OMG! Are you watching the same thing I am? Did he actually say that? I know, I can't believe it either! I can't believe that I am watching/listening to the State of the Union Address.
1) George W. Bush actually says that Congress should have a balanced budget and that he will cut bloated government program. My question, does that include graft and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan?
2) He says that a decent education is the only way for many children to achieve their dreams, obviously it wasn't necessary for the Bush. He is harping on and on about failing public schools, what about failing private schools, like the ones he attended?
3) I am appalled at the beginning of his speech. He was actually threatening the Democrat dominated Congress with veto after veto. I was wondering, how does that give us the "State of the Union?"
4) He wants more manufacturing in the United States. I would like to see him support laws that will protect American jobs from being outsourced overseas.... for a change.
5) Energy security? How can he and his big oil buddies benefit from energy security? Where will the big profits come if the prices do not stay high?
6) Limit carbon emissions? Is he admitting that there is global warming? Then why not sign on the the Kyoto Protocols, as a starting point upon which to improve?
7) Ted Turner? Did I just see Ted Turner in the house of Congress for the State of the Union Address?
8) By asking Congress to pass laws banning unethical practices, does that included corruption in the Food and Drug Administration and will actually prevent the approval of drugs that kill, and are known to kill?
9) Did he just say that the Constitution should be respected? When did he have this change of heart?
10) By supporting faith-based groups, does that include the Muslim faith or will they continue to be discriminated as "terrorist" organizations?
11) Here comes the Social Security reform. Beating a dead horse. He is worried about deficits, um, did you pay attention to how many billions of dollars that flow into Iraq and Afghanistan (and not into New Orleans)?
12) Is it just me, or are you also repulsed every time Bush talks about "high ideals?"
I can't watch any more. I am done here. Actually, I expected him to get up and tell us how he and his friends have hoodwinked the United States and once his term is done how they will make off with billions of our tax dollars and the next president will deal with the economic problems caused by it.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
January 21, 2008
And away we go. Tomorrow begins the second semester - same curriculum, new students. You would think that which students I teach should not make much difference, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the difference of just one student can change the complexion of an entire class and create an entirely different experience. Since I do not know the students coming to me, I have no idea if I have any of these students. Ones that can change the entire mood of a class and sour the experience, no just for me, but for everyone. Not only can it change the experience, it can have a profound impact on the final results. A student that has to continually be reprimanded or quieted, or dealt with due to tardies can disrupt the flow of the class and distract students sufficiently to the point of information loss. I think that is the main reason why teachers have anxiety when getting a new class (either at the beginning of the school year or change of semester). I will just have to wait and see who shows up and how I deal with it.
Michelle and Evan return from San Francisco tonight, late. They will arriving at about midnight from JFK after an hours long flight from San Fran and an hours long layover at JFK. They will be exhausted and Michelle will have to work tomorrow. She will essentially be losing 3 hours of sleep due to jet lag. We aren't sure where Evan will be tomorrow. Actually, Michelle probably has a pretty good idea where Evan will end up tomorrow, I on the other hand am not yet privy to that information. I guess I will find out tonight or tomorrow when I call Michelle from work at the end of the day.
Yesterday I caught a couple of cool pictures. As the ice and snow began to melt, there was a car with an interesting melting pattern on its hood. I can't explain it other than I think it has something to do with the support underneath the hood of the car.
Michelle and Evan return from San Francisco tonight, late. They will arriving at about midnight from JFK after an hours long flight from San Fran and an hours long layover at JFK. They will be exhausted and Michelle will have to work tomorrow. She will essentially be losing 3 hours of sleep due to jet lag. We aren't sure where Evan will be tomorrow. Actually, Michelle probably has a pretty good idea where Evan will end up tomorrow, I on the other hand am not yet privy to that information. I guess I will find out tonight or tomorrow when I call Michelle from work at the end of the day.
