Happy Halloween

This is cool. Happy Halloween!

Take this, "Waiting for Superman"

I got this video last night from my principal. It is awesome.



And it puts the lie to so much covered in Waiting for Superman.

But this type of learning needs to happen now
. And in every school.

This is rather serendipitous since we are talking about how to improve LHS right now in my College Comp classes. I can't wait to show them this clip and see what they think.

We brainstormed five things we would like to see done to improve LHS. This list is always one of my highlights of the year - because I steal from it all the time to improve what I do.

Here is my list -

And I prefaced my list with "If I was lord of education and I could instantly enact policies - regardless of cost or opinion - here is what I would do"

1. A Macbook, Blackberry, and iPod for every student.
2. Unfiltered internet access.
3. All year school (with a comparable amount of days off to our current 9 month system).

But I think the New Brunswick video illustrates my points far better than I did!

Time Traveller

Evidence?



You have to scroll ahead to about the 3:17 mark to see the film of the supposed time traveller. It does look like she could be talking on a cell phone. But what kind of reception would she get? There weren't any cell phone towers back then?

Then again, if she is from a future that has mastered time travel, I don't suspect cell phone reception is all that big of a deal!

Why or why can't I be teaching Sci-fi right now! This would be great.

And it reminds me of a kernel of an idea for a sci-fi story that I've had for years - in the future (isn't that how every sci-fi story starts? Ha ha) humans have mastered time travel. Instead of amusement parks or vacations, people of the future travel back in time to witness important events in history (Christ's trial and crucifixion, the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs, Columbus' arrival in the New World, the construction of Stone Henge, the Egyptians building the pyramids, the invasion of 1066, Normandy, and so on).

I got this idea from a high school research project on UFO's. I remember reading a lot of testimony of UFO's around key events. Columbus noted seeing on on his way to the New World and so on.

Then the idea hit me.

I've toyed with the idea of adding in this concept - that there really aren't any bug eyed aliens, like the ones that supposedly crashed in Roswell. Really, they are us from the future and either we have evolved to look that way or they are elaborate costumes to cover up time travel. I mean what would that do to their future if their time machine crashed in the past and the people of the past now had that technology?

I had that idea until I saw a stupid TBS movie with a similar plot line - a detective started noticing the same guy in pictures at major disasters. Come to find out he is a time traveler who loves to witness great disasters from the past.

I still like my idea better, though!

Something to laugh at on a dreary day

Found this on line while I was helping put together a retirement video with Kristie for her boss.

It's is guaranteed to make you chuckle. At least.

Kenzie's new favorite bear video

From the person who brought us "Cows, Cows, Cows" comes "Cycles."

"Let's take a clss trip to hell."

Yes. That was a quote of mine from class.

In College Comp II we are working on a definition essay. I want them to take abstract terms and put their personal definitions to them. Last week we examined beauty. This week we are looking at evil; thus we read this Time article on evil. I read it way back in high school, and it has always stuck with me.

As we were discussing the article, we began to work our way around the concept of evil (and good). The article raises an interesting idea - how do we 'rate' or 'grade' evil?

To imagine this concept I asked students to think of who might be first in line in hell.

Hitler? Stalin? Brutus and Cassius (they occupy - if I remember correctly - the innermost regions of Dante's Inferno)? Cain? Eve?

To illustrate this concept, I asked students to imagine that we are taking a class trip to hell.

It got a few chuckles and made for some interesting imagery. I didn't know, though, that it would wind up as someone's status on facebook!

Now this is the perfect local for Halloween

When you see this picture, how can you not think Halloween? It's perfect. Well, maybe if there were some bats swooping across the moon . . . but it's awesome.



And isn't this what fall is all about?

Response from Rhee

Brutal Hits

I don't see what all the fuss is about the NFL cracking down on some of the brutal hits from defensive players last week that wound up with those offensive players suffering concussions.

First, like it or not, offense is what drives the NFL. I'm proof of this. The Bengals were no scoring machine last season, but they won the division by tough defense and running the ball. And you know what, they struggled to sell out their home games. Back in 2005 when they had offense coming out their ears and they could score on anyone at will, they had no problem selling out the joint. Simply put - fewer people want to watch a 15-12 slug fest. Most of us love the 33-30 shoot outs. And it's tough to do that when your star receivers are knocked out for three weeks with head injuries.

Second, head injuries are no laughing matter. Again, look at the Bengals. They had trouble with Chris Henry until he finally jumped out of a moving vehicle last year and died. An autopsy revealed that he has significant brain damage - that most likely contributed to his negative behavior - from concussions and hits to the head. It's not just a safety issue, but a life saving issue. If you don't believe me, just look at some of the former stars and see how they are doing. You'd be surprised at all the mental deficiencies many suffer.

Third, the NFL always changes the rules. Just as Dick "Night Train" Lane. In the 50's and 60's he used to tackle by the face mask. Until they made it illegal. Then he clothes lined people. That too was made illegal. The same is true for pass interference and roughing the passer more recently. The modern players will adapt to this rule change too. I recall even President Teddy Roosevelt worrying about the NFL's dangerous formations, which resulted in several players' deaths, so the mass formation and gang tackling was made illegal.

