zjvv.net

Ha!

Always a humbling end of the year project. Some sample quotes:

“Always keep your head up or he’ll ask a history question out of the blue…and when you don’t know the answer, there’s this really wierd, strange silence in the air.”

“Never use pronouns. Mr. V doesn’t like pronouns.”

“Go to the bathroom before class. He never lets you go during class. Unless you’re very lucky.”

“Mr V expects a lot out of you. But you can’t blame him. You’re 8th graders.”

“You should study, study, study. Even if you think you know what you’re doing - you still need to study.”

“Don’t cry or whine. He doesn’t like babies.”

“He will teach you. You will learn.”

Spring arrives with some wonderful changes and firsts.

There’s testing, which takes place next week. It’s a sureal experience - realizing that I’ve crammed a good chunk of American history (plus a solid review of ancient civilizations and European history) in a 8 month span. I’m exhausted. And I can do no more. Good luck kids. Please don’t confuse all the trivia persuit.

Then there’s the yard work. Everything’s green, growing, and blossoming. And it needs tending - before the yard turns wild with poison ivy and honeysuckle. Cross the fingers if the lawn mower still works….

Also, there’s the spiders. Our house has an abundance of tiny albino spiders that like to build small webs in the corners between our ceilings and walls. Ever spring I complete an annual ritual of drenching the home (and inevitably, myself) with spider killing juice. I expect to mutate any day.

And finally - and best of all - today was the first day of 2009 where I got to wear the Chacos. Dug them out of the back of closet and luxuriated in having the toes free. Soon (June 5th) they will be the only footware I use for 2 and 1/2 months (can I deacon in Chacos?).

The life of a teacher.

Someone was channeling Sean Hannity in the teacher lounge this week and exclaimed how our nation is turning into a tyrannical, fascist state. Now I love our teacher’s lounge. We argue, debate, joke, blow off steam. And we talk politics. A few of us are strong liberals. More are strong conservatives. But we do well - teasing each other’s viewpoints and, to some extent, listening.

In short, it’s a good thing.

Because we all need to hear from the other side. This became particularly evident to me during an NPR interview of a gun supplier in San Antonio. Since Obama’s election, gun sales have gone through the roof (the FBI reported that ammunition for AK47s is up 49% this past year). The dealer in the interview was convinced that Obama was going to take away his liberties (and folks buying the guns felt the same). Thus a record year.

There is a brand of paranoia I just don’t understand. When someone makes the comment about turning into a fascist state, I wonder if they’ve studied American History? How can someone come to such an extreme view on the direction of our country (and not understand the democratic process)? My guess is they’re only hearing opinions (grounded on emotion rather than facts?) from one side.

So here’s hoping the conversation in the lounge continue.

From Dan Meyer:

There is endless need in our teacher prep schools, in our faculty meetings, and certainly in the edublogosphere for instruction in visual literacy and lesson design, in how not to bore students, all this stuff we oughtta have down pretty cold before we start layering new tools on top of them, metaphorically firing our fancy laser-guided nail guns around before we have a strong idea of how to build a house.