Can we say "Deranged"?

Hugo Chavez. What can I say? He seems to believe that everyone is out to get him. After his wonderful U.N. speech he claimes Bush put a hit out on him. Now he claims that an opponent is trying to do him in. This guy needs a mental health evaluation. Let's see what Venezuala would do if we stopped importing its oil. Sadly, we won't do that because we are horribly oil dependant.

We didn't assasinate Saddam and he was a heck of alot bigger problem that 'ol Hugo is. Some people are too stupid for their own good.

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Pay up?

So I'm reading this article and I'm wondering, does any judge think this is fair? Not a single person in my family ever owned slaves. Most of my ancestors came over right around the time of the Civil War. They were poor farmers who wandered out into the Great Plains for the opportunity to own land. But if this goes through I am going to have to pay for it. How is that fair? I have a credit card issued by BoA, and my interest rate will skyrocket if someone doesn't stop this nonsense. I have a novel idea...stop blaming slavery for your problems and put a little effort into your life. You just might get somewhere that way.

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Should we ruffle some feathers?

I was just reading an article about an opera in Berlin that was cancelled because there was a fear that it would offend Muslims. I'm not going to get into my personal feelings on the anger of Muslims, but was this an over reaction to a percieved threat?

Should we be worried that we may offend someone with our art? Or is it only necessary to worry about offending those who may react violently? Is it ok to offend some groups but not others? How do you approach this topic in a classroom full of high schoolers?

One of my assignments this week is to create a lesson on a controversial topic. It seems like almost every topic these days is controversial to someone.

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I surrender

I dropped a class today. I'm now down to 12 hours of classes, 15 hours per week of work, and as much time with my kids as I can wedge in and still get my homework done. I feel kind of bad about dropping a class, but I guess sacrificing a class in order to do better in the rest of them and lessen my stress load even a little bit it worth it. I don't think it's healthy to eat Rolaids like they're candy.

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Will the SAT go away?

I just finished reading this story about the relevance of the SAT. I never took the SAT. Out here in the boonies we took the ACT. Our math teacher reviewed some of the stuff that might be on the test in class the day before the test. That was all the test prep we did. We knew we needed to take it for college, but it wasn't a high pressure thing for us. I think I scored a 25 or something like that..well it was a twentysomething anyway. The lowest anyone in my class got was a 16. My graduating class was 23 students so we knew everyone else' business. I don't think I even know anyone who took the SAT. I'd have to say out here the SAT already has no relevance.

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Visitors

I've had visitors! Thanks to those who have left comments, they are very appreciated. I'm not really sure what my blog will mainly be about. I guess just life in general. Some will be on assignments or questions posed to me in class. Some wil be on my life and my kids (they are playing soccer right now and it's just hilarious to watch). Some will be on just general thoughts about what it may be like when I do become a teacher. I hope anyone reading this will find at least some of the things I write worth having a discussion over.

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Success

I have links! It only took me three days to get it to work. It's sad that such a small triumph can cause such joy....sad indeed.

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Technology, I just love technology....

Well at the request of my only commenter so far (thank you Mr. Chanman), my email address is now on my blog. I think. I've been trying to put links to the blogs that I read on this page, but can't figure out how. The help page makes it look like such an easy process...but I can't figure it out. They just don't show up. Hopefully one day I'll get it figured out.

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A Miracle...or something

Today I had an interesting conversation with my son's teacher. She said "Is this really the child I heard so much about before the start of the year?"

By this she meant "He's not nearly the demon he was said to be"

My son got off to a bad start last year and it ruined the whole school year. He refused to do his work, acted out in class, and eventually got violent (I was actually told that a para could sue me because he kicked her). The principal, classroom teacher, para, counselor, speech therapist, and special ed teacher had a conference with me to "try to deal with the situation". It was basically an hour of trying to figure out why he does this and how I deal with this type of behavior at home. I got the "You're so full of it" look when I told them that he didn't act like that at home because I do not put up with that type pf behavior. Well things continued to get worse, and in November they took him out of the classroom and put him in a room by himself with a para.