Fourth, defensive players should be pissed . . . because this will illustrate how few NFL players can really tackle. Outside of Antoine Winfield of MN, few are real tacklers. Most are just incredibly large men who are built like statues and can through their arms out and knock someone down. You know this is true. Just watch an NFL game, and you'll be amazed at the number of missed tackles. Get back to basics and you won't have to worry so much.

Fifth, players are just too damn big and strong today. Just watch classic games on the NFL Network to see this. I was shocked when I watched the 1988 Super Bowl between Cincy and SF. The Bengals had one of the NFL's truly huge offensive lines that averaged shockingly enough, well over 300 pounds. But that is your average offensive line today. In fact, a majority of offensive linemen are in the mid 300's! Linebackers are bigger and faster than ever. When this game is played at such a speed with such big players, serious injuries are going to occur. And - like it always has - the NFL will adjust their rules to protect players and so it can thrive.

Ten years from now, we'll look back at the hits from last week and wonder, how was that ever legal? Just as we watch Night Train Lane and are shocked that he was able to get away with so many face masks and clothes lines.

Too funny

Yesterday Gail and Kristie had an argument.

Kristie was arguing with Gail. When Gail began to argue back, Kenzie didn't take it too well.

"Don't yell at Mommy Gorgeous, Grandma. You're naughty Grandma!" Kenzie shouted as the two bickered.

Gail tried to explain things to Kenzie, but she was having none of it.

"No, no, no Grandma. Don't yell at Mommy Gorgeous! You're naughty Grandma!"

Kristie said it was all she could do to keep from laughing at how worked up Kenzie got.

We have argued in the car too - usually when I get us lost after not listening closely enough to Kristie's directions - and that is when Kenzie pipes in from the back, "No fighting! No fighting!"

She's just like her daddy - a peacemaker!

The Real #1 Team in NCAAF

With all due respect to Oklahoma (ranked #1) and my personal favorites, Boise State (ranked third), I have to admit as I watch the number two ranked Oregon Ducks lay the wood to UCLA on ESPN, I have to admit that the Ducks look like world beaters.

Talk about a no huddle attack. They run an offensive play every 18 seconds. That is amazing. They put the Bengals of the '80's and the Bills of the '90's to shame. This is faster than most teams run the no-huddle at the end of games. This team flat out flies . . . and destroys the competition.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Stanford, led by one of my favorite players, quarterback Andrew Luck (who would look terrific in Bengals' stripes next year), jump ahead by three touchdowns over Oregon. But the next time I checked back, Oregon had the lead. It doesn't take much to score points at a frenetic pace when you run a play every 18 seconds!

Forget that boring spread offense that has infected college football where the quarterback fakes the dive and runs around tackle for four years (ala Tim Tebow). This is a real spread attack. It reminds me of a cross between the Buffalo Bills no huddle with the Houston Oilers run and shoot attack! This is offensive football.

But I have to admit, that while they may have the best offense in college football, their endless combinations of pants, jerseys, and helmets is easily the ugliest in all of sports. At least they junked those horrible jerseys with the fake looking armored plating on the shoulder pads.

These make one long for the good old - and incredibly boring - jerseys of Penn State or Notre Dame.

Oklahoma faces 11th ranked Missouri this weekend. And if they run the table, they still have to play the Big 12 Championship game. Oregon has USC left on their schedule (I think), but they absolutely shredded them last year and the Ducks won't play a Pac-10 Championship game until next year.

Oh yeah, they just jumped up 29-3 right now and there's still 3:34 left in the first half (that's another 18 plays for Oregon's offense!).

How interesting would it be to see Oregon and Boise square off for the national championship (Boise has beaten them two times in a row the past two years. Could they do it a third time?)

Cell Phone Hiatus

I gave my College Comp II course an option: either write a standard research based response to Stephen Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You, OR they could choose to surrender their cell phones to me for 24 hours and write about what it was like to be cell free.

All but two chose the latter option.

When I saw several of my students at football practice, they mentioned how they kept checking their pockets for their cell phones only to remember that they had left them under lock and key in my room.

To be fair, I stole this idea from the introduction to Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.

I didn't expect so many students to jump at the chance to not write a standard research paper . . . especially when it meant giving up their cell phones. But it wasn't even close.

"You mean we don't have to write a paper," one student said. Just to be clear.

"No," I said. "You have to write a paper. You just don't have to use sources. This paper can be a personal essay."

"So what are we supposed to write it on?" Another asked.

"Well, you could chronicle what life is like without your cell phone. You could write about all the things you found difficult about giving up your phone. You could write about something you did instead of text or talk on your phone that you haven't done for years, or at least since you got your phone. You could decide to do some unheard of things . . . read a book, have dinner with your parents at the dinner table, talk on a land line, get outside and walk around and look at the beauty of nature, or actually talk face to face with someone. Then write about what that was like."

And then I watched the cell phones poor in.

(of course, I wanted to have a little additional fun with my kids on Friday - the day they were due to get their phones back, so I talked to our principal and he agreed to pretend sub for my class. You see I've missed quite a few class sessions with ultrasound appointments, staying home with Kenzie, or for football, so often times the students will show up and I'm not there. So I thought it would be funny to pretend to be gone - and make them worry that, with MEA break looming, they wouldn't get their phones back until Monday - or later. I sat in the computer lab adjacent to my room and peaked in from the window in the lab into my room to see their reactions as they spotted Mr. Zutz filling in for me and saw my sub notes on the board. I had a few begin to circle my desk hoping to spot their phones. But I had to walk in and laugh at their nervousness. And some were sweating bullets).