Yesterday I caught a couple of cool pictures. As the ice and snow began to melt, there was a car with an interesting melting pattern on its hood. I can't explain it other than I think it has something to do with the support underneath the hood of the car.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
January 15, 2008
It is the end of the semester. Just one more class of exams to go. It is nice to get a fresh start in the middle of the year, but at the same time, with such great students this semester, I fear what I will get next. I already received an email for a students that will be on homebound instruction until Feb. 1. I won't know why, but that is always an inauspicious start, not just for me, but for the student. I can not base any of my homebound lessons on the internet because the student does not have internet access. I have already read between the lines.
Third period exam was today. Honors World History. It was weird but I am not going to teach this group of students again. This is the first time I have felt this way about a semester-long class. I am not sure we are doing the students any good by using the block schedule. Compared to the 6 period traditional schedule, we have lost 30 hours of instruction and we do not get to know the students as people. We are forced to teach a curriculum, not students.
Second semester begins Tuesday. I am looking forward to the new start, I hope to get farther into the World History curriculum than before now that I have only one honors class. But it is the two Civics and Economics classes that worry me. It is this subject that high stakes testing takes place. I have had a look at the rosters and the students previous grades, many have not passed World History (the 9th grade supposed prerequisite). In fact, some have failed it a couple of times so guidance feels that they should try something else instead. I will do my best, but I am worried that my best will not be good enough for students who are dealing with much more than grades and homework. This will translate to more work for me. I am anticipating many absences from class, many missing assignments and many make-ups. Which become very tedious to keep up with after a while. And the first time I forget something, it is automatically my fault even though it is the student's fault for not keeping up in the first place.
To top it off, my tenure as class advisor expires this year, which means that several events are upcoming that will curtail my time. Winterfest is next month, Senior Assembly is in June, and Graduation. I hear the preparation for Winterfest is going well. My coadvisors have taken on this task and have left nothing for me. In general, I am glad that I have less to do, but on the other hand, and more importantly, I do feel as though I am not helping in a job that is rightfully mine as well. In fact, I have the suspicion that they are planninig to take this task entirely, without me, and leave one of the other tasks entirely to me as a sort of tit-for-tat, I did this you do that kind of thing. I hope not because I have not chosen to step out of the Winterfest preparation, as much as I feel boxed out by them.
Third period exam was today. Honors World History. It was weird but I am not going to teach this group of students again. This is the first time I have felt this way about a semester-long class. I am not sure we are doing the students any good by using the block schedule. Compared to the 6 period traditional schedule, we have lost 30 hours of instruction and we do not get to know the students as people. We are forced to teach a curriculum, not students.
Second semester begins Tuesday. I am looking forward to the new start, I hope to get farther into the World History curriculum than before now that I have only one honors class. But it is the two Civics and Economics classes that worry me. It is this subject that high stakes testing takes place. I have had a look at the rosters and the students previous grades, many have not passed World History (the 9th grade supposed prerequisite). In fact, some have failed it a couple of times so guidance feels that they should try something else instead. I will do my best, but I am worried that my best will not be good enough for students who are dealing with much more than grades and homework. This will translate to more work for me. I am anticipating many absences from class, many missing assignments and many make-ups. Which become very tedious to keep up with after a while. And the first time I forget something, it is automatically my fault even though it is the student's fault for not keeping up in the first place.
To top it off, my tenure as class advisor expires this year, which means that several events are upcoming that will curtail my time. Winterfest is next month, Senior Assembly is in June, and Graduation. I hear the preparation for Winterfest is going well. My coadvisors have taken on this task and have left nothing for me. In general, I am glad that I have less to do, but on the other hand, and more importantly, I do feel as though I am not helping in a job that is rightfully mine as well. In fact, I have the suspicion that they are planninig to take this task entirely, without me, and leave one of the other tasks entirely to me as a sort of tit-for-tat, I did this you do that kind of thing. I hope not because I have not chosen to step out of the Winterfest preparation, as much as I feel boxed out by them.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
December 20, 2007
Has it been a week already since I last posted?
