I'm not giving you my IPod!

The hell you're not!

OK I didn't say it, but it was literally at the tip of my tongue. I was taking my class to the cafeteria so they could start the preregistration for next year when I noticed a student doing the '1 earplug' thing thinking that I would not notice.

Keep in mind that not 2 minutes before I told the class that I do pay attention and that the first time I warn you to put it away and then I take it. If you're cool about it, you get it back at the end of the period. If you're a jackass about it it goes to the dean's office.

So the kid takes it out for all of 12 seconds and puts it back it. I tell him again to lose the earplugs and he ignores me. That's mistake #1, I then tell him to hand it over and he tells me that I'm not going to get his iPod. That's mistake #2. I get in front of him face to face and I tell him he can either give me the iPod or he goes to the dean and can give one of them the iPod. "I don't care, I'm not giving you my iPoid!" is his reply. Yep, strike three... I then personally escort this jackass to the dean's office and tell the secretary that he refuses to give up his iPod. The secretary then asks for it and Brainiac still won't give in, driving yet another nail in his coffin. Just then a dean walks by and she tells him what is going on and the dean holds out his hand and asks for the music player. And this time he not only refuses he tells the dean to call his dad and that he's not giving up his iPod... That would be the final nail in his coffin. He got RPCd for that one. I went back during my prep period and filled out the referral making sure that it mentioned his refusal to give it up to the dean, his secretary and last but not least to me.

Normally I'm not nasty and most kids get the hint and put the phones etc., away when I ask them to. But you break rule 3c (respect me) and you get the evil Mr. "L", and I don't do disrespect from a teenager.

Fire Alarms

You know what? I'm beginning to despise fire alarm/drills! Doing one or two a semester is OK, the alarm goes off you and the kids go to the parking lot and wait to return. No big deal, unless this is the fourth or fifth time since January 7th that you've had that particular joy. And I've had the pleasure of having two in the same flipping day! Good thing I pack aspirin in my bag because those alarms are instant headache generators, and that is supposed to be the student's job! And let's not start with the disruption to class and learning because then you have to get the students settled down again and back on task. I always tell my students that if there is a fire drill and I see less kids come back, I take roll again and if they are not present the 2nd time, they're absent. It works wonders to keep kids from taking the rest of the day off.

Hopefully this plethora of fire drills will pass and things will get back to normal, whatever that is.

Update 1/29... Yep another drill. This makes 5 since Jan 7th., maybe the fire district really likes me...

Easy Come Easy Go

So I thought I had this cool gig set up today. I just got a call from the school saying that the job had been given to someone else and thanks but no thanks. So I cancel 6 jobs for nothing. Lovely. Now I have to start all over again and even though they said they'd call me I don't know how much stock I'm going to put into that school any more. And I have to start lining up new jobs again. Now that a new semester is starting it should not be too tough but it still sucks.

It's the Shirt...

So I'm subbing at a middle school on Monday and because it's cold (for Vegas) I decided to wear my Northern Michigan University sweatshirt since it's warm and uber comfortable. One of the deans sees my shirt and strikes up a conversation with me about my shirt and Michigan in general. She asks me what class I'm subbing for and if I was ever interested in long term assignments. Silly question that one was. I reply that yes I was interested in long term assignments and that I missed the opportunity to really teach since my last one ended in December. So they take my sub number down and tell me that they'll put me on the list to call when they have openings and we part ways.

As I was looking for work last night for today and Tuesday a one day assignment pops up at that same school. I take it and today I get approached by the principal for a long term assignment teaching robotics. Now robotics is not my specialty, but the curriculum is already in place and since I know some basics about robotics I figured that I'd be able to handle the job. Plus because robotics is part of the magnet program, chances are that I won't have too many meat heads in my classroom to deal with. There will always be a few, but while the smart kids are chatty like everyone else, they are also very driven to succeed so I know that I'll get kids who actually want to be there and I'll be learning right along with them, and I love to learn. Finally they also seem to be good with me doing observation hours during my prep period for Nevada State College.

Now I've heard that it's what and who you know that will get you jobs, but what you wear? Heck I wore it because it was 40 degrees and that is one warm piece of clothing. Not to get a job, but I'll take it!