Students definitely thought it was easier said than done.

Here are some observations from their papers, which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

"The first thing I notice while being phone-less was that I had no just gotten rid of an incredibly HUGE distraction in my life. Even throughout the rest of third hour I had caught myself feeling for my phone in my pocket. I literally had nothing better to do than pay full attention in my classes because I had nothing to constantly check. I was completely engaged, as much has I hate to admit it."

"I have never even turned my phone off before . . . As soon as I heard myself say this aloud I knew this was going to be a lot harder 24 hours than I expected."

"It is so foreign trying to read a clock that is not digital. It takes me a full ten seconds to read the time. I really miss just pulling out my phone to check the time . . . What is with this consistent urge for my generation to post random information on Facebook? At the time, posting it seemed like a good idea, but right now reading it again all I can think is why would anyone care?"

"As I walked into College Composition II and didn't see the pones on top of the cabinets, my heart skipped a beat. When I finally got my phone back, I was euphoric."

"I walked to the Public Library during my free block and dropped off a book. While at the library, I went on Facebook to see what was going on and to see the new senior pictures (**^ had finished and updated to my album. Then, I went back to the school and studied in the library until school was out." People still visit the public library. Awesome! Though I have to admit that when I was in college, I was there quite often. But I haven't set foot in the place for ten years or so now.

"It was peaceful to get rid of my phone, and the best thing that happened was watching an entire movie straight through without any distractions . . . We had just received Shutter Island through the mail, and I watched it the night that I didn't have my phone. The movie was amazing and blew my mind, but I didn't have my phone to tell my friends that my mind had been blown. I went to my computer and went on Facebook and messaged them on there instead. I am such a Millennial."

"Giving my phone away that day was a lot easier than I had imagined. Actually, right after class I was driving home singing to the radio when I realized there was a sudden calmness to my life. For the first time since I was sixteen, I was able to just sing and focus on the road. I found myself not having to look down in my pop holder every ten seconds to look for that most important illuminating red light on my Blackberry."

". . . I found myself reaching into my pocket to check any messages; however, there was nothing there to satisfy my boredom. I found myself wondering how to get a hold of anyone at all, and I once had to use the home phone to call my friend. Someone even asked the number of another friend, and I was about to check when I realized just what I had done. For whatever reason, this phone that I have only known for a couple of months had become engrained in my life." Whatever happened to remembering phone numbers? I bet I can tick of ten of my friends from high school and their old home numbers. Now that they are all grown up - and we tend to stay in touch texting or on Facebook - I don't know a single number or address!

"It actually wasn't that dramatic. Well, for some people, it may have been, but I like to think of myself better than those typical millennials who can't function without a phone in their hands. The first thing we did before class even started was turn in our cell phones, obviously, so that Mr. Reynolds could watch us squirm the rest of the hour. I felt kind of empty without my phone. I remember drifting away from discussion, thinking about what to do with no school next week. Shopping in Grand forks sounds fun. I should text (*&^ and see if she wants to . . . oh wait. I can't. Not having one made me want to use it even more."

"I also believe that phones take away from quality family time at nights, especially when it's a central part of a persons' life . . . When I get home, the first thing I do is go to the kitchen and talk to my mom or dad about my day or about something good that happened. I make a concerted effort to show them that I genuinely care about them. I sometimes find myself texting or looking at my phone when my parents are talking to me, and I feel guilty every time I catch myself doing it." A great point. I think I would have been just like this student.

"Since I didn't have my phone, I was forced to go onto my computer at home to check my Facebook. It was actually kind of funny because I had forgotten where the friend's button was on the computer version because I was so used to my mobile version. While I was on the computer I figured I would check my email which I hadn't done in forever since I no longer receive notifications on my phone. I signed into my Hotmail account and bam! I had 350 emails to check."

"The very first thing, and probably the worst thing about not having my phone, was that I never knew what time it was. It sounds really dumb, but there were multiple times where it baffled me that I didn't know the time." That reminds me of being in high school and cruising around with my friends. If none of us had a watch (and the good old Skylark didn't have a digital clock), we had to periodically cruise by the drive through bank to see the time!

It appears most just observed the inconvenience that not having their phones wrought upon their lives. Maybe next time I'll go for over a weekend or a whole week. Then maybe they'd see a real change in their routines or behavior. Maybe I could even shoot for a day totally technology free. How interesting would that be!

Extra Day

Yesterday proved to be an extra day for Kenzie and me.

Grandma Gail was over to babysit because I had a football game in Pequot Lakes. Prior to the season, I pulled a concrete sequential move. I put in all the football games (JV and Varsity) and their dates and dismissal and leave times into my iCal.

Yesterday's said dismissed at 1:45 - though we don't have school - and bus leaves at 2:00.

So after dropping KoKo off at her boyfriend's house at 1:35, I headed to school just in the nick of time. Or so I thought.

But the place was cleared out. Apparently, leave time was changed to 1:30.

So that left me with an extra afternoon to spend with Kenzie.

I quickly ran home, relieving Gail of looking after Kenzie. Kenzers and I headed to the park for an hour. Then we drove around for a bit before returning home and carving pumpkins while we watched a couple of old Scooby Doo episodes on my laptop.

