Media Survey

Here's an issue we've been talking about lately around here, so I thought it would be a good topic to write about today. The Media Survey questions come from Yes Magazine.

1. Do you feel satisfied by the information available to you? Do you turn to different sources than you once did?

Most of the time, I feel like I have the ability to find out about what I need to know about, but it takes some work. I usually have to use multiple sources of media to get quality information on issues that are important to me. The biggest change in the past decade (the years of Bush) has been what I use as a source of media. I no longer watch any televised news broadcasts (either local or national). Almost all of my news comes from print media sources or the internet these days.

2. Do you get your information from the same sources your neighbors, friends, or relatives do? Do you talk to people who get their information from very different sources? How does that affect their beliefs?

I think I am probably the only one I know who gets most of their information from somewhere other than television, and can tell that I have a profoundly different perspective on what's happening in the world. I tend to miss a lot of what's going on locally because I don't watch TV as a result.

3. Where do you get information about what is going on throughout the world, nation, and your community?

I usually use the internet or just listen to people talk to one another--that's surprisingly effective sometimes.

the only reason

To me house cleaning is like math--something that I tend to acknowledge and accept only when absolutely necessary. Let's just say that I don't have a close personal relationship with a mop...and really why bother with it? I have a dog who tracks in dirt and sheds everywhere so any act of cleaning is basically a pointless exercise in the art of futility. The only reason I ever bother cleaning is when I am going to have guests. So now I'm cleaning in earnest...

definitely a monday

I figured today would be the better of the two days (on the two-day job), but I was sadly mistaken.

For one, I was still quite sick, and if I had any sense at all, I would have stayed home. But I was feeling optimistic, so although I was better rested than before, I still spent most of the day sucking down cough drops, coughing, and just generally living in fear that my digestive system would plan some poorly-timed uprising.

Another problem was that the lesson plan for the second day was rather murky compared to the first. I had to improvise on several things, and I felt bad about it, but how was I supposed to know what they were supposed to be doing? I'm not psychic.

The other problem of course was the kids acted up a lot more today and I had to do way more babysitting. The first group was overly talkative, but bearable. In other words, I had to spend a lot of time on getting people to quiet back down, but at least they were civil. The next class was just obnoxious to the core. I don't know what was wrong with these guys but they were just snotty and downright mean--like all the worst kids I've ever had together in one room. I didn't feel like playing their game though--and I told them straight out I didn't care how hard they tried to get on my nerves, I wasn't going to give in to their demands for more free time and cellphone usage. After class was over, I asked a straggler if they were always that horrible, and she said that it wasn't just me, they act like that for their regular teacher too. Nice.

Fortunately, the end of the day was a breeze, it was just a free period homeroom type of deal, and I spent most of class helping a couple of students with their homework, grading some papers, playing hangman with some girls, learned some Russian phrases from some boys that came to visit from who knows where, and just generally enjoyed life with a more relaxed group of kids. Kinda made up from the group from hell...and generally the kids at this school are a lot of fun when they're not acting like jerks (something I know from being here on other occasions in the past).

So all in all it was a pretty typical day of subbing--the roller coaster ride between boredom and fun, productive and hellish with some lighthearted moments stuck in between. It's an alright way to pass the time I suppose, but the thing that makes it hard is that you never get to know the kids well enough to remember their names--and for me that's hard.

ESL gig

Now that October's nearly half over, I finally picked up my first certified subbing job, and lo and behold, it's a high school ESL gig no less (my dream job). I was elated to see that pop up on Subfinder, so I snatched it up quick like a hundred dollar bill laying in the street.

ESL is my favorite thing ever, and sadly there usually aren't too many chances to do it as a sub-I think I've only had a couple of these jobs in the past three years. Most ESL teachers never take a day off, if they can help it at all, and who can blame them? Not many people out there are brave/willing to show up in classroom full of kids who don't necessarily speak their language. When your prospects include a classic scenario straight out of one of those heroic teacher flicks (picture the classroom in an overcrowded LA high school, the huge room crammed full of tough looking Latino boys), the list gets really short. Fortunately this is something I'm pretty good at dealing with, and don't find this sort of crowd particularly intimidating--I've had lots and lots of practice with this by working at Marshall.

The unfortunate thing about a lot of certified jobs (that I had totally forgotten all about) is that you have things built into your schedule called "Advisory" or "Study Hall" or "Home Room" or whatever. In other words, an entire class period where you don't really do any teaching--just babysitting. While it's nice from the standpoint of not having to "plan" anything, it's not my favorite aspect of teaching, and not my favorite way to spend my time, for sure.

I'm much happier up there teaching a lesson (even "advisory" when you have a curriculum can be sort of fun, even if it's a bit cheesy. Classes are fun when you have the kids actively participating in something. A room full of people who are learning while having a good time, is very enjoyable. Kids who are getting work done--these are the things I enjoy about teaching...not babysitting.

Instead, you get a group of kids who are supposed to be doing work, but only a few have the sense to use the time wisely. The rest usually just want to goof off, talk to their friends, and see what they can get away with. As a regular classroom teacher, it's just merely annoying, but as a sub, it can be a nightmare. Only the most mature and motivated of students can handle this kind of unstructured time in a room with a sub. The rest, sadly, cannot. In a school with a block schedule, this can play out as 80+ minutes of playing prison guard, and scanning every corner of the room for signs of simmering trouble and mischief. This is actually way more boring than it sounds. It's actually incredibly dull to remind kids to put away contraband items, and kind of painful to watch them fight the urge to do something to relieve the tedium...because unfortunately they are choosing not to do something more constructive, and you can't let them do much of anything else. As a sub, that would be suicidal.

I spent most of homeroom watching a group of squirrely 9th graders who just reeked of trouble. I'm sure they felt unjustly persecuted by my ever vigilant gaze fixed firmly like a compass in their direction (like the Eye of Mordor), as I was right on top of them relentlessly from the moment they strolled in the room. Every infraction I pounced upon ruthlessly, but I figured there had to be a better way of spending my time than playing this ridiculous cat-and-mouse game, so eventually I got the bright idea of giving them chores. You know what they say about idle hands (and these were some VERY idle hands)...so I sent the ringleader to the office on an errand, and put them to work assembling handouts for another class. That took care of a lot of their excess energy, and they settled down again, so I spent the rest of the class talking to students and relaxing a bit.

The next class was real, an intermediate ESL group, so I got to do some real teaching (yay!) which was much more pleasant and fun than babysitting. I also ran into one of my PSU classmates (who works at this school), so that was another fun bonus. Sadly, after that class it was back to babysitting kids in a computer lab.

Most of the kids were fine in there, but one boy was decidedly NOT. He let me know what kind of party it was going to be from the very beginning, by impressing me with his charming personality and his exhaustive knowledge of inappropriate terms in Spanish (no doubt assuming that as a white woman, I have never heard these things before in my life...hah!). Clearly a faithful disciple of Machismo (one aspect of Mexican culture that I am NOT especially fond of), he spent much of the class goofing off, trying to bait me into responding to his rude comments, and basically acting like a jerk and not taking anything seriously. I basically ignored him for the entire class except during the few instances where I felt that basic safety issues were involved. With my 2 hours of sleep and some severe fatigue setting in, I decided that intervention was not something I felt like dealing with today, and that it wasn't my job to change his attitude. Ironically he calmed down quite a lot by the end of class and stopped trying so very hard to push my buttons. Maybe he wasn't getting what he wanted out of it...

