Summer vacationer. Blogger. Confirmed commitment to UFT work. Confirmed commitment to my school. And searching for a bit more stress (or bigger clothes).