Here are our first two pumpkin creations --

Intolerance

This is nowhere as horrifying as the article below, but it's still sad.

I just can't understand what would posses Juan Williams to publicly say something so stupid. It seems that we have lost any sense of empathy or the ability to climb into anyone else's skin. It seems to me we could all benefit from a national reading day of To Kill a Mockingbird.

It also seems to me that this is just another example of the culture of extremes we live in. If you don't believe me, just listen to a Bill O'Reilly show and try not to get a headache as his guests argue back and forth - without either bothering to listen to one another.

As I was reading this story and came to this line from Williams -

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams continued. "You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

I couldn't help but think . . . Okay, what happens if someone were to say I get really nervous every time I am in the store and an African American walks in with a do-rag on their head, their pants hanging off their ass, tattoos up and down their arms and neck, a white tank top on, and instantly think, "Oh God, I hope he doesn't rob the place. He is most certainly in a gang and looking for somehow to support his five kids from five different women!"

Of course, that is ludicrous. A person's appearance doesn't guarantee any of that (and I'm reminded of my father always scolding me for judging someone for their appearance by stating, "That could be Jesus testing you!"), but if someone were to go on national TV and say that, what would happen? How would Williams like that?

And then I came across this argument in the same story --

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan wrote Wednesday morning that Williams' statement about fearing Muslims on planes is an example of bigotry. "What if someone said that they saw a black man walking down the street in classic thug get-up," Sullivan wrote. "Would a white person be a bigot [if] he assumed he was going to mug him?'

And that's right.

True Horror

Just read this story about a Chinese woman who violated the one child per family limit and was forced to have an abortion . . . in her eighth month of pregnancy!

This is something right out of 1984!

Isn't this the 21st century and not the middle ages?

This sure puts such absurdities as Bush sending us into wars simply for oil and money (Michael Moore) or that Obama is set imposing a one world government over all (Phylis Schlafly). The government forcing a woman to abort her child is true horror.

And China is one of our greatest rivals. That too is scary as hell.

End Times, Indeed

Thanks to good old countryscribe, I came across this story about Obama and his demonic appearance.

Really?

Now, I'm not saying that the conservatives don't have a right to complain about government spending and other problems facing our country.

Just let's not forget about Bush's approval rate after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq dragged on.

But Obama as the anti-Christ? Really?

Let's take things with a grain of salt. Please.

I was interested in the possibility of an anti-Christ appearing in my lifetime. But that fear faded . . . just like the fear over the Ebola virus, an asteroid impacting earth, aliens contacting us, the discovery of Noah's Ark, who really killed JFK, a manned mission to Mars, 2012, Y2K . . .

Come on. Really?

For some stupid reason, a number of years ago I was at my parents' home late at night - before they invested in DirecTV, and the only thing on was the awful 700 Club (hey, for $10,000 a year (or 831 dollars a month) you can get yourself into "the Chairman's Circle"). Pat Robertson was talking about the coming of Armageddon. Apparently, somewhere in Europe, some foreign agency was developing a type of banking system where people would have a small code imprinted on - or a micro chip implanted in - their skin. Well, he thought this had something to do with the Book of Revelation. And then, whoa, the kicker was the acronym for whatever this system was called turned out to be B.E.A.S.T. The number of the beast, right?

Well, that is going on 20 years ago, and I don't see anyone with microchips or 666 imprinted on them. But then again, I supposed if Rush Limbaugh himself were to inspect every high ranking Democrat for any numbers anywhere on their person's, well, would he be satisfied then?

No.

If you want to see a sign of the END TIMES, just turn to Fox News or CNN or O' Reilly or Bill Mahr. That's far more frightening than Old Scratch himself.

In Honor of Halloween . . .

Here is my annual top ten list of horror stories. There's still time to get them before Halloween. It's interesting how some fall off the list, and others resurface. Here's the 2010 list - and here's the 2009 list for comparison.

10. "The Playground." Ray Bradbury. I struggled to include a Bradbury piece. Certainly, "A Sound of Thunder" is classic sci fi. "The Crowd" is a great horror story, but it didn't thump me over the head with horror - as the other stories here do. A horror list just needs to include a Bradbury piece. But most of his work is mild . . . even among the mildest of horror writers. Then I remembered this little gem in the original hardcover copy of Farhenheit 451 that I read in high school. Now this is not mild. It's horror and it's Bradbury at his best. It involves a father who so loves his son - who is bullied at school, especially on the playground - that he is willing to switch spots with him. Even if it means going back to that most awful of places - if you've ever been picked on - the playground. That last scene in the final paragraph has stuck with me at least 25 years since I've read this.

9. "The Companion." Ramsey Campbell. Just made my College Comp class read this when I was home with Kenzie. I got about a dozen texts from the kids who were thoroughly confused. Part of that comes from Campbell's hallucinatory prose and part of it comes from the ending. This might just be my favorite ghost story. If it is even a ghost story. King - in his Danse Macabre - calls it one of the best horror stories of that past 30 (well, 50 years now) years. And he is pretty spot on. You cannot read that last page and not get creeped out.

8. "The Lame Priest." S. Carlton. This is one of the best werewolf stories that I've come across in some time. It can be found in the horror anthology, Curse of the Full Moon. I've read it several times, and the part where the hermit waits in his hut with the creature outside, trying to lure him out is as creepy as it gets.