Lunch went by far too quickly, and the end of the day was an extremely large class (by ESL standards) with way too little to do. One thing I hate is when teachers leave obvious "no accountability assignments"--assignments that the kids realize are very optional. Only the most motivated kids will do these assignments, never the ones who need the extra practice the most. I'd really rather just have a lesson to teach...this individual practice work doesn't usually keep the whole class sufficiently occupied, but teaching often does. After trying to get everyone to start working, I still had about 8 or so boys who weren't going for it, so I still had a few to "babysit". In spite of not being interested in working, they weren't too bad. I just had to issue a few reminders to a couple of individuals about basic school rules, and the rest of class was pretty uneventful. At the end of class they took to hanging out by the door, so I lost a couple, but then I used my old 6th grade move--"Who wants to leave 1 minute early?" If you want to leave 1 minute early, everyone has to sit back down in their seats. (Usually by the time everyone cooperates, they've used up the extra time anyway).

All in all, the day went fine considering how absolutely tired I was. I was pretty sick, and probably should have stayed home, but I was afraid to drop the job that morning because it's pretty unlikely anyone would pick it up on such short notice, so I forced myself to push on through. And things went fine, basically. Nothing crazy happened--I've had days during student teaching that were far more taxing than this. Most of the kids (even the bad ones) had their moments of fun. I was pretty delirious by the end of the day, and was totally focused on staying upright and not letting on to anyone know how absolutely exhausted I really was, and it seemed to work. I'm hoping Monday will be a lot easier. Looking at the lesson plan, it looks a bit vague so I may be doing some more actual teaching as a preventative measure. When kids are busy and engaged, they're way more fun to be around than when they're bored and restless. And although I can't ever tell them this, watching them being "bored" bores me just as much as it bores them.

that would be a no

umm, newsflast to John McCain:

Sarah Palin is NOT my rolemodel!

My Problem with English-Only Ballot Initiatives (like Oregon Measure 58)

My Problem with English-Only Ballot Initiatives (like Oregon Measure 58)

English-Only mandates are a symptom of the current national backlash against immigration. While passing these kinds of measures may make people feel like they're "doing something" to stop illegal immigration, they fail to address the fact that these measures affect just as many legal immigrants (people who have obtained citizenship and by law are just as "American" as you are). Since nobody seems to acknowledge this, to me it's just a way of imposing one's thinly-veiled xenophobia and racism in the guise of public policy.

Most of these kinds of English-only ballot initiatives are introduced by "losers": wealthy but unsuccessful politicians (people who can't get elected to office, so they spend the rest of their time and money pushing wacky ballot measures in retaliation--can we say Ron Unz and Bill Sizemore?). The problem I have is that people who aren't particularly successful in some area of their life (politics) decide they need to tell educators how to do their job despite having no experience in education. People who vote in favor of these things often have the same problem-they know nothing about how children learn, and either don't care, or don't realize that to educators, making sure children get whatever help they need is OUR most important priority (some of us even need help remembering to have a life of our own outside of school).

English-Only instruction tends to drive children away from school. These laws encourage kids to drop out of school because they realize they can't get the help they need there, and indirectly tells them that they are second-class citizens (I realize some readers feel that non-English speakers are, by default, second-class citizens, but I think these readers forget that people come to the US from a variety of places, for a variety of reasons). Regardless of how you may personally feel about immigrants (and other people different from you) is that people who grow up believing they are second-class citizens and have little opportunity to succeed tend to have poor adult outcomes. I'd rather have kids in schools than in jails--it's a whole cheaper for one thing.

Another problem with English-Only mandates is they collide with a wide variety of Supreme Court rulings on the right to equal opportunity in education. This leaves these ballot measures vulnerable to court challenges by anyone who has even a modicum of knowledge about their civil rights. Frankly I think the money and time could be better spent elsewhere.

Most English-Only mandates allow for something called "sheltered English immersion" where students are sequestered in special English development classes during a transition period (not to exceed one year). That sounds reasonable and fair unless you realize that very few people learn English, especially academic English in one year. Even for young children, this is not helpful, as even in kindergarten, their classmates still have a considerable head start in the area of spoken language and grammar knowledge. For older students, especially, this is an academic death sentence--talk about being "left behind". Either way, after one year, students get tossed out into mainstream classes, and sink or swim. Most students sink, by the way, and the numbers prove this.

Another problem is that English-Only initiatives take away the parent's ability to choose language services for their children. Some parents want English-Only instruction, fine, great, they can have that--it's universally available. Others don't. Why should the first group get to decide for everyone? Even more importantly, why should people who don't know or care about English-language instruction get to decide what's best for other people's children?

English-Only instruction is generally intended to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. It's not like anyone is being deprived of opportunities to learn English. The reality is that most people in the US who are learning English right now in a school setting are in some kind of English-only instructional program. Few people even have access to bilingual education resources. In Oregon, a lot of this so-called "bilingual instruction" is really dual-immersion, it takes place in high-profile opt-in programs that wealthy white parents clamor to have their children enrolled in (so their children will grow up speaking more than one language--an attractive feature for those seeking admission to the more discerning colleges).

One thorny problem that's apparent since NCLB was passed is that nearly seven years later, there's still a considerable performance gap between native and non-native English speakers on standardized tests--duh! Why anyone would be surprised by this escapes me. The kids are pretty much set up to fail by this system. But is English-Only instruction the answer? No scientific evidence supports this notion. No researchers (besides the lackeys affiliated with US-English) claim that English Immersion (English-Only instruction) is going to make children fluent in English in one year. Why not? Because it's pure fantasy. It hasn't worked particularly well in the past 40 years, why does anyone really think it would suddenly start working now?

Let's go back to the issue of ability and age. Children come to school with a wide range of abilities and needs. The problem with these English-Only ballot initiatives is that they ignore this reality, and don't specify how schools are supposed to deal with language differences, except by prescribing an one-size-fits-all mandate. This is essentially saying that a newcomer from China who is 16 years old should be placed in a first grade classroom because that's what her English language ability suggests! Umm, I don't see that solution making ANYONE happy.

The biggest problem with these English-Only ballot initiatives is that they don't help teachers do their jobs (ostensibly the point)--they make it harder. Aside from the financial implications of having to scrap successful existing programs and waste money on ordering new materials to comply with legal mandates (which takes time and money away from everyone in the building), it invites parental litigation, wastes teacher's time, and takes attention and resources away from other valuable school reforms.

The News Round-up

No work today for me means I get to talk smack on the internet, yay!

I hate to say it, but I didn't know the man even had a heart!
"Cheney experiencing abnormal heart rhythm" WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, was experiencing an recurrence of an abnormal heart rhythm and will undergo a hospital procedure on Wednesday afternoon to address it, his spokeswoman said.

On a related note, is a vote for McCain really a vote for Sarah Palin? This guy's got lots of health issues too...

