More possitve thinking

OK, the last post sat on the computer for a day, was read and reread by me before being put out there for all to see. That one may not be posted later on, if I decide that it doesn't belong in the public domain, but we'll have to see how I feel.

I'd like to take a more positive outlook today. I'm learning many things that will improve the lives of my students, am relatively healthy, have gainful employment, supportive and helpful friends and relatively minor problems. I may complain a bit, but I'm really pretty darn happy. I chose my lot in life. I chose to do what I do. I chose to work 2-3 jobs, mostly 7 days a week. I chose to do 5, 12 hour days and keep the second job on the weekends. I left this to teach. I still choose to have a 2nd and a 3rd job while taking classes. These choices make me who I am. I'm confident that very few can truly call me lazy. I'm proud of what I do and most of the things I've done. I've made mistakes and a few enemies. That's part of life. When I'm perfect I'll let everyone know :) and will expect full acknowledgement for it. Until then, I'll continue to do the best that I can with what I have.
I see good things in the future moderated by the common setbacks and challenges. Life wouldn't really be fun without the challenges and the lunatics that we sometimes have to deal with. At least I can say that I'm not perfect, but I'm not as bad as (put name here). The irrational people really make me appreciate where I came from and where I'm going. Maybe they weren't taught any better or have lost sight of what's really important.
Today, I look at all of the good things in my life and think that I'm darn lucky. Today I choose to be positive and see the funnier side of my problems, no matter what they are, they'll be taken care of in due time. Some will be worse than others, but as long as I have my word and my character I'm me.
In time, some of my current problems may become the subject matter of my blogs, others may become gripes and yet others funny anecdotes on life. No matter what happens or how much my mistakes may cost me, I’ll continue to learn from them and become better at what I do and a better person for my trials. One really good way of looking at is that errors only happen when someone is trying and that mistakes are the results of unfixed errors. When you fix an error, it doesn’t become a mistake.

No matter how rough the hand you’re dealt looks, try to find something that is good in it and work to improve it.

Good luck :)

Another day

Today, I see that too much preparation can be a problem. I've been looking forward to our school's new all encompassing software. I've been devising methods to really take advantage of the possibilities offered to me. Today, by chance, I found out that we'll not be instituting this change, will be using the same system this year and possibly the year after change to a third set of programs. I do appreciate that it was decided that we shouldn't make wholesale changes on a system that will not be in existence the following year. I just wish I'd known about it earlier, or at least be alerted to the change. Ah, well I'll get over that and look for other ways to implement my ideas. I'm looking forward to some new things in the coming year. Some of my changes may have been tabled for another day, but others will pop up like weeds elsewhere; killed for the time being only to reappear another day. This is an interesting world we attempt to teach in.
Today I read a journal from 2000 discussing the state of technology in the UK and new objectives toward a better education. It was interesting to see that they were really into "informal communication". Today, those are the things many of our kids do on their own. It's the formal confab that isn't really happening that easily. The money put into their programs since the 80's was impressive, and their lack of direction interesting. At least there were dollars allotted to carry out their dreams. Today, we still have the vague notions of a constantly changing "proficiency" and multiple standards. We just don't see the money needed to implement some changes that need to happen. This, to me, seems like yet another case of learn from history, or be doomed to repeat it. If we don't have a well-defined direction with attainable goals that are well defined and assessable, we're looking at more time wasted and yet another globalized attempt at making the country's education system competitive which will be followed by another program another day.

Today, I have one final thought I could solve all the ills of today’s education systems, but am not in the position of power to attain this fete. Just remember that there will always be about 5% unemployment. Study your kids, their efforts, their desires, their goals and their dreams. Most likely after a statistical analysis you’ll see that about 5% are not willing to do anything for themselves: Some people just don’t want to do anything and expect to be taken care of. This could be a product of the times. Just compare the footage of San Francisco’s “Great Quake”, where soldiers were handing out necessities for life and tools for people to rebuild their own homes and communities: shovels, hammers, and saws (THANKS HISTORY CHANNEL!) with the footage of people infuriated that they were inconvenienced because not enough was done for them in New Orleans. OK, before the hatemail starts, I know that our media is extremely proficient in finding the saddest stories to report and have a way of attempting to affect their viewers in an attempt to gain/keep viewership I fully acknowledge that both plights REALLY suck, but at some point we all have to be responsible for our choices and our futures. To all of those that took their destiny, moved on and did SOMETHING: a huge congratulations!! For those who are still awaiting more handouts while doing nothing for yourself….well, that too is a topic for another day.

It's Been A While

OK, so it's been a long time since I've updated anything or even checked on the posts of others. That just part of summer I guess. I’m working in my third UFL course and learning more things to put to use next year. So far each class has had things to offer, and some things that may not find their ways into my routines. At least I’m getting new stuff to try though. When I started, I decided that I wouldn’t be one of those who does the same things year after year without change. I decided if that occurred it would time to move on to another career. The other reason for me stop will be when it stops being an enjoyable job. If I’m not having fun, it’s really tough for those who count most to have a good experience.

To me that’s one of the main things summer accomplishes. Recharge, learn and get little relaxing in. My family was in before the 4^th and we had a great time. It’s just too bad that the economy in this area is a bit depressed so the family is pretty spread out to keep working.

After the week of family, I spent most of the week of the 4^th at our little cottage(with working restroomJ). I actually did literally nothing for nearly an entire day. Woke up, went for a walk on the lakeshore, took a short trip in the boat around the lake and then just sat on the dock….that was the entire day, other than lunch and dinner. That felt really good, but I doubt that I could do it often, but one day was enough.

With about half of the summer in the bag, it’s time for me to get more serious about preparing for the coming year.

I’m looking forward to using the new CenterPoint system and implementing what I’ve learned over the summer, but need to get moving a bit faster on this. This year will be entirely new, which keeps things interesting. I just never intended to change so much all at once. That’s a bit of a stressor. I’ll work through it and will hopefully have a stronger course for the change. I’ll have better teaming potentials, room for changing rooms with the other teacher in the science lab etc. The possibilities are endless…should make for an interesting year!

I hope the summer has been good for all of you and that you have the opportunity to do something you’ve always meant to do, but haven’t yet. Last year it was wakeboarding for me…this year it was walking to Canada(OK, don’t be too impressed, it was just walking across the bridge and it costs 50 cents to get back into the country hmm free to leave but pay to get back interesting) and seeing the falls from places I hadn’t been…thanks to a brother living in the area and knowing more than me. There might be other things, but we’ll see.

I’ll try to keep up a bit more frequently!

Good luck.