May 20, 2011
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The Daily News
Nicoley and Caitlin, the apples of mine eye.1 Happy Birthday on Sunday Caitlin Harrington. It's the last time your name will be Caitlin Harrington on your birthday!
2 We'll be visiting her in Sac this weekend, hopefully taking in a River Cats game on Saturday night.
3 Gonna be fun. I told her I wanted to do a bunch of stuff, like rent kayaks and rock massages, for example.
4 Not really sure where you could do either of those things, but you know when you're on a weekend getaway you want to play tennis, fish, wine-taste, hike, and do three thousand gazillion things that you can't possibly do in the allotted span of time?
5 I never even HEARD of rock massages until about a week ago.
6 <mellow voice> It's like...SEW organic...we use like rocks like from like...natural creek beds...and we like...
7 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd rather have "like" a 300 lb. sumo wrestler walk back and forth on me, north to south, using scrunchy toes and toe separators.
8 And cucumbers on my eyes, because that's what people in Hollywood used to do "back in the day."
9 Retro, baby.
10 I used to hate guys who put the word "baby" after some other word.
11 Annoying, baby.
12 The most common one is "Vegas, baby!" Like really?
13 I wonder who threw THAT one into the grapevine?
14 Uh...Vegas gaming marketers?
15 Now everybody going to Vegas brags, "Vegas, baby!" like they get a free ticket to every golden ride in heaven and then ride the golden rails back again.
16 I'm also not exactly a disciple of the word "like" being placed between every other second or third word in a sentence, like you know like the way that like this sentence is like ending.
17 When did it all come to this?
18 Ah, well. The world ends Saturday anyway, so who cares?
19 Moving on, Part the First: as the bizarreness of the end of the school year continues, I find myself taking it all in stride.
20 Education doesn't know what it wants to do nowadays. First, they tell us that we should be adding much more joy and student interaction in our lessons, that the days of strict lecturing are archaic, and that students need to work on group projects and teach each other things.
21 They have us take classes to teach us all of the methods I've used for years. Music and technology should be integral to learning. Fun activities should rule the day, all things I've known for years.
22 Then they turn around and demand that we raise our standards to ridiculous levels, and that we become much more "rigorous", a word that I never understood nor saw any educational value in anyway. We must issue out six times the homework that we ever had to do while in high school, and we must demand that students do at least an hour or two of homework per class each night. I'm almost exaggerating, but these are the mixed messages sent down to us by people who have been removed from the classroom for years.
23 Ummmm...really?
24 The most boring classes I attend are by people who teach teachers how to teach.
25 There's some irony going on there.
26 Most modern studies are just beginning to realize that a nice atmosphere, lots of interaction, group activity,music, and technology make learning more fun.
27 Mixing things up and having different activities will engage students into more interactive and enjoyable learning.
28 But the state and the school districts ALSO want to show the public that we are "raising" our standards and "challenging" our "youngsters", a term I always thought was ageist and ridiculous.
29 If they are "youngsters" are we "oldsters"?
30 Don't EVEN get me goin'.
31 My deal is to make it real, and to make it interesting, enriching, and enjoyable. It's not rocket science. A friendly, fun classroom where students feel warm, secure, and safe with friends is the key.
32 But it all comes with demands from the state, misinterpretations by "experts" in the district, and decisions made by people who removed themselves from the classroom years ago.
33 AND we have made it nearly impossible for young, energetic, and creative teachers to get into the profession without jumpin through ridiculous amounts of hoops and boushit. Where do we get good, new teachers?
34 Well, we don't. Good new teachers have to put up with some much stress that I would never have gotten in if I had to do it all over again. They have so many hoops through which to jump it is a miracle any of them get there.
35 Many of our best and brightest younger teachers are sons and daughters of veteran teachers who have been through the wars. There are still thousands of young teachers who know they were born to do it, but the frustration level is beyond anything I've ever witnessed. And still, they come. And still, they fight. And still, they bring hope and vitality to a profession that is being sucked dry by lack of funds, lack of public support, and standards that make creative teachers cringe.
36 Where is this headed?
37 I've a success story to anyone trying to get into this business.
38 Yesterday I received a text from my daughter Nicole. This was the news I couldn't reveal earlier this week. She had been approached by her principal who assured her that she would be re-hired next year, which in this economy, is almost an impossible promise.
39 I sat on it all week, but yesterday's text said that she had signed a contract, and will be a full-time teacher again next year!
40 Nicole had one of the most challenging years of her life this year when she took on a kindergarten class that was unruly, and quite challenging. She used all methods at her disposal, the best of which was watching the television show "The Nanny", and eventually won the hearts and minds of her students through consistency, high expectations, fun, sweetness, music, art, and a whole lot of patience.
41 "Miss Harrington" is officially a veteran teacher, and one of the finest in a profession that is steadily losing good teachers. Her class is designed using all modern methodologies, and she adheres to the state standards better than most, but more importantly she is caring, wonderful, and amazing with her students, and with her communication with parents.
42 So congrats to both my beautiful daughters here at the crossroads of both their lives. We fully intend to enjoy some time together this weekend to celebrate Caitlin's birthday and Nicole's triumphant school year and return next year.
43 It is going to be one of the best summers ever, that's for certain.
44 Well, unless the world comes to an end this Saturday, which is clearly a certainty in many eyes.
45 Just duck and cover.
46 I would be remiss in my duties as the purveyor of the DN if I didn't wish the Sharks all the luck in the world tonight. Just don't be a bunch of jackasses if you want support from your fans. The other night was a tough pill to swallow, fellows. Just go out and play your game, and not the game they are suckering you into playing.
47 Clearly the results of the educational system of the down.
48 I think that's about all the boushit I can throw around for one last Friday before the DN goes into hibernation for the summer.
49 You all have a great weekend, and to my daughters, Daddy loves you with all his heart.
50 Peaceout, like homies.
~H~
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