Saturday, April 30, 2005
selling video of the pope's tour
Followed by a commercial for "Girls Gone Wild Spring Break 2005".
What a country.
I just watched a documentary about San Quinton.
Finished my historiography paper about "The Inquisition".
Lynndie England will face up to 11 years in England.
How can I make this any more depressing?
There's a beautiful, innocent girl who gives me great kisses...that makes me happy. :)
What a country.
I just watched a documentary about San Quinton.
Finished my historiography paper about "The Inquisition".
Lynndie England will face up to 11 years in England.
How can I make this any more depressing?
There's a beautiful, innocent girl who gives me great kisses...that makes me happy. :)
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Amazon.com: Books: Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Amazon.com: Books: Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Regression analysis finds that Roe vs. Wade has contributed greatly to the downward spiral in crime.
Will all Jews and Christians go to hell?
Will all Jews and Christians go to hell? Take your chances infidels!
fleeting moments
I don't covet the transient. Every thought we have doesn't need to be recorded online...yet I'm strangely drawn to blogging.
Emails more damaging than cannabis - vnunet.com
Emails more damaging than cannabis - vnunet.com Distracting emails lowering our IQs by 10 points! Who would've guessed?
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
labs.google.com - Why Work at Google?
labs.google.com - Why Work at Google? What an awesome company...
What the Bleep Do We Know!?™ - The Movie
What the Bleep Do We Know!?™ - The Movie This is the movie I fell asleep watching tonight. It's a great idea and I think about stuff like that constatly. I loved the intelligent ideas but it was still a little slow.
Speaking of slow, I'm watching King of the Hill. I knew Bobby wasn't going to kill the deer. "Hold on to your boyhood Bobby. Well, you know what I mean."
Speaking of slow, I'm watching King of the Hill. I knew Bobby wasn't going to kill the deer. "Hold on to your boyhood Bobby. Well, you know what I mean."
Monday, April 25, 2005
Agree or disagree?
"Sermons were to the public of those days [16th century Spain] what television is to the 20th, the most direct control over opinion."
---Henry Kamen "Inquisition and Society in Spain"
page 205
What will be the answer to the 21st century?
---Henry Kamen "Inquisition and Society in Spain"
page 205
What will be the answer to the 21st century?
Why Google bought Blogger....
The second link for "Blogger Google Acquisition" in Google took me here:
Though weblogs are often compared to the frequently introspective and self-focused personal web pages hosted by Geocities or Angelfire, most weblogs are far more interactive, actively commenting on and linking to other web content. This commentary and linking behavior offers several potential benefits to a search engine like Google.
Weblog entries are often concise, pithy abstracts of other web content. In that sense, they function as an enhanced directory listing, of sorts.
Currently, Google and all other search engines look at the text surrounding a link to infer content of the page the link points to. With weblogs this text is often much more "focused" and can offer much more context about a page that's pointed to.
Though weblogs are often compared to the frequently introspective and self-focused personal web pages hosted by Geocities or Angelfire, most weblogs are far more interactive, actively commenting on and linking to other web content. This commentary and linking behavior offers several potential benefits to a search engine like Google.
Weblog entries are often concise, pithy abstracts of other web content. In that sense, they function as an enhanced directory listing, of sorts.
Currently, Google and all other search engines look at the text surrounding a link to infer content of the page the link points to. With weblogs this text is often much more "focused" and can offer much more context about a page that's pointed to.
watching explosions
The kids in my worst class are showing a little initiative. An extra credit project about "Weapons of World War One" wihch consisted of a little internet research and an oral presentation.
We got into a discussion about whether a 10 pound shell can destroy a tank. Instantly the focus turned to the web.
"Oh there's video of that online."
Without skipping a beat they showed me video of tanks firing, cars crashing, people dying and all out chaos. Silly me. While I was reading WHY those things were happening, they were watching them in all their glory.
The web is whatever you make it. If you want real-life footage from the A-Team, you got it.
We got into a discussion about whether a 10 pound shell can destroy a tank. Instantly the focus turned to the web.
"Oh there's video of that online."
Without skipping a beat they showed me video of tanks firing, cars crashing, people dying and all out chaos. Silly me. While I was reading WHY those things were happening, they were watching them in all their glory.
