It's Not My Fault...

...aka the post in which I use a long, run-on sentence to say there is the possibility I stand a good chance of making some people mad at me with what I’m about to say even though my intention is only to get something off my chest that really, really bugs me rather than to offend anyone or hurt the feelings of someone who doesn’t deserve to have their feelings hurt.  Whew!!!  Here goes.  By the way, I am perched high on my soap box today, my friends, and it may be a while before I come down.   

What the heck has happened to personal responsibility in this country?  Okay, casual cursing is just not me so maybe that’s not the best or most beneficial way to start.  One of the first things I learned when I began teaching 19 years ago was to always begin each and every correspondence with a parent in a positive way, especially if bad news was to follow.  That can be hard to do sometimes.  Once, the rough draft of a letter I prepared to send home with a student started with the sentence Mrs. Doe, Your daughter has the nicest, cleanest hair I’ve ever seen.  Don’t worry. I was able to come up with a more appropriate positive opening line for the actual letter...though in that particular case it was a struggle.  

Shall I begin again?

As an educator, I will click on national news links concerning school issues from time to time.  Often, I come away from the article feeling enlightened - inspired, even.  Sometimes, however, I am left just absolutely flabbergasted, with a bad taste in my mouth from even reading the words in the article and thinking someone needs to be shaken - and hard.  In this most recent case, the ACLU.  

It seems the American Civil Liberties Union has found its next cash cow...low performing schools.  This country’s favorite scapegoat (public education) is bleeding and the sharks are smelling the possible millions to be made.  

The ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit against a Michigan school district on behalf of 8 students who, according to the organization, have been denied the right to an education because, basically, they are not proficient in reading and math.  Once again, it is the school’s fault.

Before I continue let me just go ahead and state a few things:  1.  I speak without having researched this lawsuit beyond what I read in the article.  2.  Just like every other place of employment in this country, every school has one or two employees who need to find another job.  3.  Test data is not always indicative of teacher quality.  4.  I do feel sympathy for children who find themselves in legitimately bad environments, whether it be school or home.

Folks, wake up!  The situations we get ourselves into in life are most often of our own doing and not the fault of someone else, as many would like us to believe.  The blame game we have in this country anymore is growing very tiresome and I, for one, am quite fed up with it.

The word “entitled” in this country has been taken far out of context.  Regarding education, our children are entitled to a free education.  By that, I believe our founding fathers meant for the government to provide for the transfer of knowledge from a trained person to our children and a setting for this transfer to take place.  I do not think it was their belief that personal responsibility on the part of the student or the parent(s) in securing an education should cease.  

If a student sits in a class and chooses not to listen or complete the assigned tasks and goes home to parents who choose not to support the provided educational opportunities, the failure of the student, in my opinion,  then rests squarely at the feet of themselves and their parents.  What is the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.  Truer words are seldom spoken.  

Another “not-so-nice-of-a-way-to-put-it” saying I have long remembered from a former co-worker is, and I quote, “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit”.  She should know, too.  She taught for over thirty years and her husband, also a teacher, was the coach of a perpetual powerhouse football team which won the state championship a number of times.  Now, that may be offensive to you, but it is, nonetheless, true.

We, and I am speaking to parents here, cannot drop our kids off at the door ill-prepared with a lack of basic supplies and with little training from home in the way of respect, manners, work ethic, and discipline, do nothing on our own at home to support their education and expect much more than what we dropped off in the beginning. It’s true, a good teacher is the single most important factor in a child’s education during the school day.  But once the school day ends, parents, it becomes our job to carry on the training.

Where the government has failed in my opinion??? Creating a class of citizens who have no desire, or reason, to work for what they need or pay their own way in life.  

If you only knew how many times I have heard, when expressing to my students the importance of hard work and a good education, young people make remarks of a contradictory nature based on the experience they see each day from their own parents who do not work and seem to “do just fine” (because of government support they receive monthly), it would make you sick, and quite scared for the future of our country.  And don’t even get me started on how it feels when the first question asked on registration day by many parents covered in tattoos, piercings, reeking of cigarette smoke is “where do I sign my kid up for free lunch and supplies”.  I’m sorry, but if you have enough disposable income to smoke or get tatted and pierced you should be able to pay for your child’s lunch and supplies.

