Agenda for 1.25-30.09

Personal/Home Items:

Air-conditioner filter 20×20x1

Clean bathroom

Call Dynamo Monday: money goes on car

confirm plans for Las Vegas

Academic Stuff

Sunday: finalize project management plan; read discourse analysis and precis; precis The World is Flat

Monday: work on vitae (for letters of rec); develop strategy for LGBT youth interviews; start revising undergrad thesis

Tuesday: continue revising undergrad thesis; contact Angela about mentoring stuff (how can I best help…) … BUY FOOD FOR CLASS!!!!!!!!

OBAMA!!!!

Como se dice?  Como se llama?  O-BAM-A

Mi presidente…. tu presidente…. O-BAM-A!!!!!!!!!!!

From the convention floor-Day 1

Okay, so most of the opening ceremonies are over.  Rick Noriega gave a compelling speech, though I thought he lost some steam due to length.  Chelsea Clinton visited us, and she was quite gracious in her support for Barack Obama.  I am sitting with the SD7 delegation right now; it’s a bit hot in here, but everyone is pretty fired up.  Is it possible for Texas to really go BLUE???? You would certainly think so in this room right now.  I am really excited.

Oh!  Our SD7 cacucus didn’t finish.  So… after we are done here (I predict midnight)…. we get to reconvene.  At that time, we will elect our national delegates and Presidential Elector. 

And I get to serve on the Democratic Resolutions Commitee.  We begin at 8am.  Woot.

Texas Democratic Convention: Friday morning

Howdy folks!!

I figured this is an appropriate time to revive my blog.  I am a delegate at the Texas Democratic Convention.  Credentialing this morning was relatively pain free.  It took about an hour to sign in to the Senate District 7 booth.  Of course, I’ve been bombarded with folks running for National Delegate and other DNC/TDC positions.

I am attending issue caucuses this morning.  I first intended to attend the TSTA caucus.  It’s for teachers.  But it was overrun by white, Hillary supporters.  I was scared.  So now I’m here at Texas Young Democrats.  Later, I’ll be attending the Stonewall Democrats cacucus.

The bigger stuff happens later today.  I will keep you posted.

GOBAMA!!

More Adventures in the Land of Staph

I’ve been lying about for two days.  There’s still an incredible amount of fluid in the abscess, and it’s not draining.  However, the redness seems more localized, which I think is a good sign.  I got back to the UH health center tomorrow to get a referral to a plastic surgeon.  I may or may not actually go; it’s a wait-and-see.

I’ve had no adverse reactions to the prescribed antibiotics, unlike the IV-debacle at the hospital.  Though my urine is dark red–this is normal for one of my antibiotics.

I’m not attending or teaching classes any this week. 

A Personal Update

Sunday, I noticed that the right side of my face was a bit tender.  When I woke up on Monday, it looked like someone had punched me.  Swelling continued throughout the day.  I went to the health clinic at UH.  They prescribed an oral antibiotic, and they strongly encouraged that I go to an ER.

I went about 1am this morning.  It’s a huge abscess.  The ER doctor was able to get it to drain a bit, but not much.  They started me on IV antibiotics.  Five minutes later, I was itchy all over, especially on the top of my head and in my armpits.  I was having an allergic reaction.

They stopped the IV.  Then the doctor doubled my oral antibiotic and prescribed me a second one.  She also prescribed a topical ointment for staph.

Yeah, it’s a staph infection.

I didn’t teach today.  I won’t teach tomorrow.  But I’m worried: the abscess really hasn’t gone down yet.  EEEP!

Obama Leads in Delegates, Even When Considering Uncommitted Superdelegates

CBS News reports that Obama has pulled ahead of Clinton, even when the support of uncommitted super delegates is figured in.  According to CBS News estimates, Obama holds a razor-thin lead with 1,134 delegates overall to 1,131 for Clinton.    

YES WE CAN: A Great Night for Obama

This evening, voters overwhelmingly picked Obama as their Democratic nominee choice in Louisiana, Washington, and Nebraska.  This is a great night for those of us who seek real change in America.  Obama narrowed the delegate gap tonight!  Time to celebrate!

However, the Democratic Party will be fucked if it doesn’t do something quickly about this race: we simply cannot have a brokered convention. 

