memories through music...

[I know that I really have not been blogging that much about education-centered topics...but hey, it is summer, and it is nice to stretch out my brain muscles on other things]

Last night I ended up watching 4-hours worth of VH1's "Top 100 Songs of the 80's" series. I just could not turn it off. Now understand that the 80's were the critical foundation years of my life - in 1980 I was finishing up 8th grade and in December of 1989 I graduated from college. All of my formative years were during this time period. It was amazing that EVERY song (and I am not exaggerating there) they played, I had some memory of doing something to that song.

Just some of the memories that came flooding back to me were: numerous school dances, couple skating at the Roller King, road trips with friends, breaking up with a girl, playing in my friend's pool, my first concert, all night study sessions, my first solo ride in my first car, cramming for an impossible final, numerous mixed tapes, BS-ing with friends around a camp fire, hanging out at an under-21 club, proms, homecomings, my first day in high school, my last day in high school, and even my first trip to a "gentleman's club" (trust me, if you have ever been to one of these places, you will NEVER be able to hear "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard the same way again). Every one of these memories were chronicled by a song and all of this well before there was such a thing as an iPod.

Music is such an emotion-stirring catalyst. I have always heard that our brains are so powerful that they actually have stored every memory, experience, conversation and words read that we have ever had - the problem is we just do not know how to tap into it. And with all the wild flashbacks I was having last night, I completely agree that it is all stored up there somewhere.

Wow...I sure did love the 80's!

i forgot how much i missed reading for fun...

Today I got to do something that I have not done since last summer...sit in a coffee shop and read a book for fun. Between the hellish year I had teaching as well as taking some intense Masters classes, and lately having to get my SEI endorsement, all of my reading has been academic in nature.

I forgot just how awesome it is to get whisked away in a well-written story...to become a part of an adventure and actually get frustrated because I cannot read fast enough to find out what is going to happen next.

It is kind of funny what I am reading too. Believe it or not, one of the things my students loved the most in my homeroom was the times that I read to them. Yes, fourteen year olds got all giddy when they got to hear me read them a story. So I kept hearing so much about the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld that I thought I would read that to them. Well I am not sure who enjoyed this story more - me or them - but I got so engrossed in the book UNTIL the end. Whereas everybody said how good the story was BUT nobody told me that it was part of a trilogy!!! I literally got to the end of the book the last week of school and damn near screamed out loud some inappropriate school words when I saw it ended in a cliffhanger. Needless to say I had to find out what happened next so I just bought the second book, Pretties and it is just as awesome.

So I now have the month of July to cram in as much reading time as possible before the roller coaster ride starts up again in August. After Pretties I have Specials to finish up the trilogy and with any luck I will still have some time to sneak in another book.

I really do not understand why some people hate to read...

Help Save 1-800-SUICIDE

I just ran across this campaign on PostSecrets.com to help save the 1-800-SUICIDE hotline and I want to help pass along the message. The thought of suicide is something that impacts every age and young teenagers are no exception. On the average I have one student a year who talks about taking their own life and thankfully, so far, nobody has followed through on it.

I will never forget the first year I started teaching when a troubled student who I had tried to bond with came up to me and asked very matter of factly:

"Mr. S, would you be sad if I killed myself?"

Those are words you can never soon forget. I had somebody watch my class and we went around to the back of the building and sat on the ground and just talked. After awhile he felt like he was ready to talk to somebody with more experience in dealing with this as well as telling his mother.

I hope that anybody who is having these types of thoughts will always have somebody available to talk to which is why I feel this campaign is so very important.

I encourage you to watch this short video and if you are able, please donate. Being a Reagan Republican I believe that the Federal Government is involved too much in our daily lives and running the 1-800-SUICIDE hotline is definitely an area they should stay out of.

I just went to HopeLine.com and donated $25. I now challenge any of my readers - especially my fellow bloggers -to at least match me. I am sorry for being so dramatic but how would you feel if one of your students went through with taking their life because they felt they had no other option and did not have somebody at a helpline to talk to?

Please help.

blogging is humbling...

