2nd quarter letter

UPDATE #1... I found some errors and corrected them on my original and here...

This is the letter that is going to be sent to all the parents on Tuesday, which is the first day of the new quarter. I hope this will alleviate some of the problems that I am having with my students. Notice how many times I put my phone number on the letter to make sure they can get a hold of me with any questions. Feel free to carp, criticize, suggest or otherwise let me know what I can do to improve this. If you would like to borrow this for your own use, feel free.

Dear Parents,

Well, we have survived the first quarter and generally your children have done fairly well in my math classes. However, there are some things that need to be cleared up for the 2^nd quarter so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the first nine weeks.

The first issue I need to address is one of coming to class prepared. For the last few weeks far too many students are not showing up with basic items such as pencils, paper, red correcting pens or even their math textbook. They must have the following supplies with them when they come to math class: 2-3 pencils, a red pen to correct with, their textbook, binder paper and a good attitude.

The next issue I need to address is the effort or lack thereof given by the students. If your child did not earn the kind of grade that you were expecting, it was probably due to one of the following things: not turning in homework, too much talking, not taking their time or a combination of the three. It’s imperative that your child give this class their best effort or their grade will not be where it should be.

The most likely cause of poor grades is that students decided not to turn in their homework. On average the students had 45 assignments that were either homework or class work that had to be completed at home. If a student misses one or two assignments it generally does not hurt their grade much, BUT when the number of missing assignments is more than five or six it can literally cost them one full grade, and if the student is missing more than ten assignments, it’s almost impossible to pass the quarter or semester. If your child tells you they have no homework from me, it’s probably not true. The ONLY time they would not have homework is the day of a test or quiz. This includes Fridays as well. In high school and in college, they will have homework nearly every day and they need to get used to doing homework on the weekends. If you have a question please call me at 555-1212.

Late work is a huge problem and in an effort to alleviate this, the following policy will be in place for the remainder of the semester. If a student does not turn in an assignment on time, they will receive a 10% penalty for every day it is late until the 5^th day. At that point the best they can do is 50% on their assignment. Once we have finished a chapter, any missing assignments from that chapter will become and remain ZEROS in the grade book. If your child is absent for any reason it is their responsibility to get the assignment(s) and turn them in. They will have three days to turn it in or it will be considered late and the penalties will ensue. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-1212.

The next most likely cause is that they have decided that math class is their time for socializing and not for learning the material they need to pass this class. I do not tolerate talking in my class and if your child decided to test me on this expect to get a phone call home letting you know your child is disrupting my class. If they get a phone call home they will also get detention during the morning break between 2^nd and 3^rd period for a minimum of two days. If they don’t show up expect another phone call home and more detention. If you never had a chance to give me your contact information please fill out the form attached to the letter and have your child return it to me. If you have questions please call me at 555-1212.

It may also be that your child is rushing through their homework in an effort to get as much play time as possible. It’s not possible to do my homework in only 10-15 minutes. At minimum, it should take my students 30-45 minutes to complete assignments at home. I do give them time (when possible) to complete their homework in class, so it may be that they have done most of the work already. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-1212.

My students also have the opportunity to fix mistakes on their assignments and exams. They get full credit for homework or class work that they fix. If for example, they get a score of 10/20 on an assignment and then correctly redo seven of the ten questions, I will change their grade accordingly from a 10 to a 17. For multiplication sheets then can get one point back and on exams, they can get half of the missed points back. This is the best way for your student to improve their grade in my class. I do this because I want them to understand the material and doing it a second time will help them now and next year in their pre-algebra class. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-1212.

Don’t forget that AACPA has free tutoring in the great room starting at 3:45pm and continuing until 5:15pm Monday through Thursday. It’s free and if your child has less than a 75% (C) in any class, I strongly encourage you to participate. You can have them come once a week or everyday. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-1212.

By now I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve mentioned my phone number several times (555-1212). Please call me with any questions or concerns you have. If you get my voicemail please leave me a message with a call back number (or two) so I can return your call. I cannot be successful in the classroom without your support. If you prefer using e-mail, feel free You are also welcome to stop by my classroom at any time. The only day I cannot stay late is on Tuesdays because I have to be in downtown Henderson at 5pm. Most other days of the week I am here until at least 5pm and I would be happy to spend a few minutes chatting with you.

I would appreciate it if you would sign the form attached and return it to me. If you are not sure if I have your contact information OR if it’s changed, please fill out the contact information again. If the first page has a star on the front, I don’t have your contact information on file and need to have it so I can contact you regarding your child's progress in my math class.

If you have any questions, please call me at 555-1212 or e-mail me, I look forward to a new quarter and continued math success.

Obviously I changed the phone number to protect myself and I took out my email address for the same reason. I also attached in the real letter a signature/contact information sheet for the kids who didn't get the initial contact information signed. I am also going to make getting this new letter signed worth a large amount of points so that if they don't it's really going to hurt them, and conversely it will reward the students who do things the right way. 10 points don't seem to do the trick, so I was thinking of 25 points or more. I also hope that this will help with the late work issue all teachers face.

Burn out

That is what I am headed for right now. Four classes, full time teaching and the whole husband dad thing is really taking its toll on me right now. I'm once again behind in two of my classes and barely caught up in the other two. And on top of my regular teaching, I have to write all of the long range plans for last quarter, come up with the bank of questions for the NWEA tests and finish grading everything because the 1st quarter ends on October 20th.

My principal and I are hoping to get some of the sections I am teaching taken off of me so I can actually start teaching English. I will continue to teach one class and then go observe English teachers to see how they do things. I still have not found out about my student teaching or graduation yet, so hopefully those will go OK as well.

Back to the salt mines go I...

Lotion Bomb

That's what my car was a victim of this week. When I went to my car during my prep to get my things ready for my speech it was fine. I go back at 5pm and the back of my car was decorated with lotion, covering the right taillight and the wheel. I didn't have time to do anything more than clean off the worst of it and get to my speech class. I did email all three principals to let them know what happened. My principal told me to wash my car and give him the receipt and he'll pay me back. The facilities guy is also going to look at the security tape to see if they can find out who did it. I'm mad, but I'm even more disappointed. I would expect this at a school where the neighborhood is rough, but not at this school.

In other news my college classes are driving me nuts. It's getting harder and harder to keep all these balls in the air at one time. They still have not found a new math teacher yet either so I'm still doing full time teacher/full time student thing. I also had to call parents last night, lots of parents. Literally half my seventh graders, some eighth graders, and a couple of sixth graders are going to have a rough go of it with their parents. But there is no other way to get rid of the chatterbox virus that is racing through the middle school.

Anyway, back to the salt mines.

Tired

And sore! That's what happens when your tree sheds a several hundred pound branch in a short but nasty storm. So instead of trying to get ahead with my grading and school and all that, I was chopping and cutting so that my wife and I could start cleaning up the mess. Mind you the branch was about 12 inches at its thickest and was probably 20 feet long, not to mention all the smaller branches so it took me about 45 minutes just to get the branch off the wall (not to mention the neighbor's yard) and into my yard. Then it took my wife and I another hour or so to clear about half the branches and bag them up. At least we had a good weekend before then. We saw 3:10 to Yuma, which was an excellent movie and then watched the new Knight Rider which has some potential.

Well back to researching anonymous medieval lyrics for my paper due Friday, rounding up supplies for my demonstration speech, and finishing my re-write for my COM-250 class.

All Summer In a Day

Today I was able to teach English for a change. No, they have not yet hired a math teacher at the super cool prep school, but one of the English teachers, Mrs. W., was nice enough to let me teach her 7th grade reading and writing class for the week.

I had written a lesson for the short story "All Summer In a Day" by Ray Bradbury that involved reading the story and then writing a new ending, picking up where the story left off. The kids were introduced to the lesson and began writing their endings today and I learned a very important lesson.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE PAGES IN THE CORRECT ORDER WHEN YOU MAKE COPIES!

Duh...

I figured this gem out during the lesson and had to do some quick adjusting on the fly to make sure they story made sense. You'd think that I would be able to count from 63-67 but nooooooo!
Once that had been resolved and the questions answered, the kids began to write their new endings. They ranged from well, anemic to really cool.

