Friday, October 31, 2008
I declare victory!
With that last post, I have completed blog-a-day month for the second year in a row. And as Lance proved last year, the person who wins is the person who declares victory first. I declare myself to be the winner in 2008. Join us tomorrow when Haiku-a-day month begins, and have a happy Halloween.
Fixing the hole where the brain gets in
Here are some of my suggestions for revamping education.
1. Eliminate all grades. Even down to first grade - gone. There would be some age appropriate general information classes that would cover some topics other than English and math. But English and math are entirely individualized education. It's not even about having classes put together. You have one skill at a time. You work on it until you master it. Much of the work would be individualized or in very small groups. Small like three or four at the most. That way you can have kids with several different skill sets in one room with one teacher. A lot of the work would be done with interactive materials, especially computers. Many of the basic foundations of learning don't need to be done creatively, to be honest. The kids don't need dynamic lesson plans at that age. They need regular individual attention. Under this idea, brighter kids could finish everything much faster than others. They might master everything in fewer years. So they move on to the next level sooner.
2. At the end of mastery of certain skill sets, which basically would mimic the general expectations we now have of elementary and middle school, you take your tests and decide what you want to do with yourself. Similar idea to other nations. You then go to a career path based high school,whether its college prep, trade school, sports or arts academy, whatever. No more of this "you can all go to college" crap. Let's stop lying to our kids. They aren't all going, and many that do won't survive.
3. Remove most of the barriers for teachers. The credential program is a waste of time and money. Using the changes I described above, classroom management is no longer necessary. If someone isn't on task, you remove them from the room so that they don't slow anyone down. Everyone is on his or her own, so if they miss stuff, it's their problem. Yes, even five and six year olds. Start teaching responsibility then. For training, use a partner or mentor teacher program for the first six months or year or so. Remember there's no such thing as quarters and semesters, so that's irrelevant.
4. If we want the kids to perform, show the teachers that we want them to perform as well. PAY them like they matter.
5. No grades. That's because there are no classes. You either have mastered the skill or you haven't. If you haven't, keep going.
6. Make standards and benchmarks rigid for learning to read and basic mathematics. Allow more flexibility later.
7. Children who continue to be a discipline problem don't get an education. I mentioned above that if they are off task, get rid of them and they will just go slower. if a child hits thirteen and still can't get his or her shit together due to behavior issues, you're done. You are done with public education for minors forever. Parents then have the option of continuing to educate the child at their own expense, getting them a job, or sending them to the military. Off to fight at age 13? Yes.
8. No one is allowed to make any rules regarding education (including determining the standards, testing, pay, time, schedules) unless they have been the teacher of record in a classroom for a minimum of seven years. That doesn't mean administration. That doesn't mean worked in the office. That doesn't mean assistants. Teachers. Seven, though preferably ten years. Everyone else, you don't know what you're talking about yet.
9. Parents are responsible for their children's education. They should be involved in some way in the mastery of every skill.
10. Parents do not know what is best for their child. Parents are often wrong when it comes to their child. The teacher knows what is best for the child when it comes to their education. Shut the fuck up and do what the teacher tells you to do.
I think that's a good start. There need to be more changes too, such as the return of corporal punishment. What would you like to add?
1. Eliminate all grades. Even down to first grade - gone. There would be some age appropriate general information classes that would cover some topics other than English and math. But English and math are entirely individualized education. It's not even about having classes put together. You have one skill at a time. You work on it until you master it. Much of the work would be individualized or in very small groups. Small like three or four at the most. That way you can have kids with several different skill sets in one room with one teacher. A lot of the work would be done with interactive materials, especially computers. Many of the basic foundations of learning don't need to be done creatively, to be honest. The kids don't need dynamic lesson plans at that age. They need regular individual attention. Under this idea, brighter kids could finish everything much faster than others. They might master everything in fewer years. So they move on to the next level sooner.
2. At the end of mastery of certain skill sets, which basically would mimic the general expectations we now have of elementary and middle school, you take your tests and decide what you want to do with yourself. Similar idea to other nations. You then go to a career path based high school,whether its college prep, trade school, sports or arts academy, whatever. No more of this "you can all go to college" crap. Let's stop lying to our kids. They aren't all going, and many that do won't survive.