Now, before you get too angry with me and think I am being mean-spirited I believe there is a need for certain government programs.  When a person cannot work due to severe physical and/or mental limitations I feel it becomes the duty of those who do work to help support them.  Likewise, when a person, through no fault of their own, finds themselves hurting financially we should want to help them over their hurdle.  

However, when we tell able-bodied people that it is okay to sit home day in and day out, not work and we, the ones who do work, will provide for you, what motivation is there for them to go out and find gainful employment or further their education?  And as this government supported lifestyle trickles down through generations, what motivation does a parent have in making sure to support education in the home.

But hey, it’s not their fault. They’re entitled to every cent they get, and luckily, the ACLU wants to help some of them get a little more.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Image via

Who would have ever thought the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, written by Lennon and McCartney and released almost 50 years ago could potentially become the battle cry of many a young Tennessean in love?  Well, if you believe internet headlines, legislators in my fair state have banned hand-holding.  

Just an evening or so ago, I was shocked to read “State’s ‘No-Holding Hands Bill’ Blasted” as the headline for a news story on Yahoo, which is the home page on one of my laptops.  

My first thought was What?  You’ve gotta be kidding me.  Some state is actually making it against the law for kids to hold hands.   Oh, please.  Do they actually believe this will lower the number of teen pregnancies and STDs?  

My second thought upon reading the above mentioned headline was Oh, please, please, please... don’t be Tennessee, don’t be Tennessee.  

Tennessee is my home.  It is where I was born, bred, and will likely be buried.  I love it and there are very few places I imagine I would rather live.  Your home state is like family.  You see, I can poke fun at my family all day long or complain about them from time to time or, on very rare occasions, get downright mad at one of them.  However, for an outsider to do the same crosses a line which would certainly bring about consequences.  Make fun of one of us and see how many more Christmas cards you’d get from me. Oh, yeah.  You’d be cut off.  Shunned.  Dead to me.  So, think twice before doing it.

I feel the same about my state.  Certainly, there is a reputation that has been cultivated (similar to the reputation of most of our neighbors residing below the Mason-Dixon Line) over the 216 years of our existence that lends itself as fodder for the thoughts of non-natives. Some good, some bad.

While pregnant with our children we have almost certainly walked about barefoot in our homes from time to time (and, okay, I would be lying if I said there aren’t some women who may even walk around barefoot in public, too - which I think is really, really tacky unless you're on a beach or at the pool) ,most of us over the age of  thirty-five have used an old-fashioned, outdoor toilet on some occasion (though it’s been years for me), we’ve been known to put peanuts in our cokes (I prefer mine in a bottle, rather than a can), and there’s a reason we’re known as The Volunteer State.

Then every so often the powers that be in the state government do something which garners national headlines in a way that creates a little head shaking.  A few years ago after the death of Michael Jackson our state legislators set aside business as usual (i.e. the economy, education, infrastructure, etc.) to take up the matter of crafting a state resolution to honor the performer.   Of course, there were objections.  These resolutions are nothing more than official “pats on the back” but they do cost money and in a state hurting financially this particular one was seen by some as a waste.  I had to agree.  Other than marrying Elvis’ daughter I’m not sure of any direct connection to Tennessee Jackson had beyond his posters hanging in countless teenage girls’ bedrooms across the state (mine included).   

Fast forward to just a few nights ago...are we now seriously banning hand holding? Well, Yahoo, Jeanne Sager of The Stir, and many other outlets would like you to think so.  According to the Yahoo article, Sager feels “teens contending with raging hormones need honest information, not unrealistic nonsense about how hand-holding leads to getting knocked up.”  Well, turns out that’s not exactly what this legislation is about.  