As usual, I am sitting in a coffee shop playing on my laptop surfing the web and Googling different subject. What I thought was pretty interesting is that the majority of the links I found on interesting topics were mostly on people's blogs. A while back I blogged on how people have found this site, mostly through Google, and for some reason it is really sinking in just how wild this whole blogging thing is.

Now of course most people find my site because they did a search on a topic of interest rather than coming to my site specifically to see what I have to say. But the fact that there are people literally all over the world are reading my words is a pretty wild concept. Along these lines I went to my SiteMeter which can show a map of the world and where the last 100 visiters live and it is so cool seeing the impact of the internet. In just the last couple of days I have had visitors from Sweeden, Bulgaria, Mexico, UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Cyprus.

Even though I am sure most visitors just pop on and then pop off of my ramblings, but just the fact that people have stopped by is just pretty cool and just a little bit humbling.

out with a thud...

My robotics program is now over!

And just like a lot of things in my life, it did not fade away slowly into the sunset. On the last day during lunch, while some of the kids were finishing up eating, some of the kids wanted to go outside to run around which I of course let them (nothing is worse that a room full of pent up 10 year olds with excess energy). Well while I was out there watching them I hear a thud behind me and then a blood curdling screem. One of my kids had slip while running and as it turns out, broke his arm/wrist. At first I thought it was only a sprain as he would not let me look at it so I helped him up to the office to get some ice and on the way up I got a better look at it and realized that arms were not ment to bend in that direction so I knew ice would not be the remedy. I got to the office, had the secretary call 911, I got hold of his mother and shortly there after the paramedics were there wisking him off.

I must say this was my first usage of the paramedics while teaching and it was a horrible experience, one I do not want to have to do again.

So needless to say, I am VERY happy that this program is now over and I can enjoy the 44 days I have left before I have to go back to teaching 145 thirteen year olds again.

walk a mile in their shoes...

As I have posted earlier, I am teaching three, one-week Robotics classes this summer and right now I am in my final week. Well each week is a different age group and right now I have 24 ten year olds and 3 eleven year olds. All I can say is WOW!

I have said this on my blog before but I have always felt that education is the exception to the rule that "the grass is always greener on the other side" because every teach I have met can never understand why any other teach would want to teach another age group.

I have always felt that I was "born" to be a middle school teacher and after week I feel more resolute on this idea. I have no idea how in the world anybody would enjoy teaching 4th and 5th grade!!! It is driving me crazy in how these little ankle biters are so desperate for my approval and just how idiotic their questions are. That is the great thing about the "hormonally challenged" middle schooler - for the most part they do not care if you like them and are not shy about letting you know that.

I was surprised that it took as long as it did but I actually made one of these little kids cry today because I pointed out to him just how much of a bully he was being with the other kids. I was actually impressed that I did not tell him just to "suck it up and get your act together" - if I did I could just imagine him curled up in the fetal position under a table somewhere.

I think that every teacher should have to spend some time exposed to other grade levels because that way they will have an even greater appreciation of the one they are in.

it sounded cool back in October....

Last October I was asked if I would be interested in teaching a robotics class for a summer camp in my district. Well I had just got back from Space Campe a couple of months earlier where I learned robotics so I thought this sounded pretty sweet so I said I would do it.

Now fast forward 8-months and before I knew it, I now actually have to do it! Well I am now in the middle of this 3-week program and I am dying!!! There are a few key problems that are adding to my angst:

1. I am dealing with younger age group than I am used to - the positive is that it is just confirming that I totally belong in 8th grade
2. I am teaching straight through the day from 8:30 - 3:00 with no breaks, no preps, and I even have to monitor all the kids during lunch. I have never felt so mentally drained as I have doing this
3. After the first couple of day of me teaching how to build and program the robots, they kids are really on their own doing challenges and playing. This means that I spend a lot of time just sitting around thinking how much I would like to be in a pool, a nice cool movie theatre, or sitting in a coffee shop reading a fun book for change.
4. I sooooo want to be playing Halo 3 on my xBox. It is to the point where I am even having my robotics students refer to me as "Master Chief" which is the main character in the game.
   