3. Remove most of the barriers for teachers. The credential program is a waste of time and money. Using the changes I described above, classroom management is no longer necessary. If someone isn't on task, you remove them from the room so that they don't slow anyone down. Everyone is on his or her own, so if they miss stuff, it's their problem. Yes, even five and six year olds. Start teaching responsibility then. For training, use a partner or mentor teacher program for the first six months or year or so. Remember there's no such thing as quarters and semesters, so that's irrelevant.
4. If we want the kids to perform, show the teachers that we want them to perform as well. PAY them like they matter.
5. No grades. That's because there are no classes. You either have mastered the skill or you haven't. If you haven't, keep going.
6. Make standards and benchmarks rigid for learning to read and basic mathematics. Allow more flexibility later.
7. Children who continue to be a discipline problem don't get an education. I mentioned above that if they are off task, get rid of them and they will just go slower. if a child hits thirteen and still can't get his or her shit together due to behavior issues, you're done. You are done with public education for minors forever. Parents then have the option of continuing to educate the child at their own expense, getting them a job, or sending them to the military. Off to fight at age 13? Yes.
8. No one is allowed to make any rules regarding education (including determining the standards, testing, pay, time, schedules) unless they have been the teacher of record in a classroom for a minimum of seven years. That doesn't mean administration. That doesn't mean worked in the office. That doesn't mean assistants. Teachers. Seven, though preferably ten years. Everyone else, you don't know what you're talking about yet.
9. Parents are responsible for their children's education. They should be involved in some way in the mastery of every skill.
10. Parents do not know what is best for their child. Parents are often wrong when it comes to their child. The teacher knows what is best for the child when it comes to their education. Shut the fuck up and do what the teacher tells you to do.
I think that's a good start. There need to be more changes too, such as the return of corporal punishment. What would you like to add?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hitting the Road?
I'm getting the desire to drive again. I really had the bug when school ended last year, and as many of you know, I started driving. And I ended up in Minneapolis. I did a pretty sweet job of driving the driving urge right out of me. The problem was that I fulfilled my desire right around the time I arrived in St. Louis. That's a long ways away to be stuck in a Motel 6.
But on that particular trip, it wasn't just the driving urge. I also had some head clearing to do. I had the whole Concord High yearbook crap to purge as well as the EDMS school year. A couple other things as well. Those things finished getting out of my head on the way back from St. Louis. So much of life is seeing the same view over and over again, from getting out of bed, the viewpoint at work, the seat on my couch. It takes a change of viewpoint to clean out your head sometimes.
So I'm kinda there again. I have that desire to just go somewhere. I want to plug in my mp3 player and catch up on podcasts while I watch a different part of the world go by. I don't need a major mental purge like I had a few months ago. We have some vacation time coming up. There's a long weekend next weekend, then Thanksgiving soon after. And Winter Break after that. Assuming I haven't bought a house and I can spend a little money, I need to go somewhere for a night or two. I'm just not sure where I can head for just a couple days that will be different enough, yet still affordable. Suggestions are welcomed.
But on that particular trip, it wasn't just the driving urge. I also had some head clearing to do. I had the whole Concord High yearbook crap to purge as well as the EDMS school year. A couple other things as well. Those things finished getting out of my head on the way back from St. Louis. So much of life is seeing the same view over and over again, from getting out of bed, the viewpoint at work, the seat on my couch. It takes a change of viewpoint to clean out your head sometimes.
So I'm kinda there again. I have that desire to just go somewhere. I want to plug in my mp3 player and catch up on podcasts while I watch a different part of the world go by. I don't need a major mental purge like I had a few months ago. We have some vacation time coming up. There's a long weekend next weekend, then Thanksgiving soon after. And Winter Break after that. Assuming I haven't bought a house and I can spend a little money, I need to go somewhere for a night or two. I'm just not sure where I can head for just a couple days that will be different enough, yet still affordable. Suggestions are welcomed.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
My love/hate relationship with baseball
Another World Series has come and gone. I think I watched about a dozen pitches, if that many. Why? i guess I didn't really care about either team. Baseball is probably the only sport where I'm a homer. I'm probably an A's fan and a Padres fan, as I was in San Diego during their last World Series trip and had the chance to go to many games. My buddy Terry and I even drove out to Phoenix to check out a Spring Training game against the A's. I guess that would be my first of several baseball road trips.