Tennessee has an “abstinence only” sex-ed curriculum, which recognizes abstaining from sex as the only absolute way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies.  The new bill (which really isn’t that new as it was passed a couple months ago) restricts educators from  the Promoting of “any gateway sexual activity or health message that encourages students to experiment with non-coital sexual activity”.  You can go here to read it for yourself.

While we’re on the subject of sex-ed being taught in schools, let me say I am not so disillusioned that I think all teens will wait until marriage or have only one sex partner in their life.  Even people raised in the best, most moral homes in the country are ultimately human, and humans make mistakes, especially teens, who will lack a fully developed frontal lobe until they reach their twenties.  John and I long ago decided to “never say never” when it comes to raising our children.  Every time I hear a parent say, “My child would never do such and such”, I respond with something like, “Oh, well that’s good” or “Well, that must be quite a comfort to you”, all the while inwardly rolling my eyes.   Yes, I have good children and I hope and pray that they will always strive to make good decisions in their life but, again, they’re human.

As a parent and an educator,  I have no problem with “sex-ed” classes being taught in schools. Do I think my second-grader should receive such lessons?  Of course not.  Do I want a teacher or outside organization making suggestions for alternative experiences to my daughter.  Again, no way.  But I believe it is important for schools to teach age appropriate lessons to our students about their bodies, about puberty and reproduction, and also the risks and consequences of unprotected sex.  I should point out that I feel the better, more successful way to teach these lessons is in groups separated by gender and, of course, that parents be allowed to keep their children from participating if they so choose.  

Now, while the bill may be somewhat vague, I have to believe that our elected officials weren’t really thinking of hand holding or kissing or even cheesy pick-up lines (Are you from Tennessee? ‘Cause you’re the only 10 I see) as “gateway activities” when they drafted the bill. Typical for many online, more liberal-leaning news sites the whole thing has been blown out of proportion to, in my opinion, create some catchy headlines, poke a little fun at a southern state, and mold like minded people by making those who agree with the legislation feel a little unsophisticated for thinking such and be more likely to have a change of opinion. These kind of bloated, misleading stories really get my goat, especially when I feel they are trying to make a mockery out of my state and, in turn, me.

So, you know what that means, don’t you?  The editorial staff at Yahoo will be forever removed from my Christmas card list.  Oh, wait.  They were never on it.  I guess I’ll just have to exact my wrath by  changing my home page.

Soapbox #11

Well said.

Well said.

It's All Bread and Circuses

...the people now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.

- Juvenal, circa 100 AD

Sighhhh. I worry about my children. I worry about my children’s future children, to the point of even encouraging my teenage daughter to never have children. At this point in my life I am fine with never having grandchildren. For starters, at 41 I am still way too young to be called "granny", even though the grey creeping forth from my scalp may say otherwise. Mostly, though, I just worry about what their lives will be like in another twenty years plus.

My worry comes, not so much from a lack of confidence in how they will manage on their own as adults, but rather from what I see as a breakdown in a large segment of society around them, and as someone who works in the public sector I have had a front row seat to this breakdown for the past 18 years. It’s not pretty, and it’s getting uglier with each passing year.

Simply stated, too many today care only for, and expect, every entitlement available, yet feel responsible for absolutely nothing! When people willingly put themselves in a position of being supported by others, caring only about immediate gratification and no longer value the virtue of hard work or civic duty, they do a disservice to everyone around them – themselves, their neighbors, and their children.

Unfortunately, today’s society is breeding a new generation of those who want, but will not do. No country, at least not one in which I would want my children or grandchildren to live, can survive this way for long. Don’t believe me? Just go back about 1,900 years ago and ask the Roman Juvenal. He could tell you a thing or two about bread and circuses.

A few post-notes...

1. Entitlement comes in many forms.

2. Growing up, if I ever got in trouble at school, I was in trouble at home.

3. Education was stressed. Neither my father nor my mother graduated high school, yet they knew the value of a high school diploma and college degree and pushed it, knowing that it would make my life easier than theirs had been. Only once did my mother ever call the school to voice her disagreement with a teacher.

