SchillsBloodySox

The Day My Neighbors Get Jealous

2008-06-27T21:33:00.002-04:00

This day is here. It's today! I just heard this day described this way. Why do neighbors get jealous today? Not because I'm driving a new car. Not because I have a new toy in the yard, such as a boat or something. Nope, today is the start of a nine week break from school. In other words, summer vacation is here! Of course, if neighbors knew what kind of hours and work go into my job during the year, they should not be jealous. But as far as appearances go, I am now as carefree as the uncaged bird. Or something like that...

Weeping with those Who Weep

2008-05-21T21:08:00.005-04:00

I just learned today that the father of a current student of mine died yesterday. I had known the family received bad news about his health a few months ago, but had no idea he was about to go. I can't imagine the pain this student is going through now, and weep with/for her. Lord Jesus, have mercy on that girl and her family.

Lessons My Students Teach Me

2008-05-15T17:02:00.002-04:00

I think my relationship with students is a little bit like how God relates to us. Don't worry, I'm not being blasphemous. I am not calling myself God. But the idea has been impressed upon me recently that God feels the same way about us as I sometimes feel about my students. I suspect similar things could be said about how parents relate to their children. Parents hurt when their children hurt. Parents hurt when their children do hurtful things, to themselves, to their siblings, or to their parents. Parents want the best for their children. Parents want to see children grow up to bigger and better things. They want them to experience as much joy and happiness, fulfillment, etc., as they possibly can.

Now to teachers. Teachers hurt when students hurt. Teachers hurt when their students do hurtful things, to themselves, to other students, or to their teachers. Teachers want the best for their students. Teachers want to see students develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, to be able to tackle bigger and better things. They want them to experience as much joy and happiness, etc., as they possibly can. They want them to be a success in life.

I think this is why it can be difficult for teachers when students say and do hurtful things. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It is good, because the day I stop caring how my students feel is probably the day I should stop teaching. An apathetic teacher is a bad teacher. On the other hand, it also means that students can do hurtful things to a teacher. Today I experienced a little of this, in the form of some rude comments. It has left me baffled, and somewhat hurt. Why this outburst? Doesn't this student realize I only want the best for them? What is the reason for the irritable behavior? Did I do something that triggered such a response? Is the issue one I should worry about or is it something they need to work out? Are they simply stressed by school work, tired, stressed by a relationship gone awry, or what?

I cannot stand tension when I am unsure whether there is a problem on my end. Even when I know I have not done anything wrong, it is difficult to know that someone dislikes me. Thus I analyze things to death, and ponder the cause of, and the best way to deal with, the tension. Obviously God has no such questions to consider when He is affronted. But I can relate a little bit to the hurt He must feel when His law is violated. After all, the offense is one that cuts against His perfect plan, which is designed with our best interests in mind. "Can't you just realize that I have your best interests in mind, and you have no reason to resist or dislike the program?" is a question I wish students could learn to answer with a resounding affirmative. I suspect God feels similarly whenever we sin. Thankfully there is plenty of grace and mercy sprinkled in with His feelings of disappointment and longing that we get it right! I am thankful for the model we have in Him, because it inspires me to also let my speech and behavior be sprinkled with grace and mercy, despite the insults that fly. And because He has modeled forgiveness, and forgiven much, I can do the same in dealing with the petty insults of my students.

Spring Break

2008-04-24T21:30:00.002-04:00

I shall now pontificate on the wonders of Spring Break, especially when it is more of a break than usual. For the past three years I have had loads of research papers to grade over break, which meant that it was never the "break" that I wished it was. However, this year, two days before their major project was due (right before said break began, so I could correct them over it), some students begged me to extend the deadline to after break.

I pondered this a bit. The more I thought about it the more attractive the idea became. Not having piles of papers to feel guilty about if I wasn't spending every last minute of my break correcting? I liked it! In fact, I liked it a lot. So I decided to allow it, provided students agreed to certain conditions. Those conditions shall not be mentioned it, except to say that some of them were meant to be rather humorous, and were for some of the students. But anonymity forces me to refrain from mentioning them specifically...

Anyway, about 80 percent of my students decided to meet the conditions, and turn in their projects after break. Which left me with a week of no school and much more time on my hands to do things in it! This has been rather delicious, though I know I will pay for it next week. And the week after. And the week after that. Etc. But for now, I am free!

So, how have I spent my first ever relatively unencumbered Spring Break? Here is the list:
Corrected the first 20 percent of student projects. Done. Corrected 50 or so quizzes. Done.

Watched many movies, including but not limited to: He Knew He Was Right, The Way We Live Now, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Red Dawn, I Am Legend, The Kite Runner, and Juno. Some of these films are NOT to be recommended, so please do not take this list as an endorsement of them. At least one was more for enlightenment purposes regarding today's youth culture, with which I obviously interact a lot, so it is helpful to gain some more perspective. One was World History related. Others were pure entertainment.

Read a U.S. History related book on the 1945-1974 period. Somewhat torturous, as the writer is prone to be critical and more effusive in his praise of people or events about which I have a very different view. Also is a bit snobbish and fancies himself an intellectual, I think. Not very "pleasant" reading. Not my first choice for reading. But still helpful to broaden my knowledge of these events. And since I am teaching many of them in U.S. History now, or about to, I thought it would be good to learn more. Done about 400-500 pages (can't remember for sure how far I was into the book at the start of break), probably will aim for another 75 or so in the next day...

Read for pleasure. Much more enjoyable. Currently reading my first Brad Thor thriller. So far so good.

Watched Red Sox and Celtics. Celtics good, Sox bullpen bad. Shame on you.

Got a haircut.

Watched parts of some softball games in which current or former students of mine participated.

Slept more than usual.

Took time to watch info on local access tv regarding school budget issues. The politicking this year is especially fascinating. Our mayor is calling for millions of dollars less than the school board wants to spend, which has resulted in a dire scenario being presented by the school board, under which many programs will be cut, teachers laid off, all athletics cut, etc. The political circus that is unfolding is interesting to watch, to say the least. And it is leaving me to wonder whether I'll have textbooks on hand for the expanding numbers of my AP class... How fun/ridiculous would it be to teach a college level course without an adequate textbook? Oh wait, been there, done that. So maybe I could survive, though it wouldn't be as fun for the students or for me.

Future plans:
More reading.
Watch Lost and not regret staying up late to do so! (No early start helps that!)
Relax more.
More movies.
Prep classes for next week. (Sometimes I can't believe how much fun I have planning/mapping out a week's worth of classes. Is it wrong that work can be this much fun?!)
Plot out how I will make students conform to school rules...
"Celebrate" a birthday?

Integrity Wins (I hope)

2008-04-18T20:23:00.003-04:00

Lest anyone be left hanging any longer after my last post, I am glad to report that things are better than they were awhile back. I won't go into detail here, as it is somewhat sensitive and not worth trying to explain in this forum. The issue that led to my integrity being challenged has not gone away. In some ways it is still a day to day battle, which leaves my nerves a little more frayed than I wish they were. Having said that, I think things have reached a point where those who would wish my behavior were less integrity-driven have realized that I will not alter in my vision or behavior; thus they are less inclined to do things to test it, which removes some of the stress. This is not to say I can't still use prayers. I am glad to enlist the continued prayer support of any who prayed before. I feel that the war is not really over; but detente seems to have set in, so things are a little more calm (I've been teaching the Cold War, so a Cold War metaphor it is!) than they were.

Integrity Challenged

2008-04-01T17:38:00.002-04:00

Tempted to be discouraged, tempted to be a bit (or a lot, I'm undecided on this) depressed. This is because I had an incident at work today where it became apparent that some students were questioning my integrity, or perhaps being manipulative and trying to get authorities to suggest that I compromise my standards in some ways. Either way, it has been a day where the enemy is on the attack. So if anyone believes in prayer, or putting into action James 4:7, please do so for me. This is NOT going to keep me down, by the grace of God. But I'm feeling that I've been put on the ropes a bit, to use a boxing metaphor. So I'm in need of plenty of grace...

Pacifiers Are In: Do You Have Yours?

2008-03-18T16:47:00.003-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, here is my latest advice on how to be cool: get a pacifier. A baby's pacifier. Put it in your mouth and walk around with it in said mouth, in public. This is the way to achieve instant recognition as the coolest person on the block.

I learned this is the cool thing to do about two months ago, when I saw a girl of about 15 years of age walking down the hallway with one in her mouth. I did a double take. Yup, she had a pacifier in her mouth. I mentioned this to another teacher, and she was like "Oh no, they're bringing that back?" Apparently this was a fad that came and went some time ago. I had no idea. Perhaps this girl doesn't either. She's either out of the loop, and doesn't know that pacifiers for teens are definitely not cool anymore, or she is cutting edge and is way cool, as few have yet to get back into it. Maybe she's the first to reintroduce the trend? I have to say I haven't seen any more pacifier laden teens in the hallways since then. Nor have they wandered into my class yet! I mean, how awkward would that be, having to institute a "no pacifier" rule in class? Anyway, this random memory popped into my head, and I felt the urge to pass along the coolness tip to you. So be cool and get a pacifier!