Bottled water not so pure? A study finds two brands of bottled water are "no less polluted than tap water." I wish I could wean B- off this stuff...every bottle gets recycled, but as an environmentalist, I hate the very idea of encouraging someone out there to keep manufacturing more plastic bottles, and you would not believe how over-packaged this stuff is. A case usually comes wrapped in thick plastic, and usually has even more on the inside around clusters of bottles. It's totally ridiculous. I don't get the attraction myself, I'm perfectly happy drinking our city water out of the tap (it tastes pretty good to me, and there's nothing profoundly wrong with it). On the plus side, I suppose, if he's going to have this vice, I'll just be grateful that he's drinking WATER (which is at least healthy) and not soda like most other Americans.

Bush, Paulson say economy's rebound will take time, but it would be really nice if they hadn't gotten us into this whole mess in the first place. Am I the only one not noticing that every time we have a Republican in office, the economy ends up in shambles?

a good day in behavior class

Today was one of my best subbing days ever! And it was in a behavior class, of all things! (For those of you not in the know about special education and its myriad permutations, "behavior class" is a support classroom that some schools have for children with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.) Admittedly, the very sound of working in a "behavior class" is pretty intimidating, and the labels the kids have make it even more so. The thought of spending a day with adolescents with behavioral disorders is usually not high on most sub's list of preferred assignments, but this year, I'm all about being more open-minded, trying new things, and broadening my repertoire of experiences.

This year, I told myself that I will try pretty much anything that's not completely out of my league (totally unfamiliar content areas like higher math, or things like campus supervisor/security, school secretary, or school nurse--all positions that require either specialized training or specialized licenses). This of course includes a long list of things that I used to find really intimidating when they came up in the past: specialized autism programs and social communication and behavior programs. I've learned that as a mere sub, you aren't expected to know everything about these areas, so taking one of these assignments is not half as intimidating as it sounds at first. This is my third school year of doing this, and one thing that I've learned is that as long as you can go with the flow, relate with kids, resolve to do no harm, and can keep an open mind (and a cool head), you won't ever end up in any situations that you can't handle. And if you do, there's usually support from someone else. Usually, people are just so happy that you've volunteered to be there (not many people choose to be--because of the labels) that they are beyond helpful and nice. And when they're not, it's just one day of your life, and you know not to go back to that school ever again.

When I picked up this job, I had no idea what grade level I was facing, or even where the school was. The only concern I had at the time was getting paying work lined up for the next day. It turns out I've worked at the school (a middle school) before, and I realized that as I pulled into the drive, but it was back in my bus-riding days. Driving there from my end of town was tricky, and took awhile because I kept getting lost. Mapquest directions didn't help so much for this location, but I did make it on time and that's all that really matters. I got a bit of flak from the office staff about my headscarf (umm yeah, I'm the original gangsta around here), but nobody else seemed to care. I know they have a lot of rules about this kind of stuff, but come on, what gangster would be caught dead dressed like a teacher with a flowered headscarf? A lot of kids think adults are ridiculous, and some of the time, I'll admit I have to agree with them.

One thing I love about this school as that it's a PBIS school, and that makes life so much easier. I did my student teaching in a PBIS school, and that makes discipline so much easier. The kids in these schools tend to be a lot more courteous and cooperative and it makes life so much more pleasant. As I recalled, from before, the kids at this school were very polite and helpful, and this was true even of the kids in the behavior classroom.

I had a great day. Most of the kids in the program spend the majority of their day in mainstream classrooms, so I got to do a lot of different things throughout the day (including go spend time in a number of science and math classrooms). I was pleased to see that in most of them, the students truly were having a mainstream classroom experience--they weren't isolated, but rather participated fully in the class, and interacted normally with peers around them. There are some really cool things going on in this school, and some of the teachers I saw were very engaging and had well-functioning classrooms. The lead teacher was extremely good at his job, and I really enjoyed watching him interact with the kids and talk them down from defiant episodes. He clearly has cultivated a good relationship with his students, is very effective at what he does, and has an amazingly organized and effective program. At one point, he had to leave me alone in the room to go to the office (don't panic, I hold a teaching license), which at first had me worried--but needlessly so. The kids knew exactly what to do, and did it on their own--my presence was a mere legal formality. Basically, it was a fun day for me, and I had a lot of opportunities to do all of those things that make teaching fun for me.

I guess what I learned today was that the old saying is true: you can't judge a book by its cover, or kids by their labels. It's good to be open-minded when you're out there subbing. Sometimes the AP English class at the IB school will give you a much harder time than a classroom with a group of kids with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders (at least the members latter group are receiving help and support with their issues). It also means that later on if/when I ever get my own classroom, and an IEP comes across my desk with "EBD", I won't panic. It's not the end of the world.

People ask me all the time why I am willing to do so much subbing "out of area"--most other people don't, after all. I'll admit that some of the considerations are purely economic (a simple equation where work equals pay), but that's not the only reason. Although these subbing assignments may sometimes seem like they have nothing to do with my licensure area (language arts), they do teach me a lot about kids, acceptance, and being more effective in my work as a whole. As Forrest Gump says, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get," and I feel that this is especially true in teaching.

Salsa de Tomatillo Fresco

One thing that I've discovered is that tomatillos (Physalis) are amazingly easy to grow here in the Pacific Northwest, the only trouble being the eternally long wait for them to reach maturity. If anything, they seem to do much better than regular tomatoes, yield beautifully, and like any worthy plant, more or less take care of themselves.

Now we've reached the time of year where frosts are likely, and although we haven't had a serious frost, I've already seen some evidence in the garden of things that have been nipped a bit by the colder nights. This of course is motivation to get out there and pick anything that's ripe, and plan on doing something with it. The fact that work has been minimal lately makes this all the easier.

I tend to like my weird "purples"-I used to grow scarlet okra back in Tennessee (can't grow that here), purple potatoes, purple pole beans, and now Purple De Milpa Tomatillos. This year I grew Purple De Milpa Tomatillos that I ordered from Seeds of Change a couple of years ago.
Purple de milpa tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) have been a worthy addition to the club. Less needy than tomatoes, they get about knee-high with a nice purple tinge on the plant, and form lots of tomatillo husks that turn purple and fill out nicely with a tomatillo inside that starts out green, but becomes more and more purple as it ripens. Beyond starting them in my greenhouse, I don't do too much to them once they're in the ground except stand back and let them grow. If you want to grow them to make salsa, you would need at least three or four plants. They aren't determinate, they ripen one a time, yielding a few every day. Since I like to make salsa verde a gallon at a time, I just pick them as they ripen, and freeze them in bags until I have enough to bother with.

I always wondered how to make salsa verde, which I like very much, but have never found a commercial preparation that I'm especially fond of (too hot, or too salty, or too watery). Fortunately, making it from scratch is pretty easy, so long as you have tomatillos. I use Leticia Guerrero's recipe from Secrets of Salsa. You need a pound of tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, chiles, 1 avocado, and salt. I omit the avocado because those are very expensive here by the time tomatillos are ripe, but I bet it's good. I like to add a bit of lime juice. Her recipe calls for raw tomatillos, but I like to cook them first. My usual method is to put the tomatillos in my largest cast-iron skillet and let them slow cook in the oven until they get mushy. Then I drain off the excess juice, and toss them in the food processor with everything else and blend well. If I have enough, I put it in jars and can it. This year, I probably will just freeze a little.

hack hack cough

Well, it's official, I've got my first cold of the season...ugh!

funny

I thought this was amusing in a Rocky and Bullwinkle sort of way. To get in line for your T-shirt, go to http://skreened.com/moosesagainstpalin.