4. My father worked in construction. Some years were lean, painfully so for my parents, but never noticed by me due to the way my parents handled the situation.

My Thoughts on the Casey Anthony Case

Normally, I prefer to blog about light-hearted, feel-good events. You know, my kids and their cute sayings, birthday parties, and catching lightning bugs. All bubble gum and peach fuzz. Last night, I planned to post pictures from my family’s 4th of July celebration (I’m sure you are awaiting them with bated breath) but Picasa was being rather difficult and I sent him to bed without his dinner. Actually, after the FOURTH time of a “not responding” message I just gave up. I’ll get them on soon enough, I guess. Maybe before Halloween.

Anyway, making a rare appearance here at Tire Swings is my take on the conclusion of a more serious issue. Wait. Serious is too limp a word for this topic. Dark. Dark better suits the whole sorted mess that makes up the Caylee/Casey Anthony case.

Unless you live under a rock (in which case you probably aren’t reading this right now), you are aware of this now mostly finished court case. Casey Anthony has been found not guilty of the death of her little girl, Caylee. Message boards across the web have been working overtime since the verdict was announced yesterday afternoon, with many people questioning whether justice has been served.

I know I am about to go out on a limb here - a really, really long one based on many of my Facebook friends’ statuses - but I submit that our judicial system worked the way it was set up to work and I agree with the verdict. Had I been on the jury, I believe my vote would have been the same. In a capital murder case, where the defendant is facing the death penalty, the burden of guilt falls on the prosecution. They must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. If that doubt exists, a juror has no choice but to acquit. It really is as simple as that.

Do I think Anthony was a good mother or is a good person? No. Do I find her family really disturbing and dysfunctional? Yeah. Would I, or any of the mothers I know, have ever disposed of a child after an accidental death? I highly doubt it. Do I think she’s a pathological liar? Absolutely. But what I think doesn’t matter. It’s what can be proven.

The defense claimed that Caylee drown and a panicked Casey (and dad) hid the child’s body. (Actually, well over a year ago, I was reading some article about the case and I came across the mention of a ladder found set up next to the family’s pool and I had this same fleeting thought). Do I know for certain this is what happened? Absolutely not. But on the same hand, it cannot be proven that this didn’t happen.

Without a cause of death and with leaky circumstantial evidence how can there not be reasonable doubt in this case? Again, just because we feel like a person is guilty of something because they lie a lot and act in ways we wouldn’t act or because they may have looked up a few odd things on the internet does not a premeditated killer make. Heaven help me if one day something happens to someone in my family and my computer is seized. I am a terribly curious person and have looked at my share of information that some would find disturbing. U.T.’s Anthropological Research Facility, a.k.a. the Body Farm, comes to mind. If I were on trial, the moment it became public knowledge there were searches about human decomposition on my computer I would automatically be branded guilty in the minds of a lot of people. Throw in a few searches on foreign vacation rentals and suddenly people are positive of my plans to flee the country. You see what I mean? Would you want yourself or your son or daughter convicted on such?

Anyway, this is my take on the issue and it is worth about two cents. Not much. But, it is my take.

Please Read This Carefully

I was on the phone today at work A LOT and one thing I can state with near certainty is that 95% of all businesses have changed their menu options. Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed. I don't know about you, but hearing this as the IVR is one of those pesky little things that gets under my skin just enough to annoy me ever so slightly.

I don't care who you call, any business phone, from your hometown doctor to a very large book vendor a thousand miles away, is rigged with this welcome message.

Quite frankly, I miss the point. Do I know the menu options of all the businesses I call well enough to hastily start pushing buttons? Of course not. So, I'm going to listen to the choices. I would even listen to them without being told.

But since it seems everyone's doin' it, I think I'll begin classes tomorrow like this...

Please listen carefully as today the boys will get to check out books first.

