Tuesday, June 6, 1995
If the end of the last entry seemed abrupt, it's because it really wasn't the end. The "ending" of it was in mid-paragraph about six paragraphs before the real "end" of that piece. That was about when Jim called and my computer crashed. I'm typing this at school, now the next day, Tuesday, June 6, hoping that I will find a way to save my computer from going to the great CPU in the sky.
I spent nearly five hours yesterday/last night trying to nurse it back to health. 1-800-SOS-APPL. Norton Utilities. Try and try again. Kevin Davis. To no avail. Tag the toe, he's dead. Stick a fork in him, he's done. Tonight, I'll try Kev's one last ditch attempt to resuscitate it (I’m not sure, but I think it involves the burning of incense and dancing around it, naked). If it doesn't work, I'm hoping at least to be able to recover the files (the apps I can reload, but the files--those that have not been backed up...like this one [meaning the entire journal]--are crucial to me and my mental well-being). Thank god the Electronic Portfolios were on the external hard drive. I brought that back into school today, and here I graded the last of them this afternoon.
They turned out quite well. The lowest grade was a C (and that one was low only because it was haphazardly put together at the last minute, with a student from another group doing much of the final inputting), and many of them were wonderful. I am now more convinced than ever that this is the direction to go. If I can only get the PowerMac to work long enough to "print" the Portfolios onto a VHS tape to become the video letter... of course, in the state of health that my Mac currently resides, I'm not sure that is going to happen.
I just took a break to help Metcalf distribute yearbooks (the end of the year must really be here), when I ran into BubbaDumber...
"Ya know, that kid you brought in? Well, he took off before I could take care of him. Don't really remember what he looked like... so if you see him again, bring him in, okay?"
Right. This is why there is no discipline on this campus.
Now, as I type this in the Professional Room, the original WASC Leadership Team meets in the library proper. They're discussing possible appeals to the term of accreditation. I wasn't invited. I'm over it. Real over it.
I've typed now for another thirty minutes (creating a couple of side-bar pieces), not really listening, but getting a pretty strong feel for the tone of the meeting. Joan has just given the crew until the 13th of June to put together some kind of proposal to Kurtzmann to convince him to file an appeal. She has put the onus on them; like she’s distancing herself from even the mere proposal of an appeal.
Why she (or the District... and aren't they interchangeable by now?) waited until the penultimate week of school is anyone's guess. Apathy seems to reign supreme. It's certainly reminiscent, though, of Joan telling the new School Leadership Team that they had only a few days/weeks to respond to Kurtzmann's yanking of the schedule and to come up with an alternative.
When the meeting is over, Bob’s take is that he doesn't think that their proposal has a chance of getting past Kurtzmann. I agree; if Kurtzmann allows the appeal to go forward and the term is overturned and extended, then his decision to pull the schedule comes off as rash, unadvised, stupid. Of course, Teddi, Aimee, and Bob are still vehement to put forth the proposal. They feel insulted by the report and feel the need to respond. Cynicism has crept in, though, and none of them is willing to burn the midnight oil necessary to write a full appeal before meeting with Kurtzmann next Thursday, when he will have the opportunity to veto (memories of his "flexibility" on the schedule issue are still too fresh).
This cynicism is at the root of Bob’s frustration, frustration at the new Leadership Team's slow progress on the Action Plan's agenda, and frustration voiced to me personally this morning and in letter to Aimee this afternoon. He had personally envisioned the Action Plan and the Leadership Team as an extension of Frankie's reformist movement, only the Leadership Team has been bogged down with more administrivia rather than visionary reform. His frustration makes him want to resign from the LT and to pull in a few owed favors to get a transfer to AcadHigh.
And he's not the only one. John Lead, English 2Honors (and Mr. Anti-Pulp Fiction, is eighty percent sure that he'll be at M.O. next year, possibly opening up 2H here for Aimee. Of course, Acad's principal has been asking Nicole why Aimee's transfer paperwork hasn't been filed; he wants her... all she has to do is ask. And at last week's ASTD function, Mike Carter asked if I was transferring. All this added to Jane's departure makes it look like an exodus.
And after these past few days, I could go for that.
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