7. "A Little Something for us Tempanuats." Philip K. Dick. We read a lot of his work in my Science Fiction class, but I can hardly imagine a more horrifying fate than the one met by the time-travelling Tempanuats in this story.

6. "The Man in the Black Suit." Stephen King. This one is from his collection Everything's Eventual. It was the O. Henry award for top short story in 1997. It's similar to a modern version of the greatest short story ever written, "Young Goodman Brown." But it's scary as hell. We've all been in the woods. Luckily, we haven't met the man in the black suit. And hopefully we won't ever meet him.

5. "God Screamed and Screamed, and Then I Ate Him." How can it not be a horror story with a title like that. Of course, they aren't talking about that God. Just one of the lesser ones. This - to me anyway - is a Lovecraftian work. But so much better. I've read so much of Lovecraft that he tires and bores me with his prose ("Herbert West - Re-animator" used to be a fixture on my top ten list, but I've read it so often now that I am starting to hate it). This has it all - imagery and that great twist where reality is left behind and you aren't sure where you are.

4. "N" by Stephen King. This story in King's After Sunset collection, is great. It's a retelling of Machen's "The Great God Pan" (you'll see that one later on in the list) with a healthy dose (okay, that's a poor play on words) of OCD thrown in. But it's scary as hell. And it might just trump last year's pick "Crouch End."

3. "The Great God Pan." I have both a hard copy and an audio book version, Tales of the Occult (Unabridged) - Arthur Machen, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, Robert Chambers, and it's awesome. This tale is not for everyone. The beginning is truly horrific. But then the real monster never really appears. We just hear rumors or catch glimpses of it. Plus, the story is told in letters or interviews in a very fragmented fashion. But it's terrifying. King calls it one of the best horror stories ever written. And he's right.

2. "Pig Blood Blues." Clive Barker. It's like a fable from hell. Barker's strength - at least in his infamous Books of Blood - is to take us on a journey that begins firmly in reality but ends in total terror . . . and we don't even realize that we've left reality far, far behind. He's very much like Ray Bradbury when it comes to that. And that makes this story all the more horrifying because you don't know that something really terrible is happening . . . until it's happened and, by then, it's far too late. Read this one on Halloween. I dare you.

1. "The Pattern." Ramsey Campbell. It just doesn't get any better (horrifying) than this. The ending is unimaginable. He pulls out all the stops . . . and gets away with it. Usually, when this happens, the readers laugh or just don't buy the shock. Not here. Read it. You'll never forget it. Especially that ending. And what an original idea for a horror story! To even say anything about the story would ruin it for you.

Too Funny!

At lunch I turned on my radio. Since I was last listening to the Vikings game, the station was set to KTRF 1230. To my utter enjoyment, I caught a snippet of Open Line.

I say utter enjoyment because for awhile now I've shown parts of this clip from youtube, and students always say (as did everyone else when the film, Fargo, came out in the mid 1990s) "We don't talk like that!"

No, you might not, but your relatives do!

Open Line proved that today. Mark Allen was interviewing a gentlemen about the musical acts around this area. His accent was right out of the film - as were nearly every callers'!

"Don'tcha know!"

"Tirty dollars"

"Uffda"

"Well there, then . . ."

It was grand. I just wish I could have recorded it. But it was a fun way to spend 15 minutes!

Randy Pausch: Really achieving your childhood dreams | Video on TED.com

Randy Pausch: Really achieving your childhood dreams | Video on TED.com

Amazing. The Last Lecture. Wow.

Teachers Can Create Their Own Textbooks!

This is a dream come true for me. An application that allows a teacher to create their own textbooks. How cool would that be? I could have King Lear, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Things They Carried, "The Lottery," "Engage Me or Enrage Me," and "Young Goodman Brown" all in one textbook.

A dream!

But a nightmare for curriculum coordinators. Glad that's not my job!

It's just a fan

Two weeks ago as I was hauling out a laundry basket, I accidentally hit the stand-up fan in our bedroom (you know, the white kind that oscillate). It started to wobble on it's base, and instead of putting the basket down and grabbing the fan, I tried to step on the base to steady it.

Alas, it fell. And the chintzy screen around the blades shattered. What a mess.

There was a more pressing need, however.

Kristie and I had grown used to the noise the fan generated. It was difficult sleeping without that hum.

So on our next trip to Walmart we decided to buy a replacement.

The selection was minimal, but we grabbed a $30 dollar one and tossed it in the cart.

When we got home and I started to put it together, I knew we were in trouble. For this fan didn't look like something made cheaply in China. In fact, it didn't look like it should have even been sold in Walmart, Slumberland, maybe, but no Wallie World.

It was all metal and had a rather ominous looking engine. Not to mention actual metal blades - the kind that if you turned it on and managed to stick your finger between the guard, well, you'd have a shredded finger (our old fan would just stop and click if this happened).

Then I carried it up to our bedroom and turned it on. Not only did the damn thing sound like I was in a wind tunnel but it roared like a jet.

"That has to be on high," Kristie said later when I demonstrated it.

"Nope," I said. "This is high," and cranked it up.

"Good Lord," she said grabbing the bed spread before it could sail against the fall.

We left it on low and slept like we were in an airplane hangar. I feared that the blade would come off and whirl around the room.

In the morning Kristie declared, "That fan has to go!"