I found the following NYT op article by Frank Rich interesting: Click here for article. 

I invite you to click here for some motivation.  Yes we can!

bell hooks

“Open your heart and expose.”

 What if we were guided by this pedagogy?  What if schools were?

Monday, Feb. 4 Last Day to Register for Texas Primary

February 4th is the deadline for voter registration in preparation for the March 4th Presidential Primary in Texas.  Current polls in both parties suggest that Super Tuesday might not be the end of delegate race in either party.  For the first time in recent memory, your vote in the Texas primary may actually make a difference!

Hopefully, all who are eligible to vote are registered.  However, tomorrow is also the last day to submit any address changes.

This website will allow you to check your registration status:
http://team.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionVoter.jsp

You can change your address online, but you must do it on Monday.  Go here:
http://www.texasonline.state.tx.us/NASApp/sos/SOSACManager

If you miss the change-of-address deadline, you can still go to your old precint to vote.

If you still need to register to vote, you are in a tougher position.  Go here for the application:
http://www.sos.state.tx.us./elections/voter/reqvr.shtml

You will need to take the application MONDAY to your county voter registrar.  For Harris County, that’s Paul Bettencourt.  You can call the office at 713.368.2200 if you need directions on how to get there.

Happy voting!

Plow on,
schoolrage

The Theory and Practice Divide

Why should we better integrate theory and practice in education?

Some quick thoughts…

We make pedagogical decisions based on theoretical, epistemological, and philosophical assumptions.  (I am using the term “pedagogical” broadly: I do not merely mean “instructional” decisions.)  Yet we are not always conscious of these assumptions.  This is dangerous.  We need to interrogate critically any decision we make, including classroom routines, the comments we make to students, how we address students, and the ways we encourage students to discover marginal points of view. 

We operate within an educational system obsessed with instrumental rationality.  Valenzuela reminds us that “schools pursue a narrow, instrumentalist logic” rather than the cultivation of meaningful relationships.  Kincheloe drives this point home, too.  We ask what to do rather than exploring the reasons why.  Yet only through understanding theory can we make the best decisions concerning what to do.  Our actions will communicate our assumptions one way or another.  If we operate blindly, then our actions become too dangerous.  We inadvertently participate in the very oppressive pedagogy we seek to avoid.  And students pick up on this quickly.

By analogy, many individuals seek to remove the “political” from education.  You and I know all too well that all education is political.  When we deny this, we, in turn, are making and communicating a political decision.  The same goes for the artificial divide (dichotomy!) between theory and practice.  All practice is grounded in theory.  Let’s hope we know which theory we are reinforcing!

Another thought comes to mind: when I read this question, I went egocentric.  I focused on my practice and my theoretical assumptions.  Should not students integrate theory and practice in their own education?  Our students should do history and government rather than blab on about it.  (Or, worse, listen to a teacher blab on about it.)  And I don’t mean history fair!

Obama Wins!

Obama takes South Carolina… A decisive win!

Consider this, AHHS: Does anyone actually ask students what they think?

EDIT: Oops. Originally, I mentioned the real name of our school in this post. Someone alerted me to this fact. I’ve edited the post accordingly.

A friend wrote the following:

“Well, let me just tell you: AHHS is broken. And it’s just about the saddest thing to have to come to grips with after two and a half years of the hardest work and most intense emotional investment I’ve ever experienced.”

Um, definitely.

Teachers and school administrators should listen to students more often. Last night, I stayed at AHHS until well after 8:00. Many juniors were at school late in order to attend AHHS’s College Night. I decided I would just talk with students. I certainly didn’t want to return home. Staying behind at AHHS allowed me to avoid my shitty psychology textbook.

My running question of the evening: in 100 words or less, how would you fix AHHS?

Students had incredible insight. One student queried as to why some many teachers at AHHS are uncertified. All agreed that the school no longer motivates students; if a student is to succeed at AHHS, he or she will have to develop the motivation independent of any school effort. All agreed that the school is not truly college preparatory. Teachers assign busy work for the evenings, but rarely do they facilitate meaningful discussions on outside-of-class readings the next day.

I shared how A- and O-levels work in England. I also shared how the IB framework works. The students seemed interested.

AHHS fucks over our gifted students. It’s a shame. Why can’t we read, write, and talk–a lot!–in classes? Is this not education?

