"oh brother"

New Best Friend

My new best friend is first grader Julio.  We chat in the morning and we chat at lunch.  He really loves to chat.  Every day he seems to have a new joke for me.  I don't have the heart to tell him, but his jokes need some work.  The other day he asked me "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"  I guessed the chicken.  He said, "That's right."  He's so adorable!  Today we were chatting about reading and books.  I invited him to come to my office and borrow some of my books.  I told him I had a library in my office.  I don't think he believed me.  At lunch he came into my office to check out my books.  He looked at my books and said, "Dayummmmm."  How could you not have the biggest smile after that?  I love my new best friend!

Go Yankees!

The Dodgers are done for the year.  I'm not an Angels fan.  Ick.  And I'm certainly not going to route for the team that prevented the Dodgers from going to the World Series...so, that leaves the Yankees.  At least for this World Series, I'm a Yankees fan!  I need at least a few more weeks of baseball.

Chicken Breath

Today was baked chicken and mac 'n cheese day in the cafeteria.  Needless to say, the kids were very excited.  I have to admit, mac 'n cheese gets me excited too!  We're having a problem with some kids getting their lunch and then immediately throwing it away, thus not eating.  Not good.  Cyd pointed out one of the chronic lunch dumpers to me.  So, I told him that he'd better eat his lunch and that I would check out his breath to make sure he ate the chicken and mac 'n cheese.  About ten minutes later, he came up to me and invited me to smell his breath so I could check to see if he ate his chicken and mac 'n cheese.  I told him that I would take his word for it.  I'm not going to add breath smelling to my ever expanding list of school duties.  Nope.  Sometimes kids just crack me up!

From Time.com

Check out this article from Time.com.  The Time article discusses the effectiveness of the country's schools of education.  A couple days ago, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, gave a speech that indicated schools of education were not doing a good job of preparing teachers for the classroom.  Thinking back to my own teacher preparation, I can't remember taking a "this is how you become a good teacher 101" class.  I had a seminar on classroom management...that class should have been a little longer.  I was very fortunate to have been a college aide for several fantastic teachers who modeled great teaching for me.  I also had two outstanding master teachers who taught me many valuable skills that helped to prepare me for the classroom.  A lot of what I know about teaching and learning I learned as I did my teaching thing.  I also learned a lot from collaborating with my colleagues. 

I mean really, ALL the schools of education suck?  It seems lately that dumping on teachers and public education is coming back into fashion.  I'm not cool with that.

Must Read Articles from Today's L.A. Times

Superintendent spreads the gospel of 'value-added' teacher evaluations
In Tenn. and N.C., Terry Grier adopted and expanded a statistical method of tracking student progress. Union resistance scuttled more modest efforts in San Diego, mirroring a brewing national debate.

Commonly asked questions about the 'value-added' approach to teacher assessment

A New Vid From One of My Favorite Youtubers

A new vid from one of my favorite Youtubers, Soundlyawake...enjoy!

WTF?

This was sort of a WTF? weekend.  Remember back in the day there were the little motorized cars that kids would drive around in the yard or on the sidewalk in front of the house?  On Saturday, as I was leaving work, I noticed what looked like an old lady driving one down PCH...in the street!!  WTF?  Later that evening as I was on my way home from running my normal Saturday errands, I noticed a guy driving his motorized recliner.  Yes, a motorized recliner.  He even had a drink in his hand.  WTF?  I've discovered a new website http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.  I love it.  On the site there are pictures of quirky looking people who happen to shop at Walmart.  No offense to any of you who are quirky and/or Walmart shoppers.  During my weekly trips to Target, I've started to notice many quirky and flat out scary people.  Maybe I should start snapping some pictures and posting them on a website.  I guess quirky and scary people are everywhere.  Dare I say even at Macys.  WTF?

Finally!

I'm Digging This Tune

From Today's L.A. Times

An education problem looms
In a time of layoffs, the state hopes to inspire a new generation of educators
 
Read the article.