Misunderstood- "GOT"

I am one of the people that are on the fringe of the Game of Thrones phenomenon. I love to watch it, but I have very little idea how everyone is related and connected to each other.  One of my students watches it and has read all the books and he told me that last night's episode would be when "all Hell breaks loose" and he was right. I was completely stunned at what happened. The Red Wedding was quite a spectacle!  It goes to show that no one is off limits for assassination.

Again- I haven't read the books and I am clueless, but my hope is that the girls become the leaders.  I hope that the Terrell girl kills Joffrey- her new husband.  Then she will become THE Queen instead of a queen.  I hope Deanerys  joins forces with the Stark children and wipes out the white walkers with vision, mind control and Dragon power.

Gatsby is Great!

I just wanted to take a minute to endorse  "The Great Gatsby".  I read the book in high school (over 30 years ago), and I was afraid that I wouldn't remember any of the story.  I was mesmerized by the visual aspects of the movie and I did remember the story.  I think that Leonardo was a captivating Gatsby. I had heard all the negatives about the soundtrack not matching the era-I completely disagree.  The movie was perfect. I loved the music, costumes and all the lavish scenery.  The contrast of the wealth in Long Island to the poor, coal laden slums on the outskirts of new York city is just perfect.  Go see this movie!

Wake up folks- Climate change is for real

 

 

You may not remember this TV miniseries, but I do.  I started teaching in the 80's and I heard Al Gore talk about global warming.  I have been discussing this in my science classes since the early 1980's.  After I had my daughter in 1990, my grandmother was visiting during the summer and we watched this mini series.  She was disgusted by all the doom and gloom and was adamant that I stop watching all that crap.  The truth is that even though this series presented an America that may be 50-100 years away- a lot of what they were depicting has already happened.

 

I just watched a segment of the documentary show called Vice (HBO).  They were interviewing people from Venice, Italy and the former President of the Maldives (Islands) in the Indian ocean.  And news flash- they are all flooded and sinking. A friend of mine went to Italy last year and she was horrified by the emptiness in Venice.  Now some folks might say- that is what you get for building a city in an area below sea level, but just think about all the people on this planet that live near the coast. All of this people- perhaps one billion will soon be affected by the rising oceans.

 

I wish that we had taken a proactive approach when global climate change was first introduced to the masses.  We unfortunately are still fighting the doubters.  We have wasted a lot of time and most importantly burned way too much fossil fuel.  We have missed the opportunity to teach up and coming nations such as China how to switch to cleaner fuels.  China has now surpassed the US in the amount of carbon emissions.  They have over four times the population of the United States on about the same amount of land.  We could have developed better and cleaner fuel technology in the 1970's during the oil embargo, but the oil started flowing soon after and the cost went down and we lost our need and passion for the environment.

 

I remember a  scene from the fire next time where there was a huge hurricane hitting the gulf coast and people were being evacuated for good. What is it going to take to wake us all up?

 

Check out this week's installment of Vice on HBO.  Watch the Day after Tomorrow some time.  Think about how you can reduce your carbon footprint. Someday we may not be able to all have our own car.  Someday there may be more than miniature golf and fun at the shore. Someday there may be difficulty obtaining fresh water.

 

Remember- "We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from out grandchildren"-  Chief Settle

 

Last week our planet hit a Carbon dioxide level of 400 ppm.  This is the highest level that carbon dioxide has been at since the inception of humanity.  Now some people may think that this is 6000 years ago, but most scientists agree that humans have been on planet earth as Homo sapiens for 100,000 years.  Think about that one!

 

 

 

I will give my sincere so long to the "Queen".  Michelle has announced that she will not run for re-election next November.  There is not one political point that she and I agree upon.  I was watching Real Time last night and Bill Mahr made a good point.  She may be leaving, but there are probably 20 people in waiting that are even more bat shit crazy than her.  This is what happened the last time in the mid-term elections, when complacency lead to the crazy tea party taking over the House.

Please don't let this happen again.  Just this week some lunatic sent ricin through the mail to Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama over gun control, some crazy gun nut shot a bus driver in Alabama- and kidnapped a child under the delusion that the government was going to take away his guns.  Shouldn't this be a wake up call? 

These bat shit crazy leaders, like our dear Michelle above, have way too much power already.  Listen idiots.  Just the fact that you were able to get a gun, get on a school bus and terrorize children and shoot the driver (who stepped in front of a child to take the bullet for them)is a perfect pitch for support of the law (that 90% of the population endorses) that calls for better background checks.

Michelle- don't worry, I have no fear that you will have a new successor that will carry on your legacy of tea baggership.  I just wish that some of the democrats in Congress could have the kahunas that you have.  Did you steal them from your husband?  One of the real problems with our country right now is not the extreme right, it is the lack of passion in the left. It is impossible to get anything done in Congress because of the fractures within the democratic party. 

Why are we obsessed with the Walking Dead?

Who would have imagined that a zombie TV show would be the highest rated basic cable show of all time?  I am truly obsessed with this show.  Generally I stay away from really scary movies and TV shows, but lately I find myself really involved in the Walking Dead.  Maybe it has something to do with it being filmed in Atlanta. But there is so much more than that.  I want Rick, Daryl and all of their clan to survive.  I think the shows writers and crew have masterfully taken our heroes through a true-ish landscape of the a zombie apocalypse.  If you look back- the clothes used to be cleaner, the humans were less automatic in their killing of the zombies.  It is interesting how the zombies are now side effects and the real terror comes from the human to human interactions.  I wish that Andrea's vision would come to fruition.  The humans should bond together to fend off the true enemy- the zombies.  Unfortunately- human nature is not to trust one another and therefore we have the Governor vs. everyone else! 