Today was one of those "teachable moments" that we have from time to time. A teachable moment is when something happens in the "real world" that can be used in the classroom. This week in World History we have been talking about Napoleon and the Nationalistic sentiments he helped to create among the masses across Europe. In the news this week were two stories that involved nationalism, so I had to take time during class to show how the concept we learn in class applies to the real world. The two events: 1) Turkey invades northern Iraq for a few hours to stop incursions by members of the PKK (Kurdish sepratists desiring their own independent nation), 2) Kosovo is on the verge of declaring their independence from Serbia. In both cases there are ethnic groups who want their own nation to defend themselves from attacks by their government. And in both cases they want land from the nations in which they currently exist.
Understandably, I was thinking about Christmas today. Children are taught from an early age that the idea of "Big Brother" is acceptable. As adults we argue against intrusive measures by government to invade our privacy. The 4th Amendment protects our privacy. Yet it is OK for Santa to watch children all year long?!?! Besides being creepy, an old man watching children, they believed that they are constantly being spied on. Is that acceptable? Or is propaganda for government agents to indoctrinate us into the idea of governmental invasion of privacy? Don't you think it is weird,
"He see you when you're sleepin, he knows if you're awake, he know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake."
How Orwellian is that?
Today was one of those "teachable moments" that we have from time to time. A teachable moment is when something happens in the "real world" that can be used in the classroom. This week in World History we have been talking about Napoleon and the Nationalistic sentiments he helped to create among the masses across Europe. In the news this week were two stories that involved nationalism, so I had to take time during class to show how the concept we learn in class applies to the real world. The two events: 1) Turkey invades northern Iraq for a few hours to stop incursions by members of the PKK (Kurdish sepratists desiring their own independent nation), 2) Kosovo is on the verge of declaring their independence from Serbia. In both cases there are ethnic groups who want their own nation to defend themselves from attacks by their government. And in both cases they want land from the nations in which they currently exist.
Understandably, I was thinking about Christmas today. Children are taught from an early age that the idea of "Big Brother" is acceptable. As adults we argue against intrusive measures by government to invade our privacy. The 4th Amendment protects our privacy. Yet it is OK for Santa to watch children all year long?!?! Besides being creepy, an old man watching children, they believed that they are constantly being spied on. Is that acceptable? Or is propaganda for government agents to indoctrinate us into the idea of governmental invasion of privacy? Don't you think it is weird,
"He see you when you're sleepin, he knows if you're awake, he know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake."
How Orwellian is that?
Thursday, December 13, 2007
December 13, 2007
I really needed that day off on Monday! In retrospect, I was really getting maxed and didn't notice. It is amazing what that day off did for my patience. Whew.
Something really interesting and good happened yesterday. I was in the mail room with the math department chairperson. I have been meaning to send her an email to complement her department's efforts to help the students remember their important formulae for the End-of-Course exams - construction paper posters posted around the building and "Math Woman" roving the buildings and stopping students to rewards them if they knew the answer to her question. When we walked out of the mail room, Dr. Gainey, the building principal, wanted to speak with her. But before I walked off and their their conversation began, the math department chair turned to me, in front of the principal mind you, and said that she suggested her student teacher come and observe me teaching my class! Ha! That's right. The math department chair, whom the principal highly respects, thought that her student teacher would benefit from seeing me in action AND the principal was their to hear it! It doesn't get much better than that as far as timely complements go, especially after the debacle towards the end of last semester being called out on the carpet by the principal.
It seems that my tool for enforcing behavior in my Civics and Economics class is working. The students are being more respectful of each other and more mindful of what they say and when they say it. The tool is simple. No it isn't a paddle, it is a self-evaluation of Character Education. Wake County Schools emphasizes character education from Kindergarten all the way through high school. By the time the students reach 10th grade, they should be well aware of the character traits emphasized by WCPSS - courage, respect, perseverance, good judgement, honesty, integrity, kindness, responsibility, and self-discipline. At the end of each period they simply write down a number (0-4) and score themselves based on the criteria outlined on their "daily sheet." I go over each student's sheet, adjust their grades if necessary, and distribute the sheets the next day. Not only is this 10% of the student's grade for the course, but it is also evidence of student conduct in the classroom to be used during a parent conference, if necessary. I came up with the idea about 10 years ago and now I use it only in classes that need the extra motivation to cooperate. I adapted a similar tool used in foreign language classes that the teachers there use to have students evaluate themselves on their use of the foreign language in the class. And now, several teacher use this "Character Education" model to enforce rules in their classes - it seems every once in a while I have a good idea.