Job Interview Questions for Substitutes

In case anyone was wondering, these are some of the most common questions I've been asked at job interviews, both for classroom teaching positions and for substitute teaching.

Q1. What are the 3 most important rules you would set up in a class room?

A: (I've actually got 5) Mine are: No electronic devices unless you want me to have them, Be responsible for YOU, Use class time wisely, Keep it clean (this means both language and picking up after yourself), Raise your hand if you need anything. Feel free to steal them if you like, they're simple and they work well for me.

Q2. What and how will you prepare for a substitute assignment?

A: If I actually know where it is in advance, I'll try to contact the teacher and see what they need me to accomplish--especially on multi-day jobs. The info is easy to find online. I'll also glance over the school's website and see if there's any useful information there. If the assignment is in grade level or subject area I'm familiar with, I'll bring in some of my resources/relevant activities/time killers for that grade level and subject. For all jobs, I have a bag that's ready to go with my clipboard (indispensable), lots of scrap paper for writing on, extra pens and pencils, games or "fun stuff" that works for a wide range of ages, and maybe some candy for the kids.

Q3. What would you do if the is no lesson plan left for you?

A: It's happened before--and it will happen again. If it's a subject area I know well, I do a review lesson of some sort, read aloud to the kids, or play an educational game that deals with the material they are studying. If it's an unknown subject area, it's usually a variation of silent reading time/study hall where the choices consist of working quietly on finishing work/reading/writing/drawing. If it's a group I'm really enjoying, I'll teach them how to do something fun (like write in Japanese) or have them teach ME something they're interested in. In ESL classes, we usually play language games.

Q4. What report/information would you leave for the teacher?

A: I usually leave a basic summary of the day (awesome/good/okay/not so good/nightmarish), what the students accomplished (or a note that states what lesson plan items weren't completed and why), and attach all work that was turned in. I also leave a list of kids who were exceptionally helpful and polite, and notes about who was having trouble staying on task or behaving appropriately. When I have a very difficult class, and only a few people are really on task, I walk around quietly with a list (Working Hard and Getting Things Done) and have individual kids sign their names if I think they deserve to be on it. Then I attach that with a note that the teacher can assume that if someone isn't on there, they weren't doing a very good job that day. If I enjoyed the job, and want to do it again in the future, I leave them my contact info so they can request me if they wish.

Q5. How would you deal with a student who is acting out?

Usually it's easy. Sometimes acting out is just a kid's way of letting you know they don't know what to do--for whatever reason. I usually just walk over and clarify what they should be doing, ask them if they need help, and if not, ask the offender to get back to work. If I have a problem again, I give them a reminder that they know what they need to be doing, and suggest that they can move seats (to a seat of my choice) if where they're sitting isn't working for them. That usually takes care of it, but if it doesn't I simply move them. Only rarely do I need to do more than that, but the next step is usually a private chat and a warning that the next time we talk it's going to be about detention or whatever the school consequence is for class disruption. I've only had go past "private problem solving chat" a couple of times.

I also ignore a lot of attention seeking behaviors as they usually extinguish quickly if you don't add fuel to the fire by putting on a good show. Kids will occasionally blurt out random things, act giddy, or say mildly rude or inappropriate things to me to see if/how I'll react. I usually just use my sense of humor in these situations, and remind them that they're in a school setting. They realize that I've got thicker skin than they thought, and usually move on.

Truly defiant cases or kids with serious issues are usually easy to spot, and I just deal with each with a custom set of moves. With these types, the most important thing is to avoid power struggles (you don't want to do work today, fine, I guess that just means you'll have more homework then, oh well), avoid getting caught up in any drama they try to create (if anything extreme happens, just have them removed from class), and to let the small stuff go.

Q6. How would you take control of a class?

I make sure I have everyone's attention and have fully established the "what we're doing and why we're here" kinds of stuff, then deal with the "trouble spots" as soon as they arise. Usually just laying out your expectations and enforcing them is enough with most groups, but occasionally you'll get a class that is determined to play around and waste time.

Usually this happens when you sub for a teacher that runs a fairly unstructured class, so they haven't learned how to work together effectively. When that happens, I start withdrawing privileges (the fun group work assignment turn into an in-class quiz perhaps, and instituting more structure like eliminating free choice seating, and goodbye to breaks/free time. A couple of times I've had to re-seat the entire class. Another favorite move to clamp down on goofing off is to arbitrarily make all homework an in-class assignment that's due at the end of the period. Instead of the usual one or two kids that are really good about getting their homework done early, about half of the class will complete everything that was assigned for class DURING class.

Q7. (The interviewer asks how you would handle a hypothetical scenario--usually about a kid acting up or a difficult parent encounter)

If you don't have a relevant example from a school setting, talk about a difficult customer service moment you've had.

Q8. Tell me about yourself. (usually this is the first question)

Make sure to mention that you like kids (you do, don't you? If not, you might really want to find another career because you won't be very successful at teaching if you don't enjoy being around kids all day long). Most administrators want to know that you are good with kids--as well as academics.

Changing of the Guard

About ten years gone, like fields gone dry,
Everywhere there's sorrow for those who've died,
Desperate people who can no longer breathe,
Lives that have faded like the falling leaves,

In the marketplace, greedy thieves, hungry for more power,
Dealing out their shady deals, hour after hour,
They laughed with their glee, destroying liberty,
Pulled a few more pranks, blaming them on "the enemy",

The cold-blooded captains laughed as the people celebrated,
Knowing that nothing they said would ever be debated,
Whose cold deeds and avarice are beyond redemption,
The people unaware of the cruel evasion,

Stirring in every corner of the land, a change in fortune calls,
Dormant anger rising, ready to tear down the walls,
People coming out from the shadows, filled with hope,
Ready to hang the criminals on the end of their own rope

There is hope

I guess it can happen...the economy may be in the toilet, but it IS still possible to get the job of your dreams. Not me, not yet, but just the same, I was elated to hear that a friend of mine was able to get her dream job at a school that's walking distance from home. Yay! There is hope. She deserves it too--she's been a sub/temporary employee for 2 years, which is not something I would have ever seen coming for someone who's very capable and interested in what's typically a hard-to-fill niche of Special Education. It's not like she's in with the rest of the pack clamoring over precious Elementary Ed jobs (I've seen the lines at the job fair, and let me tell ya, the shortest line by far is for Special Education).

I'll probably have a better shot at my dream job (ESL) when I have the full endorsement. In the meantime, it looks like I'm going to be subbing, which has been pretty much of a non-event since there's a hungry horde of hyenas snatching up the few available scraps of work that there are. I can smell the jobs, but I can't even get near them. I must be scraping way at the very very bottom of the priority list for call outs since I never ever get called.