A Really Black "Black Friday"

Well, Black Friday was truly a black one for me. That evening my family visited a neighboring town to attend a party for my great-nephew. Since his birthday is in November, it has become somewhat of a tradition for his parents to take him for an overnight stay in a hotel so he and invited guests can swim. Anyway, upon leaving the party we decided to make a quick stop at the local Wal-Mart to pick up a few essentials.

I don't always take my purse with me when I go into stores with John, as he is the one who usually pays (let me clarify, we have joint accounts - he just is the one who physically pays on the occasions we are in a store together). However, anytime I do take my purse with me I always put it in the child's seat of the buggy and fasten that little child safety strap around it. My sister taught me to do this so no one can sneak off with your purse while your back is turned.

John and I also typically shop with two carts. John-Heath rides in one and the other is used for our purchases. On this evening John-Heath was with me. We browsed for quite a long time in the Christmas aisles and picked up a few rolls of wrapping paper and some darling church house ornaments to give our friends at church.

Upon arriving at the checkout stand I excused myself to go to the restroom. When I returned John was nearly finished checking out so I walked to stand next to John-Heath who was beginning to punch a few buttons on a nearby ATM. A moment later and we were all out the door and the purse remained strapped in the buggy - which we apparently left behind.

Today, I got into my car to drive to my sister's house for a piece of leftover pumpkin pie when I noticed my purse was not in my car. After a quick, frenzied search we realized it was lost and the retracing of steps began. Of course, this had to happen on the busiest shopping weekend of the year. We were only in 3 different Wal-Marts on Friday alone, along with countless other businesses. I made all the obligatory phone calls to each and every place we entered with no luck. Some young girl in customer service at Wal-Mart #2 squealed when I mentioned I had lost a purse and I was filled with a momentary sense of relief thinking that her squeal must mean they had just such a purse in their lost and found. I was wrong.

Anyway, I am 99.9% certain the last time I had it was during our 3rd trip to Wal-Mart after the party. And I am 99.9% sure that it was left, still strapped, in the child seat of that buggy. Of course, no purse had been turned in.

We have now done all the needful procedures when one loses a purse, like notifying all credit card agencies, etc. Don't get me wrong...I would love to get my purse back. It was a cute little Dooney and Bourke handbag which was a gift from my niece two years ago. She knew it was not something I would buy for myself and, since she was making her own money, wanted to buy one for me. I loved it. I carried it year long - even if that was fashionably taboo. However, even better than having the purse back would be knowing what happened to it and my wallet and my kids' pictures (a couple of them were the only ones I had left) and any other little things I had tucked away.

By the way, if you are the person who picked up my purse and are, by some fluke, reading this, I beg you...please... spare me the pain of going to the DMV and the heartache of losing my children's pictures and one of my daughter's baby teeth (yes, that may seem disgusting to you but I, nonetheless, did keep one in there). I'm sure you can find my address on something, so just mail it back to me. You can even keep the cash that was in it. Consider this your chance to right your wrong. I would be really grateful.

Growing Pains

You see this girl?

This is my Ren. She’s 14, but by this time next month she will be 15 and the proud new owner of a driving permit. She’s beautiful, funny, creative and stylish and, according to her guidance counselor whom we bumped into at Cheddar’s a few evenings back, a “sweet, sweet girl”. If there wasn’t a giant scar across the bottom of my stomach from where they cut her out of me a few years ago I wouldn’t believe she was mine. I’m not beautiful, stylish, nor particularly creative and it’s been so long since I’ve been called sweet that I’m not sure I ever was. But my daughter is all these things. Yes, I know I’m bragging and biased, but it’s my blog. One can brag and be biased on their own blog. Isn’t that why these are called vanity blogs?

My daughter recently had a rough couple weeks at school. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. Things aren’t that bad. She has a good group of core friends and really likes, and is really liked by, her teachers. In fact, the rough spots have mainly come about because of a few who, though not in her social circle of friends, are ones she must contend with on a daily basis because of a shared love for a certain extracurricular activity.

