PTA: Parent, Teacher, Asshole

The Guilderland Grey-Zone: No Easy Answers

2008-07-15T10:27:00.003-04:00

Ok, here's the Guilderland mess.

Someone in the Guilderland High social studies department felt the environment was unwelcoming. Off-color jokes. Terms like "faggot" and "queer". But the teacher did not file a harassment complaint. So they hired someone to investigate. That "Culture Climate Survey" was an investigation. The person doing the inquiry warned that the way she was being asked to look into the claims was going to anger the teachers, and she was correct.

The investigation did seem to echo that with reports from other teachers who eat by themselves because they are uncomfortable with the others, and comments about breasts of speakers.

So assuming this is true, do you remove two random teachers? Does that solve the problem? The redacted report says many teachers were angry with the questions. One of the things I wanted to look into was how large the social studies department is. The redacted report is heavily edited, so it's unclear how many complained of the environment. Based on what appears to be separate individual complaints, I'm guessing 4 or 5 total. That leaves 15 teachers in collusion to tell sexual jokes and harass other teachers. Will moving 2 teachers have any effect? I know my numbers are speculation, but even if I'm off by 5 and it's an even split, moving 2 and leaving 8 would not have that big of an effect.

And it side steps the issue. Do a work-place harassment class, not just for the social studies department, but for the entire school. I would have recommended the "Culture Climate Survey" be done over the entire school, but seeing as how these weren't papers surveys but in person interviews, that seems unlikely. Then you take the teachers named aside and tell them to knock it off. Tell them that if they are making the workplace unbearable and they continue to do so, they will be dismissed, but then we're talking about some with tenure, which is bogus. No one should have that sort of guarantee. But fine, you say that you'll move them elsewhere. You give people a chance to correct themselves.

The person who held the "Culture Climate Interviews" didn't even include reassignment as a recommendation. So the school board and the superintendent came up with that solution on their own. The person who made the recommendations is author or editor of 27 college textbooks, and more than 140 scholarly articles and conference presentations on sexual harassment, psychology of women, gender and sexual harassment, and victimization. You would think that if she thought moving a couple of bad eggs would solve the problem, she would have included it in the report.

The solution to move 2 teachers to break up a "locker room" mentality and prevent sexual and prejudicial jokes just doesn't add up.

So I find myself returning to Nelligan's claim that he's being targeted because he is an outspoken critic of the district leadership and the teachers union.

A source closer to the events told me, "I did have the misfortune of working for the High School Principal when he was Ass. Principal at another school district and he was the biggest sexist and would make comments about high school girls!! When I called him on it - needless to say my part-time contract was not renewed. Both the Superintendent and the Principal have histories of not liking anyone questioning their authority."

That would explain why they aren't letting the public speak out. It's bad form. You let the people stand up and say what they want to say. Then go do whatever you want to do. You might even find some supporters in the bunch to back you up.

I still have questions. What do the 2 middle school teachers being moved up think? Does Nelligan have a history of having other teachers accuse him of being offensive? How is McManus involved?

People have commented in other places, like here, that the board has the authority to make the transfer, so Nelligan and McManus should just comply without complaint. But if you don't question the reason, then that power can be abused, which some suggest both superintendent and principal of Guilderland High are guilty of doing. It's not a matter of demotion or feeling that the middle school is a punishment. It's a matter of reason. Leaders should have to justify their decision and it doesn't seem that their decision makes sense. Swapping 2 teachers with 2 other teachers will not reconfigure a 20 person staff and allow for a fresh start. And worse still, and I will be happy to beat this drum every time, to not allow the public to voice their opinions is unconscionable.

More links -

Daily Gazette
FoxNews (new article)
Not Backing Down
Student Blog - Check out "Response to G’land Schools Redacted Reports" dated July 14
WGY - They linked to my blog! Though I am not actively trying to be anonymous, but whatever.

Guilderland Update

2008-07-14T21:23:00.002-04:00

The school board met and said they would not overturn the superintendent's decision to switch the teachers.

I've read the redacted "survey" and am doing some investigation...my thoughts will come tomorrow.

Links to the PDF Redacted files are available here: http://www.guilderlandschools.org/

Guilderland Grumble: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

2008-07-13T10:42:00.004-04:00

In Guilderland, New York, a community is up in arms about the transfer of two social studies teachers from Guilderland High School to Farnsworth Middle School. I've done what research I can and find myself uncertain how to feel. There are many aspects of this issue to consider and many aspects that seemingly have not been revealed and will apparently be revealed tomorrow. Let's break this down...

The Act: Transferring teachers against their will. I believe most districts have the authority to transfer teachers as they see fit. It's a power that I think most districts use sparingly. After all, keeping teachers happy so that they are teaching at peak performance to improve test scores and such is one thing most districts try to keep in mind. From what I've read, it seems, though, that the superintendent has a history of moving teachers.

It's also a power that I have no problem with if it's to fulfill a critical need. But two middle school teachers are being moved to the high school. So now I have to wonder about the reason for the move. Because taking two teachers used to teaching high school courses, and two teachers used to teaching middle school and swapping them, at the surface, doesn't make much sense. It's almost like a reality tv program. Trading Blackboards.

The Reason: At the center of this seems to be a "Culture Climate Survey" where, from what I can figure, teachers were asked to fill out how they felt things were going in their departments, how everybody got along, etc. Let me pause for a moment and say that if you have to get teachers to fill out a survey to find out if everyone's getting along, there's a problem. But let's move on...

The only thing revealed about the survey is that it says, "members of the high school social studies department fostered a "locker room" atmosphere in which sexual jokes and derogatory comments about staff members were allowed. [Matt] Nelligan also was accused of deriding a gay staff member, but was exonerated."

I'd like to see this survey. I've taken surveys for my district and they are always, "Rate 1-5 how happy you are about XYZ." I have never been asked to take a professional survey where I could criticize departments or individuals. If the school board is concerned about the climate of the school, they might want to consider how allowing open criticism of coworkers affects the climate, but let's move on.

The superintendent has said that even though Nelligan was determined to be innocent doesn't mean he didn't do it. Well, that's true *cough*OJSimpson*cough*, but you can't treat him professionally on what you think he's guilty of doing. He was found innocent, you can't use that accusation as a reason to do something.

I also find it interesting that this "locker room" atmosphere is getting a woman who was pregnant at the time of the survey transferred with Nelligan. Nelligan says Ann-Marie McManus is caught up in it to make it seem like he's not being singled out. Sounds kind of paranoid and egocentric, but since I haven't heard any specific accusations about McManus, I have to concede that he may be right. I'm not sure, though, why the fact that McManus was out of maternity leave when the survey was given keeps getting mentioned.

Nelligan, of course, has his own theories. He says it's political. He and the social studies department at Guilderland High School are open critics of the district leadership and teachers union and this is a divide and conquer tactic. I have no evidence to the contrary because the school board and the superintendent have done little to explain what's going on and why, which gets us to the next topic...

The Handling: Secrecy seems to be the slogan here. Locked door executive sessions and such. Bad idea. I can't think of a reason that school boards should be allowed to sit away from public eyes to make decisions. But then they shouldn't have said they were moving anybody before they were willing to discuss the reasons. They should have said, "Here's what the survey told us. Here's what we plan to do about it." It's like a movie where you see the ending and the rest of the movie you see how they got there. Very exciting. Very mysterious. That's not how to run a school district.

But then, the teachers should have been spoken to privately before this happened. If they were causing problems, they should have been spoken too and told they need to stop the sexual jokes and criticism of staff. They should have had a chance to face the accusations and respond to them.

