You Can Do It

Watch Fast Times at West Philly High on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

This video was long and paced at a "PBS" tempo, but I thought it was important to show my students at the end of the year.

A group of high school students from Philadelphia built two hybird cars in order to compete in an international contest to win $10M.  The team goes on the Today Show and 60 Minutes, gets a visit from the mayor and get mentioned by the president.  The video is a great example of not letting excuses get in the way of your dreams.  That's a lesson that even someone out of college can heed.

Still Making Bank

I never was a big Michael Jackson fan, but there was no denying the man's talent.  Unfortunately, he went from being a performer to being a circus act the last 15 years or so of his life.

In the months after he died, I kept reading stories about how in debt MJ was.  He was spending money like a drunken sailor, even when his album sales and tour dates dried up and ended up incurring a massive debt.

Apparently, after his death, Jackson is making more money than ever.  My kids were quite impressed with his 20,000 square foot warehouse that houses all of his old cars.  See what you think.

Is It That Hard?

From: egusd.net

Is it THAT hard to get to school on time?  I live 25 minutes from school and get to work about an hour before the first bell.  My students live in the same zip code and get to school when they feel like it--with Chick-Fil-A in hand.

Some of my first period students have racked up nearly ten tardies.  On one day alone last week, six of my ten first period kids were late to class.

Apparently, tardies are an issue that nearly every school has.  My current school, my last school, my principals' previous schools, etc.  The high school I attended, however, didn't have that problem.  Why?  Because nine tardies were an automatic F.  Of course, you can't do that nowadays--it would repress somebody.  But are committed to having students come on time or not?  I think I already know the answer.

Good Luck on That

Last week were the annual network television upfronts, where new shows are introduced to advertisers with a bunch of superlatives and flowery language.  The upfronts remind me of spring training: every team is optimistic about its squad and thinks it can play for first place...until the real games begin.  Same thing here.

My classes started by looking at NBC's new shows.  Some look better than others.  Many of my students remarked that the show featured above looks more like a movie than a TV show.  I'm going to guess that a comment like that is a good sign.

The Wrong Profession?

From: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

I consider myself an easy-going guy.  I'm generally in a good mood.  But I've had a couple of episodes in the last week that make me wonder if I'm in the right profession.

Last Sunday, I was leaving church when I ran into a retired teacher in the parking lot.  She asked me how the job was going, and I answered "26 days!"  My response changed her mood.  She said she was sad that a young (ha!) teacher was that disillusioned, and that I should get out of teaching.  I thought she was wrong until...

Tonight, when my wife asked me why I left the gangster magnet school I had taught at for the last six years when I was so unhappy at my new school.  I told her things should get better next year--I still believe that guidance departments haze new teachers by giving them crappy classes.

So was the old lady at church right?

That's Nasty

There are not too many rules in my class, but one of them is "No food and drinks."  One of my classes is really bad about breaking this rule.  I take points off their grade, but they seem to be undeterred in their quest to eat in my class.

Last week, there was a roach in my classroom.  After that, I decided that my classes should watch a segment of the show "Hoarders." These kids don't think they're nasty, but they are:  pick up your trash!

How to Cope

From: psychiatrist.blogspot.com

For whatever reason, the last six weeks of school have been painful.  My previously well-behaved classes are acting like circus rejects, and my horribly-behaved class is acting like...a horribly-behaved class.

How to cope?  I've decided my crazy students need nicknames based on the medication or substance I need to cope with them.  Johnny "Valium" Smith and Freddy "Prozac" Jones have a nice ring to them. I decided to do this after leaving a class two straight days with a splitting headache due to the noise level.  I'm crossing my fingers this works.