Ren is, and always has been, a confident girl. With no bashful bone in her body she will gladly get up in front of people to perform, even when it requires much silliness - as in dressing like a bird and dancing to “Rockin’ Robin” as a 4th grader or dressing in pajamas and hair curlers for her school's homecoming. Likewise, she is not one bit shy about defending herself when needed. But, she can get worn down after a point. That’s okay, though. She always bounces back after a short, self-prescribed exile, usually to her room to listen to her radio or watch a few episodes of Reba or Seinfeld.

What upsets me as a mom is when the bullish behavior of a few girls during the school hours spills over to the bleachers during games and gets regurgitated out of the mouths of grown-ups. I shouldn’t really say it upsets me. Upset is too light a word. In truth, it flat out angers me. If an adult wants to spew venom about another adult within earshot of said adult, that’s one thing. But to run down a child, and know you are doing so loud enough to be heard, is quite another. What kind of person does that? Okay, that’s really a rhetorical question. I know exactly what kind of person does that and to call them such on this public forum would be tacky, so I won’t.

I will simply say that sometimes

the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

BREAKING NEWS>>>THIS JUST IN (not really, but kinda)>>>John-Heath had a really good day at school and came home the proud owner of a good note from his teacher. Of course, then he was just terrible at a volleyball game and church. We'll take our victories anywhere we can get them.

June, July, and August

Summer vacation in our neck of the woods is quickly coming to a close. By this time next week teachers will be officially back and students will be preparing to attend registration day. In our county the teachers return one day, registration is the next day, followed by another teacher day, and then, finally, the first full day of the school year.

I remember when I was in college working on my bachelor’s degree a professor once asked each of us in an education class why we wanted to be teachers. Well, I had kinda had enough of all the usual “I want to be a beacon unto the children of the world” answers and thought we needed a breath of fresh air in the room. Things were getting laid on pretty thick, if you get my drift. Anyway, I was even more of a wild card then than now so when it came my turn to answer I simply said, “June, July and August”. Well, as you can imagine, that wasn’t the desired answer.

Now, I don’t think I was publicly reprimanded for such a foul thing to say. I wasn’t tarred and feathered or anything. I do remember seeing a lot of the white part of the professor’s eye balls, though and I’m pretty sure several jaws hit the floor. Apparently, many a teacher candidate in the early 90s deposited his or her sense of humor at the classroom door each day. That day was not the first or last time my mouth got me into trouble. Do not fret, dear readers. That professor and I became good buddies, I learned a lot from him, and left his class with an A+. Thank you, H. Foreman.

When I made that comment I was, of course, just joking. Everyone knows that we don’t get three months off in the summer, just two (insert rim shot here :>)!Seriously, having that time off is one of the big perks of the job. It is especially wonderful for those of us with young children. However, (and I learned this one after actually becoming a teacher) a summer break is also very vital to the act of teaching itself.

Several years ago there was an article posted on the Coke machine in our faculty lounge by a man who was advocating summer vacations at a time when calls for year-round school and far fewer days off between school years were first starting to get noticed . He did this by comparing the job of teaching school for a year to the production of a Broadway play. It was an awesome editorial on the subject and I wish I had kept it. I have looked for it on-line much of the day with no luck. So I guess I’ll just have to summarize it here as best I can.

Teaching is unlike many other jobs in that it takes a certain energy to do it well. No, I’m not talking about the kind of energy needed just to crawl out of bed in the morning. It requires creative energy, a certain kind of mental steam and vigor which allows the teacher to be at the top of his or her game.

Imagine that Broadway play. It can only run for so long before the level of workmanship of those involved in the project begins to slip or the audience gets bored with it and begins to dwindle. At some point the play will either close or a new crew and cast will be brought in to take over.

A school year is one big production in itself. Good teachers (I say good teachers because we all know there are enough of the other kind out there that, as well) will spend August-May putting on a grand performance for the benefit of their audience, the students. They will play teacher, mentor, counselor, advisor, nurse, proofreader, coach, cheerleader, tour guide, accountant, salesman, statistician, and in many cases, surrogate moms and dads. At the end of this year a break is needed. Both teacher and student must recharge.