Last Monday, the 7th, the school board met privately and decided to take another week to determine if they have the authority to overturn the superintendent's decision. I agree with Nelligan that this is a delay tactic because you can't tell me they don't know if they can veto the superintendent. Now if they are taking that week to decide if they want to overturn it, that's fine. But tomorrow when they reveal what they are going to do and why, which they should have shared to begin with, the public will not be allowed to comment. Telling the people who voted you into office that they can't talk is...a bad idea.

Random Thoughts: I find it interesting that we haven't heard from other teachers. Other members of the social studies department. Maybe that's because Nelligan and McManus are problems. Or maybe they are unwilling to confront the school board and or union.

Part of July 14ths itenerary is sharing of the redacted survey results. Interesting thing about the word redact. It can mean just putting something in writing. But it can also mean adapting, editing, or obscuring. Based on the secretive school board, I wonder which is the correct meaning here.

Bottom line is that we have heard everything from one side and little from the other, so I can't say which side I agree with. I'm leaning toward Nelligan and McManus, but I might take that back tomorrow.

Here are links to the articles I used in my research. The first link is the YouTube video made by a Guilderland student that was emailed to me by an unknown person.

YouTube
Fox News
Spotlight News
Times Union

Tips for Trips to Docs

2008-07-04T11:12:00.002-04:00

LiveSmarter, "A blog for improving daily living through insights into health, wellness, finance, and education," has an article up about how to keep your children more relaxed and calm on doctor trips. 38 Tips to Keep Your Kids Entertained and Stress Free When Seeing a Doctor.

It's a great article for new parents going to the doctor's office or ER for the first time with their toddler. Having 5 children between 6 and 1, I'll admit a number of the suggestions, well, I rolled my eyes and thought, "Duh..." But I'm sure I wasn't as wellversed and some of the tips would have been helpful. Some of the good ideas include being prepared to entertain and feed your child. Especially important to unpredictable trips to the ER.

Interestingly enough, a number of the suggestions seem designed more for relaxing the parent than calming the child, but then that supports tips 28 and 29, "They can express emotion, you can't" and "Be Patient". The first three tips, lumped together as "Do Your Research", will be very helpful to calming first time parents, because there's nothing more stressful than taking your child into an unknown situation. Tips 11-13 are pretty clearly focused on keeping the parent calm, suggesting parents have their insurance information, being on time, and making a list of questions for the doctor. Tips 22-24 are good recommendations for parents to keep calm, "Learn How to Present your Child's Case," "Ask the Right Questions," and "Know the Medical History." Knowledge about your child and what may be his or her condition will help the doctor and help you stay calm. Also, the suggestiong to have your phone charger with you in Tip 18, "Bring Some "Just in Case" items is a good recommendation targetting keeping the parents stress-free...ish.

A warning about researching your child's condition: Despite all the information you can find online about any and every medical condition, most of us aren't doctors. Many conditions have similar symptoms and panicky parents my assume the worst, when it's nothing big. That will increase parent stress which won't help the child's stress level. And use the information to prepare youurself, not to tell the doctor what your child has. Don't go in saying, "My child has Blahblahtorisis and I need you to get him the hospital." Let the doctor do the doctoring and diagnosis. If it is Blahblahtorisis, then you'll have an idea what that means and you'll better be able to "Ask the Right Questions" as the tips recommend. If the doctor comes back with the horrid, "I'm not sure. I'm going to run some tests for Wahwahtorisis and Boobooleptia." Then feel free to ask him about Blahblahtorisis to see why it's not being tested for.

A Strong Recommendation from the List: Well Check-ups. Not only will yearly Well check-ups make sure your child is healthy, it will do more for familiarizing your child with the doctor's office than all the role playing and talking the two of you can do.

Another Perfect Storm?

2008-06-28T10:13:00.004-04:00

You've heard about the Gaggle of Gloucester Girls, right? Gloucester, Massachusetts? School nurses notices that many girls were coming in for pregnancy tests. Maybe not a big deal, but many girls were repeat testers. Suggesting, of course, that they knew they were doing the thing which causes a pregnancy, they were doing it repeatedly, and didn't seem to care if they got pregnant...or did they? School nurses in the fishing town known from the book and movie The Perfect Storm, reported that upon learning of a pregnancy, the girls high-fived, celebrated, and revelled like Chad Johnson of the Cincinatti Bengals doing the Go Daddy Dance after making a touchdown.

So the number of girls, triple the norm, who have become pregnant, and their Go Mommy "dances" have some suspecting a pregnancy pact among the girls. I'll admit it sounds like a pact.

The mayor of Gloucester says there's no proof, but they're investigating.

I like how she basically says, "Don't look at me..." calling out the school board and the Federal Government.

Naturally, when something like this, what has been called a "blip", happens, people ask...why? Why did we jump to three times the normal pregnancy rate? Hollywood!

Juno, a movie about a 16-year-old pregnant girl and Jamie Lynn Spears, 17-year-old unmarried sister of Britney Spears, not to mention her own pregnancy, although she was married at the time.

Some scoff at the media influence, and I certainly tend to when it involves people committing violent crimes because of movies and video games, but I can't entirely disregard the possibility here. Why? Society is more accepting of teen pregnancy than murder, and it takes a warped view of life to take it from another person. That's a mental illness. Intentionally getting pregnant is just a misguided call for attention and/or value.

So it's not JUST media, it's society. The Mayor talks about the school policy to teach abstinence and not have contraceptives available. Again, that's a problem. If you know teens, telling them not to do something does not convince them not to do it. And if they made a pact to get pregnant, then the opportunity to grab a condom or sponge or whatever won't make them pick one up on the way. They'll just...not get it.

Maybe it's the school daycare for employees and students. So, you get pregnant, you have a child, you can leave the child in the daycare at the school. If you tolerate it, you teach it. I'm not saying that it has to be a horrible, Scarlet Letter, banishing kind of scandal, but let's allow the pregnancy and new child to be a little more invasive. Not abandoned teenage mothers, but let them know they won't be coddled.

And while we can put some blame on not having enough health teachers and classes, and not teaching about contraceptives and providing them in the schools, what about the parents of the 17 girls? Are they not responsible more so than the government that the girls did not have an adequate sexual education? But again, who says they didn't know about contraceptives, how to use them, and where to get them?

And what about the 17 men not in high school? Apparently all 17 were not in high school. One was, apparently, a 24 year old homeless man. Where are they?

Media, school, family, society, and 17 misguided girls and men...a perfect storm that led to 17 pregnancies. Can it happen again? Sure. Can we prevent it?

I don't know. We'll have to ask ourselves some hard questions, though. Stop the finger pointing and look at how we accept teen pregnancy as just another step in growing up.

Information for this blog came from:

Mass. Girls May Have Made Pact to Get Pregnant

and this News Report from CBS...

The McBodog Effect

2008-06-23T19:36:00.004-04:00

Do you suffer from the McBodog Effect? If you do, you probably don't call It that. You either have your own name for It, or you don't call It anything. It just flutters in the back of your mind, peering over your thoughts like Killroy as you approach a situation where It will come into effect. I call It the McBodog Effect.