The web is whatever you make it. If you want real-life footage from the A-Team, you got it.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Google Knows What You've Been Searching For
Google Knows What You've Been Searching For: "at http://labs.google.com, requires users to create a personal login with a"
Makes you think twice before you search...Not me though. Whew, at least I wasn't born paranoid.
Besides, governments have never hurt their own citizens, have they?
Makes you think twice before you search...Not me though. Whew, at least I wasn't born paranoid.
Besides, governments have never hurt their own citizens, have they?
God Hates America -- A Warning to the USA!!!
God Hates America -- A Warning to the USA!!!: "Americans will eat their BABIES!!!"
I don't know if this is a joke or serious...but it's one of the creepiest websites I've ever seen.
I don't know if this is a joke or serious...but it's one of the creepiest websites I've ever seen.
A Few Lucky Students Who Don't Need AP (washingtonpost.com)
A Few Lucky Students Who Don't Need AP (washingtonpost.com)
AP courses can save students a lot of money and I'd love to teach the highly motivated students. On the other hand, making your lesson plans reading the Times is fun also. I could teach a pretty interesting course with ALDAILY.com.
AP courses can save students a lot of money and I'd love to teach the highly motivated students. On the other hand, making your lesson plans reading the Times is fun also. I could teach a pretty interesting course with ALDAILY.com.
thetruereligion.org - News
thetruereligion.org - News: "They assign no value to time as it slips by unnoticed
"
I was wondering what the one true religion was this beautiful morning. I typed "true religion" into google and found out it was Islam. Google doesn't lie...and the stock has been doing great :)
"
I was wondering what the one true religion was this beautiful morning. I typed "true religion" into google and found out it was Islam. Google doesn't lie...and the stock has been doing great :)
Saturday, April 23, 2005
a view of progress
Harry Elmer Barnes in 1934 wrote a review of The Inquisition. by A. Hyatt Verrill in the The American Journal of Sociology that compared the negative view of Hitler’s Germany with the barbarity of the Inquisition.
“If, however, one turns for a moment to the Inquisition of the Middle Ages and early modern times, he discovers such a staggering record of savagery and blood lust as to give a decided impression that we have made headway toward tolerance and decency even in present-day Germany.”
Ah the idea of progress. Of course it was in a journal of sociology. I wonder how Harry Barnes felt when the images from the concentration camps reached America?
“If, however, one turns for a moment to the Inquisition of the Middle Ages and early modern times, he discovers such a staggering record of savagery and blood lust as to give a decided impression that we have made headway toward tolerance and decency even in present-day Germany.”
Ah the idea of progress. Of course it was in a journal of sociology. I wonder how Harry Barnes felt when the images from the concentration camps reached America?
Friday, April 22, 2005
Shlock Jocks
One of my acquaintances from school is now a radio DJ for this Clear Channel radio station that sounds like any other Clear Channel rock station. When I was in elementary school he'd pester me with his big mouth and he once pushed me in high school because I made fun of his stupid laugh. So now I'm talking about the French Revolution and he's making fart jokes on the air. He's like Nelson and I'm like an underachieving Martin. His platform is so much bigger than mine and I think I'm angry about that.
I try to discuss genocide, religion, and culture. I'm holding up a mirror of our past to fifteen year old children literally dying to get away from thought. But my students really, really, really can be funnier than any Clear Channel DJ I've ever heard. Especially the guy I'm talking about...I wouldn't dare put the link up to "Listen Live"- you have better things to do than that.
I'll tell you one story from my students though :) Last year I had a period with only one "White" student. We'll call him Gonzalez and he looked nothing like me but the students one day were laughing hysterically because they had decided he was my unacknowledged son. I had to laugh a little because he really didn't look anything like me.
Anyways, later in the week there was more laughter surrounding Gonzalez and his broken arm. His arm in a cast, the first thing he announced to the class was that he broke it falling off his bike. Later on in the "lecture" (words just aren't always that precise- I need to invent a word for a lecture interspersed with 50% interruptions) a girl, we'll call her Lashunda, politely raised her hand and said that he wasn't being truthful about how he hurt his arm.
Why I inquired further is beyond me, but I asked, "How did he hurt his arm?"
Looking very dignified, she sat up in her chair and said, "He didn't fall off his bike. He was masturbating the whole night."
I couldn't hold back my laughter. Lol, when I started laughing the whole class went crazy laughing. Everyone except one teenager in a sling who sat there red-faced.