Mountains out of molehills

This article caught my eye while surfing the web and is worth talking about. Kelly Tilghman's on air gaffe regarding Tiger Woods went from a 10 second news story to a big huge freaking deal. Look saying that the players want to lynch Tiger was dumb... DUMB. But Tiger is one guy who I look at and forget that he's not white. Kelly immediately apologized on air and then to Tiger personally. That should have been the end of it, but it wasn't. Pharisee Al Sharpton got wind of this and went into attack mode. You know, calls for firing etc...

Really, she should be fired. And we expect to advance race relations how with this kind of attitude? Oh, wait... The good pharisee doesn't want to ADVANCE them, because he'd be out of a job, he wants to make them worse so he can continue to garner money and power...

Sheesh...

Rant

So I get an email from the teacher that I did the long term assignment for asking me about a lost poster from the fall. I get that settled and then get another email asking if I had lost anything else because students are swearing that they turned stuff in and that I lost it...

Needless to say I was not so thrilled by email #2. I go from looking like a capable teacher to looking like an incompetent boob. I guess I should not be surprised that the students are blaming me for their missing work but I am. Plus I'm worried about how this makes me look at that school. Is that why I've not seen any assignments from them? The last thing I need is a school that thinks I'm not worth calling back.

One more thing to worry about.

2008 and more

Well,
The two week break is over and a year awaits. Well, the break would be over if I could get a flipping gig, but so far I only have Thursday and Friday filled. The break was nice but it was without pay so our finances are hurting to say the least. It's really going to hurt if I can't find work and fast.

As far as the holidays went, it was very nice. My favorite two gifts were the Regan Dairies and the DVDs Animusic 1 & 2. I'm still reading the book and so war it simply rocks. It's not often you get to see the mind of someone in power, much less the President of the USA. One of the most moving parts is where he's in the hospital after the assassination attempt praying to God to survive when he realizes that he needs to forgive the mixed up young man who shot him. That alone was worth the price of admission. It showed me where his heart really was. If you like politics at all, get a copy of this book. Regan was the only president who kept a daily dairy of his time in the White House and it's a fascinating read.

I'm not much for plugging products but if you have a good TV and surrond sound system, you have to get Animusic 1 & 2. I just have a regular 27" TV with the stereo speakers hooked up and it rocks, so it's that much better on a HDTV etc... You can view clips and even download two of the pieces to view on your computer. It was worth the $30 to get, kids will also like it and I'm going to use it when I get my own English class to do a compare and contrast essay with.

Reflection

Now that it's been a full week since my long term assignment ended, I've been able to look back and reflect on what I did and didn't do while I was there. And boy was it a shock to go back to day to day subbing again. It was weird to get home and not worry about grading, planning or the 1000000 other things that I dealt with while I was teaching those 9th graders.

One of the things I did learn is that I was not as hard core on turning in stuff on time as I thought I was. Now that may change as I get some sort of a system that will allow me to really keep track of work the kids turn in, but the ones who care will get the work turned in that the ones that want to fail won't.

I also learned that the bigger the class is the more time you spend managing it and the less time you get to really teach. Once you get above 40 kids it's really hard to keep all those balls juggling at one time, and that goes double for honors kids. And speaking of honors kids, they seem to like nothing better than a challenge. Every time I had them do something out of the ordinary like the compare and contrast project, or the presidential ad where they either support or attack a candidate and you get some great work. Now not every kid takes to this stuff like a duck to water but most of them did.

I also learned that sometimes the kids that challenge you the most are the ones who appreciate you the most. 3rd period, yea THAT 3rd period made up a card in class and had everyone sign it. And they also wrote me notes on a separate piece of paper the last day I was going to see them. I have them thumb tacked to my wall along with a couple of notes from students in other classes to help me when I get overwhelmed with trying to balance school work and family. It's hard to look at those cards, letters and notes and not get a lump in my throat. I miss those kids, even the ones who where a pain in the a**...

I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year. Thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to comment!

Now for something a little different

I'm still gathering my thoughts about my assignment that ended on Friday to put into a post. In the meantime while bouncing around on the web I saw this. Everything in bold is something I did. Feel free to copy and paste it for yourself and just bold the things you did.

Wanna play? It's simple. Copy, paste and if you've done it, bold it.