And if you think I work in a zoo, apparently I do...

Our Mutual Friend and the Death of Culture

2008-03-01T21:42:00.005-05:00

For Christmas over a year ago I asked for and received a DVD collection of BBC productions of Dickens novels. I started Martin Chuzzlewit around that time, but for whatever reason never finished. I guess I wasn't engrossed by the story, or maybe I was too tired when I started it, so it never gripped me. Anyway, this last week I watched Hard Times, and was interested in it, though I wasn't greatly impressed. Last night I started Our Mutual Friend, and was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED by it! It's almost 6 hours long, so I had to pull myself away from it last night and go to bed. But I finished it today, and was greatly pleased by it! The story is very moving and engaging, and the acting is decent enough. Though it's not quite as good as the BBC, Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version of Pride and Prejudice, or another BBC production, Wives and Daugthers, it is definitely close. But for a 20 second segment that most readers would probably want to skip, I would give my unqualified recommendation for it! So if anyone has 6 hours to spend sometime, give it a shot (and if you live close enough to me, I'll even lend it! And if you want to know what you might want to skip, e-mail me and I'll fill you in...)

I know I have "cheated" by not reading the book first, but unfortunately I'm at a point in my life where the 10 hours or so, maybe more (I'm a slow reader) that it would take to read it is not going to happen anytime soon. So I figure it's better to be somewhat cultured by getting a taste of the story (and it's long enough that it has to be somewhat close to the book!) than to be totally ignorant of this Dickens classic.

Relating to the theme of total ignorance over classics, a very sad thought recently occurred to me. If I were to survey my students, I can almost guarantee that less than 5 percent of them have ever read Pride and Prejudice, or any Dickens novel, or any of a number of classics. How SAD is that? I am so grateful for the background I have in reading some of the literary greats when I was a young un. Or at least younger. I have to credit my Dad for much of this. The summer between 9th and 10th grade, or thereabouts, he initiated a competition among us siblings. He gave us a list of great classics, American and others, and said the person who reads the most pages from them wins some prize. I think it might have been something as lucrative as 50 dollars, but I can't remember now. Anyway, what I do remember is really getting into that competition, and devouring books like Pride and Prejudice, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Sherlock Holmes, and many others. I also did a lot of literature reading for English as a homeschooled youth, so which books were read for what all blur together. However, I credit much of my eventual success in the intricacies of mastering the English language, at least as a writer, to this reading I did. And I believe I am much more attuned to many allusions as another result.

In short, this reading was a GREAT investment in my education! But how many young people, especially in public schools, have the same background? I think very few read for pleasure. And when they do, it is certainly not Twain, Dickens, Austen, Tolstoy or Hugo. This is surely a sign of the impending death of traditional culture. Maybe there will be a revival sometime soon. But for now, blank stares are the common result of a mention of many great books.

I also know that most students would think me weird for having read most everything Austen or A. Conan Doyle has written, or that I have waded through an unabridged version of Les Miserables . Why is this? I think it's because current mainstream culture does not promote reading. And it stifles diversity in literary tastes. I find this second fact very ironic. In an age where everyone is supposed to be tolerant of everyone else, few guys are reading great works of literature. I think it's because many of them are perceived as too "girly." And because guys as teenagers are developing their identities, and are very afraid to be seen as "girly," they shy away from being stereotyped as "girly" or, worse yet, "gay," because of their tastes. Of course, this shying away from certain books only happens if a guy is reading much for pleasure in the first place, which is rarely the case.

In contrast to the mainstream, because I grew up sheltered from it, I was able to branch out into reading whatever works were interesting, unlimited by the fear of being called "gay" by my ignorant and uncultured peers. So I read. And read. And read some more. Oh, and I played plenty of Nintendo too, but that didn't seem to hurt me too much. Except, of course, I didn't read as much Dickens back then as I might have, so maybe it did! And the result is that I don't mind reading some classic works, even if their "girly," and I don't mind and even enjoy watching some "girly" movies! And I believe I am a better person for it.

Maybe this is all to say that I hope parents will be encouraged to push the reading of great classic literature among their kids. Some sort of lucrative reward might help (at least it did for me!) The long term benefit is worth it. And now I really want to poll my students to confirm my theory about their cultural ignorance...

Reasons I Am Happy

2008-02-28T12:37:00.003-05:00

There are several I've been mulling over recently, or would like to dredge up here:

1. I'm on winter vacation. Hooray! I have been vegging quite a lot, staying up to an ungodly hour most every night (I would like to know the origin of the phrase "ungodly hour." Isn't it an oxymoron, since God doesn't sleep? So how can a late hour be "ungodly?"), sleeping more than usual, and yet also being somewhat productive, by reading some history stuff and watching hours of film from Ken Burns The War series, on World War II. Oh, and I also got papers and tests corrected somewhat early on in the week, so I am not feeling guilty all week long about not doing them and putting them off. All in all, it has been a GREAT change of pace.

2. Related to number 1, I'm happy for break, even though I'm not paid for it. This, sadly, is a little known fact about teaching. Since I'm the consummate professional teacher, I feel obliged and determined to enlighten all of my readers to this fact, even though I'm on break, and thus could stop educating others if I felt like it. I think many think thoughts along these lines: "teachers' hours, they're great, you get so many vacations, and loads of time off in the summer!" While this is partly true, those possibly jealous people do not realize that all vacations, holidays, summer time, etc., is UNPAID. Yup, that's right. I don't get a single cent for any of this "time off." And yet much of it is spent doing school-related stuff (correcting papers, reading more history, etc. etc.) The fact is that I am paid for 183 days of work. That's it. None of these days are on breaks. I only get paid for time I am physically at school. Now, I'm not complaining about this at all. But it is a fact to take into account for anyone who thinks a teacher's work schedule is sweet.

3. My mood changes little, despite the weather. It has occurred to me recently how glad I am that weather has little impact on my moods, especially given the weather my area has experienced recently. I think I would feel very differently if I worked outside on a regular basis. But since I don't, I find that rain, snow, cold, lack of sunshine, etc., all of them have little influence over how I feel. While I enjoy the sun, I think I can be just (or at least nearly) as happy with cold, clouds, and ever threatening snow for a month straight, maybe even two. I am grateful that God has allowed me to have such an imperturbable personality.

4. The Red Sox season is around the corner! Enough said on that.

5. I am still loving my job! This despite the fact that the next couple of months will likely be as busy, if not busier, than any other part of the year. It's the season for big "research" projects and all that, and the final push to prep my World History kids for the AP exam. And it's the time of year to start being very sad about the fact that most of my current students will never be in my classroom again. Sigh.

6. Related to number 5, it's also the time to start to think and be excited about the new bunch of kids coming in next year. I'm really excited about the increased number of signups for my AP World History class. Students must write an essay for this, requesting entry into the class and stating why they think they would like to take it. I've received about 40 essays, mostly from current freshmen! It delights me to see the earnestness of intent evident from their language, even though I know some (or much) of it may be superficial, written simply to sound good. Still, hearing many students say they are intent on taking the most challenging classes, and that World History will be a chance to do that, etc., is really nice. And they will certainly be challenged by it! I have also cracked up over some of the language these freshmen incorporated into their essays. Things like "I am assiduous in my studies." If my juniors used words such as these freshmen in any of their research papers, I would immediately wonder about possible plagiarism. But I know that these freshmen simply have better vocab skills, or at least would like to think they do, and are trying to show off... Maybe you have to be a teacher to relate, but it is really funny reading essays where young students use vocabulary that is beyond the norm for their age group, especially when such vocab is of questionable appropriateness for the context! (Andrea, I hope that at least you can relate to this!)

7. I finished my taxes this year. Thank goodness for Turbotax, which kept the amount of time spent on taxes to something around 4 to 5 hours (but who's really counting?)! Another profitable thing I did over break. It's a relief to get this behind me. Uncle Sam gets his chunk of change once again, though once again he got too much to begin with, so I got to take some of my hard-earned cashola back!

Ok, enough said for now on why life in general, is just plain good. Oh, maybe I should add one more: God reigns, and nothing can stop that fact, as much as any current events might stir us to be tempted to think/feel otherwise.

Pizza, Utter Terror, and Scaring Freshmen

2008-01-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

Random facts in my life:
I think I must have set some sort of record for most dinners and other meals consisting of pizza in one week. This was the result of a lot of leftover pizza from the Patriots party I hosted last week. I then ate pizza for two lunches during the week, as well as dinner Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening! And I still enjoyed the last piece! Gotta love Pizza Hut pizza! And the freedom to be able to do such a thing without being scolded about how unhealthy it is (Mom, if you read this please hold off on the scolding)!