Incidentally, I had my first foray with a behavior class. Yes, I'm still doing a lot of Special Ed, and that's fine with me since I can't do what I want anyway. Special Ed, aside from being blatantly more fun, is a nice change of pace after spending a year dealing with nothing but mainstream kids. In spite of being relatively open-minded about Special Ed, in the past, I've always been rather intimidated by the "behavior" label and I've never been brave enough to pick up any of those jobs before. But last week, I spent part of a day in a behavior class. To my surprise it was way less intimidating than I thought. The kids were actually polite and very nice to me, although you could tell they were a bit lacking in the social skills department--but than again, the same could easily be said of a lot of other people. It was actually a lot of fun, and I'm better at it than I would have thought...I got a lot of complements on my ability to interact/engage with the kids effectively. I think in the future I'm going to go for it a bit more often.

Alas these moments are too few and too far in between. I've worked two days since September, so I'm painfully broke. I'm signed up with two large school districts, and one probably hasn't even finished processing my paperwork yet, so of course I'm not getting calls from them. The other district has been pretty quiet this year.

On the plus side, my mom is coming to visit in two weeks, so I have time to get the house in order before she gets here. Now if I could just get motivated to actually do it. I'd rather spend a week with juvenile delinquents than one afternoon of cleaning...

must be fall...

It's that time of year again-fall. As Tom Waits puts it, "September's reminding July it's time to say goodbye," and it's about the most nostalgic time of year for me, maybe even more so than New Year's Eve. In honor of the return of grey skies and colorful leaves glued to wet sidewalks, here's a poem for fall.

Can you remember the songs we sang,
Walking down streets in the pouring rain,
Old friends lost in spaces filled up with time,
Like leaves, we all blew pretty far from the vine,
Those days seem like a faded dream,
Dreams that now belong to someone else,
Though I seldom get to speak to them,
Nevertheless sometimes I think of them,
Now faces of children peep on Christmas cards I keep,
From my old friends,
Why do I keep wondering if they're doing alright,
Remember when we used to stay out all night,
Old friends turn up every time I hear that song,
Look like people I see on buses, drift away in the fog,
Old friends call sometimes out of the blue,
To see if they can still find themselves in you,
Probably it's just the way things are meant to be,
We drift far away from who we used to be,
All my old friends

Standardized Testing of Kindergartners? Pure evil...

As a person who works with grades 6 and above, kindergarten is a bit of a mystery to me. Aside from outdoor environmental education programs, the only time I ever worked with kinders was entirely by accident, when I found myself rather unexpectedly parked in a dual-immersion kindergarten classroom. The terrifying part of this (aside from the fact that it was kindergarten) was it was so early in the school year that 70% of the Spanish-speaking kids didn't know English yet, the other teacher (also a sub) didn't speak any Spanish, and I don't speak much "escuela" Spanish (what little Spanish I know is "trabajo" Spanish).

I survived, and actually enjoyed sitting on the carpet and in tiny chairs with squirmy kids for one day, in spite of the language barrier. Some things, like crayons, are universal, and gosh darn those little ones are so cute. I will readily admit, though, that I am completely in awe of people who can do this five days a week, 180 days a year. I just don't have that kind of energy and stamina...after that day, I completely passed out on the bus ride home, and probably slept another good hour before attempting to tackle my homework.

With all of that in mind, I was horrified when I first read this bit of news: New York City Begins Standardized Testing of Kindergartners (NY Times, Aug. 27, 2008). How evil is that? I'm not fan of standardized testing, to be sure, as anyone who knows me could easily point out, but even less so when we're talking about instituting this form of torture at such a tender young age. What is wrong with Mayor Bloomberg and his advisors? Are they completely mad? Do they NOT understand the purpose of kindergarten? Are they so out of touch with the realm of childhood? And most importantly, would they advocate doing this to their OWN children? (I bet not!)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: New York City is crazy, and has one of the most dysfunctional school systems in the whole country, and has for years. But I think that New York City's plan to give standardized tests, some as long as 90 minutes, to kindergartners is sheer lunacy, if not outright sadism. What possible reason could justify doing something this harmful? What exactly would it accomplish? Is this just a thinly-disguised plot to punish students in low-performing schools with even more economic sanctions, like we do with countries like North Korea and Cuba?

More importantly, what 4-5 year old could reasonably expected to sit still for a standardized test? Even high school-age kids have difficulty with this. Heck, even I have a hard time sitting still and taking a standardized test-and if there's anything I'm good at, it's taking a standardized test. What "content knowledge" do we really expect to measure in kindergarten, and why? If this is where the standards movement is going, count me out. Measuring high school achievement in math and reading is one thing, but we are totally abusing the trust our kids place in us to act in their best interest if we seriously expect them to do this in kindergarten.

I remember my earliest years of school fondly, in spite of the fact that I was a shy kid. I absolutely loved going to school even though I wasn't wild about the cafeteria food. I got to ride in a huge yellow bus, do some of my favorite things (art projects, coloring, read stories, singing and music, playing outdoors, physical education, etc). I played with kids and made friends. This was clearly when people still believed in discovery learning. We didn't have homework, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish I won't get into right now.

To me, the idea of testing, especially kids of this age, is simply harmful in addition to being misguided. Probably only one kid in a thousand could sit still for a 90-minute test without being tied to the chair. Anyone off the street could tell Bloomberg this obvious fact. You're lucky if you can get 12 year-olds to sit still for 15 minutes, and really lucky if high school students will let you get through a 45 minute lesson without getting antsy. Most adults I know don't even have that kind of attention span, and we've had years of practice.

Whatever happened to kindergarten anyway, and how did it get so divorced from the needs of young children? For some crazy reason, we are doing away with recess in elementary school (insane), and expecting children to sit quietly at their desks for hours. I'm not even a fan of this approach for my high school students.

The idea of testing kindergartners is not only awful, but doesn't seem to have any connection with what we know about how kids learn. Most of us learn new things by watching and doing. Young children do most of their learning through play and exploration. Kids (of any age) don't learn much of anything from taking tests (when was the last time YOU learned something by taking a test on it first?) The idea of testing sound suspiciously like some kind of evil plot to start "tracking" kids at even younger ages than we currently do.

Most healthy children have a natural curiosity about the world that should be nurtured, not squashed. That their love of learning should be annihilated at such a young age saddens me. Do we want children to come to hate school so young? (Trust me, they'll have plenty of time to feel that way later on when they get broadsided by long division and the impenetrable classics.) Why would we put them in situations where they're likely to be "punished" because we've set them up to fail? Why damage their love of learning?

Kids are strangely perceptive, and I've seen far too many kids who experienced way too much so-called "failure" in their early years and internalized it in a very unhealthy way. Some of the people that society at large considers "very successful" began in life as terrible students who did not excel in academics. Most kids though aren't this lucky, though, and they end up having all kinds of difficulties in high school because of their low self-esteem, and dig themselves into really deep holes that are difficult to pull them out of.

I think teachers (and the general public) should refuse to participate in this sick charade. Right now, the testing is still voluntary, thankfully, and schools can opt out. If you are in NYC, don't participate in this harmful hypocrisy! Children deserve better than that.

another day, not another dollar

I've definitely been writing in here more lately. You could attribute it to the fact that I've got way more time on my hands than during any point in the last year and a half. Now that I'm not currently involved with school, and not working to the extent that I would like, I've got time to do a lot more writing.