But the thing is that I'm not really a big baseball fan. Let me amend that. I'm not a fan of following baseball. I don't check stats and standings through the season. 162 games is just ridiculous. I don't like watching baseball on TV. I actually prefer listening to it on the radio, but I never do. But I love going to games. I think it's because I'm more a fan of the history and idea of baseball.
I've set a goal to see every MLB team play a home game. I worded it hat way very carefully to avoid saying visit every MLB park. The Yankees are an example, in that I saw them at Yankee Stadium, but that won't be their home next season. So they I couldn't count them. This way I can. And it isn't the Yankees that I make that rule for. It's more about team like the Twins. I saw them in the Metrodome, but they're moving out of there in a couple years. I also spent a day in Minneapolis. I pretty much don't need to go back. So unless the new ball park is crazy amazing unique, do I really want to go there? No, I'm good.
You might think it's strange that I'm not such a big fan of baseball but I have this goal. And I kinda agree. So where does it come from? I think it started on my first major road trip. I reached Cleveland on the way out to the east coast. My plan was to check out the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame that night, since it was its free night and it was open late. It turned out that everyone wanted to go that night since it was the free night and open late. So while it was open late, it had already closed to additional people. So I was stuck in Cleveland. What is there to do in Cleveland? Go to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. That's about it. But there's also the Cleveland Indians. So I decided to go to a game. That was back in 1999 when they sold out every game. I had to stand around waiting for scalpers who were riding around on their bicycles to finally decide to sell a single ticket for under $50. I made it in before the game started with a $20.00 ticket, top row. VERY top row. (And I went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame the next morning, which was incredible, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton that afternoon. Excellent day.)
Since then, I've found going to ball parks to be an excellent activity in many of these cities. Ever been to Detroit? There's about as much to do there as there is in Minneapolis and Cleveland. But it's a major city, so I went there to see what I was missing. Well, White Castle and the Detroit Lions. And that's a great park. It's lots of fun to plan the road trips using the MLB schedule as a starting point. Here's a list of the teams I've seen in alpha order:
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Baltimore Orioles
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Cincinnati Red
5. Cleveland Indians
6. Detroit Tigers
7. Houston Astros
8. Kansas City Royals
9. LA Angels of Anaheim
10. LA Dodgers
11. Milwaukee Brewers
12. Minnesota Twins
13. New York Yankees
14. Oakland A’s
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Pittsburgh Pirates
17. San Diego Padres
18. San Francisco Giants
19. St. Louis Cardinals
And the ones I haven't been to see:
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Colorado Rockies
5. Florida Marlins
6. New York Mets
7. Seattle Mariners
8. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
9. Texas Rangers
10. Toronto Blue Jays
11. Washington Nationals
And since I know that I'll reach the goal before I die, I'm going to live a long, long life. Who wants to go to Tampa? Though I'm looking forward to Boston. I tried, but they were sold out and the scalper tickets were ridiculous. I have a plan to see a Red Sox game, but it will be a few years.
But the thing is that I'm not really a big baseball fan. Let me amend that. I'm not a fan of following baseball. I don't check stats and standings through the season. 162 games is just ridiculous. I don't like watching baseball on TV. I actually prefer listening to it on the radio, but I never do. But I love going to games. I think it's because I'm more a fan of the history and idea of baseball.
I've set a goal to see every MLB team play a home game. I worded it hat way very carefully to avoid saying visit every MLB park. The Yankees are an example, in that I saw them at Yankee Stadium, but that won't be their home next season. So they I couldn't count them. This way I can. And it isn't the Yankees that I make that rule for. It's more about team like the Twins. I saw them in the Metrodome, but they're moving out of there in a couple years. I also spent a day in Minneapolis. I pretty much don't need to go back. So unless the new ball park is crazy amazing unique, do I really want to go there? No, I'm good.
You might think it's strange that I'm not such a big fan of baseball but I have this goal. And I kinda agree. So where does it come from? I think it started on my first major road trip. I reached Cleveland on the way out to the east coast. My plan was to check out the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame that night, since it was its free night and it was open late. It turned out that everyone wanted to go that night since it was the free night and open late. So while it was open late, it had already closed to additional people. So I was stuck in Cleveland. What is there to do in Cleveland? Go to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. That's about it. But there's also the Cleveland Indians. So I decided to go to a game. That was back in 1999 when they sold out every game. I had to stand around waiting for scalpers who were riding around on their bicycles to finally decide to sell a single ticket for under $50. I made it in before the game started with a $20.00 ticket, top row. VERY top row. (And I went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame the next morning, which was incredible, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton that afternoon. Excellent day.)