So we took the small, cheap plastic fan out of Kenzie's room and used that. And it was perfect. No gale force winds and just enough buzz to get us to sleep.

The problem was Kenzie didn't have any noise in her room, so she woke up whenever KoKo opened her door or someone went to the bathroom.

This meant putting the small fan back in her room and buying another - much smaller - fan from Walmart.

Kristie grabbed a little cheap $9 fan. No assembly required. The only problem was that when I walked in and laid down, the fan began to make the most annoying high pitched sound. It was like trying to fall asleep at the dentist's office with the drill running periodically.

Shaking and pounding on the thing did no good.

Finally, we just cranked it up a notch and the whining ceased. It's loud but not nearly as loud as the jet engine fan we initially bought.

Maybe I can bring that sucker to class in the spring. It's a three-pronged plug in too, so no OSHA worries there.

I'll just have to remind students to hold their papers and tablets down when I turn it in.

The Queen is Dead!

Well, she just resigned. But still. The echoes from this will be felt for a long time.

So much for all the hoopla over Michelle Rhee.

The one thing that wears down a teacher is not education reform. It's the constant bombardment of it.

When I began college, 'outcome based education' was on the way out. That reform was replaced with the 'grad standards' movement. At one inservice I had a superintendent look me straight in the eye and promise, "This is not going away."

And standards, of course, are still in place, but gone are those packets we had to complete and store just in the off-chance someone would actually ever check them.

That reform led to NCLB. Now NCLB is in doubt while RTTT looms over us.

No wonder so many educators just hunker down and mutter, "This too shall pass."

For it will!

And nothing in education ever gets reformed or improved . . . unless the teachers take it upon themselves to be the change agents in their own classes. Perhaps, that is as it should be. I just wish more would rise up and do that and that the press and film makers would show more of that.

They should have been sending these down to those trapped miners

It appears that McDonald's Happy Meals - the one my daughters love - remains quite happy - up to six months before it actually starts to decompose. Just click on the picture to fast forward through the decomposition process (or lack of decomposition).

Now, this may not be that unusual. But it makes me wonder what our modern world of convenience and ease is really doing to us.

Maybe 500 years from now someone will look back at us and laugh at how one billion people a day gobbled up such poison. Kind of like who modern researchers look back at Rome and ponder over their lead goblets and piping.

Now that the Bengals' season is over, let's go Jets! J-E-T-S! JETS, JETS, JETS!

Bungaling

The Bungals are off to a .500 start. They got killed by the Pats to start the season. Then they won a grudge match against the Ravens. After that they beat Carolina. Last week they lost a game they should have won to the Browns. Now, they are struggling to beat the Bucs.

There has been a lot of talk about Carson Palmer. Is he finished? He just doesn't seem like the same gunslinger that zipped the ball all over the fields circa '04-'07. Too many injuries seem to have taken their toll.

He did have one nice toss today - to Terrel Owens - for a 53 yard touchdown. But he hasn't looked all that sharp, including an interception that gave the Bucs their only points. It doesn't help that T.O. has dropped a couple, Chad dropped one, and Andre Caldwell dropped another. All would have been first downs and kept drives alive.

It just seems like the whole offense is out of sync.

And it's too bad because when was the last time the Bengals had both an offense and a defense in the top ten?

I'm still hoping for 9-7 and a wild card spot. We'll see.

What Administrators Need? I Need Teachers Who Think like Distance Runners [guest post]

What Administrators Need? I Need Teachers Who Think like Distance Runners [guest post]

This is a great take on what administrators need from teachers to make their schools grat.

A Shame

Columbine was - without a doubt - a tragedy. If combatting the real cause of that tragedy, bullying, was only as simple metal detectors, lock down procedures, and evacuation drills.

Phyllis Schlafly is quick to note on her radio show, Eagle Forum, how toxic the liberal agendas are in schools or how video games lead kids to act out their aggressions, but a real problem is that kids can be cruel.

To read about how some of the girls, who bullied this girl to death, actually laughed at her wake (one, of course, must wonder why they were allowed to attend (and obviously ruin) it) reminds me of things I read about how Nazis viewed the Jews, Gypsies, and others as subhumans.

The way the other boy who committed suicide was treated used to be glossed over as "well, boys will be boys" (I can't help but think of that saying about a dozen times when I listen to a Schlafly show. It's always easy to let "boys be boys" when you are one of the boys and not one of the other end of the bullying). I think this is a smart send up of that old attitude.

I am fortunate, though, to work in a school that fosters a far more accepting environment than the ones mentioned above. Professors, teachers, and other people I talk to about this generation of Millennials are in awe of their tolerance and acceptance. Here at LHS, there are all ranges of kids (from wealthy to poor, jock to goth to emo to hick, and all kinds of ethnicities) who go about their business with little to no hassles.

Yet, when I in high school, when we played Sacred Heart in football, and they had a Mexican quarterback, it took all of a nano-second before the racial slurs were flying.

Now, I'm sure Phyllis - who sure sounds like Hank's wife to me - would frown heavily on all of this acceptance and sensitivity. All you need to do is listen to a few of her shows of indoctrination (it pretty much screams Christian white American majority) to know that we have become far too damn sensitive. But I would say this to Phyllis: just look up the term "catholic" in any dictionairy - here's the definition (esp. of a person's tastes) including a wide variety of things; all-embracing. See note "at universal."

