Basic Set of Skills

What should be the basic set of skills needed to be able to get into a highschool science course?

1) The ability to read and comprehend at "grade level".

2) The ability to write a coherent sentence at "grade level".

3) The ability to graph a set of numbers on a cartesian plane.

4) The ability to pay attention for longer than 15 minutes without talking to anyone.

5) The ability to follow a set of directions that have been written out or spoken clearly.

Is this too much to ask for? I don't think so. So why am I struggling with these 5 basic consepts with my students?

These things are not even what I should be teaching, I have a set of things that have to be met in order for me to be considered a Science Teacher...

F**k it

Crap. USC should have lost by more. No one should win if they have 4 turnovers. No one! That doesn't mean that I will stop cheering for USC. It does mean, however, that I might be able to get a pair of tickets once in a while without having to give up my left hand (I'm left handed) and my right foot in order to purchase them. Now many of the "fair weathered" fans may finally sell the excess tickets that they purchased only as an "investment" for face value. But who knows, maybe the fire that got started under them after the Cal game 3 years ago will be rekindled by the embarassing game that they just played.

I hope that Arkansas wins out and totally embarrasses everyone that they play. How will the people that deal with the BCS computers handle that? The only thing that would be more fucked up is a rematch of Ohio St. and Michigan if they both win out and stay 1 - 2 after everything has been said and done...

This should be the end of my College rants, since USC has totally showed that they shouldn't be in the top 2 at this point in the season.

I hope that I have something soon to bring to the attention of the 8 or so people that read this thing...

:(

What did I say last week about SEC Teams???

Hmm... Depending on what the score at the end of the USC game is... This is obvously a work in progress, and I do not want to make any definite statements until this game is over.... :)

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Now that the game is over and I am done watching it, I would like to tell all of the ESPN doughnuts that they are all pieces of idiotic crap which is worse than the dingbats that I was calling them last week... As soon as Florida hits a "dfficult" team, they fold like the 1-A and 1-AA crap that they scheduled for their non-cons this year. Now they will be probably inserting Michigan in that #2 spot. USC has to play harder, and beat their remaining teams by much better margins. It will also help if Arkansas, and all of the other teams that they have already played win out... BUT, if you read this blog, you already probably know that.

Well, I just gave my first test of the year, this past Friday. it was pretty brutal. 30 multiple choice/guess questions, a lab portion to it and essay questions with just enough time to take it in one period. The best score so far is a 76% and I have already found 12 students that have elected to get 0's. They were obvously cheating. The same wrong answers, or the same exact written response, or the same excessive bs on a question that didnt need it, like saying exactly what incorrect name of a rock is when I only asked for the type... Should I grade it on a curve?

Out and about...

Here we are, I am at the inlaws, for the weekend. I had to grade what seemed to be a "ton" of work and I find that this was practically nothing. I got it done in a few hours. The bad thing is, is that the little kiddies are still not doing so hot. I told all of them that they were not doing well, and that they needed to get their work done and turned in for my class. Only a very few actually took me up on that offer and are in a place where I can honestly say that they are working hard enough to pass their Earth Science course. I wonder what will be said in a week and a half when the kiddies come home to their report cards... They also know that there is a test next week, that will be very hard on them if they do not look at their notes. I hope that they think about what they are doing.

I was watching the football again this weekend, and I see that ESPN dingbats still are not giving USC the proper respect that they deserve. They keep on placing SEC teams in the 2nd place spot that keep on getting beat by other teams. After this weeks games, they are trying to insert University of Florida as the #2 behind Ohio St. (of which deserves to be there). The non-con's that UF played this year are: 1) SMU (crap), 2)UCF (crap), 3)Western Carolina (1-AA crap), and 4)Florida St. (who suck THIS year). USC beat Arkansas (who just spanked Auburn's ass), Nebraska (arguably one of the better big 12 teams), and will play Notre Dame in November. USC is still winning, and have only lost 1 game in 3 seasons (2 in four). Yet, they are still ranked 3rd by ABC sports as a whole... HMMM..... What the Fuck are they smoking? Because I think that I might want some of it. It might be beneficial to my students anyway because I might start grading easier...

It just can't be East Coast bias, or the fact that USC has a "weaker" conference schedule. Florida squeeked out of a game with Tennessee by one point... USC can't help it if Stanford, Arizona St, and Oregon St. can't recruit the "top" players. Anybody who schedules 1-AA schools doesn't deserve a top 2 ranking. That is the argument that many of the same dingbats made in years past for keeping LSU and other schools out of the national championship games.

:)

Ask and it shall be given...

Thank you to Mr. Paul Burgess.  I asked for a California state quarter, as they are practically non existant here on the west coast, and he was kind enough to find one for me :)  Thank you very much and I appreciate the kind act.  I owe you one!