Since then, I've found going to ball parks to be an excellent activity in many of these cities. Ever been to Detroit? There's about as much to do there as there is in Minneapolis and Cleveland. But it's a major city, so I went there to see what I was missing. Well, White Castle and the Detroit Lions. And that's a great park. It's lots of fun to plan the road trips using the MLB schedule as a starting point. Here's a list of the teams I've seen in alpha order:
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Baltimore Orioles
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Cincinnati Red
5. Cleveland Indians
6. Detroit Tigers
7. Houston Astros
8. Kansas City Royals
9. LA Angels of Anaheim
10. LA Dodgers
11. Milwaukee Brewers
12. Minnesota Twins
13. New York Yankees
14. Oakland A’s
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Pittsburgh Pirates
17. San Diego Padres
18. San Francisco Giants
19. St. Louis Cardinals
And the ones I haven't been to see:
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Colorado Rockies
5. Florida Marlins
6. New York Mets
7. Seattle Mariners
8. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
9. Texas Rangers
10. Toronto Blue Jays
11. Washington Nationals
And since I know that I'll reach the goal before I die, I'm going to live a long, long life. Who wants to go to Tampa? Though I'm looking forward to Boston. I tried, but they were sold out and the scalper tickets were ridiculous. I have a plan to see a Red Sox game, but it will be a few years.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
New stuff?
I like stuff. That's just the way I am. And when it comes to stuff, I also like new stuff. New stuff is shinier and newer than just regular old stuff. I also like movies and TV. So allow me to talk about new TV shows and new movies. With the new TV season, I only tried to watch one new show, Fringe. I wasn't into it. The first episode went on too long for me. So I'm not watching any new shows. While that should be disappointing, I think it's actually a good thing. There are some other shows that I know are good that I want to catch up on using the magic of Netflix. I really need to keep watching Battlestar Galactica. So no new TV shows? That's aight. But new movies - there aren't any coming up that I'm excited for. It seems like we have a bunch of years in a row with some fun movies to look forward to. The new Star Wars movies were coming out. Even if they didn't totally live up to the expectations, i still enjoyed them and enjoyed the anticipation. For three years the Lord of the Rings movies were coming out, and to me they far exceeded my expectations. Pixar always had something cool in the works,and the teast of good superhero movies were becoming real. Even Kill Bill II was worth the wait, and I looked forward to seeing it. But right now? There's nothing long term. There are movies that I'll want to see the few days before they come out. For example, we have three Harry Potter movies left to watch. Marvel will have more franchises. I'm sure Batman will be back again, and there are always tons of Superman rumors. But as I check out the list of movies coming out over the next few months and into next year, there's nothing that I'm ready to buy my ticket for. i guess I'll have to get out and see the real world. Who wants that shit?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Voting fever -catch it!
I've started to take some time this evening to do my civic duty and research the California ballot measures. For those of you who want to do the same but don't want to spend time searching through dozens of websites and literature, I found an excellent starting point called ballotpedia. Yes, it's a wiki, so all the warnings that go with wikipedia go along with it. However it seems to nicely summarize both sides of each measure as well as give plenty of links in case you need more. From what I can tell so far, for most voters, this is the best resource ever. And I mean every syllable of that hyperbole. The reason why we are a republic and not a true democracy is that our founding fathers rightfully realizes that individuals don't have the time, capabilities, or desire to research every issue. That's why the Federal government does not have any system of public referendum. This internet thing gives us something like ballotpedia, which is a much better resource than the mailed voter's guide. I still have plenty of decisions to make this weekend. But for now, here's the Handy Harris voters guide:
Prop 4 - No.
Prop 8 - No.
For the other props, I'm leaning toward NO on just about all of them. I'll have to read something amazing about them to vote YES.
McCain/Palin - No. If I believed that my endorsements influenced anybody, I would encourage a Yes for Obama/Biden. But vote for anyone that isn't McCain/Dipshit
April Treece - No.
Jeff Adams - No.
Gary Eberhart - Yes.
Sherry Whitmarsh - Yes.
And for those last two, you can check their website to see that my "endorsement" is actually a real endorsement. Exciting stuff.
Prop 4 - No.
Prop 8 - No.
For the other props, I'm leaning toward NO on just about all of them. I'll have to read something amazing about them to vote YES.