Having them revise their endings is going to be a great experience for both teacher and students. Tomorrow I plan to make copies of the self revision form and I need to modify it for having another student read and make suggestions on the endings.

The other thing I forgot to do was to have the pre-writing activity up on the board ahead of time. Because of this there was some lost time in the classroom. Silly me, next time I'll know better... I hope! At least Mrs. W., kept the activity on the board for tomorrow when she teaches the same lesson to her other ELA classes.

If this works, Mrs. W., will let me teach more lessons during my prep periods.

This may sound like the height of arrogance, but if you want a copy of the lesson, let me know and I would be happy to share it with you. Why reinvent the wheel?

Crazy

That's what the last week has been. Now that the honeymoon has ended so to speak the kids have decided that the rules no longer apply to them. Two fights, kids stealing, shooting teachers with rubber bands, and swiping pencil cases all occurred in the last week. This with about 150 middle school students. Lucky for us the principal is good at making the punishment fit the crimes and several students have not been to school for a few days if you catch my drift.

I had to rearrange the seating arrangement in my room because of the talking and the fact I could not move around the room easily. I like how it works, I could care less if the kids do. In addition I started a morning break detention list that currently has about 7 names on it. If this does not straighten out some of them, then I guess I'll start going lunch or after school detention for the little darlings.

And I still have my four college classes to deal with, including coming up with a lesson plan for a poem or short story that has an open ending or meaning.

I must be nuts to willingly do this.

The race that wasn't...

My son and I were supposed to be watching the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race tonight but that didn't happen thanks to a dead battery in between qualifying and the race itself. So instead of watching trucks tear around the track at 170 mph we were at Pep Boys getting a new battery for the minivan so my wife would not have to deal with a dying battery this week. That being said my son and I had a great time. We got to see the crews work on the trucks in the Neon Garage, where he got a 5x7 card from one team and lug nuts off the trucks from a couple of others. He had the biggest grin on his face while watching the controlled chaos of the pit crews in action. We also spent time with our friends Fran and Rich who got us the passes for the garage as a birthday present for my son. Next year I get him better ear protection because the ear plugs I bought were not nearly enough for his sensitive ears. I'm pretty deaf er immune due to my rock and roll listening past.

Hopefully next year we'll be able to watch the race as well as all the other activities...

Sacrifices

Update #1 9/16/08: Slow learners this lot, not only did two more from 5th period get the heave-ho, two kids from 1st period also got the boot. That's four in one day, a record of sorts...

That's what I've been doing for the last couple of days, or more precisely my students have become. My lovely 8th graders still have have the terminal chatterbox syndrome and can't seem to find a cure, so it's up to me to keep them quiet. So starting yesterday I've started removing students from my room.

Thursday I sent two two gentlemen to the office, and today I sent two more talkers to face the music. So I'm hoping that on Monday they will get the hint and stay quiet. But if they don't I will continue to remove the talkers from the room until either nobody talks or nobody is left.

I'll take door #2, they won't be able to help themselves. They just talk to much.

A day in the life

If you were ever curious about what 24 hours of my life is like, look no further, and it's only 100 words too!

I stumble out of bed, head swimming with thoughts of students, college and family. A shower, coffee and breakfast later I’m dropping off my son and I start my day teaching middle school. Exhausted, I get into my car and drive home long enough to see my daughter and then head off to college. I come home; enjoy dinner and a cold frothy beverage while trying to juggle homework, lesson planning and family time before I fall into bed for another sleepless night worrying about my students, classes and family only to do it all over again tomorrow.

A Tale of Two Days

I'm not sure I could have had two days that were so different from each other. Wednesday was pretty much a grease fire from the word go. My good shirt had a food stain on it so I had to wear my other dress shirt with the starched collar. I left my lunch at home so all I had eaten from 6am until 6pm was a couple of handfuls of peanuts. I got punished for doing the right thing and allowing the assistant principal to switch rooms with me so she could use the smart board 1st and 2nd period. Her room had a slight ant problem and the 6th graders got nothing done, and one of my 7th graders decided it was OK to kick a pen across the room nearly hitting several students and yours truly. Then to top it all off I left my power cord for my laptop at school so I could not get much done aside from enter a few grades. Did I mention that I paid for my class at UNLV at the bargain price of $1000? Something tells me I need to go back and find out why it was so flipping much money!

Thursday was the polar opposite of Wednesday. The kids were well behaved, the lessons went smoothly and open house went pretty well. I got to meet many of my student's parents and explain to them how I did things. Funny thing is that nobody complained about the no-name and it's in the trash policy either. My taco dip was a big success and everyone enjoyed themselves. I didn't get home until 8:30 but it was worth it. Not bad for my first open house!

In MY Classroom

I did this as an assignment for my teaching methods class. I thought it would be worth sharing with everyone here. Try not to fall asleep...

When I get my own room it won’t be like any other English classroom. Yes, there will be posters about literacy and even the parts of speech. And maybe even an author or two. But the walls will be filled with student work and more. There will be maps of the world, posters of great leaders, art by the great masters and more. Why? Because English is more than just two of the three ‘r’s, it’s the language of business, travel and more.

In MY class current events and history will be read discussed and written about. Street racing, foreign policy, movie reviews, animation and fashion will all have a place in my curriculum. Why? Because English is more than the parts of speech, grammar and high stakes tests, it’s about what makes us tick and what ticks us off. When the students care about the subject, their reading and writing will be the stuff of legends, at least for my students and me.

In MY class, the standards will be high and excuses will be left at the door. I’ll demand more from my students than just being on time and staying on task. They’ll have to hand in their work on time or suffer the consequences of a goose egg in the grade book. They’ll always remember to put their name on their work so that it does not end up in the trash. Why? Because in the REAL world, missing a deadline can cost you your job and your employer thousands or even millions of dollars, actions always have consequences and the sooner my kids students understand this, the better off they’ll be as adults.

In MY class, my students will take chances with their writing. They’ll sleep with their thesaurus and be comfortable pushing if not ignoring the envelope. Their writing will be a destination and not a grade. Writing to a prompt will be second nature to them because there is ALWAYS an angle that they can use to make the subject and their writing more interesting. Why? Because writing is more than POS, LOL and WTF? Its images written with words that teach entertain and irritate us to where we think about it long after we’ve read it.

And that’s what MY class will be like. Why? Because I give a damn, that’s why.

A new winner

Have you ever been wrong about a class? You know, you get a group of kids in your classroom and your initial impression is off by oh 180º degrees or so, or is it just me?

I hope I'm not the only teacher who got fooled, you see I have a new muse, er problem class and it's my 8th graders, the one group that should know better. I mean they've done middle school for 2 years now and should have the best idea of how to get themselves to 9th grade but they act like 7th graders on a sugar high. I gave one id10t a zero on a quiz and sent him to the principal's office for talking during a test. He was done and even though there was 1 student still taking the test decided that I didn't really mean no talking. Yea, and now he gets a zero and dealt with the principal. I really love working for him, he truly rocks. He knows when to show a bit of mercy and when to step on throats. He's always approachable and well let's say were lucky to have him.

Now in addition to grading the quizzes, I need to rearrange my seating again and to just start kicking the blabber mouths out of my room, no matter how much I like them. I'm very disappointed in their behavior, in the space of 4 days they went from my best class to my worst class, they make my 7th graders look like angels.

6th Graders

Ugh,
I love em, but they're killing me right now. Every day it's the same routine. We grade assignments in class and they never pay attention to the answers. You'd think after 4 days in a row they'd have some sort of clue but I end up repeating the answers again and again and again and again and and and and.....

What is so hard about it anyways? 7th graders can handle it, and most times they can't sit still for more than .0000002 seconds at a time and 8th graders can (and do) grade in their sleep. I find myself repeating the same instructions over and over again, more often that I do for the 7th graders, mind you these are supposed to be the smart 6th graders. What up with that yo? The course I teach is for normal (if they exist) 7th graders, so I should be dealing with the cream of the crop.

