180 To Go

From: 4.bp.blogspot.com

Monday is our first day of school.  We had five days of workdays, and that still wasn't enough time to get ready.  I had electricians in my room all day the first day I came back to school, then had furniture delivered on Friday, right as I was about to go to our football game.  Right now, I have no computer or printer hooked up in my room, so I had to spend Sunday night printing Monday's material--on my dime!

This is the most prepared I've been content-wise since I've started teaching.  Both the preps I have this fall are for classes I taught last year, so I don't have to do any daily scrambling to have something ready to go for class.  In the spring, I'll have to teach the regular marketing class for the first time, but I won't worry about that until Christmas break.

Other than not having working computers, the only thing I'm not looking forward to this week is having giant classes.  In the spring, my principal told me my department barely avoided the chopping block, yet I have 30 kids in both my sports marketing classes.  Huh?  If my classes are bursting at the seams, then where is the problem?  My career high for students in a class is 29; I hope something happens this week that keeps me from breaking that record.

Why I'll Be Watching Fox Sports 1 This Weekend

From: chicagonow.com

One of people I follow on Twitter posted this list from BuzzFeed on all the stupid things ESPN has aired over the years.  I had already grown tired of the Tebowthons and LeBronathons that seem to rule ESPN's rundowns (prior to those two, it was Farveathons), and had forgotten about many of these doozies. This list sums up why I'll at least give Fox Sports 1 a chance when it begins airing this weekend.

I See a Pattern

From: cloudfront.net

In light of the suicide of a reality TV show cast member, The Hollywood Reporter put together a photo gallery of 25 (!) reality TV show personalities that have died of unnatural causes.  Damn!

I'm not a watcher of most reality shows, so I wasn't familiar with most of the names.  It was shocking, however, to see how many of the 25 who had died by their own hand--11, by my count.  I'm not sure what the national suicide rate is, but has to pale in comparison to the rate of suicide by these folks.

So, what's the deal?  Is there something about being a part of these shows that drove these people to suicide, or are people with mental issues drawn to being on these shows?

What Are We Here For?

From: bloguin.com

Poor NCAA.  They seem to get battered from left to right, from the BCS setup to unfair enforcement of rules to making gobs of cash.  The last issue seems to be the one that many people have an issue with.  It goes like this: it's not fair that colleges rake in all of this money from TV deals, ticket sales, merchandising, etc. and the student-athletes can't even get "walking around money."

Yes, the poor student-athlete: the one that has multi-million dollar facilities (see: Oregon) to work out and study in, an army of tutors and academic support specialists to help with homework, and instant name recognition when applying for a job after school.  Oh, and going to school itself is free.

For the anti-NCAA crowd, even the notion of a free education is poo-poohed.  To many of them, the education is worthless if the student-athlete doesn't value it.  I would buy that argument 10 years ago, but not today, with the APR keeping a huge name like UConn out of the basketball tournament because its team graduation rate is too low.

Yes, it's disconcerting that the NCAA and its member institutions make and spend as much money as they do.  But, at the end of the day, who's fault is that?  Mine, and every other ticket buyer and donor that demands that coaches win...or else.

Dear Famous White People,

It may not be obvious yet (Paula Deen, Riley Cooper), but you can't say the "n" word without serious repercussions. You can lose your job (Deen) or lose face with your teammates (Cooper).  As I tell my students, there are several words which will get you in immediate trouble in 2013, one of them being the "n" word.

As a handy reference, here are some other words you need to avoid in contemporary society:

• the "f" word (when describing homosexuals or effeminate behavior)
• the "g" word (see above)
• the "r" word (when describing stupid acts or stupid people)

Even black guys (Rob Parker, Hugh Thomas) get in trouble for not toeing the line when it comes to using racial language.  Keep that in mind when you attempt to touch the third rail of American language.

Sincerely,

Rambling CTE Teacher

Bring Your Own Toy

From: relaventchildrensministries.com

Just finished three days of training on Mobile Learning Communities and Bring Your Own Device.  This was after I had taken six online classes this summer on the same topics.

I took these classes because...I will sign up for anything!  But seriously, if our students are bringing computers to school everyday in their purses and pockets, the least I can do is help them do something useful with it.  It's still shocking to me how little my students know how to do with technology (e-mailing attachments, researching, etc.).  During this new school year, I hope that I will figure out some way to help my students gain employable skills with their lil' computers.