Something really interesting and good happened yesterday. I was in the mail room with the math department chairperson. I have been meaning to send her an email to complement her department's efforts to help the students remember their important formulae for the End-of-Course exams - construction paper posters posted around the building and "Math Woman" roving the buildings and stopping students to rewards them if they knew the answer to her question. When we walked out of the mail room, Dr. Gainey, the building principal, wanted to speak with her. But before I walked off and their their conversation began, the math department chair turned to me, in front of the principal mind you, and said that she suggested her student teacher come and observe me teaching my class! Ha! That's right. The math department chair, whom the principal highly respects, thought that her student teacher would benefit from seeing me in action AND the principal was their to hear it! It doesn't get much better than that as far as timely complements go, especially after the debacle towards the end of last semester being called out on the carpet by the principal.
It seems that my tool for enforcing behavior in my Civics and Economics class is working. The students are being more respectful of each other and more mindful of what they say and when they say it. The tool is simple. No it isn't a paddle, it is a self-evaluation of Character Education. Wake County Schools emphasizes character education from Kindergarten all the way through high school. By the time the students reach 10th grade, they should be well aware of the character traits emphasized by WCPSS - courage, respect, perseverance, good judgement, honesty, integrity, kindness, responsibility, and self-discipline. At the end of each period they simply write down a number (0-4) and score themselves based on the criteria outlined on their "daily sheet." I go over each student's sheet, adjust their grades if necessary, and distribute the sheets the next day. Not only is this 10% of the student's grade for the course, but it is also evidence of student conduct in the classroom to be used during a parent conference, if necessary. I came up with the idea about 10 years ago and now I use it only in classes that need the extra motivation to cooperate. I adapted a similar tool used in foreign language classes that the teachers there use to have students evaluate themselves on their use of the foreign language in the class. And now, several teacher use this "Character Education" model to enforce rules in their classes - it seems every once in a while I have a good idea.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
December 11, 2007
It is testing time. That is, time for the students to test me. And in return I will test them. I do not mean a formal exam, multiple choice, matching, but testing each other to see what we will do. Since I took a "mental health" day yesterday, I left work for the classes to complete in my absence. This is usually not a problem, especially for an honors class, of which I have two. So decided today to check to make sure they completed the work I left for them. I gave them a "homework quiz." This is a simple technique to determine who completed their work or homework (in my class, any work not completed in class is to be completed for homework unless otherwise instrtucted). Such a quiz is generally simple for the students who did their work. Two questions, one directly from the worksheet such as "What is the answer to question #5?" and a second question which required the students to have read the section(s) in the text book. Two questions, easy to grade and easy for the student who did their work. Their test of me was the simple question, "Were we supposed to finish it for homework? Nobody told us to." Would I give in? Would I simply concede that it had not been specifically stated the day before? No. If I do, then the students will make that the status quo and would require me to remind them every time that a classwork should be completed for homework. No better motivator for a honors student than a poor quiz grade.
This evening, after dinner, we sat around the table and made Christmas ornaments as per Evan's suggestion. It was definitely better than sitting in the office doing school work, playing video games, or watching TV. It was really nice to do something together, all too often we forget and take each other for granted. Last week Evan and I bought a gingerbread house kit, we are planning to build it this weekend.
This evening, after dinner, we sat around the table and made Christmas ornaments as per Evan's suggestion. It was definitely better than sitting in the office doing school work, playing video games, or watching TV. It was really nice to do something together, all too often we forget and take each other for granted. Last week Evan and I bought a gingerbread house kit, we are planning to build it this weekend.