In other news, the troublemakers in 4th period all left. (that sound you heard was a champagne bottle popping) Some of the 7th graders in pre-algebra couldn't handle it and had to get moved to my class. This put me way over the maximum level allowed by the school, so the principal who normally only taught them for one period now teaches them for the whole block. Mr. P said that they did really well for him. I think it's because they're used to him and now their block is not disrupted my moving to my room with kids who do better in math than they did. His kids are the ones who struggle with math, like my 8th graders. But unlike my 8th graders, his kids did not comport themselves well in my classroom. I will miss some of them, and I'll miss others like I miss the intestinal flu.

Oh, and our open house for the super cool prep school is a week from Friday. My wife is excited because now I have to clean and organize my room for the open house. She spent 20 minutes telling me how cool the school is and 10 minutes ragging on me because my room is still not organized. I guess all her teachers in school were neat freaks or something.

Finally I had to write the professor who teaches the online course that I am trying to get into, because it's full and I need his permission to enroll. Hopefully he'll take pity on me knowing that some of his students will drop the class soon and then it won't be so crowded. If not then I don't student teach next spring. At least the people in the English department at UNLV were VERY helpful and were willing to point me in the right direction. Kudos to them for their help.

Write up!

Well, apparently not all students realize that I don't make empty threats. This morning I had a fine young man get himself sent to the principal's office for acting like an id10t. This fine gentleman started the day with a lousy attitude, stemming from the fact that I talked to him about missing our Friday appointment and from his illegible homework. When I caught him slouching in his seat at a 40º angle to his desk, I told him to sit properly. That didn't um sit well with him and he proceeded to make a huge production out of it, right until he slammed his chair into position. At which point I tossed him out and then hand delivered the write up to the office.

Tomorrow morning this fine young man, the principal and I are going to have a heart to heart chat about his behavior in my class. A process that will be repeated in my 4th period class now that I know who the chatterboxes are. This is the same class that has 15 out of my 23 students failing right now. Funny how the chattiest class has the worst grades. I guess it's hard to talk and follow instructions at the same time. New seating charts anyone?

In other news I have to drive down to UNLV and take care of the prerequisite in person. Like I have nothing better to do that drive all over the flizzing valley.

Ugh

F***ed!

That sums it up in one word. I went to check my schedule for the fall semester at both NSC and CCSN so I could let my principal know what day I could not stay late when I noticed something strange. I had somehow gone from two classes at CCSN to just one. My Brit Lit class was nowhere to be found, and I never got any notice from the college about any schedule changes. I know they have my email because they sent me my receipt when I paid for the two classes. I then checked my balance and my worst fears were realized. They now owe me the money for the canceled class.

The first thing I did was to recheck the available classes at CCSN to see if it was just a glitch, nope, no glitch. I then checked NSC just in cased, no luck there either. Finally I checked UNLV and found that there were 2 internet classes open for Brit Lit. Of course I had to register ($30) for UNLV and now I have to wait a couple of days (which I don't have) for my application to go through before I can even try to register for them.

I guess I could try the community college in Reno if it comes down to it but the timing could not have been worse. It's bad enough I got hosed on my lit theory class, now I gotta deal with this crap as well?

Did I forget to mention that the fall semester starts on Monday, August 25th?

1st day is done!

I survived my first day at the Super Cool Prep School. There are still a few kinks to be worked out, like getting the bells for the middle school and high school to work properly, but over all no real complaints. I also found out which period was going to be the source of many blog posts, er my challenging class.

And the winner is... 4th period!

Here is how it works. Periods 1,3, & 5 are regular math classes and the even periods are math application classes, where we work on things that will improve their problem solving skills. For 3rd period I have only 8 students, which is wonderful. Life gets even when the kids from the other (principal's) 3rd period class shows up for math apps. Suddenly they get chatty and don't want to pay attention. Add in that lunch is next and you get the idea. Tomorrow, I start stepping on necks and calling parents. Plus I am going to talk to the principal and ask him if they are as chatty in his class as they are in mine. Hopefully he'll talk to them about it!

Anyway, I gotta get back to my lesson planning and dinner preparation...

Flexibility

Now I know that teachers are supposed to be flexible, in fact it's a must if you want to be successful, but I think I got bent into a pretzel this week. As I noted in my last post, I got traded from the HS to the MS at the Super Cool Prep School, which I think was a blessing in disguise looking back on it. I was made to feel more than welcome by the principal and I really connected with Mrs. W., who came out of retirement to teach at the Super Cool Prep School. Just a couple of examples of how nice the staff and administration are. The principle told me not to go to training today because of my son's party AND helped me edit my appeal letter (something Karlana has also helped with) for Nevada State College. The AP and the other teachers has helped me with lesson planning and materials to start the school year and Mrs. W. wants me to help her with her classes during my prep. Oh, and they were going to get me a laptop even if I wasn't going to be teaching a specific class...

Anyway, I was helping Mrs. W. set up her room when I was asked to do the math training with the other math teachers, which seemed kind of odd considering I'm an English teacher but I went anyway, being a good sport and all... I soon found out why I was asked to be at the training. They are short a math teacher and need me to teach 6th grade math until they can get the right teacher in the classroom. So I suddenly have three days to set up the classroom, get a computer, room key and create lesson plans for at least the first few weeks of the quarter until the new teacher shows up. Can you say stressful? I knew you could. I called my friend Karlana to give her the news that day and yesterday she asked me if I was still teaching math or had been put someplace else. I replied that I was now teaching physics, biology and intermediate Swahili...

Don't get me wrong, I am so excited about starting the new school year it's not funny. I'm also so stressed that I can't sleep. Add in my son's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and this is going to be one hectic weekend for this English, er Math er Swahili teacher!

Traded!

Well, I got traded to the middle school of the super cool prep school. There was a mix up in the beginning of the week and the HS had one apprentice too many and the middle school didn't have anyone. And while I'm disappointed that I won't be in the HS, the staff and principal of the middle school made me feel very welcome. So, long story short I'm now a 6th grade literature and reading teacher as well as doing a bit of math. The nice thing is that I'll be able to do 7th and 8th grade English as well. The teacher I'm working with is very nice and is happy to have me. He did make the mistake of letting me bring a few (2 inch stack) things in for him to look at. He wants to do 'Of Mice & Men' and I just happened to have a couple of things for that book as well.

I can't wait to start teaching again.

On a side note, my four year old son was watching the US Vs. Angola basketball game chanting USA USA USA!, as we pummeled Angola by 20 odd points...

I like this better

As much as I would LOVE to take credit for it I can't. I found it here.

McCain was not my first choice for the GOP, actually I had not made up my mind who to support when McCain clinched the nomination, but as the race has gone on, I've strengthened my support for McCain. I know his campaign has been understated but when the opposition is self destructing, why not just them do your work for you?

In other news, I finally had Karlana and her family over for dinner (ribs, twice baked potatoes and salad) last night. It was nice to finally repay her for getting me the two long term assignments during last year. We had a great time and she told me she got a job on Friday at the middle school she subbed at the most. So starting in a couple of weeks, she'll be teaching 7th English, and those kids don't know how lucky they are to have her. She has the perfect temperament for teaching 7th graders, who are either angels or demon spawn depending on the amount of hormones raging through their bodies at the moment.

Tomorrow I start my orientation week at the super cool prep school. I am so excited to get back in the classroom it's not funny.

Random Thoughts

First off, my friend Karlana has an interview at a local middle school to teach English for the whole year. It could not have happened to a nicer person and I finally get to pay her back for the jobs she got me by feeding her and her family dinner this weekend. Please stop by her blog and wish her luck, that school will be lucky to have her.

Secondly, I start my orientation on Monday for my internship at the super cool prep school. To say I'm excited would be a massive understatement along the lines of saying there are a couple of neon lights on the Las Vegas Strip. I really really miss teaching. In addition, I finished not only the Grapes of Wrath but The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I really enjoyed both of them. I'm glad I stuck it out with Dorian Gray because it did take a bit to get going and then it was 100 miles an hour until the end of the book. And yes Lady, you did tell me so! So now I've read 16 books with 34 to go. Looks like another trip to the library is in order since I read all those books I bought earlier in the summer and I need to return a few before they're due.

