Things I have been thinking about...

I read this in a FB post today:

"The natural consequence of true liberty is diversity. Unless a society can figure out a way to reach perfect agreement, conflicting views will be inevitable. Any effort to impose conformity, through government or any other means, by punishing the misguided for believing incorrectly will impoverish society intellectually and oppress it politically...

The test of our commitment to liberal principles is not our eagerness to hear ideas we share, but our willingness to consider seriously those we oppose."

It was in regards to the same-sex marriage issue that is raging in some states of the US.  

I see this quote and have lived by it for a very long time.  I find that our young people also have to learn this very important fact too.  About a week ago, I was substituting in a middle school and students were assigned a collage project.  One student was extremely unhappy because another student was intentionally tearing up pictures of our President, to the point of crying about it.  The unhappy student is the son of immigrants, and I don't think he truly understands the above quote.  Given, he probably is not old enough to understand the quote, but he will need learn it very soon.  I had a hard time consoling him and said that there were probably better ways that the other student could have handled it BUT he still had a right to do what he did...

Working again...for now

I have a job.  It is the same job I have been working at for the last few months, but it is now officially permanent until summer.  I have taken myself off of the substitute lists for the towns I have been subbing in, but I still have to reapply for the permanent position at the end of the school year.  I am trying to get rid of "the sick" that was given to me as a present by a student I have, but I am coming out of it - I think.  My Christmas was wonderful, and I got what I wanted, while I gave the lovely wife pretty much what she has wanted.  I hope you and yours have a wonderful New year and I hope your Christmas was just as good as mine (minus "the sick" that is).  I might be back soon, it just depends on how much time I will have now that the job is permanent, and I am very busy.

---GMT

I think I have figured it out...

It has been a long time since I have been here.  I am now in a different sector of the universe and I am currently in the process of trying to find a new teaching position.  The two I applied for, I didn't even get a call back, just the "sorry you are well qualified, but not what we are looking for" types of letters.   I have applied for a third position, half time, and not exactly a pure fit to my qualifications, but I hope to get a shot at an interview.  I just looked at the salary schedule for the place I am at, and I realize why I am getting these letters.  I have a masters degree.  I have 7 years teaching experience and 3 years active service in our nation's military.  If they give 1:1, that means that they will have to pay around $14k more per year to have me, instead of some young buck straight out of college...

But still, please wish me luck...

I'm back.

I am going to put in the new Water Heater that we just bought from Home Depot.

I figure that it will take about 4 hours to finish, so we will have hot water around 2 pm.

School is doing OK. I believe that the students are better than last year. There are a few that just shouldn't be there, such as the student that has already passed my class and is just sitting there because he couldn't get off his lazy ass and get a new class because his counselor obviously didn't do their job correctly and finally get him out of my class as this is the third year in a row that he is in there.

Well, I have to go, ttyl!

long time, no posts

For those who know me and CTG, you can catch up with what is happening with me, from her. Now that this year is over for my teaching, I now have more freedom to do a little blogging. I might have something on my mind from time to time, but you know me, I won't necessarily write about it unless I can't get rid of the angst by the normal methods, ie: BattleFront II, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, or just mowing the lawn.

But anyway, this is how and what I plan on doing for most of my summer: NOTHING school related. That is right, I have been teaching for just about 2 years straight, and I am tired, pooped, and I have just about had it with the population of 15 year olds in my neck of the world. I hopefully will do a lot of reading, both for enjoyment and for the job. There are about 20 or so books that I have aquired from different sources that may be of use to me on the job. I am currently in the middle of a vampire novel (I would give the name, but I dont have it here with me) that is very good, that I had to set down when the CST's were over. When I am not reading, I will be hopefully fixing more of the house, working with the yard, gardening and probably doing some swimming at the pool a few miles away w/ CTG. I will also be playing with my Wii and PS2, the aforementioned games as well as a few that I haven't even opened due to the time crunch. There will be taping DVD's of stuff that I have recorded for school as well as trying to find movies that I have recorded earlier, but the DVD's have dissapeared or were scratched beyond repair.

There is a thing I am doing in August that is related to school, but I will be "going to college" and getting paid for it. That is all I am going to say about that. I will probably also start thinking about a different class that I might be teaching next year, but it is a class that is practically the same that I taught last year, but this will be an A - G requirement type.

Well, gotta go get started on that nothing stuff. have a good summer

More 'Tards

I don't know why I even try anymore... I gave the opportunity for my students to get 1/2 credit back from the exam that they did last week. I got a cacophony of "Didn't we already do this exam?" from my students, even though I have had the statement that we were going to do an exam correction day on the board for 3 school days. I give them the directions, to write the correct letter (it is multiple choice) AND the statement beside the letter choice on another piece of paper.