At the end of the day he came to my desk and said he really did fall of his bike and he could bring in friends to back up his story. LOL, like I wanted to call witnesses.
Still, I shouldn't have laughed. And I shouldn't be jealous of a Clear Channel radio station DJ reaching more people than I do at school. But I'll work on that :) Besides at the end of the year, Gonzalez came up to my desk without a sling and told me I was a great teacher. How often do you tell that to Clear Channel DJs?
I try to discuss genocide, religion, and culture. I'm holding up a mirror of our past to fifteen year old children literally dying to get away from thought. But my students really, really, really can be funnier than any Clear Channel DJ I've ever heard. Especially the guy I'm talking about...I wouldn't dare put the link up to "Listen Live"- you have better things to do than that.
I'll tell you one story from my students though :) Last year I had a period with only one "White" student. We'll call him Gonzalez and he looked nothing like me but the students one day were laughing hysterically because they had decided he was my unacknowledged son. I had to laugh a little because he really didn't look anything like me.
Anyways, later in the week there was more laughter surrounding Gonzalez and his broken arm. His arm in a cast, the first thing he announced to the class was that he broke it falling off his bike. Later on in the "lecture" (words just aren't always that precise- I need to invent a word for a lecture interspersed with 50% interruptions) a girl, we'll call her Lashunda, politely raised her hand and said that he wasn't being truthful about how he hurt his arm.
Why I inquired further is beyond me, but I asked, "How did he hurt his arm?"
Looking very dignified, she sat up in her chair and said, "He didn't fall off his bike. He was masturbating the whole night."
I couldn't hold back my laughter. Lol, when I started laughing the whole class went crazy laughing. Everyone except one teenager in a sling who sat there red-faced.
At the end of the day he came to my desk and said he really did fall of his bike and he could bring in friends to back up his story. LOL, like I wanted to call witnesses.
Still, I shouldn't have laughed. And I shouldn't be jealous of a Clear Channel radio station DJ reaching more people than I do at school. But I'll work on that :) Besides at the end of the year, Gonzalez came up to my desk without a sling and told me I was a great teacher. How often do you tell that to Clear Channel DJs?
smiling newscasters
This post falls under the "Society and technology" headings because it sure as hell isn't about teaching.
Why were the local newscasters smiling while they were showing us heliocopter footage of Faye Dunaway (who the fuck is that?) from Los Angeles? I am thousands of miles from there! IT DOESN'T CHANGE MY LIFE!
Who decides what's relevant and news-worthy? Will it be a better world when we only hear what we are interested in? Can I happily exist with a channel devoted exclusively to Crank Yankers and no idiotic local news "personalities"?
Why were the local newscasters smiling while they were showing us heliocopter footage of Faye Dunaway (who the fuck is that?) from Los Angeles? I am thousands of miles from there! IT DOESN'T CHANGE MY LIFE!
Who decides what's relevant and news-worthy? Will it be a better world when we only hear what we are interested in? Can I happily exist with a channel devoted exclusively to Crank Yankers and no idiotic local news "personalities"?
Writing historiography on a teacher's work day
I suppose I could be planning for the rest of the school year but instead I'm reading aldaily.com and lazily working on my historiography paper. Is this blogworthy?
Who cares anymore. What brought me to this site was the fact that the custodians used a beautiful "Pascal" programming book as a doorstop while clearing out my room. It has some significance, although I'm not exactly sure what.
My room has a corner with four outdated machines two of my students are "working on". It's such a delightful feeling to turn junk into treasures. I'm inspired when old computers are utilized for parallel computing tasks. Linux seems to be able to use resources more efficiently. It's very ideologically satisfying.
I hate blogging from the school. I feel like I'm exposing some school secrets indecently.
Maybe the Pascal book and the computer graveyard are appropriate for a public school. Aren't we behind the times? I am writing this on a wireless network. Although it is unsecured and open to hackers. We are working on it...consider most teachers don't know a CPU from HTML.
But we made a Fedora server from discarded parts. The little server that could. She had 30 students on at once but couldn't handle it. She seized up and I decided to buy a new 3 GHz Dell. I know. I can use the old Fedora server to post my blog and resume and random stuff like that. Lol. I'll never get enough activity to shut that down.
So now all the desks are out of the room. It's really large when empty. I imagined just letting the students come in and fight for an hour with nowhere to sit down. I kid, I kid.
Ah I will go grade some notebooks. Just not now.
