Back to school blues

Well it is almost that time. Parents are rushing their kids to the local supply store to get them the pencils and pens they will have lost in a weeks time. The binders that they will have drawn on and poked holes in by the second day of school. Prepare kids, the time for learning is almost upon us. The teachers are going back to school, setting up their classroom, making them ready for the return of the students, getting copies done, and sifting through the bull that the administration puts them through.....and on that note:

The new wonders of my Middle School 2007-2008:

1. Now we have a 90 minute remediation period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is supposed to help those students that are behind. Doesn't that defy logic since there will be 90 minutes cut from regular instruction time?

2. On Fridays we will see all eight of our classes. Now for those who don't understand, we only teach 3 classes so they alternate periods each day. Why must I see each class twice in one day?? So they can have a 50 minute "activity" period at the end of the day to reward the students. Again a cut into instructional time.

3. Along the lines of this "activity" period they are now requiring us to have some activity we do for the students. So it looks like intermural softball for me.

This year is going to be a long one with all of these changes. Since we missed the NCLB standards the state government is going to be up our rears. Another fun year at SMS!

We're coming to your city!

Watch out Arlington because the Tri-city teacher is coming your way this weekend. Look out for the path of destruction that will follow. Arlington is in for a real party.

Left wheel. ON THE DOUBLE!

This past week I took a class entitled "Diverging Americas: Antecedents of the Civil War" at Pamplin Park. The class was most enjoyable and I really learned a lot about the time period preceeding the Civil War.

The real story comes from class this past Thursday where we took the roll of a Civil War soldier. Our instructor took us out side and drilled us as though we were a regiment of soldiers. Considering that this class was filled with all middle aged women and myself one can guess how well this went. Had we been in the war I believe our regiment would have been routed in less than 5 minutes. We spent about 20 minutes training and learning the movements of a Civil War regiment. We marched in columns, battle lines, and in road formation. We about faced, double quicked, and wheeled, and once we were trained the real fun began...

Now it was embarassing enough to be doing this in front of the teachers of the course and those who work at Pamplin, but then in marches a "regiment" of 10 year olds. Now these kids were on point. They had their movements down and had come to crush the teacher regiment. These kids showed us up and made us look bad. We were messy and could not hold our line, and had those kids had bullets most of us would be dead.

I am proud to say we lost the war to about 20 ten year olds..

Oh the joys of Richmond

This week I am taking a class about diverging Americas, the pre-Civil War era. We took a trip to Richmond today and I must say it was an adventure. Having lived in the Tri-City area my entire life, I have been to Richmond many times in my life. I have heard of many of the different places we visited today on our bus tour of Antebellum Richmond, but have never gone before....and for good reason. Some of the places we went to I would never go to alone or at all.

Gilpin Court...One of the worst places in Richmond. Murder, Drugs, Rapes and other assorted crimes take place there. I know it is historically relevant, however, I don't consider this a safe place. I could only imagine what the place looked like before today because I was afraid to go there. Now I realize it is just as bad as I had thought. It is one scary place....for whatever reason do not go to Gilpin Court.