psycho bitch

one of the reasons pops and i rebuilt the fence was because i knew i'd be adopting sophie. see, a couple weeks ago, while tethered to her leash in my parents' front yard, she crept up on the postman and lunged for his crotch! the mail went flying and the letter carrier ended up on his bottom, spewing profanities. he refused to deliver the mail that day, and when my parents went to the post office to pick up their mail, they were informed that they'd either have to get a p.o. box or get rid of sophie. since i have a good-sized yard, i agreed to adopt the crazy bitch... i know--i may regret it--i just hope she doesn't chew through my NEW fence...

gates of steel (not)

one of the benefits of being a teacher is having a positive influence on your students' futures, watching them grow and learn. the downside is, we can never truly know how much of an impact, if any, we make. we don't necessarily get to see the fruits of our labors.

other professions (architecture, carpentry, plastic surgeons) get to actually SEE the results of their hard work. that's very rewarding as i found out this weekend.

one of my vacation projects was rebuilding a gate that my parents' poodle, sophie, chewed through on the 4th of july. pops and i did it in a couple of mornings, and it turned out great! i haven't built anything out of wood in about 10 years, so i feel pretty excited about it (hence this tangentially-related-to-teaching post)!

there's something about producing a tangible product that gives one a certain sense of accomplishment. i can't stop looking at it! thanks for the help, pops!

vacation

wow. how come the school year flies by so fast, but the last couple weeks just dddddddddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggg?!

wednesday was our last day with students, and thursday we had a teacher-only day, so that means i've been on vacation approximately 3 days now. woo hoo! some vacation highlights (so far):

• staying up late and sleeping in!
• photo session and interview by the district (long beach weekly) for my band !operator!
• watching the angels vs. tigers game with mi padre in luxury box seats (angels killed 10 to 3)
• playing a show with THE THINGZ at alex's bar tonight!

i will continue to sporadically post on vacation, then get back in the swing once school starts again (sept. 5). i'll also prolly post a few of the "greatest hits" from the 2006-2007 school year. stay tuned!

live thingz!

since it doesn't look like THE THINGZ will be playing the whittier talent show afterall, i thought i'd post our world wide web video premier here at YDNFTF. it's a video of us playing our new song, "recess" from last saturday's show at the prospector in long beach.


btw, listen for the line, "yard duty now and for the future!"

this test...

i decided to use woody guthrie's rebellious song--his answer to irving berlin's "God Bless America"-- to present some findings i'd found on standardized, norm-referenced assessments. i'm going to perform the song this tuesday, in class. hopefully, it goes well...

this test...*

this test is your test--this test is my test.
from kindergarten we'll start norm-referenced.
it don't measure learning or good teaching, but
this test was made for you and me

as i start teaching, i hear them preaching:
they say, "assessment must drive instruction!"
so i start testing and teaching nothing--by
this test they'll grade you and me...

this test is your test--this test is my test.
some politicians think they know what's best.
it don't measure learning, only compares you to mean, but
this test was made for you and me

when the scores get published and the schools get funding/punished,
this fuel the fire across the country:
"our schools are rubbish--a waste of money," but
this test wasn't made by you and me...

this test is your test--this test is my test.
those federal dollars are tied to "progress."
it don't measure learning or good teaching, but
this test was made for you and me...

nobody living can ever trust them:
those talking heads and them politicians.
nobody living can make me leave behind a child--
this test was made for you to fail

this test is you test--this test is my test.
from kindergarten we'll rank to see who's best.
it don't meaure learning, only compares you to mean, but
this test was made for you and me...

*with apologies to woody guthrie