And that’s where June and July come in handy.

To be continued....



1ooth post GIVE AWAY coming soon!

Venting Is Good for Your Blood Pressure, Or So I've Been Told

So, we went swimming in our new pool for the first time yesterday. I was not impressed. There were some good things about it. 1.) It’s a pool. 2.) It has a pretty, dark liner that makes the water look very blue. 3) It’s a pool. Other than that my whole experience was ruined by what I felt beneath my feet. Wrinkles. Yes, wrinkleS, as in plural. There were three along the edges, one of which was quite large. At this point I would have rated the installation job as a C. Then I felt a dip, as in left by a worker’s footprint. C-. Then, as if my temper (It’s true. I can get the tiniest bit mad at times) needed a booster shot, a rock. A stinkin’, freakin’ ROCK!!!!!!!!!! UNDERNEATH THE LINER IN ALMOST THE CENTER OF THE POOL!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say the current grade is a big ol' fat F. And if I just float and don’t actually touch the bottom it might pass with a
D-.

I know this is just an above ground and a few years down the road, when the kids are grown and gone, it will be removed. But it sickens me when you pay money to have something done and it’s not done right, be it something big or small. What has happened to quality workmanship anymore? Did the professionals not see the wrinkles in the pool when they first started adding the water? I noticed them the minute I peeked over the edge. Of course, that was after the crew had already gone. Anywhoo, I noticed and pointed it out to John. His response was, “Oh, they’ll all flatten out when it’s full of water.” Well, I got a news flash for ya, babe. It’s full of water and, yet, it still feels like the surface of a prune. A prune with a big zit, aka the ROCK!!!!!!!!

My apologies for such an “uplifting” post, but sometimes you just gotta let it out. Tune in tomorrow for a discussion on the drywall job in parts of my house.

Things That Irk Me

Found this picture on the internet. It speaketh the truth.

My sweet husband needs a break. Yeah, I agree. He's not that sweet. But he still needs a break. A break from what? A break from my incessant complaining about public education and where it seems to be headed.

Now, before someone, a public school teacher or teacher's relative perhaps, begins to feel a little on the defensive before I even get started let me share with you that I, too, am an educator in a public school, as is my husband. And, as such, I have a license to speak on such an issue.

Seeing as how there's just more and more about public education that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like a cheap off-brand diet soda, I'll have to break it down into periodic gripe sessions.

For my inaugural issue on school matters that rile...

Yearly Achievement Testing Given Before the End of the Year, Waayy Before.


It has always been somewhat perplexing to me that teachers are given a yearly curriculum and ten months in which students are under their tutelage and said curriculum can be covered and yet the achievement test - covering a year's worth of learning - is given in March or Early April. Originally, the powers that be stated that the tests must be given this early to ensure (or is it insure? I always get mixed up on that)they are scored and returned to the schools and students by the end of the school year. This apparently isn't an issue anymore as we NEVER get the tests back until well into the summer. So what's the rush?

Early in my career it wasn't such a problem. I taught third grade. If I was unable to get to, let's say, long division by March it wasn't a big deal! I would keep right on teaching and before the end of the year we would cover long division. And, you know what? My students actually learned more than they do today.

How is this possible you may ask. It was made possible by being given time. Time. To. Teach. You taught something, practiced it, reviewed it, tested over it, and retaught when needed. And that practicing part could last a few days. The important thing then was making sure that most of your students became proficient in the skills. By the end of the year my students had a solid foundation on which they could continue building in the years to come.

But, Tyla. Aren't grade school students being introduced to things that you or I didn't learn until high school or college? Why, with all these changes, students today should be much smarter than their parents. So, what gives? I'll tell you what gives - High stakes testing.

Now, with all this testing nonsense the government is insistent on shoving down everyone's throat teachers can't take the time to truly teach and children are not allowed the time to learn. New skills are thrown up on the board, practiced, reviewed and tested within 2 school days. It's become a "teach to the best and drag the rest" world. And despite the hope that no children get left behind they still do.

