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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?