this close to giving up

I was ready to walk out the door. I was going to apply to a number of web design companies.


Then I found out I'll have my own room next year.

When it ends

We send our attendance down by hand. Most teachers balk at the idea of entering grades into a computer. Strange machines they are.

But still something magic can happen inside a classroom. It give kids a chance to connect.

But you can give the top students free time and they'll be enriching each other. You can bring Nobel Prize winners to teach the remedial students and they'll still struggle.

A fellow teacher has been expounding on this for a while. Perhaps I've always believed it but we don't always act on our beliefs.

But if I truly thought some couldn't be taught I wouldn't be going in to proctor an exam in a few minutes.

It looks like one more year of teaching high school. This hasn't been a total disaster after all. But then again it isn't 12:30. The morning always brings hope.

water pistols

A kid flexing his biceps told me he'd put away his guns.

I told him he had water pistols.

We all shared a good laugh.

A tale of two countries

Class Matters - Social Class and Education in the United States of America - The New York Times - New York Times: "Only 41 percent of low-income students entering a four-year college managed to graduate within five years, the Department of Education found in a study last year, but 66 percent of high-income students did. That gap had grown over recent years. 'We need to recognize that the most serious domestic problem in the United States today is the widening gap between the children of the rich and the children of the poor,' Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard, said last year when announcing that Harvard would give full scholarships to all its lowest-income students. 'And education is the most powerful weapon we have to address that problem.'"

We do NOT want to become a country of two classes.

Play acting like they are tough

I gave the most boring worthless test today. A beautiful Friday afternoon and the minutes just couldn't go by any slower. It's the secret to stopping time! The minute hand does NOT move! You just sit there watching it, hoping the kids don't do anything outrageous.

A little outburst here and there. Mostly they were under control.

My little hoodlums in fourth period (or an hour and a half lunch for some of them) were actually pretty good BEFORE we broke for lunch. I freaked out because this kid wouldn't put an old yearbook away and he was singing "Insane in the Membrane" and giving me pretty weak dirty looks.

I keep thinking FOUR days left. Four days left. I think I'm gonna invite the AP to stop by room on final day.

Another year. My biggest fear is next year will feel exactly as this one does. If I don't get my own room or more AOIT classes or computer science classes, I'm seriously thinking of entering the high tech world. High school can be so backward. A computer is viewed with fear and suspicion instead of a way to exchange knowledge. At least the principal is forward thinking...but there are some serious idiots on that faculty who think 1978 was the pinnacle of civilization.

Prospect - article_details

Prospect - article_details Why do Jews have a higher than average IQ? Why do they excel at chess? Is chess really a metaphor for the Cold War?

Chess has a long history but it's more fun to play than think about.

the home stretch

I'm so burned out with this job. I wait until the last possible second to leave and I'm weakly putting assignments on the board. Teaching regular world history is like a purgatory of sorts.

But I have a ticket out if I wanted. Some pretty decent degrees from a decent state school.

Some possibilities are up in the air: I could get some computer science classes next year, the technology program could expand...but teaching regular world history is bothersome.

Nothing too funny about this post :(

incomplete blogs

I've been busy building a "gaming computer" and it hasn't come easily. Something is configured wrong and I'm tempted to let my techie students take a look...I'm afraid if a IEEE engineer couldn't figure it out, they'd totally fuck it up.

But I'll act as a conduit for the tech support guys tomorrow and we'll see where it goes from there.

I'm looking forward to the end of the year so I can focus on my toys!

Just felt like writing

I finally got my server running. Opening ports, ensuring security. It feels so good. I'm supposed to be writing my finals but I'm just basking in the success. I watched the Daily Show, basketball is on...life is good.

Tomorrow is good.

May 21st I'm going to be taking the computer certification test. A history/computer teacher. Sounds good to me :)

What have I learned setting up a web server? Ports can be a bitch and tech support people are necessary and VALUABLE! There are good people out there.

blogging is a victory

Whew. I just got my class to start blogging- no small feat!

The things some people take for granted...

Wired 13.05: Dome Improvement

Wired 13.05: Dome Improvement. Are my students getting smarter? I have trouble accepting that on some levels but intelligence manifests itself differently with different people.

I'm sure some smart people worked on Napoleon Dynamite and some smart people liked it...but I couldn't stand it. If the IQ test is skewed I hope they don't use the Napoleon Dynamite Test instead.

Hitler needed a hug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler

What did you think of this article?

Answer:

Hitler needed a hug.

Do I count that answer or not?

Do you agree?

"There are no facts, only interpretations."

Nietzsche

Interesting!