I call It that because it most often and consistently happens on a visit to McDonald's. This morning, my wife decided to take the family out for breakfast, an event of such rarity that if you could put a value on events, it would be more valuable than the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. Her destination was a surprise. It was more of a surprise because the McBodog Effect was in rare form today. When we pulled into the parking lot of the Shoney's restaurant...it has been closed. Shut down. So we discussed our options in the area and voted on McDonald's. Maybe not as fancy a breakfast, but sure to make the Fearsome Five happy with a visit to the PlayPlace. Mrs. Asshole was making sure I was ok with it and I told her, "Don't worry about it. Last time we had breakfast at McDonald's, I discovered the joy of their biscuits and gravy AND pancakes, so I'll be happy."

Mrs. Asshole: "You shouldn't have said anything. Now they'll be out of syrup."
Mr. Asshole: "No, it'll be, 'Yes, I'd like biscuits and gravy.'...'Sorry, sir. We're out of gravy, but we'll have a new shipment in tomorrow.'...'Ok, well, I would like the pancakes and sausage...'...'I'm sorry, sir, we ran out of pancake batter.'"

My wife maintained that it would be the syrup and I conceded because it occurred to me that syrup is just a breakfast condiment and condiments, while it is rare, are more likely to run out that major food products like pancake batter and gravy.

So I'm sitting outside with 1 year-old Yankee-Boy while Bravo-Boy, Delta-Boy, Zebra-Girl, and Sierra-Girl are having fun in the PlayPlace, and Mrs. Asshole opens the door...without food in hand...with THAT look...the look all men learn really quickly when in a committed relationship. The look of unhappiness.

Mr. Asshole: "You're kidding."
Mrs. Asshole: "They're out of gravy."
Mr. Asshole: [laughter]"Well, I called it!"

The McBodog effect is the consistent event of not being able to get that for which you are looking to most enjoy. McDonald's is consistent in its inability to have milkshake makers working when I visit. Every so often I'll get by with a milkshake, but it's more of a surprise when I get one than when I don't.

But it's not just McDonald's...The Roadhouse Grill...now the Original Roadhouse Grill, but back when the Assholes frequented it, it was just The Roadhouse. There was a chicken dinner with rice and some sauce. I forget what it was called. It's not on the online menu anymore so I guess they ofter it no longer. Anyway, when we were eating out regularly as dating couples do, it was my choice every time. It's what I do...there's the one thing I want, and I get it every time. But then we got married and we started a family, eating out became less of an extravagance worth the effort. But one night, with baby Delta-Boy in tow, we went back for a visit. There was that one dish I wanted. It was on the menu (I expected it to be gone). It was placed in front of me...changed. Not nearly as good. I won't say it was bad, but it wasn't nearly as "come back for me" as it was in its original form.

Then there's the story of the little restaurant opened and run by my eldest sister's, Hotel-Sis, good friend. Once it opened, we, Papa-Asshole and Sisters Asshole and I, were frequent diners. And there was my dish. I ordered it every time. I was asking for the recipe and was too young to realize that when she said "well, the recipe is for not one serving but a whole evenings worth of possible servings" I couldn't counter with, "well, give it to me anyway, and I'll figure it out from there." Then, Hotel-Sis's friend was tired of running a restaurant, a thriving but small restaurant, and sold it. Family 1.0 returned anyway. Once. My course was still on the menu. I ordered it. It came...it an altered form. Not bad, but not...well, you get the point.

The McBodog Effect shows itself in various ways depending on the nature of the favored item. The Family Man Frozen Dinner ckicken fried beef steaks with corn, mashed potatoes, and 2 beef steaks removed from grocery freezers. Yeah, I can get the Banquet country fried beef steak dinner which is the exact same except with 1 steak, but...who wants one when you could have two. Boston Market had a chicken meal that I loved, and it's now gone. I have coupons for Croissant Hot Pockets, and guess what is nowhere in the grocering area? Croissant Hot Pockets!

Beware the McBodog Effect, or whatever you call yours...if you dare acknowledge it... at all.

Another Brand of Teacher

2008-06-21T16:42:00.005-04:00

Teachers are humans and humans believe things. Teachers teach and what they believe sometimes comes out in how they teach. So when does it turn from teaching to preaching?

Well, John Freshwater, formerly of Mount Vernon Middle School in Columbua, Ohio, has apparently found that differentiation. The Mount Vernon Board of Education has voted unanimously to fire Mr. Freshwater, the 8th grade science teacher at the middle school.

Freshwater's trouble with the Board of Education started, it seems, when they asked him to remove a Bible that he kept on his desk. His argument that he keeps the Bible for his own use and asking him to remove it from his desk violates his First Amendment rights. He also has the Ten Commandments up in his room, which he's been asked to remove. Again, he says a violation of his rights.

Now, the Bible being on the desk shouldn't be a big deal. It shouldn't be a big deal that it's on his desk, but if parents are complaining, it shouldn't be a big deal to just put it in a drawer. The Ten Commandments? It's a science class. How does Freshwater use the Ten Commandments to teach science? Without justification, they should come down...but Freshwater's preaching gets more egregious.

He believes in Intelligent Design. Fair enough. But part of science is evolution and the big bang, which he does not teach. Even if you don't agree with it, if the school district says it needs to be taught, you teach it. I don't agree with all of the changes that have occurred in English expression, and when I get to those bits of altered Grammar, I teach it both ways. I teach that a singular noun that ends in "s" like the last name "Hills"...to make it possessive, you use an apostrophe and an "s"..."That is Dina Hills's bookbag." but that these days it is being accepted to just use an apostrophe..."That is Dina Hills' bookbag." I teach both, tell my preference, and let them decide. Freshwater should do the same. "I believe in Intelligent Design. Others believe in Big Bang. You decide."

But it gets even worse. Apparently he used an electromagnetic device as a part of a unit on electric current. He used the device to...well, descriptions vary...either simply mark students' arms with a red cross, or burn students, brand them, with a cross. He's well liked by many students, but at least one student has come forward saying the brand hurt so bad he was unable to sleep.

Many in the community support Freshwater but whould they if he was Muslim? If it was a Koran on his desk? A star and crescent mark on the arms? The Torah and Star of David?

Freshwater apparently removed his Ten Commandments and religious posters, but stood firm on his personal Bible on his desk. Fair enough. But if he's branding students? If he's not teaching the standards? Unacceptable. Especially the branding of students. Whether they volunteered or not, physically scarring a student is not acceptable.

Other places to read about Freshwater...

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/19/protest.ART_ART_04-19-08_B1_QU9VKT7.html?sid=101

http://www.thestate.com/nationwire/story/439512.html

Pro-Freshwater blog - http://agoodchoice.blogspot.com/2008/06/burning-brandishing-burying-john.html

Depleted Cranium: The Bad Science blog - http://depletedcranium.com/?p=567#more-567

Those are the sides...that's my commentary...You decide...

Finally, EHT's priveledge meme, and some more CDs...

2008-05-25T21:41:00.002-04:00

First, let's tackle the CDs...First, I would like to agree with Mrs. Chili about letting children listen to "regular" music...adult music. My children often listen to whatever I feel like listening to be it the Beach Boys, or Elvis Presley, or Three Doors Down, or whatever. The children's CDs I own are mine...which means I bought them for myself. All the CDs listed in my earlier post I bought because I like the groups. My Muppet CDs I owned before I had children. Same with the Animaniacs CD and my slew of Halloween CDs...each one having Monster Mash and Purple People Eater on it...

But be that as it may, having learned that They Might Be Giants put out Here Come the 123's last year, I ordered it from Amazon. Sure enough, it's a fun CD, though I learned it's connected to the new Mickey Mouse Club and there are 3 songs from it that disrupt the CD, if you ask me...Not that you did, I understand, but...well, let's move on. It also has a DVD of videos of the songs, although I haven't had the time yet to watch them. When I do, I'll let you know.