Before I forget, I found a cool new blog/cartoon that I added to my must read list. It's called Diversity Lane and it's quite the read. When you get a chance you need to check it out. Of course if you lean left and have no sense of humor, then you best go elsewhere, consider yourself warned.

Finally, I found it interesting that when local reporter John Ralston called Barak Obama on some of his statements, Barak's first reply was to call him a McCain proxy. Now John is lots of things, but a McCain proxy he is not, he goes after all politicians and cares not for the letter after the name... Watch it here. Barak is in for a rude surprise if he thinks that his stands and statements won't get questioned by the press at some point before the election. Welcome to reality sir, I hope you enjoy your stay.

You may be a racist...

Since the democrats and Obama's supporters have been charging that the people who oppose Barak Obama are racist, I thought it might be handy for people to see if they really are a racist, when it comes to this year's election. If you have no sense of humor you should probably go elsewhere...

25 Reasons You May be a Racist [Peter Kirsanow]

The tendency of Obama supporters to see racist impulses behind every criticism of their candidate has evolved into absurdity. Now even the first black president feels compelled to declare he's not a racist. By this measure, nearly every American is at risk of being branded a racist at some point in the campaign. To assess whether you're at risk just consult the list below ( apologies to Jeff Foxworthy ):

1.If you think Obama's the most liberal member of the senate you...may be a racist.

2.If you object to Obama raising your payroll, capital gains and estate taxes you...may be a racist.

3.If you'd prefer a president have at least some foreign policy experience you...may be a racist.

4. If you're in favor of drilling for oil and building nuclear power plants you...may be a racist.

5. If you think "Vero Possemus" is Latin for "Massive Ego" you... may be a racist.

6. If you wonder why Obama was hanging around William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn you...may be a racist.

7. If your pastor is nothing like Rev. Wright or Father Pfleger you... may be a racist.

8.If you don't want the majority of justices on the Supreme Court to be like Stephen Breyer you...may be a racist.

9. If you're not impressed with Obama's 100% NARAL rating you...may be a racist.

10. If you're not sure whether Obama opposed or supported FISA reauthorization you...may be a racist.

11. If you don't think America is a "downright mean" country you...may be a racist.

12. If you think Obama should've visited wounded troops at Ramstein and Landstuhl you...may be a racist.

13. If you think the surge is working and that's a good thing you...may be a racist.

14. If you oppose racial preferences in employment, school admissions and contracting you...may be a racist.

15. If you think "we are the change we've been waiting for" is a line from a Monty Python skit you...may be a racist.

16. If you prefer that a president have a smidgen of executive experience you...may be a racist.

17. If you're appalled that Obama voted against treating infants born after an abortion attempt the same medically as other infants born alive you...may be a racist.

18. If you were proud of your country even before Obama's candidacy you...may be a racist.

20. If you don't think American troops are just "air raiding villages" you...may be a racist.

21. If your grandmother isn't a "typical white person" you...may be a racist.

22. If you don't think rural, working class people are bitter and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" you...may be a racist.

23. If you're not sure invading Pakistan is a particularly good idea—what with their nuclear weapons and all— you...may be a racist.

24. If you don't want the president to meet without precondition with the leaders of state sponsors of terror you...may be a racist.

25. If you don't care how Hollywood or the European elite think you should vote you...may be a racist.

This campaign has, to paraphrase Moynihan, defined racism down.

50 Books... Update 3

I'm back from vacation (I'll post on it later) and aside from the fun of camp, I got to do some serious reading in and have an update on the 50 book challenge.

When I started the challenge I had read these books

Old Man and the Sea
My Grandfather's Son
Sharks over China
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Screwtape Letters
Catcher in the Rye

Then, I was able to finish four more by the 25th of July.

The Coldest Winter
Mere Christianity
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Black Arrow (Finished 7/25)

While on vacation I finished the following books

Dragonquest (Dragonriders of Pern book 1)
Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern book 2)
The White Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern book 3)
The Great Gatsby

I'm reading
The Reagan Dairies
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Grapes of Wrath

So I've finished 14 books out of the 50. I should finish The Grapes of Wrath this week I hope...

Vacation

I am going to be out of town for a week to visit my family in Michigan. As you can see it's the opposite of the desert I call home. A week of swimming, saunas, food, fishing and more is what awaits me and my family.

Hope you have a great week as well...

50 Book Update (with update)

Recently I joined the 50 book challenge at Shelfari and wanted to give everyone an update on my progress. When I made the original post I had read the following books:

Old Man and the Sea
My Grandfather's Son
Sharks over China
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Screwtape Letters
Catcher in the Rye

Since then I've finished these books:

The Coldest Winter
Mere Christianity
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Black Arrow (Finished 7/25)

And I'm reading the following books (yes books, as in more than one)

The Reagan Dairies
The Picture of Dorian Grey

I am going to take these books on vacation next week:

The Grapes of Wrath
The Dragonriders of Pern Trilogy
The Great Gatsby

I may take the Reagan Dairies and The Picture of Dorian Grey as well. The Black Arrow is a library book so I will leave that here. If you have also taken up the challenge let me know how you're doing.

18 steps

No it's not some newfangled treatment for addictions. It was the number of steps from the storeroom to the floor. I know I counted them this morning as I made trip after trip after trip loading up carts with shoes to send to California. And I went up and down those 18 stairs 50 times if I did it once. And that's 48 times to many if you ask me. The last thing I needed was to see just how out of shape I was and boy did I find out! The good part about this is that the normal two day assignment has turned into a 4 day assignment and we really need the extra money.

And I'm one day closer to August 11...

They want to do what?

Let's see, the economy is not doing well, gas is over $4.00 a gallon and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. I know! Let's increase the gas tax by another 10¢ a gallon! Now I realize that I'm not a economic guru, but last I checked, when the economy is struggling the last thing you should do is to further erode the purchasing power of your citizens. I've also discovered another fact that seems to escape the democrats in Congress. When you don't have enough money coming in, you need to cut expenses first. Of course since they're playing with someone else's money it's easy to see why simply increasing taxes is the better option. I think they're betting on Obama becoming president because McCain is not big on tax increases.

This is the best example of how the GOP views this vs. how the democrats do.

"Congress should first reduce spending on pet projects, known as earmarks, argued Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. "I'm not going to let the Senate spend all this money when nobody is looking, especially when we refuse to stop wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on earmarks."

Oberstar, D-Minn., said his committee is working on the next long-term highway bill. He estimated it will take between $450 billion and $500 billion over six years to address safety and congestion issues with highways, bridges and transit systems.

"We'll put all things on the table," Oberstar said, but the gas tax "is the cornerstone. Nothing else will work without the underpinning of the higher user fee gas tax."

Nothing else will work? Senator, with all due respect... Are you high? Try wasting less of my money in other areas and see what happens. All you're going to do is to increase the drag on our economy and lengthen this downturn.

This is why the system was built for gridlock ladies and gentleman...

H/T Bald Headed Geek

Truth is a moving target, or is it? (updated)

Over at American Power, Dr. Douglass posted an essay discussing giving animals the same status as humans, thereby making all animals equal, which is a direct shot at the Judeo-Christian view in which we are at the top of the heap and the animals to one degree or another are below us. In addition, there is an essay by Dennis Prager that is worth looking at. In this article Dennis discusses the difference between the Judeo-Christian ethics and the secular, postmodern ethics.

The main difference between the two systems are this. People who subscribe to the Judeo-Christian view, have held that certain things are right or wrong, that's why we tend to hold things like the 10 Commandments in such high esteem. Secularists see everything as shades of gray, what is good for you is good for you and all that nonsense.

These two world views are polar opposites of each other and at some point one or the other will be tossed aside. Make no mistake about it, the secularists are hell bent on removing the Judeo-Christian morals from our culture and replacing it with moral relativism. Where instead of concrete ideas of what is right and wrong, you're constantly shifting until it feels right for you. Needless to say this is bad for society, we need set rules of behavior, where people know that there are certain things you just don't do. Of course many of these are moral things like fidelity, modesty, honesty, and not having sex just because, which is why the secularists don't like them.