McCain/Palin - No. If I believed that my endorsements influenced anybody, I would encourage a Yes for Obama/Biden. But vote for anyone that isn't McCain/Dipshit
April Treece - No.
Jeff Adams - No.
Gary Eberhart - Yes.
Sherry Whitmarsh - Yes.
And for those last two, you can check their website to see that my "endorsement" is actually a real endorsement. Exciting stuff.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
UnComfortAble
When I need a good laugh, there are a few websites I can go to that I know will be hilarious. One of these is Ray Comfort's blog. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is actually one of the most horrible people on the planet. He is a Christian writer who likes to prove the existence of God and fight evolution with things like bananas. And he is dumber than a banana. A recent blog post had the following paragraph. It's in response to a movement in Britain where signs state that there probably isn't a God. In it, he proves that not only is he an idiot but his wife is even dumber.
This can do nothing but remind people about God, and promote the gospel as it gives Christians another reason to share their faith. I do a similar thing when I want my wife to drive carefully. I know that if I say, "Drive carefully," it will be like water off a duck’s back. So I instead say, "Drive dangerously." That makes her think more about driving carefully. It’s human nature to do that.
Moral of the story? It's human nature to be an idiot. And I don't know if I can really argue with Mr. Comfort. For further evidence of idiots, watch Kirk Cameron in the video linked above. And just in case you, even for a split second, get caught up in Comfort's banana argument, remember that the banana was domesticated.
This can do nothing but remind people about God, and promote the gospel as it gives Christians another reason to share their faith. I do a similar thing when I want my wife to drive carefully. I know that if I say, "Drive carefully," it will be like water off a duck’s back. So I instead say, "Drive dangerously." That makes her think more about driving carefully. It’s human nature to do that.
Moral of the story? It's human nature to be an idiot. And I don't know if I can really argue with Mr. Comfort. For further evidence of idiots, watch Kirk Cameron in the video linked above. And just in case you, even for a split second, get caught up in Comfort's banana argument, remember that the banana was domesticated.
Could it be... Satan?
According to THIS story, man first made fire almost 800,000 years ago. Clearly, this story is the work of Satan. Since the world is barely 6000 years old, there's no way that this story could be true. In class last week, we talked about how Benjamin Franklin was 81-years-old at the time of the Constitution convention. I told them how his age was relatively older than it would be now, since life expectancy has gone up. But a student said that she thought people used to live to be 200 years old. Clearly when I corrected her, I was doing the work of Satan. While I was prepping for tomorrow, I turned on The 40-Year-Old Virgin in the background. Just a few minutes ago, they played a commercial for some Christian Music. Whose idea was the selection of this particular time slot for that commercial? Clearly, once again, Satan. The end times must be near. Just like they have been for the past 2000 years.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Blog Post
It's official. I've got nothing. I've had the laptop on my laptop for a couple hours how with the blogger page open. I've caught up on a little TiVo while waiting for inspiration. I've surfed the web a bit. Sure, I've found tons of things that I could blog about. Big epic blogs. I could even continue going through the list of issues that I started last week. I can blog about some local politics. I have a blog about music that I want to write. But I don't want to sit here and type for so long. I know that whatever I pick to blog about, I'll either type forever or not do it the justice it deserves. So this blog is about nothing. Take nothing from it. Do not comment. On myspace, give it no kudos. In fact, if you read it, go build yourself a time machine and go back to moments before you started reading this blog and tell yourself not to bother. Please disperse. Nothing to see here. And yet, I still rule.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Rivalry!
So there's this blog that I want to write. It has to do with going to Concord High's homecoming. I would like to write about how split my mind and heart was, as Concord High played against Clayton Valley. You see, I went to Clayton Valley. Class of '92. I want to write about how my loyalty to my alma mater made me want to root for the Ugly Eagles. The memories that it brought back of football games when I attended. I spent those games in my marching band uniform waiting for halftime to perform the halftime show. And then in the second half the rally band members came back out to make more noise. And I want to write about how I have this sense of loyalty to Concord now, too. I worked there for four years. The vast majority of my former students went to and graduated from Concord. So which side would I root for? Clayton Valley or Concord? That's the blog I want to write. But as it turns out, I don't care. I probably watched four plays total. Mostly I had fun talking to former students, from freshmen through seniors, and a few in college as well. But the rivalry? Two shits.
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