Today I woke up at 5 A.M. hoping to find something, anything, posted on subfinder, but no. It was dead as Walmart on Christmas day. Then for the briefest instant, there was a listing for a half-day job in a classroom that I just love working in, but it got snatched up quickly. I couldn't even get near it, and with all the other unemployed piranhas out there, I didn't even stand a chance...Hopefully this won't go on forever--I just signed on with another district, so hopefully my odds of not sitting at home everyday will at least double.

So with this unexpected time on my hands, on a Monday--no less, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that it's 7 A.M., I've been up for 2 hours already, and am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. If I had a job today, I'd be there, signed in, and trying to decipher the schedule and locate the classroom.

Thinking back to other sub jobs and student teaching, I've noticed that the kids that usually turn out to be my favorites, are usually the ones that are labeled as troublemakers. I was talking to someone the other day and this topic came up. Maybe my sympathy comes from the fact that I was no angel in my school days either. Maybe it's because I can relate to the urge to be a bit of a punk (although I was never the type to mess around with subs--I saved all that energy for my regular teachers).

Time after time, school after school, the "bad kids" usually end up being the ones I have the best luck with. This always amazes other people, and I'm always getting interesting comments from other teachers such as "they were so good for you today," or "usually they terrorize the other subs," or "he never cooperates with ANYBODY" . Even when I find them hopelessly immature, or completely goofy, the "bad kids" tend to be the most interesting. The "good kids" and the "smart kids" are usually not as much fun. If they aren't being an absolute pain in the butt, they're just not as much fun for me because they often don't need or want any help.

For me the whole point of teaching is helping kids get better at something, so I like being able to dig in, help, and watch the students start to "get it" and progress to doing it on their own. It's really gratifying to watch this process unfold, and almost every day has moments where I can see this happening right in front of me. When I get the ones who already know how to do everything, then I feel like all I'm doing is supervising or babysitting. Don't get me wrong, that's part of the job too, but I'm less interested in this aspect. This is why I love picking up remedial classes and ESL gigs. If they're there, it's because they need the most help. A lot of teachers avoid this kind of work because you get a lot of behavior problems when you're working with kids who have experienced a lot of failure, frustration with academics, and have low self-esteem and a lot of poor strategies for coping with the above. You do have to do a lot more work initially with trust building and cultivating relationships and all that, but it can be so gratifying in the end when it all comes together and the resistance drops and the learning starts to happen.

sigh.

Instead of spending the day with a new group of kiddos, I'll be staying home and cleaning the house...

ORELA

well I finally took the ORELA, Oregon's content-knowledge test for middle school teachers and others who teach at the secondary level in self-contained classrooms. Uggh. Glad that's over with...taking a multiple choice test in a room with no natural lighting is NOT a fun way to spend a Saturday.

The ORELA's kind of weird. In some ways it's almost hard, and at the same time, very easy. I can't explain it, except to say that the questions have a strange feel to them.

I think the part that's the most strange about the ORELA, in my eyes, is that it covers quite a lot of (what I consider to be) high school-level material. Now I realize they've beefed up a lot of the curriculum. I realize that instead of coloring pictures and playing with toys, kindergartners are now being tested in Mathematics (I'd love to know that that looks like). I realize that kids are starting to take chemistry as early as 8th grade (we certainly didn't in my day, thank god). But the last time I checked, NOBODY was teaching economics in middle school. So I think it's really kind of weird to get econ questions on the social studies portion.

The language arts section, on the other hand, is way too easy, and doesn't include enough grammar/mechanics/syntax questions. This pains me because I think a lot of kids come to high school without enough background in this aspect of language arts--I see it all the time, and it just drives me crazy. This is the aspect of language arts that I feel gets a bit neglected, which is unfortunate because being able to write grammatically-correct compositions is something kids absolutely need to learn how to do. What I secretly suspect is there are enough teachers out there (who are weak in this area themselves) that are perpetuating this tendency that it's going to continue. Sadly, high school is far too late to start an intervention for this sort of thing.

Maybe I'm just crabby because I spent most of my Saturday (and $80) to take another standardized test. I still have the ESL Praxis to look forward to... Everyone I've talked to says it's hard, but I'm one of those crazy types who is good at linguistics, and surely by now I know enough about ESL and language in general that I should do fine.

an election note-make sure you're registered

One thing that I think is absolutely crucial to mention right now, is that it's of the utmost importance to ensure your voter registration status is current. If you live in a state where you go to a physical location to cast a vote (polls), make sure your information is current by contacting your local office of the state election commissions. If you live in Oregon, you can easily confirm online that your voter registration status is active by going to:

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/eim/vr/showVoterSearch.do

In this historic upcoming election, you can't make a difference if you have a lapsed registration, or your information on file is old and outdated.

teaching and extroversion

One thing I've noticed is that I'm pretty different from a lot of other teachers, and one of the key differences is that I'm a lot more introverted than most teachers I know.

A lot of people would argue (convincingly) that you have to be an extrovert to be a good teacher, or to enjoy teaching. Sounds pretty logical, since as a high school teacher, you can potentially spend your day with around 150 kids, not to mention all the staff members you interact with outside of your teaching time. But I have to disagree.

While I am decidedly not extroverted, and generally prefer keeping to myself, talking as little as possible, and tend to maintain a somewhat detached state, I don't have any problem whatsoever relating to most kids. Although I interact with students in an entirely different way than a more extroverted teacher might, I get pretty good results doing it my way, and on my terms. Someone asked me once "how do you do that" (get the response out of kids that I do), and really I don't know. It just kind of comes naturally, I guess. It's not something that I do a whole lot of thinking about. I think it's just a frame of mind.

As a more introverted individual than the vast majority of my colleagues, I probably do have to put a bit more effort into my teacher persona, but it's not something that I particularly struggle with. I kind of enjoy getting to play another version of myself. One thing I learned during student teaching is that I can get real uppity and lay it down when I need to, and if anything, it's probably more effective because I'm not like that all the time.

I think part of the reason that it works for me, in spite of my introvert tendencies, is that I have enough mental energy to think deep thoughts AND interact with groups of teenagers, grade their papers, redirect their off-task behaviors, and simply chat. So while I am the sort who would definitely rather read a book than do anything that involves large crowds, I do genuinely enjoy the time I spend working with kids.

Will work for...

After fretting for the past week about the lack of work in my life, I pulled a posting off Subfinder right before I hit the hay. This was a nice little number over at BHS, and in spite of having to get up incredibly early (the downside of picking up HS jobs), it was not a bad way to spend my Friday. I like working in High Schools,I totally enjoy teenagers, and I got to spend my day working with a funny bunch of kids. Unfortunately I ended up doing a lot of math, which is NOT my forte, but it wasn't the end of the world. (Glad the kid who was doing calculus homework didn't try asking for assistance though!)

This was one of my first assignments where I was exposed to BLC. It's not as scary as I would have thought. Maybe I'll be more open minded about this in the future.

Overall the kids were pretty nice to me and a few were downright helpful. A few were antsy as well, but nothing that's out of my depth. Compared to the 2005 crew, these guys were pretty tame. Thankfully, I haven't gotten completely rusty...