All-embracing. I like that concept. We need a lot more of that in our world today.

Could you imagine Christ saying "well, boys will be boys" as someone was being kicked or belittled?

That reminds me of dozens of times during my youth when I'd be guilty of laughing at or making fun of someone and my dad would not only let me have it, but then he'd also say to me, "How do you know that person isn't Jesus?"

I still think of those lessons every single day. It doesn't mean I'm perfect, but I sure think long and hard before ridiculing or picking on someone I view as 'different.' It also makes me think about what lessons I'll impart to my children as they grow. And I'll certainly think about the void the father, whose daughter killed herself because of bullying, has in his life.

How to Treat Parents

When it comes to this, Coach Mumm pulls out all the stops.

This is our last regular season home game, so Coach Mumm is pulling out all the stops for his senior parents. There's none of this just walking out with Mom and Dad or the obligatory "We'd like to thank all the parents for their efforts" announcements prior to games.

This is a family. And that's not the typical cliche in our program.

Tonight Coach has the basement of the Evergreen reserved. Seniors will arrive and then sit with their parents. First Coach will speak and then his guest will speak. After that, the seniors will each give their mothers a rose and then hand them the letter or card that Coach had them write their parents thanking them for all they have done. Then they will sit down for dinner.

Tomorrow prior to the game, the senior parents will be invited into the locker room for the pre-game speech (what other coach would do that?) and then lead the seniors out onto the field for the game.

That's class. And Coach Mumm is first class all the way.

Cash Kenneth

Here is our little guy. Judging from how he has his mouth open, he must take after his mother! He's already talking away!!!

Wiffiti from KB Presentation

Don't they ever learn?

It seems like the Herschell Walker deal was just a few years ago! Don't the Vikes ever learn?

Hell Week? More like Hell Month!!

I was wrong in thinking homecoming was hell week. It's turned into the entire month. This week is just as packed as homecoming.

Today we have a game in Warroad. That will be a late night.

Tuesday there is a BLT meeting at 7:30, but I'll never make it.

Wednesday is common prep, practice, and then off to Roseau to present at the Kramer Brown fall Drive-In. Another late night.

Thursday we have a game under the lights at Old Prowler Field. That means a 7:00 kick off. Whose idea was this? I can see 8th graders thinking it's a big deal to play under the lights. But these are JV players, and it's no big deal to them. They'd rather be done by seven than start at seven. Another late night.

Friday is our inservice day. No schedule yet, though.

Here's hoping next week settles down some before parent/teacher conferences.

At least we only have two JV practices left!

Perfection

So I had to skip out on our senior Gophers weekend to attend this wedding. It was a great game - with Northwestern beating Minnesota 29-28, but what a family! That makes it all worth it.

Reynolds Ave? I like the sound of that.

I guess when you hit the big time, your home town names a street after you . . . well, maybe not one that happens to run through a swamp! At least it connects to highway 32, but it is in the newly developed part of town, which formerly was pretty much a swamp . . . and where no one will ever build a new home.

Super Girl!!!

Kenzie couldn't wait to try on her Halloween costume (okay, Dad was pretty excited for her too).

Oh, Phyllis

While prepping for a discussion on the book we are reading in College Comp II, Mark Bauerlein's The Dumbest Generation, I came across this podcast

Since I was trying to get my students to actually hear the author, I downloaded the two-part episode and put it on my iPod to preview.

To say that I was both shocked and interested, would be an understatement. I couldn't wait to see what my students would think of both Schlafly and Bauerlein. And their thoughts and discussions made for the high light of my school year.

Schlafly, if, like me, you have never heard of her, is a far right wing conspiracy nut. She is convinced that the the abandonment of the teaching of phonics is only one of several things damning the country to ruin.

(Speaking of right wing nuts, as I type this I got a call from the NRA. Worse than a telemarketer!)

She and Bauerlein pretty much spend the hour trashing anyone under 30 as brainless, hopeless, and pointless.

Bauerlein is easily the more interesting of the two. Phyllis just seemed pleased to plug her book on phonics and to relish stressing "dumbest" every time she said the book's title.

However, the students were really up for the discussion, because they challenged everything and really showed their stuff. One of their best points came when the moderator wondered if anyone under 30 would actually call in to the show to refute Bauerlein's claims.

"Who under 30 would even listen to this?" a student asked.

And there he had a great point. Bauerlein had just claimed that because young people text each other meaningless information all the time, they don't develop a social consciousness that his generation did. He asked the question, "How many ever text messages about Abraham Lincoln or The Bill of Rights?"

I'd like to know just how much the people of Bauerlein's generation really spent talking about such things. He and Phyllis and made it sound like their generations were so busy discussing foreign affairs, politics, and history that they had no time at all for anything other than serious discussions.

Preposterous.

I'm the tale end of the Gen Xers, and - like typical teens before more me - I could have cared less about such things.

Yet, he rails against this generation for doing it.

Just as we discussed this, Bauerlein accused this generation of simply "group" thinking. Since they don't argue over the causes of the Civil War or Einstein's theories, they just blindly follow along and never think outside of their 'group.'

But the beautiful irony here - and my students caught on to this right away - was that no one other than the far, far right would bother to tune in to Phyllis' show! So she was only taking call from her 'group.' And every one who called in only thought one way.

Beautiful.

