Living with Diabetes and Lapband

Yeah, NOT about diabetes but about the thing near and dear to my heart.

'No Child' Requirements Eased for Rural Teachers (washingtonpost.com)

I like the attitude this article shows. I believe strongly that the education system is broken and it needs to be fixed. I personally think that "No Child Left Behind" is a good start, and when the conversation about it starts in the teacher lounge, I walk out of the room. Much better for the blood pressure.

As long as the Powers that Be, can wake up and smell the coffee and fix things on the fly. They did with LEP (Limited English Profiency -- I hate that acroynmyn), and eased up on testing standard on kids new to the country.

Yeah, I've dealt with those babies. I can't help them much until they hit Sheltered Algebra or Sheltered Geometry -- and I did a good job with the two batches I got dealt with. I only taught math my first 6 years of teaching, and may be back to that. And I'm doing a fairly decent job with the group I have in the unmentioned, not certified to teach class.

I am SICK to death of dealing with children who were not taught the basics before they got to my room. Personally I think we need truant officers to go to their house and investigate every single absence in 1st grade, and then 1st and 2nd grade, and then 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade.

My good students attend class each day. Very few students can keep up without attending -- I have one this year who could in regular Computer Science, and I am regretting that she didn't take PreAP last year EXCEPT she's disappeared. I'd have loved to see her in my AP program, but she has since disappeared. (See they have to come to school every day).

After we get every kid coming to school every day, THEN we need to make sure they learn everything they are supposed to learn in their grade level. If they don't, they should have to go to summer school, and if they still don't, they should be held back. The threat enough was enough to fix my sister and her child.

But about this article. I should not ever ever teach a class I'm not prepared to teach. (Nor should ANY teacher) I did it last year and I'm doing it this year. I don't like it, I'm not happy with it, and it shouldn't be happening. It's not good for the kids. It's one thing to teach webmastering -- I AM trained in it, and I HAVE been figuring out how to get those kids to try it. Spending last summer in an online course on teaching it really helped. The key is remember that their heads implode if you try to get them to do two different things in a single class period.

Hopefully I got it through this year's Dean head, that life would be better if I taught Geometry. I'm certifyed in math, that's my best math education test score, and you can bet your boots, I'll be signed up and in every staff development on geometry this summer if I am teaching it. I did that when I got stuck with 3 units of webmastering!

However, if you want me to teach the other class, that I am NOT certified in -- you as my principal need to pay for me to get certified in it. I'm already certified in 3 teaching fields (math, computer science and technology apps). If you really need me to teach in a 4th teaching field, you have to pay me to do it. And make it worth my while.

Besides, I should have had two classes of regular CS I, 3 of webmasteirng and one combined PreAP/AP. I'm hoping next year to have 2 regular CS I, 1 PreAP, and 1 AP, and the rest webmastering. Again, if I don't make that count, have me teach geometry.

Okay, off my soap box and back on diabetes.