On to another fact. I wish I could say I am over getting frightened. I am not. I experienced utter terror last evening. It was AWFUL!!! What made me so frightened? Auditioning for Beauty and the Beast. Sounds crazy, right? How could I, after having performed in front of tens of thousands (I was just trying to think about whether this is an exaggeration; but I don't think it is. A good estimate of total audience members of various shows I have performed in over the years would number in the tens of thousands) of people, get so scared about auditioning? I don't know. Even after practicing my monologue umpteen times, and singing my song through oh so many times, I still faced incredible fear, nervousness, anxiety, etc., as I waited to perform in front of a panel of people, most of whom I did not know. I was panicking so much I had a hard time remembering my monologue just minutes before I was on to perform it. That's a bad sign, especially after having rehearsed it for the already mentioned umpteen times. This panic may have been compounded by the fact that I had to wait maybe an hour and a three quarters after arriving before I was called to go before the directors. Such a wait isn't very good for a case of already-somewhat-jittery nerves. Then, as I was in the audition room with four other would-be actors, my heart was literally racing as I sat there. I had to consciously make myself breathe. Still my heart raced. It didn't help any that I was supposed to cut most of the song I had been practicing. Though I knew this in advance, it was still a little bit of a challenge, especially since I hadn't practiced it with a live piano that way. So the intro the accompanist gave me (and what I had asked for) caught me totally off guard, and I missed the entrance. Gulp. Start over. Much better this time, though the tempo was way slower than I had rehearsed, and it was a bit annoying to try and keep with it. I know in theory that I could have sped up and the accompanist should have followed, but thinking about it afterward I'm not sure he would have been able to keep up, which could have been even more disastrous, so it's probably as well that I didn't try to control it.
After the song came the monologue. It's probably a good thing I was cut off after a bit, because I probably would have forgotten the rest of it, amidst the ongoing grip of terror I was in. Of course, if I had forgotten it I probably would have jumped around a bit and still been able to cobble something together, probably well-enough that it wouldn't have been too obvious that I had messed up. Still, it was a bit of a relief to be done that. (Note to acting neophytes: being cut off is not a bad sign. When there are many people auditioning, as there were last night, directors often cut you off after getting enough of a sense of your ability, whatever it may be.)

And then the dancing routine, which had just been taught us a while before. I chose the easier routine, which was actually quite basic, and about all I can manage. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.

Now there's the waiting period, to see if I'll get called back, be cast, or be left home to shrivel up in my hole and pretend I never went through such a horrific experience, and try to forget it. I think I'll be quite happy with the last option, except for the questions that would linger in my head about whether rejection was based on mistakes I made in the audition, or simply lacking the talent/connections to land the role. I decided not to accept just any role, but only a couple of specific ones, which are rather juicy. I can't justify to myself putting in the time and energy that a show requires, amidst my rather busy teaching schedule, unless it's a once in a lifetime kind of role that I would be foolish to turn down. So I continue to wait, curious to know whether I am way out of my league, whether I am close and might be given another shot, or whether the stars are properly aligned this time and my height, build, and less-than-beautiful baritone will all work together to land the kind of role I would not get if they were looking for a tenor of average height and incredible dancing ability!

And now, concerning freshmen. I will get a batch of them tomorrow. To teach even. Tomorrow starts the second semester, and I will be teaching one section of freshmen, whom for the most part I don't know from Adam. It will be my chance to once again lay on the fear and trembling, work hard or you'll be toast, get to class on time or sit in detention, be good in class "or else" routine—while throwing in a bit of humor here and there along the way. It should be fun!

Are You Symbolic of Society's Degradation?

2008-01-19T22:12:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling like I'm in a prophetic mood. (No, I am NOT a prophet, nor am I making any claims that way!) That is to say, I'm feeling preachy, like putting things into black and white, and railing against the lack of integrity that has crept into our society. So if you don't want to risk possibly being included in the group at which the wrath in this post is directed, stop reading NOW.

Still reading? Ok, here goes. Picture this scenario: you are driving quite a bit faster than the posted speed limit, and as you are zipping along a car coming in the opposite direction flashes their lights at you, suggesting a cop is up ahead somewhere. Grateful for the warning, you slow down, and sure enough, you soon pass a police car on the side of the road. Wanting to follow the Golden Rule, and help out someone else like you have just been helped, after a bend in the road makes you invisible to the cop you flash your lights to warn cars about to drive into the speed trap.

Is this behavior really an appropriate application of the Golden Rule? Are you being Christlike to warn others to slow down? No. You are what is wrong with society. You are making it more difficult for the authorities in power to see that the rule of law is enforced. And you are wrong. It would be much better if no oncoming car had warned you, and that you had gotten a 300 dollar speeding ticket. You are a danger to society, and you are encouraging people to act dangerously. How can you live with acting that way? The rule of law ought to be upheld. Warning others is not following the golden rule, unless giving someone a tip about how they can rob a bank without getting caught is also following the golden rule. (In case you are wondering, it isn't!)

My thinking is based on the following facts.
1. Unless a law contradicts a biblical principal or command of God, either via general revelation or personal revelation, we ought to follow it.
2. If you are jamming on the brakes when warned about a police officer ahead, you are breaking the law. Your fear of getting caught proves that you know this. And since you know you are a law breaker, this is a spiritual problem as well as a threat to society. When the rule of law is not upheld, society will disintegrate. When you violate a law for no good reason, and knowlingly, you are disobeying the New Testament command to respect the law and lawful authorities.
3. Larger problems will develop within a society if disrespect for the law increases beyond "less significant" laws like obeying the posted speed limit.
4. Not only is this a social and spiritual problem, but you are posing a danger to others, and encouraging others in dangerous behavior. The risk of accident is much greater when you drive significantly over the speed limit. If you warn others to slow down simply because there is a cop about, their speed will only decrease as long as they think an officer is near.
5. It would be a very good thing for speeders to get caught. Isn't a speeding ticket more likely to significantly alter a pattern of dangerous driving (speeding)? If not that, then what? An accident that kills someone else?

Personally, I often wish that anyone who whizzes by me at 5 mph or faster than the speed I'm driving at will be pulled over and nailed for speeding. I practically yearn for the day when I will see every speeder at the side of the road with those lovely blue lights flashing. Part of this might be carnal, but I think part of it is healthy. It's simply wanting to see justice served, and the rule of law upheld. Why should I obey the law while others don't and get away with it? They shouldn't get away with it.

I wonder sometimes if those who speed badly justify their behavior for breaking the law by reasoning something like this: the speed limit isn't really practical. No one follows it. Those who advocate following it are hypocrites, for even they drive 5 mph over. It is just a matter of finding a comfortable speed over the limit, and sticking with that (whether it be 10, 12, 15, or 20 mph over). The roads are really designed for speeds higher than the posted limit, so I'm really not a danger to anyone to drive a bit faster. I'm not really THAT bad of a driver, for sometimes other cars drive by me. I'm much better than others. They are the real speeders. If I'm given a ticket, it won't be fair, for the cops missed several others who are worse.

I harken back to a great piece of advice from my FBI teacher, Mr. M. You should only drive at a speed that you won't alter a bit should you see a police officer. This does not always mean the speed limit. But it means that your conscience is clean, for you believe it is in keeping with the spirit of the law.

Flashing your lights to warn others of a police officer is not only promoting danger, lawbreaking, and probably even a sin. It is also a sign of a general "us versus authority" mentality that is all to present in our world today. I see it among high school students a lot, and it irritates me to no end. How many students will report cheating among their peers? Virtually no one. How many will report any "minor" rules violation of their peers? Virtually no one. Why not? It's because there's an unwritten code of behavior out there that "ratting" is a terrible sin. And promoting justice by reporting such violations is definitely "ratting." Makes me think about the Bible verse that says men will call evil good and good evil. It definitely applies here. The good that is helping to uphold law by volunteering information (at least when directly asked) is seen as gross misconduct, and liable sometimes to get you beat up. How sick is this?

Obviously there has to be a balance to this. I'm not suggesting we have a police state, where everyone is encouraged to be a tattletale and informant on their neighbor. But cheating is a good example of the kind of behavior that should be reported. At least if you are directly asked if you know of anyone who cheated.

It seems like I had some more thoughts to add on this, but now my momentum in writing this seems to be fizzling. I've probably said enough. Is speeding the worst social ill out there? No. Should we put cameras up everywhere to limit speeding? Probably not. I just wish that people's hearts were all in a place where they respected law enough to follow it even if no one is watching. After all, that's what character is, isn't it? I'm not surprised to see a lack of character in nonbelievers. But I hope it is not present in believers. If it is, I would suggest that those believers are also symbolic of society's degradation...

Why Do Students Have to Cheat?

2008-01-15T17:56:00.000-05:00

I'm so irritated/disappointed right now. I caught some of my favorite (most of my them are "favorites," so this is somewhat of a meaningless adjective, but useful anyway to qualify my pain) students cheating on a homework assignment today. I usually don't collect it, but did today, and found some more than coincidental identical answers on a portion of homework that should not have had identical answers. To put it another way, the odds of eight answers being virtually identical, even down to the slight modifications they made from the original text, are about as condemning as you can get (this was true in one case; in another case one student confessed, which made determining guilt easier).