So is truth really a moving target after all?

Update #1:

I was thinking about this thread when I made this post to start with. It starts out with the usual indignation about the cover on the New Yorker and then when the cartoon of the McCain's comes out (thanks Dr. D) I posted it since at least one person said they'd be just as offended if one were published. Funny thing, since one is a magazine cover and the other 'just' a comic, they're not the same, at least according to people there. That would be moral relativism in action for you.

When Good Things Happen To Good People

I've been mulling this post over in my head for the last few days and since my car won't start right now I might as well get my thoughts down before I forget what it was I was going to share. There are two fellow teachers whose blogs I follow that finally got some good news after months (if not years) of frustration and setbacks.

California Teacher Guy: He just found a job at a school in Northern California. He's been bouncing around schools as a special education teacher for the past few years. Last year he taught at the Jewel of the Desert School and was a victim of cutbacks in the district. In addition, his blog is a must read for me and you could certainly do worse than to add him for your blog rolls.

Over at I am a teacher, Mr. G. finally found a classroom to call his own in Eastern Washington. He's been looking for steady work for way to long and at one point was ready to throw in the towel. In addition he is a huge Wizard of Oz fan and has a separate blog just for that book. His blog is also one I read on a regular basis, especially now that it's good news instead of more disappointment.

It was nice to see two of the good guys get a well deserved break. When you get a chance head over there and congratulate them.

Now I just need to get my car started and probably replace my battery. The desert heat is just murder on car batteries, and it has been about 3 years since the last time the battery bit the dust. Good thing my wife took the van this morning.

Update... The car has a new battery and is now running fine. The people at Wal-Mart even waived the $9.00 core charge. Needless to say I was very thankful.

The Lie Clock

Got this in my email and thought it was worth passing along.

The Lie Clock

A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.

He asked, 'What are all those clocks?'
St. Peter answered, 'Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock.Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move.'

'Oh,' said the man, 'whose clock is that?'

'That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.'

'Incredible,' said the man. 'And whose clock is that one?'

St. Peter responded, 'That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life.'

'Where's Senator Obama's clock?' asked the man.

'Obama's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan.'

It's all my fault!

Over at Betsy's Page, she mentioned that in California the governator wants 8th graders to master algebra. Now while this is a noble sentiment, the reality is far different. I hit the comment link to see what the discussion was like and I ran into this gem by "Walt Vega"

"At what age do kids learn Algebra in Japan, China, Germany, France, Spain, Australia? American kids are stupid, thanks to American Teachers. Great job"

Now, I don't know about you, but that looked like an outright attack on all teachers, and I took a certain amount of umbrage at that statement, and responded thusly...

"Walt, with all due respect. Kiss my ass. You obviously have never been in a classroom as a teacher and have no clue what you're talking about. You know how many parents supply phone numbers that don't work? How many don't care? How many would rather buy booze and drugs instead of shoes and pencils for their kids? And yet it's my fault as a teacher? Hear that ringing? It's reality calling, you might want to answer."

Now, I admit I should not have told him to KMA but I was pretty pissed that he would blame all teachers for the problems that public education face in 2008. Plus I figured that Walt was a post and run troll who likes to flame and run. Well, Walt to his credit responded to my first comment...

" Vegas,
As much as you would enjoy me kissing your ass I wouldn't dream of depriving your mom from using her mouth there and elsewhere on your body.
Personalizing it by attacking me is a sure sign you're a loser. You can't keep it substantive. Try to address the original issue. Show us what a smarty you are.
The better teachers know the horrendous state of "teaching" in the USA. It's inarguable.
Equally inarguable is the inverse relationship nationally between "teacher" salaries and student performance. It's grotesque. It's shameful.
Blame? Go ahead. Makes you look all the more foolish. It's people like you and the NEA/UFT that vote in the democrats who promulgate laws and programs to coddle teenage criminality, to promote illegal aliens sucking dry resources from schools and towns, and that lower standards of every conceivable kind.
Keep it up, genius."

Now, aside from the incestuous implications that I won't go into, it's clear that Walt has no clue about my personal feelings about teacher's unions or the reality that teachers face in the classroom everyday. This time I didn't reply right away until my temper had cooled down a bit...

"A. I hate the NEA with a passion. They have done more to hurt education that all the loser parents put together. I love the idea of voucher programs, school choice and charter schools. If it will truly help the kids learn, I'm all for it. As for illegals? Put the marines on the border.

B. You missed my point. So I'll lay it out again just for you. If you want kids to succeed, then you need parents who care. To often, the parents don't care and that attitude rubs off on the kids. When the parents care about their kid's education then the foundation for success gets laid.

C. I don't lower standards, sorry you have the wrong teacher.

D. Maybe you should get the facts straight before you attack me. You made it personal when you blamed all teachers without exception. If you're so smart you go teach and get back to me.

Jorg, you really do need those pedagogy classes. There is a huge amount of knowledge that you need just in the science of teaching. Lesson planning, classroom management, record keeping etc., are all vital to becoming a good teacher. Many states have an ARL (alternative route to license) so that people with a BS+ can start teaching right away and go to school to get the teaching part."

Now, I was pretty sure that I had made a point about crappy parents getting some of the blame, but I guess I was not obvious enough for Walt...

" You never made a point. There was nothing to miss.

A good carpenter never blames his tools. Deflecting your failure as a teacher to the parent must feel comforting, but it's bullshit and shows what a numskull you are. What's your next excuse; no parking?

If you want to get paid as a teacher, you should only receive a check if you've done your job. Whining not included. You don't teach. You collect (my) government money for arriving at your job site.

The immigrants were not famous for "caring" about education for the their children. School robbed them of income they needed just to survive.

Or are you referring to Negro kids (more specifically, their parent(s))?"

Now at this point it was fairly obvious to me that Walt's views are set in stone and that all teachers are racist pigs feeding at the public trough. He straight out says that teachers have no excuses at all for not properly teaching their students. Now I was not about to let the whole racist charge go without an answer so I responded with this...

"Exactly how much time have you spent as a teacher again? Tell you what Walt, since you're obviously so much more qualified to teach than either Betsy or myself, why don't you come to our schools and show us how it should be done.

And the school I last taught at was 55% hispanic, and I've seen this parental problem across racial lines, so your tactic of calling me a racist won't wash either.

I don't blame all parents for the trouble our schools face, I do blame the ones who couldn't care less about their kid's education and why that's my fault I still don't understand.

I do know this, that the more involved the parents are, the better the odds that the students will be successful and the inverse is also true.

If you wish to continue to blame teacher's for all the ills in public education go right ahead, it shows your lack of knowledge and your continual personal attacks show your lack of class."

Now I am going to let Walt know that I've posted this here so this conversation can continue if he wishes. I don't want to drag down Betsy's blog with this debate.

Death of a forum and more

One of my favorite web sites, Substitute Teachers United ceased operations this week. The founder simply ran out of energy and money to keep the site up. It's a pity this happened and I wish the founder well in her future projects, even if she does support Obama! I also finished another book in the 50 book challenge, "The Coldest Winter" and I added the link to my list to the right under the 'educational' section, so that way you can see how close I get to 50 books by the end of the year. I did change the order a bit, because I started reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray" along with "The Reagan Dairies" and "The Count of Monte Cristo".



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Now playing: Rhapsody In Blue - Disney
via FoxyTunes

RIP Tony Snow

What a shocking way to start the morning. I flip on my computer to see if the thunderstorms last night started any fires locally and the headline on my home page says it all. Tony Snow was a class act and he was by far my favorite on air talent at Fox News before he became press secretary for President Bush. When his cancer returned I was hopeful that he would beat it, unlike many on the left who though that is was cosmic karma coming back to haunt Tony, which is typical of liberals these days.

You can read more about him here, here, and here.

Tony, you were a class act and will be missed. 53 is way to young.

Animusic

No, I'm not going to wax poetic about the DVDs again, but I had an interesting experience when I showed them to the music classes I was subbing for today. Friday through next Wednesday I'm subbing for a music teacher in an elementary school. Now normally I don't to elementary schools but I need the money and the cool thing about subbing for the specialists is that you don't see the same rug rats all day. Anyways I pop in the DVD and the 5th graders are less than impressed with the opening video Starship Groove.