The group getting left behind is a very large one, too. We call them our "average students". You see, your high achieving students typically have an easier time learning new information so it doesn't necessarily hurt them when a new skill is taught and quickly left. And, of course, special education students have always had ooodles of help - from tutoring, special classes, and individualized education programs (we call them IEPs), which allow them to do less work, have more time to do less work, and make failing almost impossible. It's the average students - who can and will master the material when given the time to thoroughly practice it - that are getting left behind.

Of course, the powers that be tell us that if we throw everything at them early on and keep doing this year after year they will eventually master it. They dream. You cannot divide unless you know how to multiply. And if students aren't afforded the time to master this skill they're, pardon my language, screwed when it comes to most every math skill thereafter.

Again, in today's test-obsessed society there is no time for teachers to teach at the pace most of the students sitting in their classroom require. All material must be covered by March. Still haven't figured out what think April and May are there for.

I should have known we were headed in this direction when I heard the following comments come out of the mouth of a central office supervisor years ago...

1.) "Make sure all new learning is done by January so that you can start reviewing for the test." Yes, THE test.

AND

2.) This little conversation that took place when a supervisor overheard a group of third grade teachers discussing the skill of telling time.

Supervisor: "Telling time? Why are you teaching that?"

Teachers: "Because it's in the math book and it's something they need to be able to do."

Supervisor: "Nope. Skip it. It's not on the test. Don't waste the time."


Well, they may not know how to read a non-digital clock but, BY GEORGE, they'll know how to take a test.

Piss Pots and Airs

I have always been curious as to the origination of the phrases we southerners use. I may be regionally profiling here but I can't really picture a New Yorker saying something like "He's as tight as bark on a tree" or "You can't get rid of 'em. He's like a booger you can't thump off."

One phrase I have heard my whole life is "pot to piss in". These words usually follow "So and So doesn't have a ...".

If you are like me and love a good etymology story here you go...

"They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery........if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot.......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low. "

Of course, today there are those who don't have the proverbial pot but, nonetheless, like to "put on airs" (another frequently used euphemism). If only they could be called on the carpet for it (and yet another one)

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Where did all the mercury go when you really need it?

Between Christmas, MLK Day, and the snow days it seems we've been out of school more than in over the past few weeks. This week seems to be more of the same. It is Wednesday. There have been three days in this work week and I have missed two of them. John-Heath has the flu so his dad and I have taken turns staying home with him. Actually, this all started this past Thursday night. I stayed home with Friday. So, really I've missed 3 of the last 4 work days. I have never complained about a day or two (or three) off though.

What I have been complaining about a lot lately is how much I miss a quality thermometer! I miss the good ole days of actually being able to read an accurate temperature. If my child had a fever of 102 then it read 102. That's not the case today.

I know the makers of all the digital thermometers on the market would disagree but, sadly, they are wrong. I have yet to find a thermometer that is consistently accurate, and I have bought several lately.

Of course, since the powers that be determined several years ago that mercury is too harmful an element to be used in medical thermometers we're stuck with these little crappy ones that are said to take an accurate temperature in a fraction of a second. The not-so-funny thing about them is they are never consistent. John-Heath, who has been so hot it was uncomfortable to even touch him, fevered out below 100 on a recent purchase. And when I took mine I had a body temp of 92.4. Wouldn't I be dead? Maybe I am and this is all just a dream and John and the kids are having a rip-roaring time spending my life insurance. Anyway, back to my story.

I don't know who this little girl is but her mom sure is fortunate.

The typical "fever thermometer" contains between 0.5 to 3 g of mercury - too small an amount to be poisonous, but potentially problematic if one were to inhale it. I have broken a few glass thermometers in my time. I can assure you no one, not even my daughter who was very young at the time, tried to sniff the stuff. The biggest concern I had was figuring out how to clean up those little silvery beads. The are quite slippery.

Oh, well. It looks like it's time to start looking for someone who might be bootlegging some mercury. Thank goodness for eBay.