long black limosine
so out of 82 students who were given the assignment to write me a letter, address an envelope and send it within two weeks of the assignment date, 35 students chose not to. so tomorrow they will sit in the computer lab and write letters to me while others are doing fun holiday research... it's not that upsetting now that i know i can make them do the assignment in class and receive a really low grade on it (just so it's not a zero whew!).
it's sad how my motivations for the kids to get good grades have become so selfish. i just don't want to look bad. because last 9 weeks the principal came to each team of teachers and told us that our grades were somewhat low and we needed to keep in mind that students needed high grades in order for them to feel a sense of accomplishment so that they would work harder to actually earn the grades they received. a little backwards.
it's pathetic. i hate the south carolina -- no wait -- the american school system. it's all about presentation, as if our schools were for people with culinary arts degrees. a certain award given to a school is like a garnish on a magnificent plate of cheesecake beautifully presented... except underneath that cute chocolate sauce is a cake full of maggots and larvae. that's basically what i'm doing, pumping the students' grades up so that the principal won't be upset that the students are lazy or apathetic or slow.
how long will it take for america to actually taste the maggots underneath the chocolate? maybe when someone realizes, "hey, maybe that no child left behind act from pres. bush was just as full of shit as his weapons of mass destruction connection to 9/11. maybe the president -- no wait -- the government doesn't actually know anything about the education system or kids or teachers."
whoa.
completely unrelated -- i made tortilla soup tuesday night and it is the best thing i think i've ever made (well basically i only also make apple pie and that's only 75% of the time apparently). but honestly, i have lots of soup recipes from the library to try out. it's my new escape from housework -- no wait -- my new hobby.
"someone dug a hole six long feet in the ground; i said goodbye to you and i threw my roses down how hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead, i wonder as look at the sky turning red." -- patty griffin