Forced growth

Part of me thinks that all of this is happening because if my daughters and I are not forced to separate, we never will. And that can't be healthy for any of us.

What is wrong with this picture?

I have to get all this out somewhere and I guess that's why I have a blog. I crunched some numbers yesterday and found out that the 7th graders I taught last year showed the biggest single increase over their previous years' scores at that school since the 2004-05 school year. Their scores increased by an average of 16% over their 6th grade scores. And I only had 2 quarters to teach them before the AIMS test. It escapes me how nobody from the district is looking at the data and saying wait, what is happening here? I taught the majority of the 7th graders... I had four very full classes and the other 7th grade math teacher had 3 smaller ones. I am thinking of writing an email to the superintendent asking why I can't get a job in TUSD and why they went out of state to hire highly qualified math teachers, and ignored the one right in their backyard.
Today I sent an email to the entire family outlining my plan for what will happen if I don't have a job by the end of August, which is about a week and a half away. I've been in bed for the last three days. My youngest daughter is vomiting every morning before school. My oldest hasn't smiled in days. I think we're all doing our crying in private... trying to be strong for each other, I guess.
I am trying to count my blessings. I have a supportive family who won't let us be out on the street. We are all healthy. I will be able to get my master's degree even if I don't find a job. The oldest daughter's college is almost completely paid for with scholarships and grants. My credit isn't ruined... yet. There is bound to be something great waiting for us at the end of this long night. So I just keep praying.

Those poor men!!

This is a great article about how the recession is mostly happening to men. A few of the highlights:
-Men dominate the hardest-hit sectors of the workforce during the recession, so more of them are being laid off than women. Boo hoo.
-For the first time in history, women are close to becoming half the workforce. This article says the milemark is bittersweet, but I say no it's not. Women are unemployed too. I would know.
-Even though women are nearly half the workforce, they still make 80 cents on the man's dollar. This lead to a very astute comment on the article stating that all of these previously male-dominated employment sectors are replacing those laid-off men with women whose salaries are 20% lower. It's a win-win for the upper echelon... as always.
The article is good, if too sympathetic to the men. The graph is hilarious, and the comments... well you should just go read it!

Stephanopolous takes down Gingrich

I thought this was definitely the high point of today's This Week. Gingrich is nothing but a hatemonger. He tells lies and spreads rumors, and the only time he gets called on it is when he is foolish enough to appear on a political talk show. You would think resigning in disgrace would be enough to convince him to keep his pie hole shut... but I guess the fact that he doesn't get it is at least good for entertainment value.