Also while ordering that CD I ordered something for myself. Mrs. Chili, over at A Teacher's Education, introduced to me the poet Taylor Mali and I bought one of his CDs, Conviction, which I greatly enjoyed. Mali has another CD that's been out for about 8 months called Icarus Airlines which I purchased. As with Conviction, all of the poems are wonderful, although there's a greater concentration of what I will puriley call downers. He includes several poems about his wife's suicide and while beautiful, they aren't the kind of things that I will want to listen to regularly. "The Miracle Workers" I promptly shared with my coworkers and all teachers should hear, or at least read, it. "Holding Your Position" is a great trip into youth, and "The Mascot of Monterey" lets you know where the title of the CD comes from. "Pizza" is wonderful, but not what you think it's about.

Ok, let's see...EHT's Privledge Meme...

To participate, copy and paste…then unbold my responses to make your own. Bold the items that apply to you:

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college - University of South Carolina
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college - Ditto
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor - Dad's a professor, have a sister who's a doctor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. Same
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 - Karate
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. - I suppose...depends...not consistently for sure
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels - Not always, but enough
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them - technically, it wasn't called being purchased for me, it was treated like a hand-me-down, but in reality Dad drove the hand-me-down and I got the new car...So it counts as being purchsed for me, if you ask me...
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home - Dunno, I mean, he may have still been paying a mortgage...Probably counts as a yes anyway.
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course (I don’t think they existed in the olden days)
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school - Bad idea, that was.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 - Well, not anywhere...you mean somewhere...
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. - I'm not sure that not paying attention or being informed by parents should count...being oblivious doesn't mean privledged...

I certainly get what the meme is saying, though I hate the term privledged...Every family has its struggles. Not saying we had it as bad as others...just saying we're better off realizing all families have their troubles and money...privledge...doesn't take that away...

Oh, speaking of "The Miracle Workers"...here's Taylor Mali performing it...It's slightly different on the CD...he doesn't say "shit"...he loans a pencil instead of a pen...the audience is...better...but enjoy...

Principal Resigns over Gay/Straight Alliance Club

2008-05-21T21:57:00.002-04:00

Here's the story...

http://www.wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=8356379

Here's the district...

http://www.lex5.k12.sc.us/

Here's what I have to say...

When you know the person involved, it's hard to just write something off as bigotry. See, Mr. Walker was my first principal as a professional teacher and I will say that if you told me to make a list of bigotted people, his name wouldn't appear on it. He treats people fairly...How does that mesh with this news? Well, he's not turning tail on a school and district with a gay/straight alliance club. He's fulfilling his contract and when the contract is up, he'll walk away. He says he was planning on sticking with Irmo High until 2010 and he's moved it one year earlier because he doesn't agree. He's damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't. If he quits, he's a bigot. If he doesn't, he's not standing up for what he believes in and he wouldn't have to put up with people criticizing him, but he has to live with himself. He's a principal who wouldn't allow students to say "fuck you" to a teacher, but was understanding that some students don't come from a picket fence household. He's a good man, and he was a great principal. I may not agree with him, but I respect him.

But let's talk about whether or not I agree with him and let's leave the gay aspect out. I'm not sure I do disagree with his decision, though I suspect I do. I would need to know what the teacher sponsor of this club intended the purpose of the club to be. I'd also have to know what other clubs exist (I would say at the school, but if we have to talk about clubs in the whole district, fine). There are other clubs than curricular clubs, but I can only think of service clubs like Key Club or sports clubs. The reason I need to know about the clubs purpose is because if the club is just meant for socialization. Like minded people coming together to talk, and there are no other clubs that fit that one description, then I can see his point, even if he adds a sexual element that doesn't inherently exist. If there are political and/or religious groups that get together as a school club simply to discuss their views, then I agree that the gay/straight alliance club should be allowed. But if the clubs all have been academic, service, or sport related, then I see Mr. Walker's point. I want to hear what the teacher sponsor says is the purpose of the club.

My friend Mrs. Chili sponsors a gay/straight alliance club at her college, and I am curious about her point of view. I'm still trying to figure out my POV, myself.

Children's Music for Parents

2008-05-18T11:13:00.002-04:00

Driving somewhere with the children can be a harrowing adventure. Random commentary about what passes by in the window ("Happy Meal Place! There's Bumblebee!" (Any yellow car after watching Transformers)), arguements about each other ("Bravo-Boy's bothering me!"), random songs often invented by the young singers, dropped items ("Whinnnnneeee...I dropped my juice, cookie, cracker, car, book, etc."), and that's just the tip of the whine-berg. So music is invaluable in giving them something else to focus on and me something else to listen to.

But...children's music...ugh. I mean cartoons and puppets and monotonous songs, oh my! This old man, he played one little duck ran over the hill to fetch a pail of water, Jill fell down the mountain when she comes, she'll be comin' round the mountain.....ARGH! It's no wonder the average parents are testy and seem a touch insane. The CIA has begun using what they call "Soccer Mom Immersion" for interrogating purposes...

CIA: "All right, Boris, where are the secret plans?"
Boris: "I tell you nothink."
CIA: "All right, load Boris into the van. Bring JIAs (Juvenile Intelligence Agents) Jake, Emma, Madison, and Brady. Give them chocolate chip cookies and juice boxes. Put in Wheels on the Bus and I'm a Little Teapot."
Boris: "Nyet, nyet! I'll tell you everythink...everythink!!!!!"

Anyway, I digress...If that sounds familiar, without the international espionage of course, then let me see if I can help you out. I've come across a few CDs put together by popular bands for children.

I decided to blog about this after I purchsed the brand new release Snack Time by the Barenaked Ladies. It features 24 original children's songs, and they are very entertaining. If you follow the link above to Amazon, you can see a video of the first track "7 8 9" with a little something added to the end that's not on the CD. "The Ninjas" is a fun song about those deadly, silent, and unspeakably violent ninjas. "The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy", especially part II, "Popcorn" is wonderful...all the way to the end. Just a collection of fun and refreshing children's song.

The group They Might Be Giants has put out a few children's CDs like No! with highlights on "Where do they make balloons?", "John Lee Supertaster", "Clap Your Hands", and "Lazyhead and Sleepybones". They also have Here Come the ABC's with "Alphabet of Nations", "E Eats Everything", "Pictures of Pandas Painting", "Alphabet Lost and Found", "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order", and "LMNO". I just found out they also did Here Come the 123's which I missed and will be looking into.

On a slightly strange note, I was listening to my Blues Brothers CDs and it has their version of the Rawhide theme...which Delta-Boy loved and we had to listen to several times.

Roll 'em, Roll 'em, Roll 'em
Keep them babies rollin'
Though they're disapprovin', Rawhide!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T23:48:00.002-04:00

I'm lucky cause I married a milf, though she wasn't one at the time.

Mood Music

2008-05-04T12:49:00.004-04:00

Recently I purchased for myself this...

Wonderful CD...CDs, actually. Two discs. 35 Songs. I've been greatly enjoying it. The best part happened yesterday. I was in my car pulling into a local grocery store when track 17 on disc 1 began playing. Track 17 is the Peter Gunn Theme. People were crossing the parking lor walking in time with the music. All of a sudden, everyone looked suspicious. I didn't know who I could trust. Those carts might be rigged with explosives. I better wait until I'm inside before I get a cart. I was so cool.

What was even better was leaving. I played it again. Now I was in the middle of Spy Hunter. That car behind me is going to try and ram me off the road...OIL SPILL! That guy trying to pass me is going to take out my tires with wheel spikes. HIGH GEAR! WHERE'S THE WEAPON'S VAN?