I'm also irritated because I think I falsely accused one pair of students about cheating. I thought I picked up on it during class, confronted them at the end of class, and they denied it. I reexamined it, and though it is still fishy I am not 100 percent sure they did (this case is different from two other cases, which are slam dunk cheating). So now I'll have to sort out talking to the guilty parties and the perhaps not guilty parties tomorrow. Sigh. The sad thing is I know that I only catch probably 1 percent of the cheating that goes on. So when that 1 percent is caught, it really should not be overlooked. It doesn't make sense to just say "It's ok this time, but don't let me catch you again" when they will be able to cheat another 99 times before I do catch them again. What kind of message does that send? So I have to deal with what I've caught as a significant deal, with students I would naturally speaking like to get along with well. Do parents wonder if their children will ever love them again when they discipline them? Any parents out there feel free to chime in on this. If so, I'm feeling like a parent. But not like God. I don't think God is afraid His children won't love them again when He disciplines!

I'm also disturbed because I think most students tend to vehemently deny it when they are confronted with cheating. So I am faced with the prospect tomorrow that when I talk to several students each of them will deny it, which hurts even more when there is such overwhelming evidence and you like to think that your relationship with students is such that they don't lie to you every other minute. Maybe you can pray that confessions will occur and that repentance will be genuine. And that I'll have the grace to apologize to any I wrongly accused today...

A Few Quotables

2007-12-30T16:40:00.000-05:00

Here are a few quotes I think are worthy of passing along. Some of my thoughts about them might also be worth passing along, so I'll include a few of them. At some point I think I'll pontificate on what to do when the rule of law clashes (apparently) with the Golden Rule. Which do you follow? Is it possible that the Golden Rule should be "rejected" in favor of something else? But my thoughts on that will have to wait for another time (don't worry, I'm really not a heretic).

Now for the quotes:
1. "I am aware, that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hand of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead."--William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, January 1, 1831

Pro-life people should be able to find inspiration from such language, and could appropriately appropriate it for their cause. Of course, for Garrison, the cause was ending slavery. I admire the guy for having the guts to stand up against the horrific system that slavery was in the American South, at a time when few people dared or cared to take such a radical stand as Garrison, who demanded the immediate abolition of slavery. Say what you want against Garrison for some of his other views, which may be less admirable. But he was a man who saw slavery for what it was, and sacrificed a lot to sound a clarion call against it, decades before a political party--the Republicans, who mostly just wanted to stop its expansion, and were not nearly as bold as Garrison--dared to adopt a plank that could lead to the institution's eventual extinction. (By the way, in case you missed the memo, slavery was a VERY EVIL institution in the American South, and as such very much corrupted the culture of the South. I will not digress too much here by detailing the overwhelming evidence that supports this claim. But any wannabe pro-South defenders will have to do better than to say that "slavery is in the Bible" or use ad hominem arguments such as "the North was corrupt too" to justify the slave system. But this is another topic, perhaps worthy of a very long post sometime, so I'll stop now.)

2. "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."—C.S. Lewis, in "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment," in God in the Dock.
This could be good thought fodder in the classroom, when contemplating government intervention to improve people's lives.

3. "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward." Ecclesiastes 5:18
I read this the other day, and was struck by how much it summarizes my vocation. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to teach. My job is almost too good to be true! Of course, there is a warning label that should accompany the dose of sentiment of which you have just partaken.
Here it is:

Contextual warning--Readers should be aware of the fact that I am about 10 days removed from my most recent classroom experience, so time may have dulled the memories of frustration and exasperation that also frequently accompany my job.

Even so, I am glad to say that I enjoy myself in all my labor--er, at least most of it!

Baffled

2007-12-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

I am baffled, in addition to stressed, disturbed and emotionally drained. Why? To make a long story short, due to a meeting with a parent who wanted to defend their child's egregious plagiarism, who threatened to get my principal to "force" me to change the grade despite my decision to give the zeroes for the assignment (which is in keeping with official school policy, I might add--it's not like I'm going out on a limb to do this!). Oh, and apparently I don't really want to make this experience a "teaching tool" for their child because I decided to give zeroes. Because naturally you can't teach a student not to plagiarize by giving them a stiff academic penalty. You have to coddle them and try to imagine it was all a big mistake that multiple sections of an online source magically appeared in the student's paper. It's magic because the student claims to have never visited said source. And of course if the student says they didn't do this, and denies that they plagiarized, and is fearful for the academic consequence that will come with a zero, this student MUST be treated with care and given a chance to make up the assignment! Only then will this experience become a "teaching tool!" I'm suddenly not very enthusiastic about dealing with people in this sin-sick world. At least those that question my integrity. But regardless, I'll press on. Blame it on the Patriots if you want. My shorter night of sleep could be having an impact on my life's outlook right now!

I Love to Laugh

2007-12-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

"Some people laugh through their noses, sounding something like this..." Gotta love Mary Poppins and this classic song. And I'm glad I've had the chance to laugh a few times recently. Here are a few reasons:

The story a colleague related about a student in their class, when discussing Canada and how its laws are different than those in the United States. Deadly serious, the girl responded something like "I thought Canada was a part of the United States." She didn't know why there would be an issue with different laws, since they are all the same country. I'm sure Canadian friends will roll their eyes at that one!

A hard-working, sweet and intelligent, yet sometimes a little ditzy, flighty, and chatty girl in my U.S. History class and the way she occasionally laughs in class. She laughs quite a lot. But on occasion it comes out as a snort. Literally. I think it happens when she laughs more than the usual amount, or something. Her normal laugh is not a snort, but on occasion it suddenly shifts to that. It's REALLY funny. What adds to the humor is her horror at herself and how she sounds. She'll laugh, the laugh will turn into a snort, and then she'll clap her hand over her mouth in horror at what just escaped from her lips. I and students in the class have had occasion more than once to laugh at her for her laugh and reaction to it. It's one of those moments I wish I had a video camera to capture... Of course I occasionally sound as funny, when I'll be talking and suddenly my voice will crack and briefly turn high pitched. If I don't catch it quickly enough it will usually elicit a good laugh from my students, and a chance to laugh at myself.

Blurted and spontaneous comments another girl in U.S. History will make in reaction to things I say. I can only remember one big one right now. But she's the one who shows more than the average amount of interest in the subject, so will ask questions that involve a little more explanation, and sometimes lead to rabbit trails. Though on one hand I don't like students to blurt out comments when they interrupt me or others, on the other hand the spontaneity can be refreshing. Case in point: I told my students there was a real irony in that the worst grade I received in college was the same subject I was teaching them, U.S. History. Then I told them the grade: a B+. Of course this was devastating for me. The girl blurts out "Why are you a teacher? You could've been a chemist or something." Yup, once upon a time my life was at a fork in the road. One direction said "teaching," and the other was clearly flashing "chemistry." Chemistry would have been the only other option, of course, to one as "smart" as me. Forget law, medicine, engineering, or some other hard science. But for some reason I chose the not so smart route, and entered teaching. I was rather amused at the chemist proposal. I suspect it was the first occupation that popped into her head which she thought required some brains, and more brains than teaching.

Speaking of teaching, I'm a little scared at myself. I like it so much! I think something is wrong with me. In fact, over the last holiday weekend I had a workshop on Friday. Then we had Monday off. This meant four days away from students! I was so itching to get back into the classroom after those four days! It was a little weird to me that I wanted to get back so badly. Actually missing students seems kind of sad, but it happens. I think Thanksgiving break resulted in a similar angst for resuming teaching, though I don't remember feeling as ready to return. Part of it may have been that I've been doing some extra reading for a workshop that I recently participated in.

Shifting gears a bit, here's my new plot to change the world. Anyone who wants to join the plot can do so. I recently discovered that someone had rated my teaching abilities at ratemyteachers.com. It was an unfavorable rating, though the comment the student made showed that his reasons for disliking me were quite shallow (essentially "too weird," so that makes me a bad teacher--go figure). Well, I think that websites such as these are ridiculous in terms of their ability to accurately reflect a teacher's ability. After all, it's usually the students who hate a teacher who take the time to go to such a website and enter the ratings. Conversely, the teachers who are loved, usually for the wrong reasons (like being really easy and giving no homework, or showing movies all the time, or whatever), are favorably rated. One of the most incompetent teachers (since moved on from my school) I have known of all time (and pretty much universally recognized as such by my colleagues) has received very favorable ratings at this website. So based on it alone you would think this teacher is one of the best the school has to offer, as opposed to the worst. So anyway, I decided to participate in a nefarious scheme: rate myself. You can do so anonymously, so it's not like I made a claim to be some former student. I just made good comments about my intentions and my niceness, despite the hard work and challenge that my classes entailed. So anyone who wants to mess with an already wildly inaccurate reflection of a teacher's true abilities, please feel free to join the scheme!