I loved the episode where Rick, Michonne and Carl went back to Rick's hometown and found Morgan in a crazed state.  I found it so sad, yet realistic.  If someone loses their child and they are all alone- wouldn't you expect them to go a little crazy?  I mean Tom Hanks had Wilson- right?  Also the key element in that episode was the hitchhiker.  It signaled a true turn in thinking -survival of fittest.

I think the appeal of The Walking Dead is that it encourages the imagination to conjure up -what would I do in this situation?  It is obviously a fictional show, yet most of the fans like to come up with ideas where the  show will go next week.  We all love Maggie and Glen.  Everyone seemed to really hate Lori. We mourned a certain brother we all loved to hate when he left the show.

Personally I can't wait until next October.  That is the secret to a really successful television show.  I was also hooked on Lost.  That was my other favorite show. I think the Dead needs to focus a little more on the character development.  I guess so many of the cast come and go before there is time for developing their characters. I hope there is a positive end for Carl- he seems to be heading for the dark side.  on the other hand- maybe there is some humanity in Michonne!

The End of an Era

Hello-
I have been gone for a while.  Sometimes when you have nothing good to say, it is best to stay quiet.

You all may be aware that the governor came in and replaced five members of the Dekalb school Board.  Our system is broken.  Our teachers need support.  Hopefully with the intervention from the state our board will start to change their ways.

I am retiring from teaching.  I really could stay in the profession longer-just not in Dekalb county.  I believe that when you breed a culture of fear, instead a system that encourages opinions, that this is very harmful to our actual customers- the students.  Dekalb County does whatever it takes to satisfy a certain clientele and that is not helping the students.  I know other professionals in other counties and their nightmare is a parent enrolling their child into their county.  The parents have trained to think they have the power to tell school officials what to do.  This is pretty much the standard in Dekalb County, but it is not the philosophy in the surrounding counties in Georgia.  If you go to school in Rockdale, Gwinnett or Cobb counties, the school decides what your class schedule should be.

Last week I had a parent of a student that had been placed in jail two months ago, ask me to have him make up his work.  Now- he was in jail for a week and he threatened the life of another teacher at my school.  He came back to school and did nothing in class(as he had done the whole year).  He had four weeks to try to make up his work missed and did not.  Now he has transferred to another school and his mother wants him to have a passing transfer grade.  So next Friday I get to stay after school and administer a test he missed in January-because he refused to take it then.  Does any of this make sense?  Don't you think that the most important lesson at school should be that if you make the wrong choices that there should be consequences for your actions?

I refuse to fight.  The reason for this is I will get no support from my administrators if I refuse to let him make up his work.  The truth is:  he was a special ed (Behavior Disorder-go figure) student in a class of 40 other students.  He never did his work on his own.  He copied all the time and he was always disruptive in class.  Did he deserve to pass last semester- no!  He made a 70 then because his special ed teacher and I did what we could to make him turn in his work.

I feel helpless as a teacher as far as discipline and attendance are concerned.  I have students that have 15-20 days tardy and i have assigned them detention and they don't show up.  I have called home and the parents are generally supportive but they really don't have any answers or suggestions. The only thing that matters is that their child passes my class.

Don't get me wrong- I love a majority of my students.  I love engaging them and challenging them to learn new material.  The problem is that when you have 15 students in a class that want a challenge, 15 more that do not care to think and 10 that are disruptive, that is a recipe for disaster.

What are the most important things that Dekalb Schools need to do?  Get tough on discipline, ignore the parents who are enabling their children and focus on attendance issues.  Support your teachers!!!!

Oh sorry- I guess I ignored the first line in my little story!  Oh well-it needed to be said!
Momma T

Time for a Change in Dekalb?

Faced with the threat of the loss of accreditation, Governor Nathan Deal has decided to de-throne six members of the Dekalb County School Board.  First of all-aren't we all proud of Mr. Deal for finally making the news after his election two years ago.  It is about time that you got involved in some big news-making event other than the take down of the toll booth on Georgia 400.

Everyone is asking me what I think about this upheaval in the school system.  The truth is that I have never really thought much about the school board.  I don't think you are ever going to have a set of nine individuals that vote on education be successful when they have no idea about what it is like inside the actual classroom.  Our accreditation problem does not stem from how the schools are doing, it is a result of the mismanagement of our money. 

It is no secret that money has been mismanaged.  Teacher salaries have bee cut by at least 10%. Classroom size has risen from 28-36.  The school year has been cut by at least 10 days. There is a set of vague standards for each class and this is actually reducing the rigor in the classroom by forcing the teachers to only teach the standards. I know that my school's renovations were included in the SPLOST finance pool of funds.  When we were finished- no new supplies were awarded to any departments.  The gym and science classes received no new equipment.  Our lap top computers are so out of date, they are laughable. I know that other high schools were given money from SPLOST for new supplies and equipment prior to the economic crash of 2007.  Where did the money go?

Why can't our students have textbooks to take home this year?  Our former superintendent( three superintendents ago or in other words 2010!) is still facing trial for embezzling money. The superintendent before Lewis left his contract early and was paid for two years he didn't actually work. Meanwhile, we plebeian teachers are struggling each and every day trying to make something out of nothing.

I am so ashamed of our county.  I am fortunate enough to remember when this county was truly "premiere Dekalb".  That by the way was in the 1980's.  Things have gone down hill ever since. Our leadership has been top- heavy for 25 years now and we are all suffering from cronyism as a result.

But seriously- is the country doing any better?  We have the Fiscal cliff and sequestration. Did you know that every government service will be cut, but the congress will not take a pay cut?  How could you vote on the most difficult cuts in history and not take a cut for yourself?  Wake up losers!