muchadoabouteverything's Xanga

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:35:34 GMT

http://ckbeck.blogspot.com/

Now Everyone Can Get His or Her Kicks....

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 12:55:20 GMT

Well, we went to see Cars yesterday. It was awesome. It might fall just a tad short of Toy Story, but it was fantastic. I can't wait until Wendy gets home, so we can go see it again. It was so much fun to try and identify all the subtle references to places along Route 66. The story was sweet, and the animation was awesome. I feel badly for those who left without watching the credits; there was some funny stuff at the end. You have got to see it!

One of the Route 66 landmarks that appeared in the film is the "Here It Is" sign, only the rabbit has been replaced with a truck. We have had our picture made with the sign a few different times, but the one below are from 2 weeks ago.

Quote of the Day

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it!
- Mother Teresa

And for the record

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 05:07:27 GMT

according to

http://www.blogthings.com/hillbillynamegenerator/

by new hillbilly name is Ellie Mae Crow.

Back to Reality

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 04:39:01 GMT

It is somewhat depressing that it is only June 5 and we have already had our big vacation for the year. Nevertheless, it was a great trip and I am going to have to post my journal online, especially since my sweet daughter is still off in England (poor dear), and when she calls I can't really tell her a whole lot about what we did since international rates through Cingular are $1/minute. So even though I will give a day by day account in the future for Wendy to read, let me just say now that Big Sur, California may have been the highlight of the trip. However, Yosemite in late May is unbelievable. The falls were tremendous, and it even snowed some while we were there!

As for Wendy, she has only got to visit London, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and a few places like that. She doesn't know what she missed out on and will be sorely envious, especially when she finds outs we got to visit Harley and Annabelle again.

For now, I am trying to get back into a routine. I am guessing the 2 hour time difference between California and Arkansas is why I am still wide awake at 12:33! I had hoped getting up early this morning for church would help, but it has not.

We are getting really excited about Cars opening up this week! We already have our tickets for Friday.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Mon, 08 May 2006 03:10:21 GMT

Heavenly Father, help us remember that that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed,
disinterested young man who can't make change
correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking
annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not
enough to share that love with those we hold dear.
Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love

10 DAYS!!!

Thu, 04 May 2006 16:21:27 GMT

I can't believe my daughter leaves in just 10 days for 6 weeks in England! Please pray that God will bless this mission trip, that God will keep her safe and HEALTHY, and that God will give Terry and me peace while she is gone!

In Praise of the "F" Word....

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:14:01 GMT

I LOVE my job, but I always feel such a burden this point in the semester. In about a week's time, I will have the unpleasant task of keeping several students out of English Comp I next semester. The majority of those who will repeat Composition Fundamentals are well aware of the problems they have and as I have met individually with my students this past week, I have stressed the advantage of repeating Comp Fund rather than getting into Comp I and not being ready. However, there are those who are quite adamant about their readiness to move on. They are totally clueless as to how severe their problems are. I had one particular student the other day who was very upset when faced with the possibility of receiving a "no credit" for the semester. She kept repeating that because she had an A in her reading class, she did not understand why she was making such bad grades on her English papers. This is happening as I am going over a paper with her that says such things as, "it just gooses to the lesions" and "you learn about main ideas and sensintice surcture and how to write." There is also the student who sent me an email wanting me to "except her abstinence from class."

A co-worker made me aware of the following article. It has really helped reconfirm my position on these students. Although it is 15 years old, it is still too real. I firmly believe most of my students are in developmental courses through no fault of their own. It is the fault of an inadequate educational system, a system that continues to pass students on out of laziness and a fear of falling graduation rates. Please take a moment and read the article. What do you think?

In Praise of the "F" Word BY MARY SHERRY May 6, 1991, edition of Newsweek

Tens of thousands of 18-year-olds will graduate this year and be handed meaningless diplomas. These diplomas won't look any different from those awarded their luckier classmates. Their validity will be questioned only when their employers discover that these graduates are semiliterate.

Eventually a fortunate few will find their way into educational-repair shops--adult-literacy programs, such as the one where I teach basic grammar and writing. There, high-school graduates and high-school dropouts pursuing graduate-equivalency certificates will learn the skills they should have learned in school. They will also discover they have been cheated by our educational system.