The Underwhelming Adventures of Anonymous Houston High School and a New Semester in Grad School Land

This week has been underwhelming. My statistics students are less than thrilled. I don’t blame them; they’ve been part of a eight-year programme of CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN TO SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND LIFE. Along the way the school has sucked them dry.

And so they respond less than earnestly in class. I tried some basic inquiry strategies at the beginning of the week: we examined grade distributions among teachers at AHHS. They didn’t care, nor did they want to discuss it with each other. They certainly didn’t want to listen to each other.

My challenge will be how to present statistics to a group of overworked, de-motivated seniors who are already weak in math.

However, my English classes are going well. Seventh period has great energy. We have awkward moments in fifth period, but they are always brief. During the fall semester, the students worked on building metacognitive skills with Ms. G. I’m grateful that they come to me equipped with these strategies. Holy crap: they actually seem to enjoy reading! Whee!

I also began my graduate courses this week. I am excited about my social education seminar. It’s not as fluffy as I had expected.  My online philosophy of education class is appropriately robust.

Unfortunately, my developmental psychology class is anemic. The professor spent an hour discussing seminar norms. I found the discussion condescending. The readings? A chapter or two from a textbook each week. I feel as if I’m in Psychology 101. But I’ll appreciate the light work load.  Maybe I’m jumping the gun with judgment–a wait and see.

My apartment is nasty. Truly nasty. So I’ll go clean.

I’m a winner!

Today I earned the Mr. Vernon Award for Excellence in the Areas of Pedagogical Misjudgment and Managerial Malfeasance.

I’m so very proud.

I’ll try again tomorrow.

Teaching Begins Tomorrow!

My partner and I are at my mother’s house.  We haven’t done laundry for weeks.  So we are here, using Mom for her washer and dryer.  I predict 9-12 loads for today’s adventure.  How collegiate.

Tomorrow I begin teaching.  Of course, I’m not ready yet.  I still need to buy thin dry-erase markers for magic paper.  I need to finalize tomorrow’s lesson plans.  And I should develop a good icebreaker for my English classes.

I’m concerned about building trust and community with my students–especially my new English students.  They’ve had a great teacher all year long.  Now I’m stepping in.  Juniors and Seniors know me well, but most of my sophomores only know of me.  Plus, they are losing a super-strong teacher with my arrival.

Hence I will put my resolution into action tomorrow: community first; academics second.

DAMNIT!

Looks like Clinton will take New Hampshire.  Interesting.  

*DISCLAIMER: I support Obama.  He is refreshing.  But let’s be real: if Clinton wins the nomination, I will be okay with that.

McCain wins New Hampshire.  I think he would be most dangerous if he wins the Republican nomination.  People like him.  So did the independents in New Hampshire.  He is certainly more balanced than the other Republicans.  He would be perfect for the race-to-the-middle that characterizes general elections. 

This is what I’d like to see:

Obama versus some crazy Republican

Here’s how I think the general election will go given the following possibilities:

Obama versus Huckabee: Obama wins

Obama versus Romney: Obama wins

Obama versus McCain: McCain wins

Clinton versus Huckabee: Clinton wins

Clinton versus Romney: Hard to tell…

Clinton versus McCain: McCain wins, narrowly…

Worrisome Quotations

“The school leader doesn’t need to be the most scholarly person in the room.”

“Teachers can’t motivate high school students.  Teachers shouldn’t try to motivate high school students.  It’s just how they [high school students] are.  It’s not the job of teachers to motivate students.  Teachers are naive if they think they can do anything about it.” 

Back to the Trenches

Tomorrow I return to You-know-where High School.  My friend calls it Anonymous Houston High School.  We begin with breakfast.  Then we discuss student performance on PSATs and its implications for literacy education.  We conclude with an afternoon of classroom preparation time.

I doubt any discussion will actually solve problems.

Students return Tuesday for Intersession week.  They take four electives a day. 

Real classes begin Monday, January 14.  Whee.

My virtual mouth.

A certain someone who shall remain unnamed posted this on his/her facebook:

me: did you watch [Obama's] victory speech last night[?]
other person: i watched it live, yeah
me: i was uplifted
me: i felt the holy spirit
other person: jesus?
me: sure.
me: black jesus.

 That’s what I get, hahaha.