Being around teens all day reminds me that I wish I could have had my OWN classroom this year, but since my mother wants to visit soon, I'm glad I have the flexibility to take a whole week off without inconveniencing anyone other than myself (If I'm not working, I'm not getting paid). If I were teaching, it would probably be an ESL class, and a lot of subs won't touch that assignment with a 10 ft pole. I don't know what's more intimidating for your average sub-a room full of people who don't necessarily speak English-or a room full of Hispanic boys. Personally, I'm fine with either or both.

One of these days, I will have a home.

For now, I'm kind of enjoying the variety. I'm pretty open-minded compared to most of my unemployed compatriots, so I'm hoping I'll get to wear a lot of different hats this year. I just wish there was a little bit more of it. I could use the money. The phone hasn't been ringing much this year. I guess everyone is really healthy.

hot off the press, debate summary

For those of you who missed it: here's a summary of tonight's vice presidential debate

The Debaters: Both dressed in black...

Biden is a very confident speaker talks like a very convincing high school teacher. Very self-assured, authoritative.

Palin is not as good of a speaker, but can clearly hold her own on the podium. Took a decidedly Populist approach. A lot of fear talk. Strong use of repetition in her responses.

2. How would you eliminate polarization in the government.

Biden: McCain lied to us...

Palin: We're mavericks (uses McCain's metaphors). Picks on Obama. I respect you, but...

3. Subprime-who's at fault?

Palin: Blames the lenders (greed, corruption). We're going to deal with the corruption. Let's use a few more metaphors...We need to defend ourselves and do what our parents told us (individual/personal responsibility).

Biden: McCain acted surprised by the subprime crisis. Deregulation is not the answer.

Palin: We need to cut taxes. Cutting taxes will create jobs. Government needs less money. We need tax relief.

Biden: McCain voted for all these same bills but that's . She didn't answer the question.

Palin: I want to talk about taxes, and I don't care if I'm not answering the questions. I want to talk about me and how I cut taxes as governor. Goes on and on about taxes until moderator cuts her off.

4. So you want to talk about taxes? Okay...

Biden: We need to be nice to the middle class. If you don't make over 250,000 you will be fine.

Palin: that's redistribution of wealth. What about small businesses? What about patriotism? Let the private sector do its own thing. I want to talk about privatizing healthcare now. We want to have competition in the healthcare market and offer tax credits.

Biden: I'm from Scranton, and I don't think Exxon Mobil deserves a tax break this year. McCain's health care plan is crap.

5. What promises are you not going to be able to keep?

Biden: We're gonna have to halt tax cuts, and slow down, we're not going to support any more corporate tax cuts. We're going to go after deadbeats.

Palin: McCain isn't two faced. I want to talk about energy. In 2005, Obama voted for tax breaks for oil companies. Back in Alaska, I had to break up the party. We're not getting our cut as a state. I haven't promised to do anything, except do the right thing.

Biden: Why is McCain planning on giving Exxon Mobil another tax cut then? I want to give the entire country what the people of Alaska...

Palin: Wall Street is corrupt. We need to thank John McCain for warning people that this was happening. We need to put politics aside. It's a toxic mess.

Biden: Barack Obama has always been on top of the subprime mortgage market. McCain acted suprised about it. We want people to stay in their homes. We don't want banks to collapse. We want to help people but the Bush administration is not interested.

Palin: I want to talk about energy some more. I want to talk about the 2005 vote. We need to become energy independent, we need to drill. How dare the east coast tell us what to do? We need energy independence.

6. Climate change? What is true, what is false?

Palin: Alaska feels the impacts of climate change, some of it isn't manmade. I don't care about the causes. What are we going to do? We've got to clean up this planet and get other nations involved. I was the first gov to form a climate change subcabinet. Our approach is all of the above. We need energy independence.

Biden: I think climate change is manmade. If you don't understand the cause, how can you come up with the right solutions? John McCain has voted against clean energy 25 times. I believe in coal and nuclear...(Yikes!!!) We can drill all we want, but we'll never meet the demand this way...

(Clear it up, people)

Palin: Drill baby drill! Drilling is safe. All of the above! Nuclear/clean coal!

Biden: I've supported clean coal for 25 years (makes sense, the guy is from a coalbelt state). If all you want to do is drill though, how will that address carbon emissions.

(New question)

7. Same sex marriage/benefits?

Biden: Sure. They should have the same rights. That's what's fair.

Palin: I don't want to redefine the definition of marriage, but I'm tolerant of what consenting adults want to do in their private lives. We should maintain traditional definition of marriage.

Biden: We don't support "gay marriage". That's up to faith community to decide. I'm glad Palin feels the same way I do.

Palin: My answer is the same as his.

(You agree, let's move on.)

8. You both have sons in Iraq. What should the exit strategy be?

Palin: Our plan, troop surge is good. Obama voted against this. Biden, you called him out on it. We have a plan. We have got to win. We need to focus on Afghanistan. We can't quit now

Biden: I think Iraq needs to take more responsibility for themselves. McCain voted the same way as Obama. They both voted against it because of the timeline. We need to draw down the troops. We're spending 10 billion dollars a month and Iraq is running a surplus? That's messed up!

Palin: Your plan is surrender! Is Barack Obama ready to be commander in chief?

Biden: John McCain voted against the same amendment! Let me say it again. He voted against it. I warned them this wouldn't be a short war. John McCain has been dead wrong about this war.

9. Let's move on to Iran and Pakistan...who's more dangerous.

Biden: They're both dangerous. Especially Pakistan they already have nuclear weapons. Iran is about to. The problem I have with McCain is that he's stuck on Iraq. But Al Qaeda isn't in Iraq, they're in Pakistan. What we should be doing is building schools, winning hearts and minds.

Palin: both are dangerous. The terrorists are in Iraq. Petraus said so, so I believe him. Israel is in danger. (She says "nuculear" like Bush!) I think Obama doesn't realize how dangerous Iran is. McCain has a fashion for diplomacy. They hate America! They hate what we stand for. We can't just sit down and talk with them. Diploma is hard work by serious people.

Biden: Diplomacy is sitting down and talking to people. How do you do anything if you won't sit down and talk? If we don't make the effort, how do we expect our allies to make any efforts to support us?

10. What about the Israel/Palestine conflict?

Palin: Two state solution. Israel is our best ally. We'll never allow a second holocaust.

Biden: Our current policy is a failure. Too little, too late. We tried to warn the current administration. Now the terrorists are in charge.

Palin: I'm glad we both love Israel. Yeah there's been huge blunders. You guys do too much finger pointing. We're going to learn from the past and forge ahead--our country comes first (McCain campaign slogan), "maverick"

Biden: How different is John McCain's policy from George Bush? So far it sounds the same to me.

11. Intervention (nuclear weapons)

Palin: (She says nu-cu-lear again, eww). We shouldn't let anyone have them. We need to keep sanctions in place (Iran/North Korea). I'd like to talk about Afghanistan. We need to use the same strategies from Iraq in Afghanistan. We're supposed to be fighting terrorists, and building schools (steals Biden's line)

Biden: Facts matter. The current general says the Iraq policies will not work in Afghanistan. We spend more money in 3 weeks in Iraq than in 7 years in Afghanistan. McCain voted against the comprehensive nuclear test ban.