Play Spy Hunter

Is This Thing On? Why I disappeared, a book meme, and which general I was during the Civil War.

2008-04-20T16:16:00.004-04:00

Hey guys...I swear, it seems like everytime I get blogging, something comes along and drives me away. While I've been gone I've:

...Finished a graduate course with an A. The course ended while I was still engrossed in bronchitis (stress the gross).

...Finished my third and final attempt at getting National Boards. I think I'll get it, but I thought it the last two times. I'm keeping all of my thoughts to myself until the results come in.

...Been tasked with cooking up lesson utilizing the new Smart Board installed in my room. Not, it was put up so low that I couldn't walk under the projection boom without hitting my head. The projection was crooked as well. They've come back and raised and straightened it, though.

...spoken on the phone with a parent who said her son was getting in trouble for petty things...ie. talking during and disrupting class. When my principal heard this, she called her in for a conference where she was a complete angel. I wanted to puke.

Over at History is Elementary, EHT posted an interesting Book Meme that she got from Eoin Purcell's Blog, which I admittedly haven't visited yet. I have a hard enough time visiting my blogs as it is (Sorry everybody, even those of you who don't realize I visit). Anyway, here be the rules...

1. Pick up the nearest book
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you

So, here we go..

1. Duma Key by Stephen King...My favorite writer. His most recent book. About a man who, after a mutilating accident, goes to the Florida Keys, specifically Duma Key, to get his life back together. But then, Duma's history has something to say.

2-4. "Part of Duma's development problem is simple overgrowth. The sea oats belong, but the rest of that shit has no business growing without irrigation. Somebody better investigate, that's what I think."

"My daughter and I went exploring one day..."

King uses a lot of foreshadowing in this one. It may not be more than usual as my memory of any book remains only with a plot summary, not with technique, but it seems that Duma Key has a lot of foreshadowing, which may be because one of the themes of the book is memory loss, so rather than Flashbacks, which I know he often uses for characterization, but with the memory loss theme, Flashbacks aren't as accessible...so Foreshadowing...Or I'm reading too much into it...Maybe si, maybe no.

Again, I wasn't tagged, but I swiped it from EHT at History is Elementary.

I tag: My wife Blue (whichever blog you want to put it on is fine, dear)
Mrs. Chili over at A Teacher's Education
My friend Amy (you haven't mentioned a blog, so I guess just post in my comments)
SaintSeester over at Saint Seester Says...
and Irrational over at Math Teacher's Notebook

Lastly, over at the American Presidents Blog, M posted a link to a quiz asking Which Civil War General Are You?

I got...

You scored as a U.S. Grant

One of the most misunderstood figures of the war, your campaign at Vicksburg was a work of military genius, but future generations will come to view you as a butcher who won by weight of numbers. Sorry 'bout that.

I'll take it...especially compared to the near miss I had with Sherman. I would not have been happy being named Sherman.......

EHT has another cool meme I'm going to do soon about privilege...I'll admit I'm not real thrilled about the tone of that word "privilege", but there are interesting questions there...

Oh, and before I forget...Soon I'll be revealing a forum my wife is helping me develop (which means I tell her what I'm looking for and she does it, cause she's computer savvy and I'm computer middlin'). It's focus is going to be on education and school, but I'll tell you more about it when it's up and running.

Introducing the new Parenting Awards...the LOFties

2008-03-23T16:17:00.003-04:00

Work has provided me with several interesting stories about parents and the practice of labelling behaviors as mental illness.

I was in a meeting recently where we discussed what should be done about a student who was diagnosed with Disruptive Disorder. I asked, "So, there's a disorder now that makes us disrupt?" Ok, in meetings I know better than to ask questions like that, but I did ask, "What is Disruptive Disorder?" What I was told was that to be diagnosed with Disruptive Disorder, a person has to display certain behaviors like continual rule breaking, aggression, etc., and through testing doctors rule out other possible causes like ADHD and such. So I said, "So it's a catchall for when they can't figure out what's wrong?" I was told...yes.

Now, I don't want to say that that negates the disability and that it doesn't exist. I'm not going to say I necessarily understand what I was told, and maybe I was given the simple version since I'm just an English teacher. I am concerned, however, that psychiatrists are doling out the meds for behaviors which other children can display and then get rid of with effective discipline. I wonder how many children get labeled with ADHD, ODD, and other Disruptive Disorders (using Goggle, I learned that Disruptive Disorder is apparently a class of disorders) when they are just suffering from BADD, Behavior Absent Discipline Disorder.

I don't wonder this just because I feel that naming disorders for socially unacceptable behavior and medicating people who display these behaviors removes all personal responsibility, but as a teacher who has seen the child who has BADD and the parents that gave it to them. They use the Lord of the Flies parenting approach. Parents using the LOF approach feel that all a sentient being needs to become a good, upright, productive member of society is respect. They respect their boundaries by not getting too involved in their activities. They respect their privacy by not going through their rooms. They respect their individuality by letting them make their own decisions under the assumption that they will eventually learn how to make better decisions on their own. It doesn't work...

I spoke with one parent, again recently, although I've heard the message from many parents, who said, "Well, it's up to him to decide to behave. I've spoken with him until I'm blue in the face, but until he decides to make the right decision, he's going to just keep getting in trouble."

Ummm...no. See, that's LOF parenting. It's NOT his decision because he lives in YOUR house. He is a teenager barely. He doesn't know how to make decisions yet. He doesn't think about tomorrow much less 5 or 6 years from now when he's graduating from high school and has to make it in the world. You talk to him? My dad talked to me all the time about the importance of doing my homework and while I understood what he was saying and I agreed with him, I still didn't do my homework. At 33, I wish I had done my homework, but at 13, even though I understood and agreed, I didn't make the decision to do it. But then this is a parent who asked if he was the only one talking during class and if I've moved him away from the other students with whom he is speaking. No, he isn't always the only one talking, although sometimes he is, and even if others are talking, they all get in equal trouble, and yes he's been moved to the most isolated desk...still, no effect. But then if you would do more than talk, maybe he'd be a little more compliant. This parent wins my new parenting award for effective use of the Lord of the Flies Parenting Style, the LOFty.

Another parent, at a meeting about whether or not her child would stay with us or return to the home school, said, "Whether she stays here or goes back, she'll still just get in trouble." Well, mom, that's encouraging. I didn't get much information on her parenting style, but I would guess that she probably used a LOF type of discipline and at this point, has gotten frustrated that her child has not just started making responsible decisions. So rather than changing her style to one that is effective like knowing your child is capable of behaving and if she doesn't, then things are taken away like the phone, the tv, the mp3 player, etc., the parent gives up and makes degrading comments. This parent, too, wins a LOFty.

Now, I will say that I don't know how good a parenting job I will have done when all is said and done. I also know that some parents have a hard time monitoring their children and disciplining because they are single parents and/or have to work long, hard hours. I mean, how can you make sure your child doesn't watch TV when he gets home from school hours before you get home from work? Well, I know I'd deprive myself of the television to make a point. There's nothing that I would take from my children that I wouldn't eliminate from my life if necessary to reach my children...but that's just me.

I'm Finally Accepted by the Cool Kids!

2008-03-16T13:05:00.003-04:00

This week, I've finally found acceptance among the cool kids. Ok, as a teacher, because brought in to the cool crowd should not be a high priority on my list, especially with the "in-group" being teenagers, but I'm still holding on to some of my feelings of isolation and embarassment from things like my middle school nickname of "Goob".