I went on with the lesson and showed them different videos from both the DVDs but it was not until they saw Drum Machine that they got interested.



Now all the other classes loved, loved them. They not only enjoyed the videos, they really enjoyed the music as well. The two big hits were Pogo Sticks and Future Retro. The really cool thing is that they saw stuff I missed even though I've watched the DVDs numerous times.

Sometimes you learn as much from the students as they learn from you. Besides I'd rather watch those DVDs than Disney Sing a long videos any day of the week!

50 Book Challenge

I'm borrowing this from shelfari, you know that bookshelf thingy on the right side of my blog? Here is the challenge for all of you. I want you to read 50 books in 12 months. I saw it today and decided to join. Here are the books I've read so far.

Old Man and the Sea
My Grandfather's Son
Sharks over China
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Screwtape Letters
Catcher in the Rye

I'm still reading the ones I mentioned below. If you are a shelfari member and want to participate you can do so here. The widget is free and easy to use as well.

CS Lewis and more

While on vacation last week I was able to get some reading done as well as visit, drink a beer or two, etc...

Aside from Old Man and The Sea and Dr. Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, my father in law let me borrow two books from CS Lewis, and no it wasn't any of the Narnia books! (Been there, read them!) Instead he let me borrow Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. They are both wonderful reads and The Screwtape letters has stayed with me because it was so powerful.

Mere Christianity was a series of radio addresses that Lewis gave during WWII explaining Christianity and why it was the true road to eternal life. It explains much about Christianity in plain (Queens) English stripping away much of the doctrinal divides and other nonsense. I'm about 95% finished with the book and wish I had read it before the Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape letters is a series of letters written from one demon (Screwtape) to his 'nephew' regarding his nephew's attempt at turning a young man over to their side. It gives a chilling look at how the other side operates in their ongoing quest to capture souls for the Devil and there were (way too) many times I saw I had fallen into the trap that Screwtape was discussing with his young charge.

If your only experience with CS Lewis happens to involve Aslan the lion, then I recommend you pick up these two books. They are well worth the effort. Once I finish off Mere Christianity and The Coldest Winter, I'll start The Count of Monte Cristo and maybe The Great Gatsby.

July 4th

I wanted to wish everyone a happy July 4th. I'm on vacation this week visiting family in Northern California. I got to go to my favorite pizza place (Jake's Pizza in Saratoga), visit the tech museum in San Jose (if you get the chance you gotta go there) and spent some time with my dad who I've not seen in two years.

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday and remember that freedom isn't free.

Suggestions?

It was fascinating to see what gets people to respond to blog posts and what makes the crickets chirp. My post on going to the bookstore generated a good response from my readers, and the last one from Lady Wore Black (who has a blog of her own worth reading!) asked for suggestions in regards to new books and authors to explore. So, after I list a couple of my own, I'd really appreciate it if you would add in your own suggestions.

Here are my suggestions to the lady in black

Educating Esme

Flight of the White Horse

Trumpet

Please?

The writing process

One of the biggest mistake that people make is they think that you just start writing and bingo! Instant masterpiece... I wish it worked that way but the reality is far different for writers. Writing is a process, sometimes a long frustrating one, but a process either way. Here are the basic steps that you need to take for quality writing.

1. Pre-writing. This is where you figure out what you are going to write about and begin to plan out your paper or essay.
   
2. Writing your initial draft. Self explanatory...
3. Revision. This is where the real work begins. Here you start to make changes to your paper. You smooth out transitions, strengthen ideas and generally turn your draft into something to be proud of. I've never written a paper that could not be improved with a revision or 5.
   
4. Editing. This is where you get rid of all the misspelled words and grammar errors.
5. Publication. Hopefully you get high marks for your effort.

Now you may have seen variations on this theme but the foundations never change. To write effectively you have to do more than sit at the computer and abuse the keyboard. You have to have a plan and follow through on that plan.

Right now I'm working (or I should be!) on my final paper. I'm almost finished with step 1, the pre-write and by tomorrow I'll be working on my draft and revising it. I will have it finished by Friday so I can turn it in and enjoy my vacation.

The moral of the story is this... Don't be afraid to make changes to your paper/essay/blog/proposal/speech. It can always be improved.

Bookstore

Since there were no subbing jobs today, I took my daughter to the bookstore and then to the library. I had gotten a $25 gift certificate and we had to return some books so it was a two for one bargain so to speak. I like this bookstore because it has a great selection of books from classics to fiction etc...

So here is what I bought with my $25.00

1. The Count of Monte Cristo (I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read it yet)
2. The Grapes of Wrath (have not read it in 20 years)
3. The Great Gatsby (have not read it in 20 years)
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray (I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read it yet)
5. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read it yet)
6. The Old Man and The Sea (I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read it yet)
7. The Dragonriders of Pern (have not read it in 15 years)
   

And I got a book on the Korean War at the library for good measure. I'd list the books my daughter bought and borrowed but your eyes would glaze over and you'd fall asleep in your Cheerios! It does pain me to admit that I had not read so many of those books, especially considering the fact that I'm going to teach English.

It was a well spent morning!



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Now playing: Never Far Behind - Aly & A.J.
via FoxyTunes

My Grandfather's Son

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Justice Thomas' autobiography. It's a great read and it's made me hold him in even higher esteem than I already did. I learned about his poor upbringing and the bigotry that he faced all the way through college and beyond as well as his journey from an "Angry Black Man" to the conservative he is today. If you have not yet read this book, you really should pick it up because you won't be sorry.

I also had the pleasure of getting back into the classroom again on Monday. I subbed for an art teacher at an elementary school and I could not believe how much I had missed being in the classroom. It made it harder to go to my other 2 day a week temp job working at a very very very upscale clothing store on the strip. ($155 for a polo shirt?) But it helps pay the bills and the people there are very nice so it could be worse. I'm also nearing the end of my summer school class which is nice because I could use the break right now in a big way.




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Now playing: Black Dove - Tori Amos
via FoxyTunes

Father's Day

First, I'd like to wish every dad out there a wonderful father's day, especially my dad and my father in law, both of whom read my blog. I'd also like to wish my grandfather a happy father's day, he's going to be 89 this October and still doing fine.

My father's day actually started yesterday with dinner because my daughter is going to Colorado for a week tonight so we had ribs, twice baked potatoes and salad last night. I got some nice gifts as well, including a gift card, a gift certificate to a used book store and the CDs for Animusic 1 & 2.

I also want to note the passing of Tim Russert, who died way to young at 58 of a heart attack. He was a class act and will be missed greatly. They just don't make them like Tim anymore!

Remember to call your dads today!

Pipe Dreams

One of the big writing projects I hope to do at that Agassi school is to have my students compare and contrast two animations from Animusic. This is one of the few times they'll get to compare apples to apples. And the animations themselves are just plain cool. Thanks to the wonders of youtube, you can see them both here. Let me know which one you like better and why...

Here is the original pipe dreams...


And here is pipe dreams 2...

Reality

Such a lovely word isn't? At least until we have to deal with it. I'm in that mode right now. School ended last Wednesday and tomorrow I need to start working or else things are going to get really tight around here. Our original plans to work for Xerox over the summer fell through. I won't be eligible to work for them until the end of August. And with the economy struggling, getting temp work is not going to be as easy as it used to be.

On the bright side. I got to meet and have a few frosty ones with Dr. Douglas who was visiting from Southern California for the weekend. We got to talk about politics and even played a little roulette. He even insisted that I keep my winnings (he staked me), which is enough to help with the house payment. It was really cool to meet a blogger who I hold in such high esteem and he was as real in person as he is on his blog. One other note, California Teacher Guy stopped by my blog and left a nice comment on it. His job at the jewel school just ended and he is looking for a new school to make a difference in. His blog is one that I check on a regular basis, because it's just than darn good! Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. He is one of the difference makers in the education world and we need more like him.

Since the school year has ended, my blog is going to become more of a politics blog until I start my internship in August. And no, I'm not a liberal by any stretch of the imagination so don't start thinking that I'm gonna support Obama for president.

