Gossipy books

The great thing about a teacher’s summer vacation is the fact that, if we plan our time wisely, we have time to read as much as we like. That’s what I am doing with part of my time anyway.

In the month since school has ended, I’ve gotten through two books and I’ve started a third. The first was a goofy book titled The Secret Lives of Great Authors by Robert Schnakenberg. The second was a far more serious piece of non fiction by Ishmael Beah called A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The third book is a small book that might be familiar to you, Anna Karenina by some guy named Leo Tolstoy. For fun, I will occasionally review the books I’ve read.

I’ll start with The Secret Lives of Great Authors by Robert Schnakenberg. A co-worker loaned it to me for the summer and swore that I would love it. I’m not sure love is a good description. This book is kind of like People for literature geeks. It’s not particularly well-written (not unlike this blog) but it has a handful of juicy little tidbits about many of the authors whom I admire. Some of the “revelations” were not really that shocking. For example, the anecdote revealing that Walt Whitman kissed Oscar Wilde squarely on the lips is not very surprising. Actually, I had quite a chuckle when I read it. Walt was 63 at the time while Oscar was a mere 28! I say bully for Walt! On the other hand, I found it all together disturbing that Gertrude Stein was friends with a Nazi collaborator in the Vichy government.

All of this brings me to a larger question – why do so many people read or watch celebrity “news”? I know that some of it can’t be avoided, especially when some of it (the Pitt-Jolie birthing event) shows up in serious news outlets. I’m thinking more about those shows or magazines dedicated wholly to lives of the rich and famous. What do people get out of reading those? Fess up, which one of the grocery store line magazines do you pick up and thumb through while waiting?

Boy, this is a lot of work

I did not realize that toilet training would be so tiring. We started with my son last week and it is all we have been doing. At first, he would scream and cry and whine that he did not want to sit on the toilet. Luckily for us, we had the right combination of bribes for the boy - small trucks and cars!

I am ashamed to admit that we bribed our son, but we did it. To be honest, it has worked out quite nicely for us. Within a seven day period, he has gone from screams to now telling us when he has to go to the bathroom. So far, he is making to the toilet on time - we haven't had an accident since Saturday.

What is a little vexing for me is that we could have gone with a much cheaper bribe. We have run out of dinky cars and have purchased all that are available at our local toy store. We are now using stickers and I'll be damned if he isn't just as happy with stickers. Oh well, as my husband has been saying, if someone had told him that for $35 (the amount we have spent on cars), our son would be toilet trained in a week, we would have thought it was a bargain.

Finally - a contract!

I am a member of my local's negotiating team. We started negotiating last spring and did not wrap up until two weeks ago. It has been a long haul. The teacher's union and the district argued over small things like the number of staff meetings allowed and big items like how many sick days can be banked for purposes of payout at the time of retirement. The time spent at the bargaining table and at planning sessions was more than I had anticipated. I ended up being very far behind on grading papers and helping out on housework. My husband has a tremendous amount of patience and I truly appreciate it.

In the end, we got a small pay increase, a big increase in the amount of bankable days for retirement severance (at the expense of new hirees) , and most importantly, no concessions on health care co-pays.

I am thrilled that I will not be negotiating during my leave. I can focus on my goals, my family, and myself. I am glad, however, that I was a part of the bargaining team. I learned a lot and the opportunity gave me concrete issues to think about as I contemplate my future in teaching and in the union. You see, when this contract expires we will elect new officers. I am already the secretary, a job that I have enjoyed. But, our president has more than suggested that this was the last contract that he will negotiate. Many people are looking to me to step into that position. It is my own fault. I have never been shy about expressing my interest in the president's spot. I believe that I can do a good job. I cannot logically tell you why I believe so. The district is not healthy and it doesn't look like administration has any clue on how to cure the many problems. The economy in the state of Michigan is awful and I don't expect it to get better anytime soon. NCLB is a terrible law that is driving education into privatize hands. Yet, I am delusional enough to believe that I can ride in on a white horse and help the union and the district.

Hopefully, the next year allows to examine this issue a little more in depth and a little more dispassionately than I normally do.