Well, it's the nicknames that have told me how accepted I've become. Like "Fucking Faggot". Isn't that nice? And I appreciate the use of alliteration there. It's a little long, though, and I'm not sure really applicable in describing who I am as a person. It's also a bit risque for school. I mean, ok I have 5 children, so referring to me as a bundle of sticks with a healthy sex life...I'm not sure I can allow that one to continue. Another student called me "Homo", which is great. I mean, "Homo" is a prefix meaning "the same"...so he was saying that I am the same as him...see, acceptance! Then one student called me "Little Bitch". That one certainly has the compliment of saying that I am not overweight, and "bitch" is a female dog. Well, they often call each other "dog". I guess the female reference is just a friendly jab. They're always making fun of each other in friendly ways. Also, clearly, "bitch" and "little" have assonance, so that's an appreciated langauge arts nod as well. I received one more nickname this week...well, I didn't receive it from my student, but he used it..."Asshole". It makes me wonder if he's reading my blog and was letting me know in an indirect manner.

So now I'm hanging with the popular kids, although they should probably settle on one nickname rather than everyone coming up with a different one. But they like me...they really like me. I'm just going to bask in the warm fuzzies of my new nicknames.

Well, this is Little Bitch Asshole saying, I'm in like Flynn!

Hey! Wait a minute!

Birthdays, bronchitis, and prepositions in need of a lift

2008-03-03T13:25:00.003-05:00

I now have two 4-year-olds. TWO! My Sierra-Girl turned 4 on Saturday, and Zebra-Girl hasn't made it to 5. Of course, as clumsy as she is, it's no surprise her younger sister is catching up.

Right now I'm sitting at home feeling bad for two reasons. Reason #1: I have bronchitis. YAY! No energy, can't catch my breath, I got feverish Thursday and a little bit feverish Friday after visiting the doc...Luckily it hasn't been that bad since then.

Reason 2: I've been off from work now 2 days. I hate not being at work. I feel guilty because I know how much one person being out can affect things at the Alternate Reality School of Excellence (ARSE). I've already heard how things went to Hades in a wastebasket Friday. Expulsions galore. Now, I know it's egotistical and arrogant of me to think that had I been there, things would have gone differently...except a coworker told me a lot of it sprang from my room. Well, wonderful.

I also found out Friday, after the doc told me that I have bronchitis, that I have high blood pressure. Yay! I teach at ARSE, I live on an animal farm, and I have 5 children...How could I possibly have high blood pressure? He said, "It won't cause any problems until one day you have a stroke. So take a look at that when you get passed the bronchitis." Thanks, doc. That helped my blood pressure a lot. It's called a bedside manner. It doesn't mean you have to blow me, but at least whisper sweet nothings in my ear so I don't feel like my brain is going to get a crowbar and make itself an exit in the next week or so. This is why I don't go to doctors. That and ridiculous doctor bills.

I guess that's all for now.

Wait, wait...in honor of my good friend, Mrs. Chili, there's one more thing. I have the hardest time finding desk calenders that are any good. Word-of-the-Day calenders generally have too many words that I already know. Sex position calenders have IMPOSSIBLE positions...*cough*...so I hear. Cartoon/comic calenders, of course, have cartoons and comics I've already seen. I don't have enough time to complete some kind of puzzle every day, so that'd be a waste. This year I thought I'd try an Errors in the English calender clarifying common misspellings and little known mistakes. Well, it's been disappointing too.

Many of the mistakes I have never heard. If I've heard the mistake, then I already knew it was a mistake. But it took the cake when it made its own mistake. It was warning about doubling prepositions like, "Rico hated Henry, with whom he always fought with." Two "withs"...not necessary. The calender then says to remove either "with". Uh...no. See, that's a stranded preposition. If you wrote, "Rico hated Henry, whom he always fought with" then your preposition doesn't have an object. A preposition needs an object. I know this is a point of debate and some people say that these days it's an archaic rule. But I struggle everyday to watch my prepositions and the calender could have acknowledged the debate.

Finally, I made a video reviewing my bronchitis for my Chi of Cheese blog. Enjoy.

They are Toying with us!

2008-02-24T08:07:00.006-05:00

Monday was Delta-Boy's 6th birthday. He's been on a big Transformers kick, so I thought it would be cool to get him some real Transformers. Delta-Boy was very excited, but it didn't take THIS big kid to be disappointed in my son's gifts...Check out the quality of Scorponok and Longview from Hasbro's current Transformers line

When the Transformers first came out in 1984, they were sturdier. I remember thinking that some of the toys didn't quite want to transform the way they were supposed to transform, but I don't remember them breaking.

All toys seem to be higher quality back then. Sure, you'd lose your GI Joe guns and Masters of the Universe swords, but the action figures stayed together and you could pretend that they had weapons, or better yet your guys would fight hand-to-hand, which was always more exciting than using weapons.

Duke: "Stop, Cobra Commander, or I'll shoot you with my Sub-machine gun!"

Cobra Commander: "You can't ssstop me!"

Sub-Machine Gun: "Bratatatatatatatatatatat"

Cobra Commander: "Ahhhh...I'm mortally wounded. *cough cough* I ssshould have told Ssscarlet that these terrorissst activitiesss were just feeble attemptsss to get clossse to her. I never wasss any good with women. Uhhhhh *life expelling gasp*"

You know, it was much more fun without the guns, using the swivel grips to contort the figures into impossible wrestling positions, and throwing each other off the cliff, which was really the bed with the floor being the bottom of some canyon where the victim luckily didn't die and was ok enough to continue their epic battle.

I bought Delta-Boy some dragon toy where the dragon was wrapped in its wings like it was in an egg, and then you unfold the wings and you have a dragon. Well, the wings wouldn't stay on. It seemed similar to some of the Masters of the Universe toys in size and materials, but you had to TRY and remove He-Man's arms, and the legs were permanent...Not that I mistreated the lead hero of the Masters of the Universe who was oddly the most BORING of the lot. But I digress...

Toys should be made to last. Delta-Boy has seen another Transformer, Payload, that he's interested in, but he's expressed concern about it falling apart. He spends more time making his own Transformers out of paper or Lego blocks. I'll show you his home made Transformers later...

For now I'm going over to Johnny's. He's got the new Star Wars Transformer of the Death Star transforming into Darth Vader. I'll be back in time for supper.

Super Mario Brothers: The Role Play Game

2008-02-17T10:44:00.004-05:00

A short while ago, we had a slight plumbing problem...Any mice living under our sink found themselves with a handy waterpark. Thrifty Wife is the local engineer, so she set forth to fix the Mini-Waterfall, but encountered a problem under the house where the pipes led. So, much like Mario seeking extra coins in the underworld chambers of the Mushroom Kingdom, I entered the Underhouse Kingdom...

*dirr dirr dirr*

Buhnuhnuhnuhnuh...

King Koopa was heard to comment, "Plumbers? Plumber alert!"

The Peanut Butter Pinch

2008-01-13T17:39:00.001-05:00

The Peanut Butter Pinch

The other day, during nap time, Bravo-Boy (remember, the 2-year old) came out of his room and said, "Dada, me gotta wee!"

"Get to it, then," I responded.

He tromps down the hall to the bathroom with intent. But then time creeps on. I begin to realize that the noble pasttime of urination should not take that long, especially for a 2-year old with a bladder approximately 10 times smaller than mine. So I go investigating. Bathroom door standing open. Light on. Signs that Bravo-Boy is in the area. Then...

