Monday, February 20, 2006

More than 6...

My friend Ms. Cornelius has requested more than 6 words... this is more than six. :)

Anyway, it's been a long time. An excuse? Not really. I've wanted to blog, but haven't taken the step of actually opening up Blogger to write anything. I've even kept away from reading blogs, knowing that I probably wouldn't put out anything of my own. Silly, isn't it?

Regardless, here I am now. What have I been up to? I've resumed my classes for my admin credential, taken on the role of GATE program coordinator for my district, taught my classes as best I could, and did my job as husband and father. ('Course, that last job is the most important!)

So, what have y'all been up to? I've missed you, even though my absence was self-imposed.

Hey, did anyone read the LA Times series on high school dropouts? In yesterday's paper, they had a sampling of responses to the series, one of which said, in effect, that if a pediatrician had a 50% fatality rate amongst his patients, there would be a criminal investigation, so why isn't there one when schools fail to graduate 50% of their students? An interesting point, to be sure. But there is a significant difference: kids who go to the doctor want to get better, but they don't always want to be academically successful. It's easy to say, "Oh, the schools are failing our children!" It's a lot harder to say, "Oh, our children are failing in school because they don't friggin' care!"

3 comments:

Dan Edwards said...

Bravo ! Schools don't fail, its a group effort....parents, students, and community. I have, in my 20 something years of teaching and 12 + years as a student, encountered few very bad teachers.....AND, if there is a bad teacher in a school, then dammit, it is part of the principal's job to wither help that teacher get better at teaching or get them out of the classroom. Administration needs to do their job!

Why are you district GATE coordinator? Do you get paid extra for this? I am looking for tips in helping my high achieving students (who are usually in GATE L.A. and maybe a our one "higher-level-than-the usual-basic-math-class" apply themselves more and learn more in my social studies classes. Thanks!

"Ms. Cornelius" said...

Wow! Busy busy busy.

I am home today with a sick 6 year old. If I have to watch a show about a kid named Diego ONE MORE TIME, I am going to wig out.

But good to have you back. Now stay in the groove!

Jim Connolly said...

Diego! My kids love Dora the Explorer, but I haven't had the pleasure of seeing many of the Diego episodes. We spend most of our viewing time with the Playhouse Disney/ Disney Channel lineup. One of our current favorites is Little Einsteins, and of course there's always Thomas the Tank Engine!
I hope your little one is feeling better soon. We've been pretty lucky health-wise so far this year (knocking furiously on wood!), but I've used way more sick days on my kids than on myself over the last 5 years.