I then proceed to answer the question "So, what are we to do with the ScanTron?", and "Can I just put the correct letter on the ScanTron next to the incorrect one?" GRRR..... I then see students that totally failed the exam try to get up and bother or annoy those that are trying to actually fix their tests. I was trying to grade things, but I ended up being a referee half of the time.

I come up to them, and ask them what they are trying to do, and they say "I dont have any paper," and "Somebody took my pencil," as well as "I don't know what to do." Note these are the SAME miracles of modern chemistry that just asked me the questions above... If they did not say anything, or do anything, they often just threw their failed exam on the ground and fell asleep. Jose, the janitor, probably cleaned up about 10 exams at the end of the day that were dropped on the floor.

FUCK Them, fuck them ALL to hell.

I feel better now.

--GMT

I Hate Retards

Yep, I do...

Today, in my 5th period class, a fucking miracle of modern chemistry decided that it would be fun to throw pencils at Mr. GMT. It was a day that was designed to be relaxing, and just watching the mis-information that is the movie Volcano. Movie immediately got turned off, lights were turned on, and the whining ensued.

When the question "Who the hell threw something at me?" was issued, all I heard was a series of "I don't know", and "Not me" along with a roll of laughter. I started to write down the standard everyone was going to write, and then I heard a series of names, none of them the same.

I replied with, ok, since everyone in here decided to throw something, everyone will write the standard. 75 times. More whining, so I called a security officer for our school. Needless to say, at least one office referral was cut for someone who thought that the new assignment was not to their liking, as they threw their pencil when I was at the door, as a student from another class knocked...

Oh, and for those who might be keeping score, it is the same "1Idiot", from the previous post...

Why I dislike some students

1) They are paid big $$ to do what is expected of them. Take a current student of mine. Lets call him "1Idiot". He receives $100 per A per grading term, there are 4 grading terms per semester and 6 academic classes per semester. If 1Idiot makes A's in all of his classes, each and every grading term, the fuckwad gets over $4500 to do what he is supposed to do. Jesus F-ing Christ. I got nothing for my hard work every semester and I was happy to get the A's, B's, and C's that came to me.

2) They can't shut the fuck up! I ask them all to be quiet in a nice and decent manner. I ask again, but with no change to the audio level in the class. I resort to yelling "Shut Up", and they feign shock (or laugh), then start talking even more. Some are better than others, and even 1Idiot is one of the worst at this. The little bastard annoys the fuck out of me and everybody in his class. I can't Duct-tape his mouth shut, and beating him is totally out of the question. I have sent his little ass, as well as others, to the office for disruption, and nothing seems to change.

3) Students that can't follow directions, or realize that there is a pattern to things that go on in my class. Every freaking Friday, I give a quiz. I allow the students to use their notes that they might have taken during the previous weeks, and I never ask them to write the questions down. It has been the same since the first fucking week of class, 6 weeks ago. These fucking miracles of modern chemistry still ask "what is this", or "oh no, we're having a quiz", or "can we use our notes", or "do we have to write the questions down".

4) Students that don't eat breakfast or lunch. I am not sorry for your brain feeling crappy because you fail to eat something before you get to class. I ride between 2 and 3 miles away from school, and I seem to be able to function without a mental fit or crying spell. I bring my meal with me, or have one stored in my cupboard when I don't. You even get either a free or reduced price breakfast type meal that you can eat that I would have given away things that I owned for that opportunity in high school. I had to pay full price if I wanted to eat. And by the way, I only got enough money for a "school made" lunch each day when I was their age...

By Allah, may they all figure out something before I go all postal on them.

More dumbasses

Since it is the last week of the school year, many of the less motivated students have gotten to trying to destroy the facilities. I guess if they know that they have been kicked out of next years classes, they might as well destroy what is good here, so that those of the "good ones" will feel crappy about coming in to a shitty looking school.

I have been absent the last two days, due to a mandatory meeting for summer school teachers.

This morning, I came back to school, only to see a multitude of spray paint graffiti on the walls.
Tagger names and all... but to the point. I am cleaning up some stuff in the back of the room, which was not there when I left, only to find permanent marker recreations of some of the stuff that was found on campus... Now, this district has a policy of making known student taggers pay for the damage that they create and then expelling them in quick order.
I sent the dean of behavior/discipline a note telling him what I found, along with a list of names of those that might have been responsible or should know who is responsible for the tagging. I even added the name of a student that was forced to withdraw from our school due to his actions in March. I think that he is currently enrolled in the high school a mile due east of here (but the same district).