AHHHHH!

Bravo-Boy pops out of the dining room located directly to the right of the bathroom.

"Why were you in the dining room, Bravo-Boy?"

"Nothing."

"Go back to your room and take a nap, Bravo-Boy."

"Ok."

As Bravo-Boy passes me in the hall, I notice a strange presence around his mouth. I put my hand on the child's shoulder as he passes and bend down. I sniff. Peanut butter!

"Bravo-Boy, you've been helping yourself to the peanut butter. You do not help yourself to the peanut butter. Go to your room. Now."

Case closed. Another collar for Detective Dadasshole.

The Peanut Butter Pinch II: A Sticky Predicament

The other day, same day as the previous episode, Delta-Boy comes out of his room during nap time.

"Dada, I've got to go wee."
"Get to it then."

He tromps down the hall to the bathroom with intent. This time, however, I just needed to get something from the kitchen, probably a Diet Coke, so I too tromped down the hall with intent without suspiscion when...

AHHHHHHH!

Out pops Delta-Boy from the dining room with a quick, "I was just using the bathroom."

The Dadometer goes wild. Something is afoot. Keenly aware of the previous incident with Bravo-Boy, I inquire, "Were you eating peanut butter?"

"No."

I bend down to a clean faced Delta-Boy...and...snifffffff...The distinct fragrance of peanut butter hung around Delta-Boy's mouth. The situation goes to Condition Yellow!

"Go to your room. You're not getting dessert after supper tonight."

Case closed. Another collar for Detective Dadasshole.

But...is the case closed?

Was the crime eating peanut butter without permission? Was it lying about it? Both? I don't know how I would have reacted if Delta-Boy had confessed during the interrogation. I may have just said, "You are not to help yourself to peanut butter or any food without asking Mama or me." I don't know, though. But coupled with lying...that's unacceptable. And it's been a growing problem. Sometimes just little things like he's in a room and something happens and you ask him about it. "I don't know." You know he knows. He was there. He's a witness.

Worse, it's happening at school. Thrifty Mama learned this week that he's been lying to his teachers. I spoke with one Friday explaining that it's been a problem at home, so I would be emailing on Fridays to find out if it's continuing. I don't need to know daily. I just need to have an idea if it's happening in safety away from home. Away from the Dadometer.

I've explained to him why we don't lie. Trust. If you can't tell Mama and Dada, it's something you shouldn't be doing. It's a sign you're doing something bad.

The problem is that I'm not sure when I should trust my son. He's told me the truth and I thought he wasn't. When I learned what he said was the truth, I apologized but explained..."This is why we don't lie."

We had an incident today...

"Dada, Zebra-Girl is making farty noises."
"Ok, and?"
"It's annoying me!"
"Then go away from her."

Delta-Boy trundles off and I hear, "Dada said..." and his voice trails off.

"Delta-Boy!"
"What?"
"You mean, 'Sir?' right?"
"Sir?"
"What did you just tell Zebra-Girl I said?"
"Nothing."
"I heard you say, 'Zebra-Girl, Dada said...' What did you tell her I said?"
"Nothing. I was going to say something but then I remembered something and stopped."
"Zebra-Girl!"
"What?"
"Don't you mean, 'Sir?'"
"Sir?"
"What did Delta-Boy say I said."
"I don't remember."

(Very possible. I love my Zebra-Girl, but she has the attention span of a tsetse fly.)

"Did he tell you that I said to stop making farty noises?"
"Yes."

Ok, leading the witness. Because of that, I'm not sure she's telling the truth or just knows that Dada isn't happy. I hate that I don't just automatically trust my son. It's all I think about when he's telling me something. I'm sure it will pass. As his teacher told me, "He's a good boy." But I also think of my students, some of whom won't tell the truth even when it would serve them better.

It's probably just a phase...but I want to make sure that's all it is. I'm just afraid I may also be overreacting.

All because of peanut butter.

Customer Service Loop

2007-12-31T09:35:00.000-05:00

Last post I shared with everyone my new, warm, cozy sleep socks. Now they are warm, cozy, smelly sleep socks! Woohoo! They are broken in!

Well, another one of my wonderful gifts from my eldest sister, I'll call her Hotel-Sis. That has nothing to do with her job or anything. Just a reference to her initials. Moving on...

Hotel-Sis got me a Flip Camcorder. Cool, huh? It really is! Easy to use, so far. The "so far" hopefully captured your attention. I plugged The Flip into my conputer to download my videos...mostly random stuff just playing around, but some stuff I intended to use, and...nothing. Huh. Well, something was supposed to happen. Hotel-Sis had warned me that apparently they made so many of these so quickly, being the "hot, new thing", that it wasn't uncommon for Flips to turn up with errors in their programming. Well, I went to the Flip website to see what it had to say, and tried a couple of things to no avail, and sent the problem in to Customer Service. Follow me into the dreaded CSL...Customer Service Loop.

Loop 1: Request for information about me and the unit. Understandable. Told to just send in the Flip, they'll reprogram and try and save my videos. Not happy, but fair enough.

Purgatory: 24 Hours later. No response. Send email asking if they got my information, etc.

Loop 2: Before proceding, they want to try one more troubleshooting step. Fair enough...but part of what they wanted me to do, I didn't understand how I was supposed to do it. So I asked for clarification.

Purgatory .5: Received email in response to my email asking if they have received the information and am asked to re-forward the information.

Return to Loop 1: I re-sent the information. No clarification for my previous question.

Loop 1.5: Given information about sending the camera in including sending the exact same information I've provided via email 3 times already.

It's enough to drive someone insane. Cartainly nauseous. So I'll send in my Flip hoping they'll save my videos, and I might be able to do some video stuff here. But keep your vomit bags handy...just in case.

The Warmth of Christmas

2007-12-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

So, how was everyone's Christmas? Good, I hope. Christmas went by in the Asshole household without a hitch. Giant Microbes were a big hit this year as Delta-Boy got Tuberculosis, Zebra-Girl got Flesh-Eating Virus, Sierra-Girl got the Black Death, Bravo-Boy got Athelete's Foot, and Yankee-Boy got the Ebola Virus. Mamahole got the Common Cold, and I got myself a House Fly, a carrier of microbes...

One of my big gifts, and some of you may laugh, but one of my big gifts this year were sleep socks. Socks not worn because you are walking out in public in shoes, but thick, warm socks worn because you are at home, you're comfortable, but if not for those sleep socks, your toes would be cold. Now to make sure you understand why the sleep socks were one of the big hits of my Christmas, you have to understand how my feetses got around before Christmas morning...
Man, those are some cold, unhappy feet. Notice how my new House Fly loves my feet. It's not that they are stank feet. Eau Contraire! It's the holey socks.

Oh! Holey Socks
The Toes are Gently Peeking
It is the holes in our poor, smelly socks....

So my most wonderful wife got me new Sleep Socks for my poor toesies...

Nothing says Christmas like warm, flyless toes. Merry Christmas everybody!

Enough With Political Childishness

2007-12-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

I sat down this morning with my newspaper hoping not to find too much death and misery and I was greeted with something else disturbing of a different nature. Professional childishness.

The headline: "Romney targets Huckabee"

Doing a Google search of the phrase "Romney targets Huckabee" and you get 2,000 plus pages. That's with the quotes. My question is...why?

I'd go off on a whole rant about Romney and how he can't seem to convince everyone he can be president without demeaning his opponents abilities and characters...but it's not just Romney.

Another headline: "Obama fires back at Bill Clinton"

Why?