12. Intervention (Bosnia? Darfur?)

Biden: Yeah, if you want to save lives. Now things are stable in Bosnia and Kosovo. I said Iraq would be a mistake, but I think we should do something about the genocide in
Darfur.

Palin: I'm not used to you Washington outsiders. Are you for the war or against it. I just want straight talk. Who are you for? Obama or McCain. We are in a position to help Darfur.

Biden: John McCain says the same stuff as Dick Cheney.

Palin: I disagree with you. John McCain knows how to win a war. He knows what evil is.

13. "A heartbeat away..." You disagree with your running mate. How would you be different?

Biden: I would stick to Obama's policies. Reiterates Obama's campaign statements.
I agree with everything he has suggested.

Palin: She says nearly the same thing. We don't agree on every single thing. We're a team of mavericks. He has never asked me to check my opinions at the door. Reiterates much of what she's already said. Clean up government. Says "working class" instead of "middle class".

Biden: It's time to remember the middle class.

Palin: I don't want to think about the past, I want to talk about the future. We need to talk about education. We need to fund schools. Teachers need to be paid more. I've got a lot of teachers in family. We need to increase our standards.

14. What do you think the vice presidency is all about....

Palin: I think the vice president should have more authority. Reiterates campaign slogans. Want to work on children with special needs.

Biden: Let's get back to education. McCain has never supported education.

Palin: we should support and cooperate with the president.

15. What is your weakness:

Palin: I can relate to the little guy. I'm a mom. I know a lot about energy policy. Spouts the American exceptionalism line.

Biden: I know what its like to raise kids and deal with real life.

Palin: John McCain is a maverick and a party outsider. We've gotta end partisanship.

Biden: He's not a maverick on...previous administration issues.

16. Can you change your mind when you need to?

Biden: Yes.

Palin: Just because I didn't veto things doesn't mean I agreed with them completely (as a governor). I never compromise on the big things that matter. You gotta walk the walk. You create jobs by lowering taxes. Or you vote for Democrats and kill jobs and raise taxes. I'm an average Joe. I'm proud to be American. We need to fight for our freedoms (quotes Reagan).

Biden: we need change. Cites campaign themes.

I think Biden was the stronger speaker, but nobody really "won"...I think they both were able to get it done on the podium

I'm not crazy

I'm not crazy (don't laugh), but my husband thinks I'm NUTS for combining tuna, tomatoes, and pasta. He was far less than thrilled at the idea of these things coexisting in meal-form. However, if I am crazy for thinking these things are a reasonable culinary undertaking, I am hardly alone in my insanity. Google has 2,360,000 results for (recipe, tuna, tomatoes). I'm guessing the Italians are to blame for this gustatory monstrosity (that actually sounded pretty good to me).

Here's a few samples of similar recipes:

Fusilli with Tuna and Tomato Sauce (ingredients: fusilli, tomato sauce, tuna, capers, lemon peel, pepper, salt, parsley)

Pasta with tuna, tomato and garlic sauce (ingredients: olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, tuna, buter, pasta, parsley, salt, pepper)

Farfalle with Tuna, Tomatoes and Olives Recipe (ingredients: farfalle (bow-tie) pasta, olive oil, anchovies, tomatoes, black olives,basil, tuna)

At the time, I didn't have a recipe, but that's not unusual. Most of my culinary episodes are inspired by what's on hand and instinct, rather than formulaic precision and consistent results.

Q: What do I have a lot of RIGHT NOW that could turn into dinner?
A: Tomatoes (tons), Tuna (tons), basil, pasta

My recipe:

1/2 bag of fusilli from Trader Joe's, boiled in a pot and set aside

(in the skillet)
1 bag misc odd bits of tuna from freezer stash
(in can terms, this ends up being a little more than a can of tuna in oil)
white wine and olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to keep the tuna from sticking to it
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion and
1 clove garlic, minced
1 really large super-ripe heirloom Brandywine tomato cut up into chunks
juice from 1/2 lemon
sea salt to taste
a little bit of olive brine from the olive jar for tang

Once the tomatoes are cooked down, add the noodles, and they'll soak up all the juice. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired. I made this with frozen tuna so I would imagine that if you're using canned, you'd want to add the tuna last so it doesn't get all weird and mushy.

Violence is a means of communication

Violence is a means of communication, a powerful, but very inefficient means of communication.

I get numerous opportunities to think about this a lot when I'm working with non-verbal kids in special education settings. When a person is unable to express their needs verbally, they often attempt to express them physically. This can be positive or negative. Displays of affection are the positive end of the spectrum, and as a teacher you get a LOT of unsolicited hugs in special education. Violence is the negative variety of non-verbal communication. Often, young or immature children tend to do a lot of hitting. Most of the time they're trying to "say" something but don't know a better way When kids (of any age) can't speak at all, often they're prone to hitting, and this can be very problematic once they reach adolescence because they grow stronger, so what began as a playful slap can become much more serious. Worst of all, though, is that adults who don't know how to express their needs in more appropriate ways often resort to violence. I'm inclined to believe that most "violent" individuals are just individuals with poor verbal communication skills.

One thing I often say (and one of my best strategies for preventing violence in school settings), is that prevention is the best offense in many (although not all) situations. Like most things in life, it's better to catch problems early before they escalate. With at-risk teenagers, (many of the kids I've worked with are conflict-prone and thrive on negativity), this stance is critical. I believe that the ability to intervene before things get out of hand helps prevent violence from escalating to the point where non-violent approaches can no longer work. This is why I rarely have serious problems in the classroom.

One of the most encouraging aspects of non-violent communication is that it both prevents escalation, and teaches strategies for better and more effective communication. After all, there's usually more than one way of getting your message across, but some ways are decidedly more effective than others. An example of course is those fun occasions where you have those unexpected interactions with the police. Much of the time, your communication styles have a great deal to do with how that conflict will be resolved.

But how can you prevent violence within your own circle of influence? One thing that almost all violent incidents began with is one very stressed out individual, who becomes increasingly unable to express or get his or her needs met and can no longer cope. Here's some things to watch out for in community members. If you think of a major incident of violence, you can be almost certain that the perpetrator exhibited at least some of these signs:

-Increased use of alcohol and/or illegal drugs as a coping mechanism
-Unexplained change from usual habits or routines
-Decrease in attention to appearance and hygiene
-Depression and withdrawal
-Explosive outbursts of anger or rage without provocation
-Threatening behavior
-Verbally abusive
-Unstable emotional responses
-Paranoia
-Preoccupation with previous incidents of persecution or violence
-Mood swings
-Over-reaction to changes
-Unsolicited comments about firearms and other dangerous weapons
-Repeated violations of community norms
-Fascination with violent and/or sexually explicit material

If someone in your community is exhibiting many of these signs, it's often a cry for help. Part of the problem is that these individuals are unable to get their needs met in appropriate ways, are punished, ignored, or shunned by those who can help them, and end up doing something that is best described as tragic.

Now to take this to a more global perspective:

Now if you want to take the analogy further, substitute "The United States" (or any other "rogue state" for "these individuals". Interesting, yes? I often wonder how many of our conflicts could be resolved if our spokesmen/women were trained in non-violent communication...

funny haha

If you are in need of a few laughs, go check out:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog

That is all.