The one thing that is getting me through all of this is reminding myself that I am making $27 an hour. I know that I will truly love spending this money in a couple of weeks when this is all over. But I guess from a non-selfish point of view, the kids really are having a blast in the camp so I should probably be focusing on that as well.

Oh when will July ever get here????

actions have consequences...

A week ago I saw the above video taken during a Georgia state championship game. Matt Hill, a senior at Stephens County High School, is the catcher who obviously ducked during a pitch allowing the umpire to get hit. From all accounts it seems Matt did this as protest with what he felt was a series of bad calls by the umpire.

Well I just read a follow up to the story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that I was happy to hear about. Apparently because of Matt's actions during the game, Gordon College who had previously offered Matt a full baseball scholarship has since pulled that scholarship. According to Travis McClanahan, the Gordon baseball coach,

"We just felt with the results of the game and what he was involved in, we just didn't support that kind of behavior for returning or incoming players."

The reason why I was happy to hear this is because it proves yet again that actions do have consequences. I have no doubt that Matt is probably a really great kid but fortunately he is being held accountable for his stupid misjudgement.

I am always trying to get across to my students that they need to look beyond the moment and realize that they are not invincible and untouchable. Way too many times teenagers get so caught up in the moment that they do not believe that there can be lasting consequences to the things that they do.

I could just imagine how pumped up and cocky he felt in the locker room right after the game with all the high-fives and "atta boys" until reality threw a cold glass of water in his face. Who knows if Matt will get to play ball somewhere else but regardless this one stupid decision is what people will always remember him by.

Not to take the point too far but we have all heard stories of how some teens were out having a good time and goofing around but have ended up getting seriously hurt, going to jail, or even dying. I am not saying your life will be ruined for simply having a little fun, but when that little voice inside of your head tells you that what you are about to do might not be a good idea, you really should listen.

The former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo once said,

"Every time I've done something that doesn't feel right, it's ended up not being right"

I am definitely going to be sharing this story with my students...

you have to love impulse shoping...

Well now that the summer has started I was looking for some mindless entertainment for the next couple of months before I have to back to being an "responsible" adult. So I was walking through Best Buy and before I knew what was happening, I was standing in the checkout line with an xBox360 and the Halo 3 game.

So $450 later I found myself sitting in my living room with the wireless controller in my hand destroying evil aliens and saving the universe. When I next looked up at the clock I thought it was broken because it showed that 4 hours had passed since I sat down. What a wonderful, mindless distraction video games can be!! It is no wonder in how people can get addicted to these games. But the way I look at it, if it is between getting hooked on Halo or on my interest in all the different vodkas of the world, I think I am better off with the Master Chief (that is the main character of the game).

My next step will be to get myself hooked up to xBox Live and I will track down some of my former students and destroy them in this game. This will be my chance to take out all the frustrations they had heaped upon me without being thrown in jail or having their parents screaming for my job.

Well enough of this worthless Internet stuff, I have creatures to destroy...

Both xBox360 and Halo3 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

"do you work for NASA?"

Even before I had attended the last couple of Educator Space Academies, I have always loved NASA. The work they do touches the very heart of what it means to be a human in exploring the unknown. So just imagine how excited I am about NASA after being down at Kennedy Space Center and hanging out with actual astronauts!

So awhile back I came across this NASA logo sticker and I thought it would be cool to put it on my laptop. Now I spend a lot of time at coffee shops where this sticker never fails to get noticed, especially by kids. It is kind of fun because I can totally see the wheels turning in their head trying to figure out if I am working on an actual NASA computer.

Well today it was not a kid but rather an adult who I noticed eyeing my laptop and finally he very sheepishly got up the nerve to come up and ask,

"So, do you work for NASA?"

I just chuckled and said,

"Unfortunately, no, I don't work for NASA. But as an 8th grade science teacher I am hoping to inspire one of my students to want to work there."

That is one of the coolest things about being a teacher - we really do have the chance to inspire greatness. Even though I will never find myself flying in outer space, years from now I will be waiting for a shout out from a former student while they are floating around on the moon or even Mars. And you know what? That would be the next best thing to being there myself.

In the meantime, at least I have this little NASA sticker on my computer...