Who cares anymore. What brought me to this site was the fact that the custodians used a beautiful "Pascal" programming book as a doorstop while clearing out my room. It has some significance, although I'm not exactly sure what.
My room has a corner with four outdated machines two of my students are "working on". It's such a delightful feeling to turn junk into treasures. I'm inspired when old computers are utilized for parallel computing tasks. Linux seems to be able to use resources more efficiently. It's very ideologically satisfying.
I hate blogging from the school. I feel like I'm exposing some school secrets indecently.
Maybe the Pascal book and the computer graveyard are appropriate for a public school. Aren't we behind the times? I am writing this on a wireless network. Although it is unsecured and open to hackers. We are working on it...consider most teachers don't know a CPU from HTML.
But we made a Fedora server from discarded parts. The little server that could. She had 30 students on at once but couldn't handle it. She seized up and I decided to buy a new 3 GHz Dell. I know. I can use the old Fedora server to post my blog and resume and random stuff like that. Lol. I'll never get enough activity to shut that down.
So now all the desks are out of the room. It's really large when empty. I imagined just letting the students come in and fight for an hour with nowhere to sit down. I kid, I kid.
Ah I will go grade some notebooks. Just not now.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
How I filled my days
What's on my mind in a typical day?
I know I took on too much this year at times. But now that the results are streaming in it feels so damn good.
I taught one college class in person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tonight I saw one of my students on the nightly news working the court in Broward. The case is interesting: the judge threw a juror in jail for not answering a question about his past correctly. My student is a bailiff. You can read about the case here . Anyways, my student is a very opinionated, and often wrong fellow, who looked like he was working hard on TV walking the accused to his seat. He was only lazy in my class, I guess. Paying for a degree seems pretty stupid, but that's what you get when there are no entrance requirements. Welcome to my world.
The two online classes I taught are over. The grades have been corrected and I have no email when I login. Oh man. That is such a relief to have NO emails when I log in there!! That might feel as good as not getting paid haha. I hated the computer applications course but the Networking course was really fun to teach. I might keep in contact with some of those students. Oh and I actually did fail a few students in the computer applications course.
My graduate course at the local university is wrapping up. I'm typing up a historiographical paper concerning the Spanish Inqusition. I've got Netanyahu's tome open next to me to page 843. If you want to look scholarly just walk around with a 1,200 page book about the Inquisition.
I even had a good day at the chess club...The best player in the school came back for our little "tournament" and now I've got to order the damn trophies!!! I can't let that go anymore...So I still have a little stress :)
In my "worst class" there was actually fighting about GRADES TODAY! Even though the vitriol and hate was directed at my grading scheme and the mistakes my girlfriend made in correcting their papers- they were still concerned about passing a course! I'm happy!!!
Before the end of the day I overheard a girl say that she loves my class and she told me that she met some other people from different periods who can tell "I really love history." If that's all they remember about me, I'd be a happy guy.
What else have I done this semester? Oh I finished that computer training at the high school. I'm installing Fedora on the server I bought from Dell...
Of course I'm just dabbling here and there and there's no profitablity in that. But I've got too many damn interests...Maybe I'd get less done if I took up social drinking. Lol, it'd probably do more for my bottom line in 10 years. But who knows what will come of anything? Maybe the server I'm dabbling with now will become my true passion?
Or maybe I don't have a true passion and I'll always just dabble in different areas.
Oh and the word I couldn't think of earlier came to me while I was reading a cereal box: putative.
:)
I know I took on too much this year at times. But now that the results are streaming in it feels so damn good.
I taught one college class in person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tonight I saw one of my students on the nightly news working the court in Broward. The case is interesting: the judge threw a juror in jail for not answering a question about his past correctly. My student is a bailiff. You can read about the case here . Anyways, my student is a very opinionated, and often wrong fellow, who looked like he was working hard on TV walking the accused to his seat. He was only lazy in my class, I guess. Paying for a degree seems pretty stupid, but that's what you get when there are no entrance requirements. Welcome to my world.
The two online classes I taught are over. The grades have been corrected and I have no email when I login. Oh man. That is such a relief to have NO emails when I log in there!! That might feel as good as not getting paid haha. I hated the computer applications course but the Networking course was really fun to teach. I might keep in contact with some of those students. Oh and I actually did fail a few students in the computer applications course.