Wanna play? It's simple. Copy, paste and if you've done it, bold it.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said I love you and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken some one's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed some one's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para sailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved some one's life

The end is near

The end of my assignment at the high school, the end of 2007, and the fall semester are fast approaching. While I'm not sad to see the semester end, I am dreading turning in my keys on Friday and bidding that room farewell. I had such a blast the past three months and I dread going back to day to day subbing where I don't have a chance to really connect with the kids and I'm going off of someone else's lessons. Not to mention dealing with kids who are going to be playing games with me to see what they can get away with (nothing) in the classroom. The part that really sucks is that my assignment is ending a week early so now I'm once again trying to find work for next week. I found something for Friday but that's it so far so right now I'm only $400 short for the week. Woo hoo...

Is it that big a deal?

Over at Buckhorn Road, Mr. Chanman blogged regarding the black on black violence that not only about a column written by Jason Whitlockplagues the inner cities in this country, but claimed the life of Washington Redskins Safety Sean Taylor. His post was as interesting as the article itself was. Personally I love reading Whitlock's writings, he is often right on the money and cuts to the chase. I mentioned that I was using that column for an extra credit assignment and he thought that was a ballsy move on my part given the hyper sensitive world we live in.

When I made the assignment available for extra credit I did so because of three reasons.

1. It's a current event and many of my students are fans of the NFL and have heard about the case.

2. His column really makes the reader think and that's always a good thing when it comes to HS students, thinking is something they don't do enough in my (not so) humble opinion.

3. Because it's thought provoking it's perfect for a written response which is how 99% of my extra credit assignments work anyways.

I'll be honest, I didn't even think about how ballsy the assignment was, I just saw an opportunity to make my students think about the world they live in and maybe shake them out of their comfort zone, if only for a short time. I've already had some strong opinions on this assignment from my students and at least 6 or 7 of them are going to do it for the extra credit.

So was it that big a deal? Boy teacher Chanman really made ME think!

You get an A for that teach!

Switching Bodies...

Yea, that's it! That's why 3rd period acted like actual human beings and 7th period acted like a bunch of jackasses on a sugar high. To make matters worse for them, I had Karlana come in and observe that class today. I have not read all her notes, but the most honest assessment I can come up with to describe that period would be grease fire. Although train wreck, total disaster, and perfect example of how not to teach would fit as well. Those are the ones that don't involve the seven words you can't say on TV. Let's just say it was an embarrassment and a real learning experience. It was nice to have an extra set of eyes to point out the things I was missing and to confirm some of my suspicions.

On the other hand 3rd period which normally drives me to drink was by far the best class of the three. There are two reasons for this and neither involve yours truly. One of the big trouble makers got himself suspended pending expulsion and I had three other students move out of the state so now that class is down to 33 students, way better than the 40 I had when I started. They did all the things that 7th period didn't do. They knuckled down and got their work and took really good notes on a rather lengthy PowerPoint on the Presidential Cabinet. They have a test on Monday and hopefully they'll study their notes.

Well, I have three big projects to get to work on, so I'm off to actually do some homework myself.

Wow!

Wow, that's all I can say after my first two honors classes had their discussions on their big project. Not only did they understand the material but they really caught on to what the candidates were saying, what they were not saying and what they were implying.
For those of you who are not familiar with what you're reading let me recap this quickly for you. My 9th grade honors students had to pick two foreign policy essays, one from a republican candidate and one from a democratic candidate. They then had to read both of them and take notes. Then they discussed their findings with the other students who had chosen the same essays that they had. Any new information was to be added to their notes and then put onto either a Venn diagram or a double bubble map. Then they would start on their essay drafts finally finishing them around the 11th of next month.

Right now two of the three classes just did the notes and the discussions and boy did they pick the essays apart. Hillary and John Edwards really got hammered in 8th period and the criticism was spread around pretty evenly in 2nd period. It was also nice to see that the periods had different opinions and views about the six essays. 7th period is going to do their discussion tomorrow and I am going to add a second set of discussions next week because it was so helpful for everyone today.

If this project is going to be my finale at this school then it looks like I'm going to go out with a bang and not in a ball of flames.

If you want to read the essays in question go here.