I'm a little annoyed at myself that right now I can't remember other interesting things from work. There are always interesting things happening, which would be blogworthy material. Then I forget about them. Of course there was the sleeping substitute of mine when I was gone for the workshop a couple of weeks ago. He was also incompetent in some other ways. I left clear instructions asking him to do certain things, very basic stuff, such as distribute a sheet in each class for students to sign, to verify their attendance. He didn't do that after the first two classes, but apparently thought he knew better and would simply mark the students absent. Of course there were then several errors, students who claimed to be present who were marked absent, and vice versa. With no signatures as backup it was hard to straighten things out. And the students told me that he liked to talk. So rather than playing the very important video segments right away, which were timed to fit within the period so long as things were started right away, the sub told stories and started the film late! This meant there wasn't time to watch all that needed to be. Sigh. And students for a couple of classes said he was sleeping. He had his head in his hand, pretending to read the newspaper while sitting at my desk, but they could tell he slept! That's a first for me. The sub who slept. Apparently he was an older man...

It blesses me to have some students who are good, and then some. I give extra credit opportunities to help students who wish a grade boost to get one. Some of my best students also do the extra credit. Their work ethic has impressed me and won my heart. I will have to remember to praise them for it.

Amidst the humor, the roll your eyes moments, and the good things, there is pain. Like the obviously distraught girl in my class the day before Thanksgiving. I asked her what was wrong, and she basically melted into tears, and said it was too difficult to talk about. But I know her Dad has cancer, and that has to be weighing on her. I think her parents recently divorced as well. It makes me wonder how many other stories there are like that among my students. How many of them are dealing with unspeakable pain, and do not know the Person to turn to who can comfort them in that pain? It's a sobering thought, and gives me fresh reason to remember these kids in prayer. I live the words of Steve Green's song, "People Need the Lord," every day. Actually, I'm often a little blinder than the words of the song suggest. I don't see the needs every day, but I am occasionally reminded that they are there, and I am certainly amidst a huge amount of pain and need every day.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.

Anniversaries and Annals

2007-11-02T22:39:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile! Time for a new post. All that Red Sox watching just plum limited by time to blog. Actually, there's been much more going on in my life to keep me busy than just baseball...

I just celebrated my two year anniversary this last week. Since I bought and moved into my condo, that is. I can still remember the great excitement of first moving into a new place of my own, getting things set up, etc. I loved my place then, and I love it now (still, can you believe it?) God is so good for making such a thing possible. And I even have a decent condo mate, which also helps! :-)

I've been swamped with student papers recently. Sixty or so of them. It's quite a process correcting them. And I'm doing something new this time. Trying to improve the teaching process and all that. I'm offering extra credit for students who will come in before or after school and take part in a mini, five minute or so conference with me to discuss their paper, after I have corrected it. I'm really hoping this will help me determine whether they understand what it means to write a run-on sentence, or a sentence fragement, or why I have marked something as awkward or unclear, or the difference between it's and its, their and there, and why you never want to use the first person in a formal essay. And why you never use contractions in formal writing. And the worst: "I feel this or I feel that" used to buttress their position. It almost makes me want to barf and scrawl in big red letters next to such a statement: "No one cares what you feel, so stuff it. The reader wants to know what you think, what your argument is, and why you think it. Feelings are irrelevant, you byproduct of a warm and fuzzy feeling generation who has been told that whatever you feel is fine. Your feelings are not fine here. I don't care what they are. So save them for your shrink."

Ok, I just made most of that up as I was typing. I'm kind of impressed with my off the cuff creativity. I don't really think all those things. And it would take way too long to write that anyway. So I don't. But students do need to learn to avoid such statements in formal essay writing! Anyway, these conferences, once completed in conjunction with another short writing assignment, will allow students to earn points back on their essay. I haven't done conferences like this before. Now I'm thinking it would be a good idea, since I wonder whether most students actually take the time to read the comments I make on papers, and if they do read them whether they comprehend them and learn from their writing mistakes. This conference will help them to learn, I hope.

I'm also loving school. Despite its business (or is it busyness? See what reading poor spelling in papers does to your spelling skills! Aaaagh!) Three different preps is really a LOT of work. Andrea's schedule notwithstanding, where I am this is more than the norm and thus worthy of bellyaching long and loudly about. In reality, I'm not really complaining, but making an observation. And I am kind of hoping that next year I will be down to two preps, which would help.

But despite the three preps, I pretty much love my classes. And they're sooo different in makeup and personality. Here's a taste:

First period--often dead silence at the start of class. Everyone must be half asleep. What highschooler is really awake before 9:00 A.M. anyway? And we start at 7:45! If I had pins to drop, I'm sure they could be heard and all that.

On a side note, but related to this class: I am quite sure that this class is the one to which a student in a later class was referencing when she asked a question that went something like this: "Why are your earlier classes so boring? So many people say they are boring?" I think I thanked this girl for her question and told her she had so made my day by saying such a thing. Both of my comments had a good bit of sarcasm attached to them. In fairness to her, I think she did not intend to come across as negative, because she seems to enjoy the class, and her class is really lively, so I think she was a bit surprised that earlier classes were not the same way. To deal with this alleged boredom, a couple of days later I addressed the accusation in this earlier class. I told them if they thought class was boring, they hadn't seen anything yet. They were going to get an extremely boring class that day. I then proceeded to talk in a monotone for the next few minutes, which did get some students laughing (amazing as it was, those students making some sound before 8 in the morning!), before I finally got tired of it and stopped. But I believe they got the point. Not that they don't think class is boring anymore. But at least they know what it could be like!

Ok, back to describing my classes. The second class of the day is with the brightest group of kids. They are much more talkative. One girl is an avid Patriots fan, so she often wants to discuss the game, which we frequently do before class starts. Others are solid Sox fans, so we have had some good chats about that, and the late nights it has entailed for us. One girl is probably about as conscientious a student as I have ever taught, and VERY bright, I believe as a result of her painstakingly doing all of the work asked of her in a deliberate manner. She gets stressed out about some of the work in part because she is a slow reader, so handling twenty-five pages of text for my class in addition to her other assignments can be tough. But I expect her to ace the AP exam in May with a 5. At least I have high hopes for her that way. As I do with some others, particularly a couple of guys who are quite good. And this class has two of my students from last year. I admire them for voluntarily putting up with me for an entire second year! And they have won a warm place in my heart for doing so. And they have both asked me for college recommendations, along with it seems like a dozen or so other past students. That's another thing that's keeping me busy this time of year. All those college recs.

After my second class I have quite a break from teaching, as a couple of other duties, my prep period, and my lunch period all are grouped together before I teach my last three classes at the end of the day. The next U.S. History class is unique in its wide range of skill levels. I have one girl who probably belongs in a higher level class. Sweet, quiet, solid. I had her for a semester class last year, and I'm really happy she's in my class again. Then I have some guys in there who are at the other end of the spectrum, who are close to or are failing, and do not have much of a clue about many things. But they are nice. A quick, laugh out loud funny story follows. Funny in a "Oh my word, I can't believe it's that bad" sort of way.

We were looking at a diary entry of a person living in the 18th century (and the date was visible in the entry), and I asked them something about whether you can tell who wrote it based on the date. The eyes of one of these guys kind of grew large, he raised his hand, and with a bit of awe in his voice provided what he thought must be the answer: You wrote it!? (Did I blog about this before? If so, please forgive the repeat!) This was one of those die of laughter moments if it wasn't that the student was so serious. I mean, I may look old to these kids, but to be placed in the 18th century by one of them? And he was serious! I tried to contain myself and cracked a joke, wondering how old the student thought I was! Perhaps needless to say, this guy is not the quickest one in the class. It's probably a good idea he is transferring into a different level shortly...

The next class, also U.S. History, is one with some real live wires in it. Also some high achievers. And some really hard workers, who may not be as naturally intelligent as some of my students, but because they work hard I love them to death. And some lazy ones who do not work hard, and might fail, or barely pass. And at least one quiet one who is also a hard worker and doing well. They have a lot of energy. It's definitely a chore to keep them quiet sometimes, even when they are supposed to listen! This was the class with the student who asked why other classes are bored. If I had to pick a class for which it would be almost impossible for a student to claim it was boring, it would have to be this one. We laugh a bit more. They talk a LOT more. And I find myself often not getting through as much info as earlier classes of the same subject. I think this is partly because it is harder to settle them down. And I think it's because they ask more questions, which lead to extra pearls of wisdom spilling from my ever ready tongue. Ok, maybe not that. But I do go on side trails sometimes with them which I do not with other classes. I'm happy about the curiosity evident. Though it can slow things down, it is something that makes a teacher like myself quite happy.

The last class is my United Nations class. That is, it could be the UN, given the different countries represented by students in it. So it has its own unique flavor. A wide variety of academic levels too, which adds to the mix.

So that's a bit of my life. And now I'm running out of blogging momentum. So I shall shortly go and eat ice cream. Except I'll say I am very glad I no longer have the after school duties I had last year. It makes my schedule so much more manageable!

And This Week's Winners Are...

2007-10-03T17:21:00.000-04:00

I've been correcting U.S. History tests. I have two student answers that must be shared. At least one was laugh out loud funny, if you know anything about U.S. History. Students were supposed to write a brief explanation about various terms, identifying what they were and explaining their larger historical significance (why we should care about it).