My graduate course at the local university is wrapping up. I'm typing up a historiographical paper concerning the Spanish Inqusition. I've got Netanyahu's tome open next to me to page 843. If you want to look scholarly just walk around with a 1,200 page book about the Inquisition.
I even had a good day at the chess club...The best player in the school came back for our little "tournament" and now I've got to order the damn trophies!!! I can't let that go anymore...So I still have a little stress :)
In my "worst class" there was actually fighting about GRADES TODAY! Even though the vitriol and hate was directed at my grading scheme and the mistakes my girlfriend made in correcting their papers- they were still concerned about passing a course! I'm happy!!!
Before the end of the day I overheard a girl say that she loves my class and she told me that she met some other people from different periods who can tell "I really love history." If that's all they remember about me, I'd be a happy guy.
What else have I done this semester? Oh I finished that computer training at the high school. I'm installing Fedora on the server I bought from Dell...
Of course I'm just dabbling here and there and there's no profitablity in that. But I've got too many damn interests...Maybe I'd get less done if I took up social drinking. Lol, it'd probably do more for my bottom line in 10 years. But who knows what will come of anything? Maybe the server I'm dabbling with now will become my true passion?
Or maybe I don't have a true passion and I'll always just dabble in different areas.
Oh and the word I couldn't think of earlier came to me while I was reading a cereal box: putative.
:)
moving on up
My buddy the security guard asked me for some career advice today in the hallway. He said he is thinking of applying for the Department of Corrections. We agreed that a lot of the kids in our indoor suspension are basically waiting to be put into the adult jail. At least then he might only have to work one lousy job instead of two.
This kid in the worst class is giving me grief. I should say the whole class is giving me grief...I suppose I make an easy target with my love of books and all. They are so stupid they don't even know they are alive.
It's hard when your family tempts you with job offers for more money in different industries.
The biggest question I ask myself is whether I'm effective at what I do. Usually I feel I am but there are times I fail so miserably....
This kid in the worst class is giving me grief. I should say the whole class is giving me grief...I suppose I make an easy target with my love of books and all. They are so stupid they don't even know they are alive.
It's hard when your family tempts you with job offers for more money in different industries.
The biggest question I ask myself is whether I'm effective at what I do. Usually I feel I am but there are times I fail so miserably....
Monday, April 18, 2005
The Independent Florida Alligator tells it like it is
The Independent Florida Alligator. So this is the future of education in Florida? They want to legislate out "bias" because they are concerned their biased way of looking at the world isn't getting enough attention at the universities.
If there's one word I want every ninth grade student to know, it's 'bias'. I want them to recognize it, but I certainly don't want them to think you can eliminate it. Certainly you can't legislate it out of existence. Cuckooo...
If there's one word I want every ninth grade student to know, it's 'bias'. I want them to recognize it, but I certainly don't want them to think you can eliminate it. Certainly you can't legislate it out of existence. Cuckooo...
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: Florida, cauldron of craziness!
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: Florida, cauldron of craziness! LOL. Imagine how it feels to teach here!
3rd grade worksheets
Ever since I discovered that the state mandated test declared I have ninth graders who read at a third grade level, I've given out very easy worksheets. I try to mix it up a bit more. At the beginning of my teaching career I was bringing in all sorts of difficult papers that no one could understand. But what I just witnessed was too much.
One question was "TRUE OR FALSE: Auschwitz is a very happy place." The answer circled was True.
Am I wasting my time doing this?
One question was "TRUE OR FALSE: Auschwitz is a very happy place." The answer circled was True.
Am I wasting my time doing this?
why teachers dont get paid
A cat with acrophobia is a very rare find.
Grandma has a sever case of acrophobia.
Leah's acrostic protrayed a mellow mood.
The ambiance of the beach is one of warmth.
I have a student who is ambidextrous.
Thank you fellow teachers for filling out "practice sentences" on a teacher website. You've reminded me why we don't get paid anything.
Grandma has a sever case of acrophobia.
Leah's acrostic protrayed a mellow mood.
The ambiance of the beach is one of warmth.
I have a student who is ambidextrous.
Thank you fellow teachers for filling out "practice sentences" on a teacher website. You've reminded me why we don't get paid anything.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
in an erotic fashion...
Every year new teachers around the country have to face incorrigible "students." Forget country- across the globe. Some of the teachers have heart attacks from caring too much and some bring a newspaper and just wait to be fired- if they even care.