Winding Down

Well, my long term assignment is starting to wind down. I only have about three weeks until I go back to day to day subbing, something I'm not excited about. I did start my big project with the honors classes, I hope it goes well. It's nothing if not ambitious and if I'm going to crash and burn I might as well do it right the first time. Third period is still third period and they're not about to change although my goal is to do just that so that when their regular teacher comes back she won't have a stroke when they start to act up again.

Too many kids...

Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a zoo keeper than a teacher. Officially, I have 282 students over 6 classes. That's way too much some days. That averages out to 47 kids a class, but the most I have registered is 45 in two of them. Now some of them are suspended and others are sick but normally I have about 42 kids a class most days. . Now the good thing for me is that I was able to get semi caught up with my grading, which was a stack literally six inches high of assignments and projects that I had to grade. This will allow me to get caught up on my observation hours which I am behind on because of all the grading that I was doing for the last week or so. 1st and 3rd period get a pop quiz when the come back since they didn't feel like doing a flipping thing on Friday before the long weekend.

It's not wise to piss off the teacher and give him a headache.

The Coming Storm by Vegas Art Guy

So,
Grades come out this week. It should be interesting. I'm sure there are going to be some unhappy parents. And yet I don't seem to care, not one bit. Each student earned the grade they got and despite their best efforts I have not moved that 79.8% to an 80%. Maybe they should have studied harder on the test maybe? The one that most of them failed...

Maybe they'll study harder next time. But judging from the quick look at the amendment test, looks like they have not learned their lesson yet.

End Of Quarter by Vegas Art Guy

Well, the quarter ended today, well yesterday actually and there are going to be some angry parents and grounded kids next week. It's not like I didn't bend over backwards to make sure their assignments were turned in, (I did) and it's not like I didn't warn them over and over again about the end of quarter and what it meant because I did (even 3rd period) that as well. It's that they figured that somehow they'd pass without actually doing the work. Boy are they in for a rude awakening. I have 17 out of 40 kids failing in one class and 14 out of 42 failing in another. Toss in the fact that the mercy ended when school did on Thursday and it's going to be a long quarter for a large number of kids in my classes.

Oh, and one more thing, I have a new rule...

If there is no name on the assignment, I throw it in the trash.

Not just a bunch of rules... by Vegas Art Guy

We're in the middle of our unit on the constitution and the quick write that I asked ran along the lines of what do you now think about the constitution since we've been studying it? The most common answer had this in common:

1. I never realized how many rights we have.
2. It's not just a bunch of rules and regulations.
3. I learned a lot about how it was written.
4. The framers worked really hard on this and I'm thankful.
5. I have a lot more respect for it now.

It made my day to read things like this. Now they didn't all have these answers, but you would see at least one of those in a good 60% of the answers that I've read so far which is about 100 or so out of 265 kids.

Yea I have 265 kids to teach...

Yes I'm nuts...

Class Discussions by Vegas Art Guy

Last couple of days have been interesting. My last quick write asked my students (even those in 3rd period) what the most important issue facing the US was. Not surprisingly, immigration was top along with the war on terror (including Iraq), economy and education. What was surprising was they had a genuine desire to learn about those things. I am trying desperately to clear space on the schedule to have a class discussion. The honors classes are going to tackle immigration and the regular classes that understand 'sit down and shut up' get to deal with illegal street racing. It should be interesting to see how it goes but I'm just as tired of worksheets as they are. Worksheets are good and all but two weeks straight?

Me either...

3rd Period... By Vegas Art Guy

Well, I now know what class is going to be the albatross around my neck. 3rd period has laid claim to that title and shows no signs of letting it go. Today they got a visit from another teacher who is Ms. Fogila's best friend and let them know that Ms. Fogila was not happy rant moan blah. She would have been better off banging her head against a wall, because they quickly reverted to form.

So now they get the bookwork treatment. From now on it's worksheets and bookwork. No group projects, nothing fun. And when they start talking they get booted out of class. Now this is on top of the essay they are working on and some of them actually had a draft done today. Those kids got extra credit points which meant some of them went from getting grounded to not getting grounded for their grades.

Wednesday they get to see the evil me, they've had flashes but this has not changed their behavior one bit. In addition I'm going to start moving people around and put all the yappers close to me so I can either keep them in line or kick em the hell out of class until they get a clue, their choice, because right now I no longer care about their feelings or what they think, I have a job to do and I will not allow a few bad apples screw it up for everyone else.