Ok, that question is brought from two thoughts. Not just "Why can't a politician just say why he's the best choice for president without saying why the other person isn't the best choice?" Also, why are we even talking to Bill? If I was Obama, the only "firing back" I would do would be to say, "I thought your wife was running for president, not you."

When Dubya ran, his father didn't get this much attention. No wives get so much press time.

Anyway, that's not my focus here...Why do Americans want to see their prospective leaders fighting like middle schoolers? In a classroom, if students were blaming, finger pointing, insulting, and ridiculing each other, like our politicians do, the students would get in trouble. They'd be told to knock it off.

So I leave you with two questions to ponder:

1) Why do we hold our elementary and middle school aged children to higher standards of behavior than our political leaders?

2) Where's the politician with the strength of character to say, "I will not bother slandering my opponent's name. I will not stoop to mudslinging. I will explain why I should be president, and refute my opponents' disparaging remarks, and that it all." Where is that politician? Because that politician I would be happy to vote for, regardless of party.

Let Me Dust This Place Off...

2007-10-01T18:00:00.001-04:00

It's been, practically, a month since I posted here. I can't remember what I talked about, and I could, of course, check, but I figure after a month, I don't need to worry about what I said last. I've just been very busy. I find that I'm taking on more and more responsibilities and I don't seem to have very much free time. I've never been very good at posting during the school year, when all the good stuff happens, but this just seems excessive, especially since I was posting regularly there for a little while.

Things to talk about...

I'm the school's new news coordinator. That means I contact newspaper and television reporters when there's something going on at school which they may find newsworthy. I've written my first press release about our SRO teaching anti-gang and defensive driving courses. Two separate classes, of course. I was very nervous and sent my press release to be critiqued by the district news...chief. I don't know what her title is, honestly. She said it was a perfect press release, especially for a first time. I have no idea if the reporter is going to do a news story on our SRO, but I'm hoping. It's good human interest, if you ask me.

I'm the news coordinator for the school because I've taken on a creative writing/journalism class. I'm focusing on creative writing by looking first analyzing excellent examples of literature and then taking the concepts used and trying to apply them to the students' own writings. As the news chief tells me, creative writing and journalism are opposite ends of the writing spectrum as she says in journalism you don't want flowery adjectives, although I've read articles where the opening is very descriptive with figurative language. I don't know squat about journalism and have been looking for something to assist. We have one copy of a journalism text which was printed in 1994. Oddly enough, I found out that's the same standard journalism text across the district, which means out district hasn't adopted new journalism texts in 13 years.............I've ordered myself something from a catelogue. We'll see if I can pull this journalism thing together.

Gang tensions are mounting at school. I know I teach at ARSE (Alternate Reality School for Excellence) and a large portion of our student body are expelled students who often come with gang connections, but gang tensions have never cropped up. Ok, rarely cropped up, and never so blatantly. I hate gangs. I hate gangs because they take children whose parents ignore them or just don't have time to pay much attention because they are working their asses off, they use the violence they help to create, and promise to protect them and guide them. They then beat the shit out of them "to make them strong" and guide them toward activities which greatly limit their future prospects. Those're criminal activities, in case I lost you. So all this is going through my mind and I'm reading the Freedom Writers Diary to my classes...all of my classes...and I'm reminded of the short story The Last Spin by Evan Hunter. It occurred to me while reading the story that the only difference between one gang and the other is that one gang sports one color and values certain symbols, and another gang has a different color and different symbols. In the end, they are all the same except the color the prefer. Possibly due to recent discussions with Ms. Roygbiv, our art teacher, I'm reminded that you shine a light into a prism and you get all kinds of colors...all color comes from the same light. Then I thought, "Is there an anti-gang presentation in this? So now with the help of Bonita the guidance counselor and Mrs. Dorian, our middle school science teacher, I'm trying to create an anti-gang presentation. I'm limited in that I've never done this before and I think my idea is one we can't pull off and it needs to be scaled back, but it could still be effective. I need to convert the story into a play or skit or whatever. We'll see what develops...

I need to piece together the history of my school because I've been there longer than anyone save for the custodian.

I still have no classroom computer.

I drive my son to school every morning to varying degrees of effectiveness from the teachers on hand to unload students.

I'm on the Faculty Urges Communication Krew (FUCK) made up of this year's and last year's teachers of the year to communicate to the superintendent what the other teachers think of how things are going.

This week I'm starting a class in order to get recertification credit, because being a teacher alone doesn't recertify myself and I have so much time to spare that 3 hours once a week is nothing to me.

That covers most everything. I'll try and be by more often. I could go into greater detail with everything and probably put some humor into it, but humor is a time waster and I have little to spare...see you next time.

Let me get my dust mop...

2007-09-05T19:56:00.001-04:00

It's dusty around here.

I know, I know, I haven't been blogging! I've been getting used to my new school year and not doing a good job of it. For instance, one day I was sitting in the computer lab doing some work because the computer in my room is acting wonky. I knew that after middle school lunch, I had one period of planning before my next class. But watch what happens when the interpid teacher mixes up middle school lunch and high school lunch...Crikey, look at that! He completely missed one of his classes!

Yep, missed one completely. Came down and called the students to my room as they tried to go somewhere else and had to be explained to by the students where they were going. Doh!

I told my coworker who held onto the class that she should have radioed me. She said she would have been unbelievably embarrassed if everyone in the school heard her name radioed to come to her class. Here's where we learn about different priorities. One teacher is concerned about how said teacher appears to coworkers. One teacher is concerned that said teacher didn't do his fucking job. Appearance versus responsibility. Which is more important to you?

A similar event happened later when I forgot I had lunch duty. I had been, again, working in the computer lab (I really need my computer fixed) and was returning to my portable for some material when a coworker yelled across the parking lot.

"Mr. Asshole, do you have lunch detention?"
"What?"
"I think you do!"

And sure enough, I did. So I went to the lunch room with about 10 minutes to spare of lunch time and Coach goes, "there he is!" and another coworker says, "Yep, that's him," and trudges off to scarf what she can of her lunch down before the next class. Again, "You should have radioed for me. I forgot."

"I would be mortified if my name got called for lunch duty."

Damn it! What the hell? So I'm surrounded by people who would rather screw up totally and few know than screw up a little and everyone knows. What does that say about priorities. Yep, they're getting misplaced.

I'll try and pencil some time in tomorrow to tell about my actual classes. But there may be no point cause I'll forget to wear pants soon...

Day 2: The Treasure Hunt

2007-08-19T17:02:00.000-04:00

The second day back to school was a little better, if not productive. Principal Trinity set up a game where we teachers were put into groups and sent out following clues until we found the final clue leading us to where we all would reunite for lunch.

I was partnered with Jinny, the guidance counselor, Bonita, our secretary, and the new middle school science teacher, Mrs. Dorian. We had a great time. It was a lot of fun.

But...

As mentioned yesterday, I still have a lot of work to do in preparation for this new school year. I'd be a little less concerned except that tomorrow I have faculty development all day and Tuesday we have the District kick-off followed by, faculty development, so I can only hope that Wednesday I'll be left alone in my room for the entire day.

I'll let you know how things progress.

Oh, and check out Rosemond's article about school uniforms. I agree with everything he says, and I found particular interest when he stated that, "by sending a child to a public school, a parent consents, a priori, to government "interference" in child-rearing matters." I especially agree with this considering the number of parents expecting the school to do such things as teaching their children about sex, and disciplining their children in isolation without the crucial parental discipline necessary to let the child know that it's not "just a school thing" when he gets in trouble.