We've got a strange bird this year. He actually broadcasts the happenings in his crazy room. "A kid spit on me!" "A kid sneezed on me!" He yells at the teachers who try to help him, "Get out of my room!"
Last week he came in with a referral for a student who gave him a titty twister. He wrote the student did it in an "erotic fashion."
There isn't a person yet who hasn't laughed at that one. One teacher said it's probably the most action he's gotten in a while.
We've got a strange bird this year. He actually broadcasts the happenings in his crazy room. "A kid spit on me!" "A kid sneezed on me!" He yells at the teachers who try to help him, "Get out of my room!"
Last week he came in with a referral for a student who gave him a titty twister. He wrote the student did it in an "erotic fashion."
There isn't a person yet who hasn't laughed at that one. One teacher said it's probably the most action he's gotten in a while.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Mozilla Firefox Start Page
Mozilla Firefox Start Page
If you aren't using Firefox...I don't know what your problem is!
If you aren't using Firefox...I don't know what your problem is!
They went to my high school
They went to my high school.
Too bad they dropped out. Six lives wasted for a few dollars. Life is cheap.
Too bad they dropped out. Six lives wasted for a few dollars. Life is cheap.
reality check
One of my most disruptive students is actually just crying out for help. Cliche of course, and now I've lost another random reader.
But it's true. How do you deal with their cries for help though?
I'm just glad our school psychologist isn't a pansy and can look a guy in the face and tell the truth:
"I don't like you. Now what are you gonna do?"
But it's true. How do you deal with their cries for help though?
I'm just glad our school psychologist isn't a pansy and can look a guy in the face and tell the truth:
"I don't like you. Now what are you gonna do?"
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
motivation
The biggest issue I'm having as a teacher is to get some work out of these kids. Until you see the strain on their faces to even take out a pencil, you have no idea what I'm dealing with.
poignant memories made...chaotic rambling?
The sun shining and students smiling. After school, the pressure is off and we relax by playing chess. We're an eclectic group: LD students who can't win if you TRY to let them to a guy so smart I had to check his record (IQ over 160).
We just enjoy a game of chess. I should do more to promote the club.
In other news I heard about one of my former students moving IN with a guy. Let's see, two pregnant in one period this year. Three of my honors students from last year were nabbed in a drug sting. Oh big fucking deal. It's no big deal.
In a funny note, I told my class about my hippie uncle and they seemed to get a big kick out of his lifestyle. No money, no responsibilities. They don't know it's hard.
Another peripatic essay. I could sit here all night and let my mind wander. The Internet is dangerous like that. Confucius says : Blogs make chaos-mind.
We just enjoy a game of chess. I should do more to promote the club.
In other news I heard about one of my former students moving IN with a guy. Let's see, two pregnant in one period this year. Three of my honors students from last year were nabbed in a drug sting. Oh big fucking deal. It's no big deal.
In a funny note, I told my class about my hippie uncle and they seemed to get a big kick out of his lifestyle. No money, no responsibilities. They don't know it's hard.
Another peripatic essay. I could sit here all night and let my mind wander. The Internet is dangerous like that. Confucius says : Blogs make chaos-mind.
Writing for the sake of writing
It's sad. I'm up so late googling my old friends. I should be getting ready for the school day!
Oy vey.
Oy vey.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Criminals online
I wanted to show them you can check criminal backgrounds online.
I didn't want them to discover their mothers were criminals.
i hope I don't hear from angry mothers.
I didn't want them to discover their mothers were criminals.
i hope I don't hear from angry mothers.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
nostalgic for the past
I was in the warehouse and I was nostalgic for a simpler place and time. The radio was crackling with Ray Charles. There was no air conditioning on and the air was stuffy. No Internet. No TV. Just books.
And a beautiful girl who loves books too. We had a great time discovering.
ON the ride back, I looked at the new housing development that sprouted where last year they were growing tomato plants. But the houses looked sad. Even tomato plants have variety- some tomatos are big and some are rotten too soon. But these houses are all the same. Nature may abhor a vacuum but that's what's on all the tvs in all those houses.
True if everyone lived to read Bertrand Russell books, our modern economy would collapse.
But is that a bad thing? How much more can we sustain? We'll find out.
I suppose I enjoy using "corporate" technology to relay my experiences with you. But soon I'll be 100% Linux. :) I ordered a new server today. Doing things like that makes me yearn for the future. Is that possible?
