[Miscellany]

The movie project is turning out to be bigger than Ben Hur. I asked VPrin about having a team of teachers do this rather than just one. He absolutely agrees with me - but doing something like this (and even me doing it on my own) requires time and money. Time out of the art room means that an emergency teacher needs to be employed for that hour/day. That also means money. Prin doesn't like it when time and money are involved. I don't physically have enough time release on my own to do this. I don't have access to the kids whenever I want them because I don't actually have my own grade. The logistics are a NIGHTMARE and everyone knows it but prin. I'm also handling another big project of my own.

Time
Money

You'd think that one day management would realise that it's needed to make things work properly. VPrin went to Prin and told her about the logistical problems and she thinks that it can be incorporated into my art programme. Yeah, it can if I want the art programme to suffer. Also, what am I supposed to do with all the other grade 5/6s when I'm only working with 8 kids on this?

The problem with management is that they want everything done with a smile on your face, with minimum fuss and maximum productivity. In the real world management don't actually have to do the plebby work that the rest of us are doing. They just manage the plebs - they are not plebs. And herein lies the problem. They are detatched from the everyday machinations of working life. They have their own deadlines and issues that have nothing to do with the rest of us. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I was reading this article in the newspaper about [insert new educational initiative] and I thought we could do that here. So, let's have a brainstorm and by next week we can have the whole school [proficient in new educational initiative]. Yep, I'll just drop everything I'm doing now eh? I'm not being patronising about it. It's just true - that's how it is, and I'd bet it's true for any industry, not just education. All managers are different. I know that VPrin can be very supportive but in the end Prin has own ideas.

Being a teacher is actually a really hard job. I know it sounds like it's all finger painting, singalongs and excellent holidays' but it's not. Some days are better than others - but it's never really just about teaching a grade and letting them go home at the end of the day. I tried to draw a mind map about it one day, but it got so complicated that I had to stop. There was too much to put in. Sometimes prin forgets this.

I'm going to try really hard to get another teacher, time and money in on this project - because otherwise I'm going to be swamped. God knows I've always cracked it and been in tears about every single concert I've 'directed'. Kids are frustrating because they can't always do what you want them to.

*edit*
so, prin came into the art room earlier when I had a grade. When prin comes into the art room I know that
1) she's been thinking.. uh oh
2) she really, really wants to borrow something
or
3) she wants me to get something done really quickly.

ding! ding! ding! yes, folks door 3 - show the lovely lady what she's won.
Okay, plebby art teacher you have won a last minute job that has absolutely nothing to do with you or your budget.
what's that? Tell me more Sir!
Well, you know how you're loaded with money and time?
uh, no! But I'm listening
well, now with the money you don't have you can go and buy a whole bunch of resources and then spend all that time you don't have to plan and create activities for other teachers. Oh, and this has to be done by Friday morning because of the commonwealth games day you have planned.
Wait, I didn't plan any Commonwealth Games Day. I'm not on the committee! Wasn't someone else planning this shit ie: the COMMITTEE? Why am I being told now and not one week ago? Why me?
Because you're the art teacher you stupid woman. You're the fallback, wait until the first school concert, then you'll really be under the hammer. Now get to work! *whip*

Prin wanted every child to make a flag and all these huge fabric banners and have stencils of athletes etc on them. She just assummed that I had heaps of stuff in the art room - yeah right, I still haven't even done my first order yet. I'm running on empty at the moment. Then she wanted me to take the money for this C.Day stuff out of the art budget.
I just looked at her - my face must have said it all because she quickly added that she'd put them money back into the budget later. Then she wanted me to plan all these activities for all the teachers to do on Friday for the day so that when we get to the sport activities that night at school then it would look spiffy.

Great idea and all, pity about the time and resources though.

I knew that I had to swallow it though.

So I go down to the bursar and tell her about Prin. Bursar just gives me this knowing look and writes out a payment thingy (technical name..) for the art store not under the art budget but under the C.Day.Committee budget and tells me to go to town. hahahaha! score.

Then I went to the art store and I found the world's most loveliest lady who helped me with a whole bunch of ideas and stuff and recommended all the proper things to buy and offered me all these secret cool deals (like cutting material by half meter, which I know they don't do) etc.

Art people are good people. They are so much nicer and more helpful than the corporate whores one usually has to deal with when getting anything done. Yay for arty hippies!

posted by M at 2:44 pm 6 comments