I hope that they send one or more of my "usual suspects" away for good. I do not think that most of them will pass the final anyway.

Cool Geology site for teachers

If you are teaching Earth Science and you are having trouble coming up with a neat project, or a worksheet and it is coming up on the day that you are having problems with, there is a website that you can look at.

I know that most teachers are now in Summer mode, but there are a few of us that still have a few weeks left.

Also for planning, you could use it for next year...

Here it is: Geoteach.com


It is a great resource that has saved my butt a time or two.

Just be very nice to the site administrator, as he/she likes to be respected, like all of us do.

Fucking retard

For those who know, you can always ask me to help with a math problem.

I might not know how to solve it, but I will know just who might.


Please do not do what a student of mine did in my class:
---
Student: "Mr. GMT, can you help me with my math work"
Me: "Yes, student, that would be no problem, just allow me to finish my lecture before I will help you."
Student: (3 minutes later & 10 minutes from end of lecture) "Mr. GMT will you help me with my math now?"
Me "No! And if you interrupt me again during this class lecture, I will not help you after!"
Student: (after lecture) "Mr. GMT will you do this for me?"
Me: "Ummm, no. I am here to help you with your math, what exactly do you need help with?"
Student: "I am failing math, and MR G (math teacher) told me if I get 'all of this work done' I would get a B."
Me: "Ok, what is the problem then?"
Student: "I don't know how to do it."
Me: "Did you listen to Mr. G? Do you have your math notebook"
Student: "No, too many people talk to listen to him. No I do not have a notebook for math"
...2 minutes later...
Me: "Ok, now, what is the formula for slope?"
Student: "I don't know"
---
Now, I know that the slope formula (y=mx+b) is taught not only in Algebra, but in at least 6th grade math. I took 6th grade math and I learned it there. Knowing the way California is, it is probably now taught earlier...
---
...5 minutes later, after breaking the formula down for him...
Me: "...now what is m?"
Student: "I don't know. How about you do all of this for me? I will do anything that you want. I don't want to goto summer school. How about $20.00. It is no problem."

----------
He ended the conversation by why he doesn't know math that well is because he is Armenian, and his teacher is Hispanic. My lovely wife is Armenian, and she has had Hispanic teachers/professors that taught her math just fine. I about wanted to belt the child in the head
I told him that he has to learn the formulas for the final exam, and he just said that he was going to cheat off of someone else...

I hope that the child fails!

I helped him with 4 problems, and he was giving up on even the easy ones...

Fucking retard!

the idiocy of a system

8/18/06
The system that I work for, is kind of weird. The program that I went to this summer was somewhere in the 120 hour range (8 credit-hours). When you add the credit-hours to my pay scale it brings it to a higher level. The program was co-hosted by my district, and one of the administrators is currently a school board member. You would think that the credits would be automatically accepted, right?

WRONG!!!!!!!


I went to Warm and Humid to get the credits assessed, and my pay scale re-adjusted, but I just get a look and 2 different pieces of paper that need to be filled out by myself and an administrator (note: school board member) of the program. I asked if this was all necessary, and they said that it needed to be checked by a totally different person... I think that it is a total crock of shit, and just a way to piss off teachers and other people that are trying to make a little more money that they deserve.

But anyway, I took the piece of paper to the institute and have to wait for the correct individual to sign it and now I am waiting... Next week I will have to pick it up again and take it to the Warm and Humid, just to "wait and see" if they will accept the course.

So, just another day in paradise, here in Southern California :)

--GMT
-------------------------
Update:

I know that this is WAY OVERDUE but:

I took the paper back to Warm and Humid today, along with some college units that I did not have the transcripts to. It looks like I will get that pay raise, but the head person (AKA: the head of Warm & Humid) that decides these things was taking a long lunch and was not there when I dropped the paperwork off. I just hope that with the other units I dropped off, I will have enough to jump 2 pay grades...

Cross your fingers, toes, and other appendages in hopes that they won't remember who I am. I was the one that called the union out because they didn't want to accept one of my years in the military; because it, and I quote the bitch, "... did not line up with the school calendar, even though I was in for a continuous 3 years, with no break". That was fixed in about one phone call.

--GMT

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...

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.

:)

WTF happened

to Cal? I can not believe the score. At the end of the 3rd quarter, it is 35 - 3. I hope that they don't devalue USC's year because the "hard games" within the Pac-10 won't be seen as a challenge within the whole scheme of things. I hate it when teams (even USC) choose chump games (see Texas v North Texas today) to play for their non-conference games and claim that they deserve to go to a big game at the end. It is rather hard to say that teams that win their conference but loose hard non-con games should not go to a decent bowl. Where this rant is going, I do not know, but just a stream of consciousness flowing.... I just don't want USC to be tossed a lesser bowl because they dominate the Pac-10, and win their non-con games but are invited to the lesser bowl because the other Pac-10 teams can't hit the broad side of a barn with the football against their non-con games.