One other thing to all the teachers and professors out there. If someone asks you what you make, refer them to this video.



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Now playing: Shut Up - Black Eyed Peas
via FoxyTunes

Getting Even and the end of the year...

That's what I did to 6th period today. No, they didn't get an extra hard version of the final. Most of them bombed it even with the notes they took last week. I'm talking about the semester grades and the citizenship grades. Yea, I enjoyed that part of the day. I gave out 9 'N's for 'needs improvement' and 7 'U's for 'unsatisfactory'. And for every 'U' I put the same code in for the comments, just to make sure the parents get the idea that their kid was a meatball in my class.
In addition, even though I told them at least 60000000000 times not to leave any questions blank because you lost both points, at least 8 of them did just that. And guess what happened to their grades? Yep, they went down the toilet.

The moral of the story is that the teacher gets the last laugh, and when you spend an entire semester being a meatball, it comes back to bite you in the end.

Now 5th period was the opposite. They busted their butts and did a good job on the final. Most of them passed the semester and I personally congratulated a couple of them because they really worked hard to get into the 9th grade and I was very very proud of them. Needless to say this was my last day at that school and it was very hard to leave. I made some good friends and I know that most of the kids are better at math now than they were in February when I got there. Knowing that I made a huge difference to some of my students made it easier to leave.

That flew by.

So my time at the school ends tomorrow. It seems like yesterday it was late February and I was just taking over for their regular teacher who had to go out early on maternity leave. And now it's June and the students will either become 9th graders or go to summer school etc., and I'll have to find a regular job until August when my internship starts.

I'm really gonna miss the school, the students and the staff.

Cool New Forum

Nun, from nunoftheabove, has decided to start a forum for conservative teachers. I was flattered when she contacted me about my interest and asked me if I was interested in joining. Needless to say I agreed quickly and she was able to go live with the site a few days ago. If you're in education and you're a conservative or you like good discussions please head on over and sign up. Obviously, letting others know about the site would be helpful as well.

The site is called "Conservative Class" and has several discussion areas open right now with more planned.

Skillet

End of the line...

Well, the time for teaching is done. Next week it's three days of finals and then I bid the school year a fond farewell. I really enjoyed this assignment and I will miss the school, the staff and even 6th period. Friday was an eventful day for the kids because of a couple of events that happened that day.

The first thing was the 8th grade dance. Now not just any 8th grader could go, you had to be graduating and you could not have gotten into serious trouble in the last few weeks. Needless to say, there were some excited and disappointed 8th graders that 6th period when the tickets were handed out. This was followed by the second event of the day. An 8th grade assembly during 6th period. The students got to see some of their fellow 8th graders perform (they did quite well) and a video presentation was put together including lots of photos and some messages from the teachers. Yours truly was asked to give a short message and I had totally forgotten about it until the video started and I saw some of the other teachers give their speeches. I didn't think that I would get much of a reaction because I am pretty hard on my kids and don't let them goof off etc.

Imagine my shock when the gym erupted the second I appeared on the screen. I'm embarrassed to admit that I got the second loudest cheer of all the teachers who appeared in the video. Only one of the science teachers got a better reception, and boy does she deserve it. She is an awesome teacher who tutors the kids after school and just loves what she does. She was thinking about leaving the school this year but the principal talked her out of it, and the cheer she received enforced the fact that she is an incredible teacher who is right where she belongs.

Speaking of belonging, I found out this morning while shopping at Target that I got the internship at the Agassi school. I am very excited about the prospect of teaching my chosen subject for an entire year at the same school. When I decided to teach, I really wanted to teach at risk kids, and these kids really qualify for at risk. That school is in the worst part of Las Vegas. I already have a couple of projects in mind for them and I'm hoping to have my brother in law come in and talk to my students about working in Radio and what it takes to get into the business. (He's a reporter for KGO radio in San Francisco) Of course he does not know this... yet! But I'm hoping that he would be willing to come down, if for no other reason than to see his niece and nephew.

Three days and then school's out for the summer. Except for the kids who have to take summer school... heh!

Home Stretch

It's down to just a few days and then school is out for the summer. I am of two minds about this fact. On one hand I'm thrilled that I have some time away from students and their assorted challenges. On the other hand it means I have to get a real job because subs only get paid when they work. Of course it also means that I can concentrate on my American Lit I class that I'm taking right now. But it also means that barring some summer substituting gigs I won't be able to teach until the fall. On the other hand it means I'll have time to draw again.

I guess I'm a bit conflicted on the end of the school year thing.


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Now playing: Let It Out - ZOEgirl
via FoxyTunes

Good news for a change

No, 6th period didn't change their ways, it's too late for that, but we can always hope can't we? The good news is about a student of mine who trusted me enough to talk to me and then follow through with my advice.

JS came to me Tuesday after school with tears in her eyes and the look on her face that said "HELP ME" louder than any words could. After getting her calmed down I was able to pull (as in pulling teeth) out what was behind those tears. It turns out that on top of the usual 8th grade drama, she was failing her geography class and her teacher was on her case about it and to boot she had to do a report on a specific country that she had not started yet that was due Friday. To say she was overwhelmed was a bit of an understatement. So I asked her to give me her assignment packet so I could look at it to maybe give her a bit of direction. Once I had an idea of what the teacher was looking for I asked her if she had a computer or internet access, which she didn't. (This school is not in a good part of town so I was not too surprised)

So I went to the CIA world fact book website and printed out the information for her to use so she could finish her big project. In addition, I let her come during my prep period to work on this project on Wednesday and Thursday because they were just watching movies in her choir class. And I told the Special Education Coordinator what was going on (she has an IEP) and she allowed JS to come see her 3rd period today so she could finish her project before 6th period.

She bounced into my classroom this afternoon to tell me that not only did she get a 79% on her project, but that she would now pass her geography class.

And THAT is why I became a teacher.



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Now playing: A Little More - Skillet
via FoxyTunes

Talking during a quiz

I knew it was bound to happen at some point. And I would have bet money that it would be 6th period who did it. And I would have won that bet too. Yesterday after warning my favorite period numerous times to be quiet, they walked into a quiz today and it was not an easy one either. And even though I told the class (numerous times) that if you talk you're gone, two young ladies decided that the rule did not apply to them. Imagine their surprise when I tossed them both. I was going to just toss the one I caught talking when the other one said it was her fault, so she got tossed too. Then this same lady came back two minutes later saying she got tossed from the room I sent her too, so I then sent her to the dean's office (for the second time in three days!) where she got three days of in-house suspension. The other girl got detention and a zero on her quiz for her talking. I'll be willing to bet they get at least one more quiz next week because they are incapable of staying quiet and on-task.



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Now playing: Bittersweet - Plumb
via FoxyTunes

Failsafe

That is the form that students have their fates decided. The 8th grade students who are either not passing or in danger of not passing have to get them filled out to see what they will be doing next year.

1. They'll be in 9th grade next year with their classmates.
2. They'll be in summer school making up the classes they failed, then going on to 9th grade.
3. They'll get to enjoy middle school for a 4th or 5th year. Yes, I did say 5th year.

I would say that 1/3 of my students had this form for me to fill out and I am happy to say that the majority (80%+) passed at least one of the two quarters and assuming they pass English will be 9th graders next year. The rest will either be taking summer school or repeating 8th grade. I took no pleasure in failing students but they didn't do enough work to pass. I took plenty of pleasure with the kids who had a 45% last quarter and a 77% this quarter. Think about that, their math grade improved 32% simply because they started turning in work.

My favorite class...

Sigh, I love 6th period. Well if I tell myself that enough maybe I'll believe it. They still don't want to stay quiet, but at least I know who has the flipping laser pointer. That will be taken care of tomorrow morning. I've been trying to find out who has that since I got to the school. Today I got my confirmation about who has it and tomorrow I have the deans take care of it since they may have to search her for it and only they can search students for contraband in the district. Tomorrow is removal day since nobody wanted to stay quiet and just work. It's too bad since some of them will probably be coming back for another year at middle school but if they don't want to do the work then they deserve to get held back...



