political rant for the week:

• presidential rhetoric on nclb.
  
• the nea's articles on nclb.
  
• the dept. of ed's views on nclb.
  
• some senators' views on re-vamping nclb.
  

yes, mr. president, kids shouldn't be passed if they don't know the material. it's called "social promotion." good thing that kind of thing doesn't work in the government.

it sounds like ( Read more... )

okay, time for a science rant.

the fact that stars need to be told to check the facts before endorsing stuff is a reflection of the sad state of our society. "say it works and we'll pay you! why would we lie?!"

the general public is willing to follow anyone perceived as an authority figure, be it a preacher, a hollywood star, dr. phil, ( Read more... )

i've been taking a swing dancing class for a coupla months. the first class had over 50 people. it's slowly been whittling down to about 20. this is the second week that i've been the only single person there, and therefore the only one partner-less. tonight, i was standing around, waiting for a partner (swing's kinda hard without the guy ( Read more... )

wanted, rational fashion industry, including:

• sweaters that are not wool, angora, mohair, or cashmere. i'm allergic. also, the fact that a sweater is made from cotton does not limit its design to "ribbed," "turtleneck," and... oh wait, that's all there is.
  
• competent salespeople, who actually know that wool, angora, mohair, and cashmere are all ( Read more... )

...and in other news, there's ideas about our school classrooms.

i work at the largest high school in the state. 3200 kids is a lot of kiddies which requires a lot of teachers, which requires a lot of classrooms. this year, i teach in two classrooms (a large one for chem which has a lab half and a classroom half, and a smaller one for general ( Read more... )

today, i had to teach periods 1, 5, and 7. period 3 was my prep.

period 1 went fine.

15 minutes before 5th period, what does my school-issued mac decide to do? yes, "crash" is the correct answer. it went black without warning and wouldn't turn on again. i panic, try plugging it in (even though the battery meter had read 70% a few minutes prior ( Read more... )

a rant, sparked by this ny times article on the company that makes the SATs.

so now there's a curriculum that schools can buy from the college board. i'm sure this is because the college board isn't making enough money. let's run down part of their price list, shall we?

• PSAT, required for many scholarships -- $12
  
• SAT -- $41.50
  
• SAT subject tests - ( Read more... )

...and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber. heh... bumper sticker wisdom.

portland public schools is having major financial problems. about $24 million problems. part of that is due to a county tax expiring, but this tax was for a limited time and should have been anticipated. the current proposal for fixing next year's budget ( Read more... )

• freshmen. i never wanted to teach freshmen. i feel like a babysitter. they don't care about their work, they don't care whether they try or not (although when their test scores reflect their actual knowledge, they get mad at me), and they won't try. i skimmed through the latest assignment, and 10 kiddies actually wrote "i don't know" on their ( Read more... )

at harvard?! you gotta be kidding me...