As I teach, I learn a lot about our schools. Early in each session I ask my students to write about an unpleasant experience they had in school. No writers' block here! `I wish someone would have had made me stop doing drugs and made me study.' `I liked to party and no one seemed to care.' `I was a good kid and didn't cause any trouble, so they just passed me along even though I didn't read well and couldn't write.' And so on.

I am your basic do-gooder, and prior to teaching this class I blamed the poor academic skills our kids have today on drugs, divorce and other impediments to concentration necessary for doing well in school. But, as I rediscover each time I walk into the classroom, before a teacher can expect students to concentrate, he has to get their attention, no matter what distractions may be at hand. There are many ways to do this, and they have much to do with teaching style. However, if style alone won't do it, there is another way to show who holds the winning hand in the classroom. That is to reveal the trump card of failure.

I will never forget a teacher who played that card to get the attention of one of my children. Our youngest, a world-class charmer, did little to develop his intellectual talents but always got by. Until Mrs. Stifter.

Our son was a high-school senior when he had her for English. `He sits in the back of the room talking to his friends,' she told me. `Why don't you move him to the front row?' I urged, believing the embarrassment would get him to settle down. Mrs. Stifter looked at me steely-eyed over her glasses. `I don't move seniors,' she said. `I flunk them.' I was flustered. Our son's academic life flashed before my eyes. No teacher had ever threatened him with that before. I regained my composure and managed to say that I thought she was right. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty good about this. It was a radical approach for these times, but, well, why not? `She's going to flunk you,' I told my son. I did not discuss it any further. Suddenly English became a priority in his life. He finished out the semester with an A.

I know one example doesn't make a case, but at night I see a parade of students who are angry and resentful for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up. Of average intelligence or better, they eventually quit school, concluding they were too dumb to finish. `I should have been held back,' is a comment I hear frequently. Even sadder are those students who are high-school graduates who say to me after a few weeks of class, `I don't know how I ever got a high-school diploma.'

Passing students who have not mastered the work cheats them and the employers who expect graduates to have basic skills. We excuse this dishonest behavior by saying kids can't learn if they come from terrible environments. No one seems to stop to think that--no matter what environments they come from--most kids don't put school first on their list unless they perceive something is at stake. They'd rather be sailing.

Many students I see at night could give expert testimony on unemployment, chemical dependency, abusive relationships. In spite of these difficulties, they have decided to make education a priority. They are motivated by the desire for a better job or the need to hang on to the one they've got. They have a healthy fear of failure.

People of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need to have a reason to do so. Young people generally don't have the maturity to value education in the same way my adult students value it. But fear of failure, whether economic or academic, can motivate both.

Flunking as a regular policy has just as much merit today as it did two generations ago. We must review the threat of flunking and see it as it really is--a positive teaching tool. It is an expression of confidence by both teachers and parents that the students have the ability to learn the material presented to them. However, making it work again would take a dedicated, caring conspiracy between teachers and parents. It would mean facing the tough reality that passing kids who haven't learned the material--while it might save them grief for the short term--dooms them to long-term illiteracy. It would mean that teachers would have to follow through on their threats, and parents would have to stand behind them, knowing their children's best interests are indeed at stake. This means no more doing Scott's assignments for him because he might fail. No more passing Jodi because she's such a nice kid.

This is a policy that worked in the past and can work today. A wise teacher, with the support of his parents, gave our son the opportunity to succeed--or fail. It's time we return this choice to all students.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:59:07 GMT

Beating a Dead Horse?

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:34:11 GMT

So what will it cost the nation for a grand jury to investigate whether Barry Bonds perjured himself? Am I the only one tired of this? According to one news agency,

"Even if Giants slugger Barry Bonds is charged with lying to a grand jury, it will be hard to convict him, former federal prosecutors and other lawyers said."

If that is the case, why pursue it? Aren't there better things to spend the nation's money on? global warming? our education system? cancer research?

There is nothing quite like....

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:36:31 GMT

being in the middle of your Sunday school lesson about the birth of Jesus and one of the darling two year olds in your class coming out with, "I have worms!"