One response, on the Temperance movement:
"The temperence movement was created in history trying to calm the people down because of war they had a bad temper. I am just kidding, yo, to be honest I don't know the answer but at least I did my best. You dig?" Um, yeah, I do "dig." Warm and fuzzy feelings for you for doing your "best." But buddy, your best here results in zero credit. It's also too bad you failed the test. This puts into question your claim that you did your "best."

Another student's response, on the Trail of Tears: "The trails of tears was a path that a group of troops marched I'm guessing that the trail wasn't very easy. It may have caused many of them to shed tears. However they did march it." Another winner. Hilarious, but also a little sad.

I suppose some people could think this is a reflection on my teaching, but I have reached the point where I hold such a view lightly, and place the blame squarely on the student's shoulders. Especially in cases such as these, when almost all of the other students were much better in explaining these two terms...

Matt Stamps is One of My Students and I Am a Genius (in my dreams)

2007-09-15T13:25:00.000-04:00

This came as a great surprise to me, as no doubt it does to you all. I mean, I thought the guy was married and in the Navy thousands of miles away or something. But apparently he has lost about eight years of age and returned to high school. And he's taking U.S. History as one of my students. Oh, and he's changed his name to make it sound like he is of Greek origin. I suppose he thinks this is a clever disguise, but I see right through it.

To his credit, I didn't realize he was in my class until yesterday, when I was carefully eyeing students taking a quiz. I was monitoring cheating and all that. I had to do several double takes looking at this student. But as he was taking the quiz I decided he was practically the spitting image of Stamps, at least as I remember him in the days when he was around my part of the country! Uncanny. Strange. And I believe it is the first time I have seen a reincarnation of someone outside of my teaching life placed into a school room context. Now I eagerly anticipate seeing other reincarnations of friends and family in my class! Who will be next, in years or months to come? Classmates from BS? Neighbors? Cousins?

In other news, I have decided that genius has evaded me, except in my dreams. I dream clever things. Last night it was a new scene from Mr. Bean. I have not watched Mr. Bean anytime recently, and little in general. But I dreamed of a very clever scene of Mr. Bean counting change he took from his pocket, then proceeding to eat a hard boiled egg, which he partially shared with another person (while trying to eat it). Now I'm wondering if I have seen a scene like this before, or if I should start to hire my services out to the Bean writers in exchange for very clever and hilarious scripts. Actually, I'm not sure how hilarious it was in my dream. It seemed a little gross...

This has not happened recently, but I also find my vocabulary is immensely expanded in my dreams. Again, it must be my inner genius bottled up, only to spill out when in dreamland. Each morning that I wake up to an alarm, I wake up to the radio. Don't like the annoying screeching sound. Much prefer some announcer or advertisement to bring me out of my sleep. Anyway, on past occasions, shortly before the alarm (radio) turns on, I have dreamed that I am hearing the radio and the morning news. It seems very real. Except in these news reports are various complex words that I never use in common language. It's the most amazing thing. It's like my verbal IQ is through the roof or something. Where do these words come from? And if I recall correctly, they are not gibberish. They make sense to me in my sleep.

Now I'm slightly irritated to think that I cannot share all of this inner intelligence with the rest of the world. Why does it elude me in my waking moments? Frustrating. If only my expansive intellect and creative genius were not confined to moments lying on my mattress...

Big Papi, He's the Man!!!

2007-09-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

Enough said. Go Sox!

In other news, I have students from Bosnia, the Ukraine, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran (a student's parent is from there at least), and at least one more country that escapes my mind right now, all in my Mid East class. How cool is that?

It All Blew Over

2007-09-08T13:07:00.000-04:00

For anyone wondering how the meeting with the administrator I referenced in a previous post went, it ended up not being a big deal! I explained my case, explained how difficult it was to get as low a grade as the student had, explained how low the grade was one marking periods, and gave some whopping numbers on assignments that student missed over the semester, to explain the low grade (it was somewhere in the vicinity of 20, no joking!). I was not grilled or lectured to as I thought I might be. I was thankful.

In other news, the school year has started and is about to move into full gear. Or has already. I have what feels like mountains of work to correct already, as my AP class had a summer assignment due the first day. I was disappointed not to get some students I was really hoping might be in my classes, but am trusting that it will all work out for the best. Some movement in class makeup is quite likely in the next few days, though I'm not holding out a lot of hope there. What I am a little more concerned about are the small numbers signed up for my AP class. The roster was cut in half from the original signups, mostly due to scheduling conflicts. I'm not sure whether to blame this on school inefficiency (inability or lack of willingness to juggle teacher's schedules to accomodate the greatest number of students who want to take certain classes) or the fact that there is only one section of AP, so such scheduling issues are more likely to occur. I'm currently placing a little blame on both facotrs, though perhaps a little more on the former.

Anyway, because I have significantly smaller numbers to start the first semester (which is required for most of them in there), the current signups for the second semester (needed to prepare for the AP exam) are even smaller (the second semester is not a requirement). I've been told that, as is, the class probably will not continue second semester, so I should see about increasing signups. That I have been doing, both internally to the current class by pitching the AP curriculum and last year's success rate in desperate hopes that most of them will stay, and I've started to hunt for others currently not in the class who might be able to take it. And I am hoping that a couple more students whose schedule wouldn't allow it at first will be able to juggle things in order to get back into the course.

I see a tremendous irony in this kind of battle. While I love teaching AP, it is way more work than a typical class. My motives in keeping it are because I like working with brighter students, but also because I believe our school should be providing more AP offerings in the Social Studies. There are 6 or 8 AP exams in Social Studies, but only 2 courses besides my class are offered at my (very large) school. So it seems silly and a real shame that given our size we do not offer more challenging courses. Students benefit from such courses. And it gives them more options for classes that will increase their chances to impress and do well in future colleges to which they may apply. So I find myself fighting hard to give myself more work! Sometimes I am really attracted by the idea of just giving up on it and teaching a class that is much easier to prepare. I think the positives for ME would be more than the negatives for ME if such a thing happened. But I believe the negatives for students were that to happen would be greater. So I see great irony here. Why should I be the one to struggle with administration (or the system) to help students? But such is my state.

Airheadedness Gets You a TV Job

2007-09-07T22:37:00.000-04:00

I know it's not always the thing to do to criticize the hometown announcers, but sometimes I am astonished by the airheaded questions Tina Cervasio asks Red Sox players on NESN. And she gets paid to do this? Ok, maybe few of you actually watch NESN. Let me give you an example. After a recent Sox win, a question she asked Kevin Youkilis: "So, what do you think about Jon Lester's 7 inning shutout performance?" Duh. Is there any answer but to praise such a performance? Why ask a question if you already know the answer? The utter inanity of it all!

I wonder if TV interviewers for other home teams ask as stupid and airheaded questions? Probably. I guess they have to sometimes, because when you interview a player after every game some games may not have any exciting things to discuss. But that was not the case with this game. A more interesting question of Youkilis might have been something like "If a full fledged brawl had broken out after Cabrera beaned Pedroia, which Oriole would you have targeted and taken down first? Tejada? Or would you have targeted someone scrawnier, like maybe Brian Roberts? Who do you think Big Papi would have gone after? Would anyone have dared to take him on?" Now those kinds of questions would be worth tuning in to hear the answers to!

Any NESN viewers out there have similar thoughts on this? I get tired of drivel sometimes...

I'm So Happy and Here's the Reason Why

2007-09-01T00:28:00.000-04:00

I refuse to be unhappy despite the Sox recent skid, and despite a little unpleasantness I'll have to deal with next week (I'll explain later). My week was made recently and I am feeling happy! And we all know it's all about the feelings, right?

Why so happy? I'll explain. I went into school to work on getting a jump start on classroom setup, etc. Our official first day is a teacher day upcoming, when we'll have time to work on things like that. But I wanted to do a little prep work before prep day. So I go into school. And I check my mailbox. I get back to my classroom and take a closer look at the mail. One of the items was the sheet of AP World History (hereafter APWH) test scores my students earned on their May exam. My jaw dropped. I shouted in delight. I clapped. I practically danced. I could have hyperventilated. (It's a good thing I didn't, as I was alone on that floor!) ALL MY STUDENTS PASSED!!!

Whoop dee do, right? So they passed. You might think that any competent teacher should get all his students to pass. So what? If you are thinking these thoughts, you lack context on AP courses, and my particular situation. I'll give a little context to help.

1. Only 51 percent of all test takers in 2006 passed the APWH exam. No typos here: again, 51 percent. I don't know what the percentage nationwide was this year (figures aren't out yet), but the percentages have been trending downward over the last four years, as more and more students have enrolled in APWH and have taken the exam (instead of only the "smartest" taking the exam, thus lower average scores are to be expected). I'm guessing the percentage of those who passed this year will be 49 or 50 percent. So I was pretty happy with a 100 percent pass rate!