April rolled around and I had to fight to get a meeting with the "group" to discuss wether it was really in his best interest to move on to first grade. At first I was just told "We don't believe in retention." I eventually got my meeting and was convinced that moving on was best for him. I also was able to get him back into the regular classroom for the last few weeks of school.

The theme I saw most throughout the school year was "Be sensitive to his feelings." What a bunch of crap! All he was doing was pushing his boundaries and they kept loosening them instead of standing up to him. He walked all over them, and I tried to tell them that they needed to put their foot down and tell him how it was going to be. Never happened.

Fast forward to this year. I have been told by his teacher, his classroom aide, and the counselor that he is a joy to work with this year. He is actually one of the best behaved students in his class. He rarely gets in any trouble whatsoever. What is so different about this year? Did I do lots of work with him over the summer? No. Did he get counseling over the summer? No, in fact we stopped going to counseling and took him off the meds they put him on in February. So what changed? His teacher. This year's teacher will not put up with his crap and let him know that from the start, and he is a totally different child because of it. I love this woman! I haven't been called to the principal's office once this year...and we've been in school almost a month.

And the best part...this year he tells me he loves school instead of crying that he doesn't want to go to school because he's stupid.

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Fun and Games

Stress levels are spiking. I have a presentation due on Thursday with an annotated bibliography that contains 15-20 sources. I've read exactly zero. The kids have had 3 soccer games in the last 2 weeks and I've had at least one reflection paper a day. I love upper division classes. One really should complete college before they have kids. Well better get to the books and get that presentation ready for Thursday.

The things I'll see

Friday was my youngest brother's homecoming game, so I drove the three hours home to be at his game and support him. He's a junior, and a starting offensive tackle on the varsity team. As I'm standing in the stands (no way I could sit through that nail biter) watching the game, I notice a fairly pregnant student standing with the rest of the students. I'm no prude, but I was truely shocked. This was in a town of less than 2,000 in the middles of a conservative state and I remember back in my high school days ( a whopping 10 years ago) the only girl that got pregnant during school was looked down upon. Now that I'm approaching my professional year (that's what they call the year you are in block and go out to student teach) I find myself asking how I'm going to handle such situations in my classroom. Let the anxiety begin.

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Onward and Upward...

Well I successfully completed the "Create Overhead Transparencies" project for my Multimedia in Instruction class. I think that class will be really helpful. Not only do we have to create projects, we present them so others in the class can see what has been done and get ideas for better ways of doing those projects in the future. I really hope I can take some good ideas from this class.

We've been discussing state standards in my Special Methods class. We also had a discussion on how to present 9/11 and other issues that may be controversial. I'm starting to feel more comfortable in these classes. The longer I'm in class, the less I feel like I'm in over my head. I have just as much ability as anyone else, and I can be just as good a teacher as my professors.

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On with the show

Well I got to work and wrote about the DID model. It wasn't hard once I read over the material. The class discussion focused on the illustration to explain the model, but I found the reading to be a much better explination.

Now for tomorrow's Special Methods class I need to write a couple of paragraphs about my plan for my 20 minute teach. I'm scared out of my mind about this assignment. My instructor flat out told us that he will pull us aside and suggest we find a new major if he doesn't think we can handle teaching. Please don't let me be the one he pulls aside.

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Procrastination....

I'm supposed to be doing homework. I need to write a 500 word paper of my understanding of the DID Model of education. The problem is I don't understand the DID Model of education. Maybe I should hit the books a little harder, but you know it's so much easier to create a blog and talk about the work I should be doing rather than actually doing the work. I guess I'd better get to work.

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Let the games begin!

Well I have a blog now. I'm not really sure what I hope to do with this blog, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of things to vent about. Welcome to my world....