Monday, December 10, 2007
December 10, 2007
Let's see if I can get back on a roll. It is that time of year, Christmas is in the air, 24/7 Christmas music on half the radio stations, crowded malls and parking lots, traffic galore, and it is going to be 80 degrees this week. Nothing quite like it! And the good news, businesses are trying to get that holiday spirit to last longer and longer each year by pushing up the date of the "holiday shopping" season. Soon, we will be Christmas shopping in 90+ degree heat on our way back from the pool with songs wanting to "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow." And if they are successful, we will enjoy the throngs of shoppers and tangles of traffic for 3 or 4 months out of the year. How exciting!
On the other hand, I guess I should consider myself pretty lucky that it is going to be so warm this week considering our heat doesn't work. It doesn't seem likely that it will be repaired but will have to be replaceed. The unit it so old that any label with a date, serial number, or part number is totally blank. The first repairman says the unit is about 18 years old (guessing it was from 1989) while the second estimates it to be about 22 years old. Either way, it is well past it's life expectancy. The problem will be convincing the home warranty company that it cannot be repaired because they will not be able to find a replacement part without a part number. These warranty companies and the local companies they contract the work out to are trying to cut their costs. In fact the local company will make less if they accept a contract from these warranty companies. As a result, they will want to get the job done it in the quickest and easiest way possible.
Speaking of that time of year, it is that time of the semester. The "honeymoon" period is definitely over inthe classrooom. Teachers have to now resort to their "bag o' tricks" in order to get the students on task and to keep them motivated to learn - which is not all that easy when you consider that the teachers are usually not all that motivated at this point either. I guess that is why I took a "mental health" day today! It becomes a downward spiral. The students, being teenagers, act as anybody can expect them too, as teenagers, their interests lying outside of the classroom. When the teacher must "fight" to keep the students working and paying attention and completing their homework, the teacher begins to feel like they are putting in more effort than the students and will want to cut back. This is usually accompanied with a lack of enthusiasm on the teacher's part which is easily noticed by the studnets who will like show a further lack of interest, and so on, and so on. Two things make this a little better: 1) the holiday spirit makes it easier to tolerate each other; 2) the semester is almost over, only about 20 days of instruction left with this group of students (or 20 days left with these teachers!) making the end in sight! Any way you slice it, the upcoming weeks are always interesting and challenging in the classroom.
On the other hand, I guess I should consider myself pretty lucky that it is going to be so warm this week considering our heat doesn't work. It doesn't seem likely that it will be repaired but will have to be replaceed. The unit it so old that any label with a date, serial number, or part number is totally blank. The first repairman says the unit is about 18 years old (guessing it was from 1989) while the second estimates it to be about 22 years old. Either way, it is well past it's life expectancy. The problem will be convincing the home warranty company that it cannot be repaired because they will not be able to find a replacement part without a part number. These warranty companies and the local companies they contract the work out to are trying to cut their costs. In fact the local company will make less if they accept a contract from these warranty companies. As a result, they will want to get the job done it in the quickest and easiest way possible.
Speaking of that time of year, it is that time of the semester. The "honeymoon" period is definitely over inthe classrooom. Teachers have to now resort to their "bag o' tricks" in order to get the students on task and to keep them motivated to learn - which is not all that easy when you consider that the teachers are usually not all that motivated at this point either. I guess that is why I took a "mental health" day today! It becomes a downward spiral. The students, being teenagers, act as anybody can expect them too, as teenagers, their interests lying outside of the classroom. When the teacher must "fight" to keep the students working and paying attention and completing their homework, the teacher begins to feel like they are putting in more effort than the students and will want to cut back. This is usually accompanied with a lack of enthusiasm on the teacher's part which is easily noticed by the studnets who will like show a further lack of interest, and so on, and so on. Two things make this a little better: 1) the holiday spirit makes it easier to tolerate each other; 2) the semester is almost over, only about 20 days of instruction left with this group of students (or 20 days left with these teachers!) making the end in sight! Any way you slice it, the upcoming weeks are always interesting and challenging in the classroom.
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