Although I don't like to admit it, I kind of want fUCLA to win against the Utes. But JUST to validate USC's eventual trouncing of that excuse of a team at the end of the season :)

Next School Year

I found out that I will only be teaching Earth Science next school year!!!!! Yeah me!!! I will not have to deal with junior high students in any way, besides to tell them to go to class and not play around in the hallways during their "nutrition" time. Why is it that they no longer have a "break" by the way? We always had a break, not nutrition, just a break in the schedule. It was mainly just a time where we all ran to the potty because we didn't want to disturb the teachers when they were giving us the lessons. I guess that it was understood that they taught, we learned and we all went to the bathroom during break or lunch... Well, that is the beginning of another rant, when I will finish it, I do not know.
Stay tuned :)

Cool Google things!

Google has created a new applet to its Google Earth program. You can now download an applet that allows you to hook into the USGS Earthquake centers and see the earthquakes that have been recorded within the last 7 days. It is a sweet interlay that will allow you to see the houses/surrounding area of the epicenter of each earthquake and approximately how long ago it had happened. When you click onto the earthquake, it tells the approximate magnitude and gives an option to go to the USGS webpage and see a more exact description as well as if the earthquake has been reviewed by a human being - as just about all earthquakes are recorded by our computers and many are not looked at and verified by a real geologist/seismologist. But the cool thing is, is that all of the ones, regardless of size, are being reviewed from Mt. St. Helens... (sarcasm) I wonder why... (end sarcasm)

Easily one of the coolest things that I have ever ran into on the internet... Now how can I integrate this "new" little thing into my Earth Science class... Hmmm.....

more on things to do this summer...

I know that summer is already over for many teachers, but I still have two weeks to go until I have to go back. I have not figured out what I am going to do yet for the first few weeks, so I am starting to get things together. Still waiting for the software but there is a good sign that I will be able to get a handle on it by Monday or Tuesday. So I will be busy next week, coming up with a decent test that will be good for not only my classes, but for all of the classes that are going to be taking Earth Science this year in my district.

For those who are caring, my back is still hurting and my knee is getting better. Got to go, talk to you later. :)

what to do...

Nothing to do today, just chilling out and watching TiVo and NFL football.

Yesterday evening, I had a pretty bad headache. So my wife and I decided to take a nap at around 8 pm. We woke up at around 4 am. we figured that we had a good 8 hours of sleep and we realized that we were both hungry. By 5:30 we were out of the door and on the way to IHOP. Mind you, it was still dark and we hadn't even been out this early since I took her to LAX for her flight to Michigan. But we went to breakfast that early on a Saturday and we werent even the only people there. We were instantly shown to a seat and enjoyed a hot meal. By 6:4o we were back in bed, as a every good meal deserves a nap, and slept in until 10 ish. This might sound normal for some people, but it was wierd for me. Don't ask me why...

By the way, I am trying to blog more, but with nothing else to say, I might just blog a bit of stupidity until something nice/new happens.

I'm Back....for the time being...

Yes, I know, I have told you all (2 - 3 people by now) this before, that I have started to blog again. There has been a lot that has happened to me, and most of it good. Since the blog world has last "seen" me, I have been in a slight automobile accident - I am mostly ok, just a bungled knee and a sore lower back. I have been attending an inquiry based science seminar for the last month or so at a local college, and have been taking it pretty easy the last few months while I have been on summer break. I have some pretty cool pictures of a Rube Goldberg machine that I helped build with "Mr. Steve", who is/was a fellow teacher that I am learning with at the seminar.
Things that I did:
1) Learned to solder - something that I have been meaning to do but did not have the materials to do...
2) Cleaned my mother and father-in-laws house while they were in Alaska
3) Slept in
4) Played video games
5) watched TiVo
6) Recorded cool videos and put them to DVD that I can actually use for class next year :)
7) Built Rube Goldberg machine - that actually works!
8) Met Dr. Rusty Shakelford of My Pet Jawa

Things that I need to do:
1) Write Quarter exams for my district
2) Plan what I will do the 2nd and 3rd weeks of school
3) something is just escaping me right now...

Of the things that I need to do, I wasnt thinking about #2 until now. #1 cannot be done without a few pieces of software that my district wants me to use, that I do not have with me at this present time.