Reading at the warehouse is the greatest thing ever. I'm going to have a school there called, "Turn off the constant distractions from the Internet and lose yourself in a book- you aren't as smart as you think."
And a beautiful girl who loves books too. We had a great time discovering.
ON the ride back, I looked at the new housing development that sprouted where last year they were growing tomato plants. But the houses looked sad. Even tomato plants have variety- some tomatos are big and some are rotten too soon. But these houses are all the same. Nature may abhor a vacuum but that's what's on all the tvs in all those houses.
True if everyone lived to read Bertrand Russell books, our modern economy would collapse.
But is that a bad thing? How much more can we sustain? We'll find out.
I suppose I enjoy using "corporate" technology to relay my experiences with you. But soon I'll be 100% Linux. :) I ordered a new server today. Doing things like that makes me yearn for the future. Is that possible?
Reading at the warehouse is the greatest thing ever. I'm going to have a school there called, "Turn off the constant distractions from the Internet and lose yourself in a book- you aren't as smart as you think."
Saturday, April 09, 2005
intelligence
How much of our lives are controlled by our genetics? Can we raise our intelligence? Can we overcome our biology?
As we learn more about neurobiology we'll understand more and more:
read about it here.
On a different note, our high schools need the SPOTLIGHT. We need to get people involved and caring what goes on there!
As we learn more about neurobiology we'll understand more and more:
read about it here.
On a different note, our high schools need the SPOTLIGHT. We need to get people involved and caring what goes on there!
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
a nasty ruckus
So much happens to me each day it's hard to decide what to write on here. I'll try to focus on one or two events each day. Maybe that way I'll be able to remember some of this one day.
Sixth period is one of my favorite classes because of the interesting discussions. They've been coming tardy and I shut the door so they couldn't sneak in late. One kid hit the door and I let him have it:
"YOU WILL RESPECT THIS SCHOOL AND YOU WILL WALK IN PROPERLY!" The yelling was so bad that one of the profoundly retarded teenagers wandering the hallway got upset. "Security? Security? Do you need security?" he started yelling.
Poor kid. At least I had their attention. If that's what I need to do- I will.
Fourth period nearly all failed their tests. Sad. They never study. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Now I'm depressed. Bye.
Sixth period is one of my favorite classes because of the interesting discussions. They've been coming tardy and I shut the door so they couldn't sneak in late. One kid hit the door and I let him have it:
"YOU WILL RESPECT THIS SCHOOL AND YOU WILL WALK IN PROPERLY!" The yelling was so bad that one of the profoundly retarded teenagers wandering the hallway got upset. "Security? Security? Do you need security?" he started yelling.
Poor kid. At least I had their attention. If that's what I need to do- I will.
Fourth period nearly all failed their tests. Sad. They never study. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Now I'm depressed. Bye.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Bill Gates appraises our high schools
These are some of the reasons that Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, warned the governors' conference in a Feb. 26 speech that American high-school education is ''obsolete.'' As Gates put it: ''When I compare our high schools to what I see when I'm traveling abroad, I am terrified for our work force of tomorrow. In math and science, our fourth graders are among the top students in the world. By eighth grade, they're in the middle of the pack. By 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations. . . . The percentage of a population with a college degree is important, but so are sheer numbers. In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelor's degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering. In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind.''
Well said. As my student said in sixth period, "We'll do what we always do- play sports."
TURN OFF THE DAMN SPORTS AND OPEN THE MATH BOOK.
This is scary.
Well said. As my student said in sixth period, "We'll do what we always do- play sports."
TURN OFF THE DAMN SPORTS AND OPEN THE MATH BOOK.
This is scary.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
they will stay quiet
No matter what else happens this year: that period will stay quiet.
They will keep working. The lights are on and I'm serious like a heart attack.
====
I decided to keep the chess club y yo quiero ensener la clase de historia del mundial.
The AOIT program is in existence next year. That is a good thing.
====
Most importantly: they will stay quiet. Maybe that's not what they should be learning but absolute chaos isn't the answer.
Is this?
They will keep working. The lights are on and I'm serious like a heart attack.
====
I decided to keep the chess club y yo quiero ensener la clase de historia del mundial.
The AOIT program is in existence next year. That is a good thing.
====
Most importantly: they will stay quiet. Maybe that's not what they should be learning but absolute chaos isn't the answer.
Is this?
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