But the odd thing was as the students listened to Shlafly and Bauerlein, and as their anger grew, I found myself defending both Shlafly and Bauerlien, and even playing devil's advocate.

Both of them took the stance that the world was sooooooo much better when they were young because they were taught morals and the proper knowledge while today's kids are hopeless.

Though, I just found this news story about those wonderful good old days. Not so good after all, were they?

Still, the podcast had an interesting result, it got the students quite fired up to do some writing about their supposed 'dumbest' generation. (to supplement things, I also emailed two professors to get their opinions on this - and they both came down firmly on the side of this current generation being far from the dumbest)

Last week I decided to check out more of Phyllis' podcasts. So I downloaded several to my iPod and began listening to them today as I stained our front steps.

Boy was I in for a shock.

But - then again - based off the titles, maybe I shouldn't have been shocked at all. Here's a sampling -

"Climategate" - an interview with mediorologist Brian Sussman who published the book that refutes global warming. But - and this is a recurring theme with Phyllis - her guests never just refute one thing. It always is linked back to the root of all evil: liberals, the UN, feminists, free trade, whole language instruction, same-sex marriage, and - worst of all - the NEA!

Sussman - who makes Mel Gibson's character from Conspiracy Theory (remember the guy? The one who horded copies of The Catcher in the Rye because all the assassins of major figures had loved the book?) look sane. While I found his counter-argument interesting, it really started to fall apart when he built up this elaborate scheme by Obama and the U.N. to put an end to fossil fuels so the U.S. would wither and be on par with modern day Africa now (you can't make this up!). Then Phyllis had her son call in and he went so far as to turn the energy debate into a (and again, you can't make this stuff up) "Pro-Life" choice since countries with high energy consumption have longer life spans. I actually found myself chuckling out loud as I listened this this one and tried to stain the deck. "Nothing like stating the obvious!" I said to no one in particular - other than Joker who was lounging in the sun. But apparently these evil politicians in control now want to cut off our power and reduce our population and set up back to another Dark Age (I'm not making this up, either. Listen to the podcast. It's a hoot!). Sussman was shocked that in California there are plans to hook each home up to the grid with a 'smart meter' that would allow the energy company to control your energy at certain 'peak' times. I had to laugh. That's how many of us deal with 'off peak' heating right now. Yet, I hardly think we're beating down the door to Red Lake Electric!

But the real fun came from the callers. One man called in to - essentially - tell us that maybe global warming is the coming of the Rapture where an angel is going to do something to the sun where it will grow extra large and burn the sinners off the earth. I really chuckled at this one. Phyllis hastily got this nut job off the radio. But I would have rather listened to him than Sussman, who actually believes that our current administration is nothing more than a bunch of Malthusiasts who really want to see death and destruction reign in America because we need to have the heard thinned a bit.

"Violent Video Games" - this one I actually agreed with. Phyllis had on a lawyer who had a case pending in California's supreme court to make it a law for employees of Target, Walmart, and Game Stop (to name a few) to require a parent be present when selling a violent video game (Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and so on) to a minor.

"How Evil Works" - this one was an interview with someone named David Kupelian. He started out with an interesting premise in examining how humanity tends to be lured in by evil. We see this manifested in our celebrities. But then he began to mention Hitler and Obama in the same breath, and I gave up.

"America's Schools" - an interview with Professor Allan Quist, who happens to be from Minnesota (and a former congressman). I found myself agreeing with several things that Quist had to say, but then he delved into the US government's conspiracy to turn us all into one nation under nato, and he lost me.

I never realized that the right had such cooks. I knew the left did. The closest thing I could think of to all this conspiracy theory nonsense was the rock band "Rage Against the Machine," who always seem to suspect the government of exploiting or assassinating some minority leader.

Phyllis is the right's equivalent of Rage Against the Machine.

But the highlight for me as I listened to the podcasts of Phyllis' radio show was the commercials.

First, the nefarious NEA (of which I am a member and actually attended a parliamentary session last spring). Apparently, they support abortion, same-sex marriage, and conducting experiments on children in public schools. Funny, but as we spent two days discussing policies and resolutions, I never heard anything about this. Must be a real secret conspiracy then!

Then there is Phyllis' hatred of "Outcome Based Education." Apparently, this is a vehicle for liberal teachers to brainwash their students into gay or lesbian tree-huggers who want a one world government.

But best of all, you can get Phylli's education newsletter. Apparently, she has a secret window into what goes on in public schools around the country, for the commercial states that public schools are forcing your sons or daughter to watch - gasp - R rated movies (I don't force them, but I'm guilty as charged. I've shown Crash, Little Miss Sunshine, No Country for Old Men, The Thing, Training Day, Blade Runner, and American History X. Lock me up. Actually, I'm scheming a way to show Seven in my College Comp II class. It's a tough sell - given the death scene for the sin of 'lust' but there's got to be a way to work around this . . .), advocating gay and lesbian rights, and pushing an anti-American agenda. I'm getting a subscription. I can't wait to read it!

She also mentioned that Eagle Forum offers free online classes. This is brilliant, I thought as I mowed the lawn today. So I quickly texted my College Comp II class to see if they would be up for enrolling as part of one of our research projects. Everyone who texted me back loved the idea and were eager to debate.

Overall, Phyllis has me second guessing my secret agenda of turning my kids into Muslim loving Malthusian liberals.