We tend to take every breath for granted, and the fragility of life never really hits home until we lose someone we love; or even someone we know, for that matter.
Mike West--friend, teacher, coach, colleague, husband, father, student, adviser, mentor--passed away yesterday morning from an apparent heart attack. I don't know many details, but I know this was very unexpected, as most situations such as this are.
I'm not really good at talking about things like this, so I'll encourage everyone to click on HEATHER'S blog over to the the left of this page ("Heather (who sits behind Jo[e]"). She's done a great job of remembering Coach West for many of the positive and humorous details that made him so likable to those of us who know him as an instructor and a colleague. Thanks, Heather.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
mea culpa, readers
Sorry for the interruption in site service. I had to blackball the blog for a day or so for fear of the "immature readers" who may have gotten wind of this outlet while I taught at summer school. Anyhow, I'm finished there now, and hopefully they've forgotten my frustrations. And if they haven't, then, oh well. Water under the bridge.
Truth be told, they weren't all bad kids. It's surprising how a few can really ruin a learning community. I actually had three or four of them come up to me after class Tuesday and say thank you for teaching them and that they learned more from me in a week and a half than any other English class they'd ever been in. Wow. And one young lady even wrote me a note apologizing for her peers' rude behavior.
Now to enjoy the rest of the summer...all is well in the world of blitzkrieg. :D
Truth be told, they weren't all bad kids. It's surprising how a few can really ruin a learning community. I actually had three or four of them come up to me after class Tuesday and say thank you for teaching them and that they learned more from me in a week and a half than any other English class they'd ever been in. Wow. And one young lady even wrote me a note apologizing for her peers' rude behavior.
Now to enjoy the rest of the summer...all is well in the world of blitzkrieg. :D
Monday, June 16, 2008
Abandon all hope...
Bleak and somber thought for the day:
If the fate of our nation rests in the hands of kids the likes of these 8th graders/soon-to-be 9th graders, we're doomed.
What the hell is the matter with the world?
Spitting tobacco in the floor when there's a trashcan an arm's-length away?
Throwing and kicking apples down the hall?
Writing notes about your make-believe sexual escapades on a mountain top (and believe me, I DO MEAN make-believe because I can't even IMAGINE what right-minded female would even CONSIDER a conjugal union with these idiots who write that they're "BOARD" in class)?
Drawing pictures of penises and the "n-word" while I'm up at the board reviewing what a freakin' noun is because they can't even grasp that simple concept?
Shoot me now.
At least I had the pleasure of getting at least three of them kicked out of the program today.
PARENTS, WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS EQUATION? I know middle schoolers are wired for disaster in the first place, but, please people, DO NOT be an enabler by giving that old cliched excuse, "Oh, well, they're just going through a phase; they'll eventually grow out of it..."
NO. THEY WON'T.
Ignorance perpetuates more ignorance. I'm trying my hardest to impart some glimmer of hope and education to at least the ones that care about their future.
I'm never having kids.
I'm going home to my cats. They have more sense than this damn bunch. Gah.
If the fate of our nation rests in the hands of kids the likes of these 8th graders/soon-to-be 9th graders, we're doomed.
What the hell is the matter with the world?
Spitting tobacco in the floor when there's a trashcan an arm's-length away?
Throwing and kicking apples down the hall?
Writing notes about your make-believe sexual escapades on a mountain top (and believe me, I DO MEAN make-believe because I can't even IMAGINE what right-minded female would even CONSIDER a conjugal union with these idiots who write that they're "BOARD" in class)?
Drawing pictures of penises and the "n-word" while I'm up at the board reviewing what a freakin' noun is because they can't even grasp that simple concept?
Shoot me now.
At least I had the pleasure of getting at least three of them kicked out of the program today.
PARENTS, WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS EQUATION? I know middle schoolers are wired for disaster in the first place, but, please people, DO NOT be an enabler by giving that old cliched excuse, "Oh, well, they're just going through a phase; they'll eventually grow out of it..."
NO. THEY WON'T.
Ignorance perpetuates more ignorance. I'm trying my hardest to impart some glimmer of hope and education to at least the ones that care about their future.
I'm never having kids.
I'm going home to my cats. They have more sense than this damn bunch. Gah.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Summer=relaxation (yeah right)
Hawaii was amazing. I hope to be posting some pictures soon. We took about 260 total. As soon as I stepped off the plane in the ATL, reality was back to stare me straightaway in the face.
Two weeks of summer already gone by; where does the time go?? I'm teaching summer school to the annoying 8th graders until next Tuesday. I work the resource/transition room at MEC every Thursday from 3:30 to 10pm (where I am right now). The June SAT administration started today; essays to score when I get home. I still haven't completely unpacked. It's been 90+ degrees this week. Relay for Life is next weekend and I'm team co-captain. AP staff development work is coming up next week. All told, I will have turned in a time sheet for an extra 110 hours for the month of June. Whew. Add that to the extra 95 hours I worked in from my birthday to the end of the school year and I've been one overworked madwoman!
Two weeks of summer already gone by; where does the time go?? I'm teaching summer school to the annoying 8th graders until next Tuesday. I work the resource/transition room at MEC every Thursday from 3:30 to 10pm (where I am right now). The June SAT administration started today; essays to score when I get home. I still haven't completely unpacked. It's been 90+ degrees this week. Relay for Life is next weekend and I'm team co-captain. AP staff development work is coming up next week. All told, I will have turned in a time sheet for an extra 110 hours for the month of June. Whew. Add that to the extra 95 hours I worked in from my birthday to the end of the school year and I've been one overworked madwoman!
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