The Company Line

From: specialedandme.com

I was at our third district-mandated training for common core standards this week.  We finished our 18 hours of training-whew!  I didn't think I could take any more of this, but then I think of our poor elementary school teachers who get to endure 54 hours of this.

I actually had one really useful session, but since this is a blog, let me complain: during a Q-and-A with our department leaders, I got the distinct impression that nothing will matter much than test scores soon.  Us CTE teachers seem to be late to the party that EOC teachers have already been to.

So what if:
Your student is EC?  Doesn't matter
You teach your students real skills? Doesn't matter
Kids hate week-long reviews? Doesn't matter
Your student had a lobotomy? Doesn't matter
Your student missed 50 days? Doesn't matter
Your student had no arms with which to hold a pencil for said test? Doesn't matter!

Second Concussions

This video didn't really have to do with any content, but I had to let them see the story of a guy that looked like he had it all (good looks, great body, football scholarship) and had two concussions.  The second concussion changed his life.

Fun While It Lasted

From: doin-work.com
 
Just saw an article that said CBS' March Madness on Demand (MMOD) will no longer be free...unless you have cable.  It's OK: you'll still be able to watch the local affiliate's game online for free, but for the other games being played simultaneously you're out of luck.

I guess this was too good to continue.  It reminds me of the early days of the Internet itself, when e-tailers tried to compete with brick-and-mortar stores by offering free shipping, or deep discounts.  Those deals went away in time as well.

The real question:  can I get to MMOD (or NCAA March Madness Live, as it will be called this year) at school?

Grammy Grabber

Showed my students this 60 Minutes segment on Adele--she of the 6 Grammys on Sunday.

Couple of interesting things:

• She suffers enormous stage fright
• She went to work at a record store after winning her first Grammy

I was surprised that some of my students could sing along with Adele's songs.  She's kind of the anti-whatever they listen to.  Adele's not runway model skinny, poster girl beautiful or super flashy--she just belts out tunes with the best of them.

What a Week!

From: huzpages.com

When I first started teaching, I heard a lot of complaints about teaching to the test, numerous outside-of-the-class burdens, etc.  Those things really didn't bother me at first--I didn't know better.  But I became increasingly frustrated this week with all of the duties that have popped up in recent years:

*Professional Learning Communities (1 hour per week)
*Professional Development Plan (several times a year)
*Common Core Essential Standards (3 teacher workdays)
*CTE Completer surveys (a barrage of phone calls)
*NC Falcon (not even sure how much time this is going to take)

I'm sure most of this is in response to the dropout rate/test scores/etc., but I'm not sure how much of this makes me a better teacher.  I've gotten almost nothing out of the above list that gives me tools to use in the classroom, and blaming me for the test scores of kids that have 30-50 absences per semester is liking blaming a doctor for his tobacco-using patient's acquisition of lung cancer.

Underwhelming Super Bowl Ads

Here's a message to all those people that claim they watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials:  why bother?

For all of the hype about the ads in this year's game (including the ones that went viral prior to the game), many of the spots failed to make a dent in my mind.  To be sure, we'll be talking about this in class on Monday.  There were some highlights, like Clint Eastwood and Chrysler (bad ass!) and the Doritos-bribing dog, but I was less than impressed with some of the major advertisers.  Coke and Budweiser, I'm looking at you!  Play like you've been there before!

Killer Soccer Fans

I showed photos from a BBC gallery in my class today, re: the 70+ fans who died at a game this week. 

Another black eye for soccer--I still don't get what incites violence on a scale this massive.  It seems like I would've studied this when I took sociology classes in college, but I guess I missed that lecture.