Sorry

It would seem that I don't quite have the time/motivation/whatever to keep this whole thing up and running right now.

Sorry.

Frustration

I know that I continue to neglect this blog. I think I just need to work back into posting.

Life around here has been very frustrating lately. We live in a city that is constantly promising new and exciting things are just around the corner. When we first moved here there was a great deal of discussion regarding a rail system connecting parts of the triangle. A year and a half later, the plans seem to have fallen apart. Also, there seems to be big plans to revive downtown and turn it into a place people want to be. A year and a half later everything is still completely torn up and I am not aware of any new businesses moving in.

Despite all that, we have found some places here that we enjoy hanging out. Places were we can sit outside and have some coffee or a beer (depending on the time of day) and enjoy ourselves. Two of our favorites have been Joe & Jo's, a small restaurant/bar that specialized in friendly attitudes, and Fowler's, a deli/market coffee shop that is a great place to bring a book, drink some quality coffee and listen to nice live music. Within the last week both have closed without warning. Although Joe & Jo's is only five years old or so, Fowler's had been in business for over 80 years.

I don't really know how to replace these two spots. A city that has constantly claimed to be expanding seems to be closing down around us. If we had not just purchased a house over the summer, I would be very temped to look into moving.

Back

Thanksgiving is over and I can finally get back to posting again. Hopefully anyone who actually read this before is still around.

Over the long weekend we traveled out west to visit my parents. I was away from the internet and television for most of the time and I hope I didn't miss out onanything too important in the world. I am more than caught up on the world of Denver Broncos football, however.

Now just a few more weeks until our next break.

Tomorrow I should have something to say about the recent NSTA activity...

(it is good to be back)

Holiday

Now that the pile of papers has been cleared out, the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. I feel bad for neglecting this for as long as I have, but I will be leaving town tomorrow so I can't exactly pick back up now.

My next post will be Monday. I will be back to regular posting then. Promise.

A pile of papers

I have neglected this spot for a few days... and it might be a couple more. I have spent the better part of this week in grading hell. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I have a lot of papers to get through first...

I will be back soon.

The real me

Over the weekend I had a conversation with a fellow teacher about the battles we are always fighting with students about classroom rules and procedures. There are certain rules that we choose to enforce in our classrooms (such as specific procedures for turning in homework) and certain rules that are set by the administration that we all have to enforce (such as the fact that gum is not allowed). One of the most common complaints is that we do not allow students to do things that they are allowed to do elsewhere ("I can chew gum at home!"). My colleague and I discovered that we both always start the year with a conversation about the fact that the classroom is a professional environment and they should act as such. When I tell them that there are certain words that are not appropriate in the classroom, it doesn't mean I don't expect them to never use them, just that I don't want them to use them in my classroom. I explain that I am not the same person when I am at home that I am when I am teaching, because they are not the same type of environments. This always elicits a slew of questions about what I am like when I am not teaching ("Do you wear shorts?", "Do you swear?", etc.). So, here is a short comparison of the "teaching me" and the "real me":

Attire -
TM: Button-up collared shirt and slacks. I wear ties very occasionally.
RM: T-shirt and shorts. I wear my sandals until as late into the year as possible.

Skin -
TM: My clothes come across as pretty conservative and don't show anything unusual.
RM: Large tattoos around my wrists are most always visible, tattoo on my upper arm is occasionally visible, tattoo on my leg is visible when I wear shorts. Other tattoos are rarely visible in public.

Humor -
TM: I joke occasionally, but I think my students view me as pretty straight.
RM: Very sarcastic. Most of the jokes I make would not be appropriate in class.

Politics -
TM: I discuss politics rarely, though sometimes it is relevant. I try to play the role of devil's advocate, pointing out the counter-arguments to those my students post. Since most of my students come from Democratic families and many students think that I must believe any argument I put forth, there is often an assumption that I am pretty conservative.
RM: I am very liberal politically and rarely hide it. I am not as politically active as I would like, but I am working on it. If asked by a student, I will not hide or lie about my views.

Age -
TM: Students always ask about my age, and I never give a direct answer. It isn't because I don't want them to know, but because I enjoy the process of them trying to figure it out.
RM: I don't mind telling anyone who asks that I am 27.

More to come later, but the laundry is done...

Quick Notes

Few quick things today:

There is an interesting conversation over at the RA forums with Sam Harris, author of Letters to a Christian Nation.

I recommend all teachers and potential teachers in North Carolina to check out the North Carolina Model Teacher Education Consortium, an organization whose mission statement describes themselves as:

"... a collaborative partnership which provides affordable, accessible, high-quality education/training to aspiring and practicing educators in participating school systems in North Carolina. This partnership will increase the quantity of highly qualified educators in the school systems. The Consortium is committed to increasing the number of minority educators within the service area."

Starting in January I will be in a graduate program through Duke University to get my AIG license add on. The NCMTEC will be paying for the entire program (I don't know what they cost, but four graduate course at Duke cannot be cheap), all of my books and even Duke's $75 dollar application fee. Also, there is a possibility I will get a stipend from them for the summer coursework. The only money I will ever spend for this is $40 for transcripts.

Finally, I suggest the Durham Art Walk to anyone in the triangle with some free time this weekend. We go every time and have always enjoyed the chance to be outside, get some exercise, and see some interesting artwork.