2. The APWH exam is considered by some teachers to be harder than at least one of the other AP history exams, that of U.S. History. Don't have any proof of this, but it sounds good to me! Even if it isn't more difficult, it is still a rather comprehensive exam. It literally covers highlights from the entire world over the last 10,000 years or so (emphasis on "or so." Feel free to be skeptical on the year range. But you get the point. It's a lot of stuff over a long period of time.)

3. While I encouraged my entire class to take the exam at least for the experience, I was very afraid at least two of them would not pass. It took some armbending to convince them to try and take the exam. So it was a small victory just to get my entire class to sign up for the exam.

4. We had no AP level textbook the entire year. It was the first time the school offered the course, and the first time I had taught it at that level. So no adequate textbook. I believe this was a serious obstacle the students and myself faced and had to overcome. I had to lecture a lot more than I would have preferred, to cover the material. And I had no training on how to do this. No workshops to help me. I joined a listserve with other WHAP teachers, which helped. Still, I was a greenhorn.

5. At least one student misidentified a section of the world when he was asked to write an essay on something. In case you want a taste of what kind of stuff you have to do on this exam, here was the essay question:
Analyze major changes and continuities in the formation of national identities in ONE of the regions listed below from 1914 to the present. Be sure to include evidence from specific countries in the region selected.
Middle East
Southeast Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa

Anyway, his mistake was to pick Southeast Asia as his region, and then talk about India. Big mistake. India is not in Southeast Asia. It's considered South Asia. Wrong region entirely. Vietnam would have been a good country to discuss if he had been correct in his geography. So I believe his score on that essay, which was one-sixth of the entire grade, was a zero.

6. I asked my students to email me their grades over the summer when they got them, so I would know. I only heard from one student. A bad sign I thought. I realized there could be a little laziness or forgetfulness going on with some, but I suspected it was also an indication of failure for some.

7. Though I could be wrong, I believe there are undercurrents in my school among some teachers, who think that teaching an AP class to sophomores (this class was primarily sophomores) is too early. Like they can't handle it. Like they shouldn't be challenged to take a course of this nature (college level work). And I think those undercurrents would have increased if the scores had been low. So I was dealing with this challenge in the back of my head along with everything else. Of course, I think such thinking is ridiculous. Statistics say so. Seventy-five percent of those who take the APWH exam are sophomores. But anyway, that's some of the ethos out there at my school (again, mostly impressionary).

Ok, enough context. I hope my happiness makes sense now. AP scores are given on a range of 1-5, with 3 and above being a passing grade. 3 is considered "qualified," 4 is "well-qualified," 5 is "extremely well-qualified." Half my class got 3's and the other half got 4's (including the student who wrote about India)! Imagine what might happen with a new textbook (which we're getting this next year)??

Ok, on to the unpleasantness. I also got a note in my mailbox from an administrator questioning why I failed a student, and asking me to see her/him, since that student passed the fourth quarter and the final exam, but failed the third. So next week I'll have to go and explain details. I already know the conversation is likely to run something like the following, so I'm dreading it:
Administrator: Why did you fail this person?
Me: The student failed to turn in numerous assignments, had a terribly low third quarter grade and a grade that wasn't strong enough in the fourth quarter to get him/her anywhere near passing.
Admin: What was the third quarter grade?
Me: (Insert very low number here.)
Admin: Why so low? I don't like it when teachers give zeros. Students then get into such a hole they can't dig themselves out. Don't you think you could give this student a break based on their performance in the fourth quarter and on the exam?
Me: I agree that a high failure grade should usually be given if a student hands in something of poor quality. In fact, it is very difficult for students to get lower than a sixty on any assignment they turn in on time. But the student has to give me something to work with, otherwise it will be a zero. The student earned multiple zeroes because they failed to turn in multiple assignments, including two worth two test grades. It wouldn't be fair to give the student a 50 or 60 for an assignment they never submitted when someone who does poor work and submits an assignment gets the same mark.
Admin: I'm just trying to see how we can bring up the number of passing grades in your class. X number of students earned an F in your class, and that's really too high.
Me: I agree that I would like more students to pass, but again I have to emphasize how difficult it is to fail my class. Students usually have to fail to turn in multiple assignments to fail. This was the case with this student.

If the conversation is any less unpleasant than this, I will be pleasantly surprised. But I'm fearing the worst. I'm also annoyed that I have to deal with this kind of questioning from administration. It is so easy to pass my classes! Why do they have to ask me about it, as if it is my fault? Maybe I have a character flaw in dealing with authority. I trust I'll have the grace to deal with this. I wish I had only read the first piece of mail and not the second! But despite it, I am too happy to let it get me down too much.

Ok, no more. Finis.

Procrastination in Action and Other Randomness

2007-08-28T09:53:00.000-04:00

Summer is winding down. This is the week (including the coming weekend) to get my ducks in order planning wise for the beginning of the school year. This includes revising/pulling together my syllabi, though for most of my classes the syllabus is not nitty-gritty in detail like you get in college. But they include the basics, including expectatations, grading policies, etc. I am planning on going the route of Rehoboam this year. Although the metaphor breaks down quickly, because I am also Solomon. I will be tougher than myself, in other words. How so? Homework. I used to penalize late work at ten percent a day, and only accept it late if we didn't cover the answers in class. Now I'm upping it to twenty percent a day, and no late work accepted after a week. This will save me from having to correct packets of ten homework assignments I occasionally get at the end of a marking period, from a slacker who has done little work and wants to do something about their grade last minute. In the past I have fudged a little on the ten percent a day bit and usually given some credit for work no matter how late it is submitted, even if it's only 2 points out of 10. But I decided I am tired of pandering to slackers like that anymore, at least in classes with college bound students. Let the grades drop if they will, I am not going to be a victim of my own leniency any more. This will also allow me to throw away piles of unused handouts much sooner than before, and keep my classroom a little cleaner.

I have work to do, but I am currently procrastinating by writing this. But it feels good. For these are still the leisure days of summer, where there is work to do but no immediate deadline to complete that work by. A very different story during the year. Lesson planning tends to have significant deadlines attached to it, like the next day when the bell rings and the class begins. You kind of have to have a product ready to go. This tends to suppress procrastination. But nothing is suppressing it right now. So I'm enjoying being a procrastinator just a little while longer...

Moving on to other random events/ideas in my life...

I saw a guy driving and clapping the other day. It was weird. I was driving one way, and he the other, so I didn't have time to stare for long. But it looked like he was driving solo in his car. And he definitely appeared to clap his hands a few times as he sat behind the wheel and drove nearer. What is that all about? Was he listening to a book on CD where the hero just came through in the clutch and stopped the bad guys? Was he listening to some music which called for claps in it? Was he out of his mind? Was he in love and celebrating the fact that the girl he just proposed to said yes? It's a mystery.

Another weird fact. There is a guy, probably in his mid twenties, who comes by my condo building at various times and carries on conversations with a girl, also twenty-something, two stories above my condo, on the third floor, via her window. He gets her attention by yelling/calling up to her. I'm pretty sure he does not live near here, but drives to see her. At least one conversation went something like this: "Hey _____ girl's name." Repeated girl's name because she didn't come at first. (I hear commotion and perk my ears to figure out what is going on.) Girl comes. Guy: "Hey, what's going on. Did I wake you up or something. Do you want to go and hang out?" Girl: "I'm not interested right now. Maybe tomorrow?" Ok, I embellished a bit, if it's possible to embellish a mundane conversation and make it still sound mundane. Anyway, multiple visits of this nature have made me wonder: what kind of relationship is this, or who in their twenties doesn't have a phone? It's obvious to me that the guy does not call over first. He just shows up and yells (really just calls loud enough for her to hear) until she comes to the window (a tiny bit like the guy who calls for the key from Maria in Life is Beautiful, for any who might remember that scene). Why doesn't he call and keep his conversations from being heard throughout the neighborhood? Does she not have a phone? Does she have a phone but hasn't given him her number because she is avoiding him? Whatever the case is, it's a little odd.

Ok, enough randomness for now. I do have things to do, so I'll stop. Gotta get things done before giving my life blood away today. Literally. (Some of it.)

Am I Thinking Like a Liberal?

2007-08-21T22:50:00.000-04:00

I am torn, confused, and worried. Doubts grip me. Is my thinking messed up? Am I embracing what I dislike? Am I going over to the dark side? I have been tormented by certain thoughts recently on a certain subject. I can see strengths to both sides of the argument. Yet I find myself leaning toward a side I would have rejected in earlier years. Why is my thinking shifting? Is it a sign of encroaching darkness? This is kind of scary. Perhaps someone will be able to rescue my poor wayward soul. If you think you can, make the attempt. Or just come over to the dark side with me, if you are convinced by my thinking.

My thoughts revolve around the issue of college scholarships. Specifically, who should get them? On what basis should they be distributed? Is there a system that is the most just? Obviously if someone has money they want to give away, they should be free to choose the criteria. So a better question should make it more personal. If I had a million dollars to set up a scholarship fund, how would I determine the criteria? Who are the most worthy candidates?