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Now playing: If We Are The Body - Casting Crowns
via FoxyTunes

Reaching my limit

I think I am reaching my limit with some of my students. I am starting to snap at them when they don't deserve it and even when they do I've been blowing out of proportion. I can see why teachers look forward to summer so much. You invest so much of yourself in them and in getting them ready for the next grade that it takes a total toll on you. And I'm not just talking a physical toll, it takes an emotional and spiritual toll as well, and it takes time to restore your mind body and soul for the next school year.

That being said, I did do the right thing today by removing a student from my class who decided that he needed to be the center of attention, again. You know the type if you're a teacher or around kids. He makes a production out of EVERYTHING! It takes 15 seconds to get a pencil, getting paper out of his binder is at least 90 seconds and there is a soundtrack for everything just to make sure all eyes are on him. Now I've talked to him more than once about this, in fact I reminded him of the conversation from Monday which he says we never had. Needless to say he was very shocked when I sent him next door for the last 40 minutes of the period and everyone else got the hint and we actually got to have a real class today. Tomorrow if he repeats this behavior he's off to the dean.

In addition I am prepping like crazy for the final I have not written yet, and needs to be approved by the administration. And the district decided that finals need to cover 3 days and not two days. In a way it makes sense because May 30 is locker clean out day and they are not allowed backpacks or any sort of large bag the last three days of class. Should be interesting!

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Now playing: Deep Forest - Schon, Neal
via FoxyTunes

Thanks for nothing

I would like to thank the democratic party for the following things...

First I'd like to thank them for gas that costs $3.67/gallon and 551/2¢ of that is taxes. I'd like to thank them for not allowing us to expand our oil production and refining capacities for the last 25 years. I'd also like to thank them for dashing my dreams of buying a Chrysler 300, because I can't afford the gas for it. Instead I'll end up buying some car that sips gas and defines gutless.

I'd like to thank them for stabbing Vietnam in the back and for consistently trying to do the same thing to the Iraqi people since 2003. I'd like to thank them for offering up such lousy candidates for president that I could vote for the GOP without even researching the candidates. I'd like to thank them for destroying everything good in their party since the 1960's.

I'd like to thank them for destroying our public schools, the nuclear family and their continual efforts to destroy the Christian faith. I'd like to thank them for their continual support of our enemies, illegal immigrants, and for taking the side of the criminals and not law enforcement.

Thanks for everything and thanks for nothing. Is it any wonder I'll be voting for McCain this year?

Disrespect

Something that 8th graders have down cold. I had a student of mine who didn't like the score that he got on an assignment. Now that's great that he cared enough to look at his grade and realize that something was wrong, I like it when students care. The way he decided to handle it was totally out of line. Instead of waiting until I would have the students work on their assignments during the last part of the class, he decides that this absolutely cannot wait and he interrupts me while I am trying to explain a new concept to the class. I explained to him that now was not the right time and that I would look at his assignment later during the class and told him quite firmly to sit down, which he did but not in his assigned seat. I then restart the lecture and not 60 seconds go by when he gets up, goes all the way around the back of the room to my desk where he then starts talking to my aide about this same assignment.

You can guess my reaction. I stopped the entire class and read him the riot act, I told him how rude and disrespectful he was by demanding that his problem be taken care of now. That his actions were disrespectful both to me and to everyone else in class, and that if he ever pulled a stunt like that again, I'd send him to the dean's office so fast his head would spin. I then told him to sit in his seat and not get out of it until the bell rang.

Well he was OK for the rest of the class, and yesterday I pulled him aside and explained in detail why I was so upset with his behaivor and told him when I started grading papers his would be first in line, which it was. He was better today except for the fact he did not want to sit in his assigned seat, I had to tell him three times to sit where I placed him. If he does that today I will give him two days of detention to make my point.

We'll see, I think he'll get the point, he's a smart kid who would get all A's if he would stay quiet.


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Now playing: Big Moon - Schon, Neal
via FoxyTunes

Over! Kinda...

Well,
My spring semester at Nevada State College ended today. I think I got an A, a B and a C, but I'm not sure. I'll find out on Wednesday since my adviser is also my professor. I've taken two classes with him and he's a good professor. That meeting also determines if I can do that internship I applied for. If I can take a class and do my student teaching at the same time, I'm all set. Otherwise I'm screwed. Simple as that.

It's kinda odd not having homework to do, although I am WAY behind on my grading for my math class. I was running late to my portfolio presentation and forgot to pick up some work to take home. Oh well, I'll do it tomorrow instead. It'll give me something to do instead of homework and I'll finish putting up the posters from a couple of weeks ago. I have about half of them up, but I still have a pile to do and a few really nice ones that I'll put in the hallway.

We'll see how the week goes...

Tagged

I've been tagged by the famous HappyChyck...

Here are the rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.


1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was working for a t-shirt company as the graphic designer. I would set up the designs for screen printing and embroidery. My daughter was not yet 2 at the time.

2) What are five things on your to-do list for today?
I need to get my son down for a nap
I need to change my eye appointment for tomorrow
I need to work on my final project
I need to cook dinner for my son and I (pizz-ah!)
You'll have to live with 4 things...

3) What snacks do I enjoy?
100000 bars
pretzels
string cheese

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Buy my grandfather's camp in Upper Michigan
Finish school
Get a Chrysler 300 & a '68 VW Bus
Help out my family & church
Invest a bunch of it

5) Three Bad Habits
Too much sarcasm
Lazy
I'm a slob

6) 5 places I have lived...
Just 5?
Boulder, Colorado
Saratoga, California
Chico, California
Fremont, CA
Las Vegas, NV (current)

7) 5 Jobs I have had
Just 5?
Graphic Artist
Lighting Technician
Account Associate for T-Shirt wholesaler
Account Associate for Xerox
Substitute Teacher (current)

7) Six suckers, er people I want to know more about...
Karlana, a great friend and twice the teacher I'll ever be...
Megan my niece who I still love even though she went to USC.
The Educated Shoprat, who has a great blog covering a wide range of topics.
Thomas, who runs the Thomas Chronicles, a great blog that makes you think.
The Pondering Penguin, who knew penguins were capable of such deep thought?
The CA Teacher Guy, the jewel school will be the poorer for his absence.

That was fast!

Wow,
Just one more project to do and my semester at Nevada State is finished. In fact the semester ends on May 7th if you can believe that. The nice thing is that after Monday I can concentrate on teaching until at least Memorial Day when the person I am filling in for is supposed to come back. But she may not because her baby (and boy is he CUTE) is having some health issues. Either way for a few weeks I simply get to teach.

Speaking of teaching I'm trying for a paid internship at the Andre Agassi (yes him) school. Andre built this private school in the heart of North Las Vegas to give kids in the poorest part of town a shot at a good education. They got a grant to give teaching students a paid ($18000) internship which includes paying for student teaching. Now just because I dropped off my application does not mean much because there is one class (literary theory) I need to take that I can't get until the Spring of 2009, which is supposed to be the semester I student teach. The issue is that the rule at Nevada State says that you can only take student teaching, and no other classes. Now I did try to see if UNLV has the class I need but they have it at times I can't take it, (middle of day) and the head of the English Department says no independent studies will be available at all. So my Wednesday meeting with my advisor will be very interesting to say the least.

Finally, I do have one good story to tell about my week. I was Dr. Detention for the 8th graders on Wednesday and I decided that they could use some culture. So I found my daughter's soundtrack to the musical 'Cats' and brought that to school with me. When the students arrived for their time with me I popped the CD in and turned it up. I wish WISH I had a camera to record their reactions. First it was confusion because it didn't register in their minds what they were hearing. Then it was a dawning realization that I had put on show tunes. Then a combination of misery and disgust as they were forced to stare at the white board for thirty minutes and listen to the music. After thirty minutes I told them they better start doing their homework, and no I didn't turn the music off, in fact I turned it up a bit, just to get the point across. The high point was when disc 1 ended and the music stopped, the students breathed an audible sigh of relief that the torture was over... Then I popped in disc 2, yes it's a 2 disc set. Talk about crushing their spirits, it was truly a thing of feline beauty.