At the risk of mischaracterizing the classic positions, I will at least attempt to sketch what I perceive to be the classic conservative and liberal views. Perhaps my agony revolves around a misconception of these views. But this is roughly how I see them:

Conservative view: Scholarships should be awarded however the owner of the money wants them to be awarded. This could be controversial. Aid could target whites only, for example. But because things work best in a free market system, where competition thrives, scholarships are ideally awarded based on academic merit alone. This allows for the greatest amount of competition, and pushes people to achieve on their own. It does not preclude someone from aid simply because they are from a wealthy background, or simply because they are not black, or whatever. In short, individualism and personal achievement trumps the social state and efforts to target aid away from the wealthy and towards the lower class (i.e., wealth redistribution).

Liberal view: Aid should be targeted to the most needy. There is no need for scholarships based on merit alone, as those would allow the rich who can already afford college to take away aid that might go to help those who can't otherwise afford college. An assessment of one's ability to attend college without the applied for scholarship should be made with the application. Aid might target the bright but poor, or other groups traditionally underrepresented in academia.

My thoughts about scholarships were first stirred up in early June, when I attended a scholarship night at my school. That evening hundreds of thousands of dollars were given out to many worthy candidates. Most of the awards had multiple criteria. This was usually some sort of combination of two or more of the following: academic merit, community service, financial need, talent in some area, etc. etc. These are the usual kinds of things you expect to see in scholarships. One thing that stood out to me, however, was the awarding of some of the juiciest scholarships. There were a number of them for something like 5000 dollars each. What struck me was the parental occupations of many of these students. While each was certainly deserving academically, they mostly came from affluent backgrounds. That student's parent is a lawyer. Oh yeah, that student's parent is also a lawyer. Oh yeah, that student's parent is also a lawyer. Ok, that student's parents have their own business in town. Etc. I believe most of these scholarship recipients have parents making six figures or more.

So I thought some more about this. And I have started to think, why do it that way? Why give money to someone who doesn't need it?

Freeze for a moment. I will now play devil's advocate, and counter with the classic conservative view that would make the likes of Rush Limbaugh proud:

Who can really say that this student doesn't "need" it? Who are you to make such a judgment about someone else's life? And why is that relevant? The scholarship is based on academic achievement, not based on financial need. What the parents will do with the extra money in their pocket is their business.

Another thought, from the liberal side: gifted students are lucky. They've simply inherited the genes of their smart parents, who are in high paying jobs because of they're natural ability. So why should you award students for genetic inheritance, over which they had no control?

Limbaugh/other conservatives response: Genetic ability is irrelevant, because they still had to work hard and put their genes to good use and earn those good grades. It may or may not have been easier to achieve academic success, but you shouldn't punish them and deny a scholarship for things over which they have no control. Each person faces unique challenges in their life that they have to work hard to overcome. You shouldn't simply chalk up academic success to wealth.

Back to my thoughts. Could giving money based on financial need be more compassionate than giving it simply based on achievement? While theoretically I thought I was a strong proponent of having a level and open "playing field" on which everyone can participate and get scholarships, I recognize there are limits to this. Someone who is living in the state's care because they were sexually abused by a guardian (as has been the case with at least one of my students) is facing a greater uphill battle to achieve academic success than a student who has two parents in the home and a 2006 Ford Mustang convertible to drive themself to school (I also have had a student in this situation).

I also recognize that I can't stick to the "let everyone compete openly" philosophy too strongly without being a bit of a hypocrite. For I benefited greatly from getting a scholarship targeted on the basis of geographic location AND need. Many of the rich were essentially shut out. And I went to college!

So despite the strong argument that can be made for refraining from judging who "needs" a scholarship, I find myself returning to the thought that many of those students who got those scholarships shouldn't have. Or at least it would have been better if the scholarship had included need as a factor in judging who was awarded one. For the reality of the situation is that most of the recipients were going to whatever college they wanted to go to, regardless of the scholarship they won. They made their parents proud by getting it, but also happy because they could now spend that 5 grand on an extra mortgage payment for their vacation home in Bermuda. Put another way, it might have been a little payback for the 5 grand the parents spent on private music lessons so the student could earn that A in band. But either way, it wasn't something that enabled a student to attend college who couldn't otherwise afford it. And another student, who had a fractionally lower GPA, may now be saddled with that much more college debt they will struggle to pay for half of their adult life, because they lost out on a scholarship they desperately hoped to get. Isn't that a cheery thought?

There is a balance to this. I think that there is definitely a place for academic merit-only scholarships. Take colleges themselves, for example. It's in their best interest to attract the brightest and best to their school, so it makes sense for a college to provide some healthy scholarships to lure that bright student in, regardless of their financial background. But an individual who sets up their own scholarship fund? If I had that kind of money, I would prefer targeting it to those who might not be able to go to school without it. It seems a waste to do otherwise.

So am I thinking like a liberal? And should my thinking be corrected?

What if Heaven Lacks a Mansion with Your Name on It?

2007-08-19T20:07:00.001-04:00

This is not heresy, but possible reality. And it's biblically based. Now hear me out. Or rather, let me quote the relevant passage:
"In my father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2) [insert warning of possible "preachiness" in this post here; read at your own risk!]

Undeniably there are many mansions in heaven, and there are places set apart in heaven for everyone who is saved. But there is little evidence that there is a mansion per person. In fact--although I am not and make no claim to be a Greek scholar--the Greek word for "place" can be translated "spot," "generally in space but limited by occupancy," "room," and "quarter." It is especially interesting that the Greek word used in the passage is not a possible alternate one that could have been used, one which connotes a larger locality, and is similar to words like "location," and "home."

So picture this possibility: you get to heaven, and after all the joyful, tearless reunions you are shown a place to live. It is in a huge mansion built for 50,000 or so. Your room is a tiny spot, or hole in the wall, in that mansion. Your mansion sits in a row of 50,000 or so other mansions.

Are you depressed by this thought? I hope not. I've been pondering the possibility that if I, or anyone, is bummed out by this, then maybe my focus in wanting to go to heaven is wrong. Am I looking forward to heaven because of material riches that will be there? Or is the focus on who will be there? Seems to me like the latter is the most important.

I don't mean to be too critical of those great hymnwriters of the past who have written about mansions for everyone up in heaven, and all the great things there will be for people to enjoy. After all, the Bible is full of plenty of references to riches and gold streets and pretty luxurious stuff up there, in terms of material things. So it seems appropriate to revel in it to some degree. At the same time, I think some hymnwriters and some speakers have perpetuated what seems to be an extrabiblical idea: that is, that there really is a mansion with your own name on it in heaven, or maybe just your nuclear family's name on it. This could be, but the language used in the Bible doesn't suggest it. Whatever it is, it will be greater than we're able to imagine. But it might not include that TV and cushy chair you always hoped for, along with a huge dining room, a jacuzzi, or whatever else you were dreaming of for your own space...

This makes me wonder how it is that such a concept came to be an accepted part of church thinking. At least I have had this conception. From what I have observed in church, others do as well. So I expect it is an idea that many widely believe. When did such an idea start, especially if it is extrabiblical? My best guess is that it emerged sometime in the 19th century, about the same time that the wealthy decided to be conspicuous and display their wealth. Actually, that is somewhat of a stupid statement, for the wealthy have conspicuously displayed their wealth in America long before the 19th century. A better way of putting it might be that the 1800s is when an increasing number of people became wealthy enough to show their wealth, and were in such great numbers that they may have attracted more attention than the wealthy few had before. Or at least then people were starting to think that they might become as wealthy as the next guy, if they only worked for it, as opposed to back in the 17th century when it was pretty obvious that an indentured servant newly arrived in Maryland to work on a tobacco plantation was not ever going to be as wealthy as Landon Carter (a really rich guy, if you couldn't have guessed this!).

But I digress. So you have people thinking there is enough social mobility to become the next millionaire. After all, Andrew Carnegie did it, right? So why can't I? This context could have been what set the stage for preachers to see the material focus of their parishioners. So they decided to preach against a material focus. But how did they frame things? Focus on the spiritual and you will be rich in the next life! You'll even get your own mansion! Those millionaires flaunting their wealth have nothing on what heaven will be like! Warm and fuzzy feelings abounded. And the concept stuck in the Christian ethos. Heaven=mansions for all. Heaven=material blessings beyond what we will ever experience on earth, or should ever try to experience on earth.

Of course, this is highly speculative. I don't have evidence to support this. But I suggest there is room for some doctoral student in Christian history to look into this for a dissertation. "How Christian myths evolved" or something of the sort would be a good topic. So start digging, you wannabe scholar. Look into when sermons on "individual mansions for everyone in heaven" became popular, and then dig up reasons why preachers picked those kinds of sermons.

Lest anyone think I'm out in left field or something, I'm not against believing there will be wonderful things in heaven. Even wonderful material things. But I also believe that if this is the main reason you want to get there, and the main thing you talk about in the context of going there, there might be something missing. And if you're planning on a dream house, prepare for something way better than that (it can't be worse than you can imagine, right?): a hole in the wall! :-)