(Ok. I’m lagging. It IS summer after all. But I told myself I’d try to stay in the groove for the summer, and post (kinda) regularly; there are people who teach on a different schedule, and right now aren’t able to go camping for a week at beautiful Refugio Beach. And they might like some new material now and then. Though if we don’t stop the Terminator from closing our state parks, nobody will be camping anywhere.) Anyway, my last post left me holed up at the Holiday Inn in San Francisco, the day after the last day of school, studying for the CTEL. Early Saturday morning, I got to the test site at beautiful Mission High School and snaked a beauty off-street (free) parking spot. I was there an hour before reporting time, so I ate my muffin, drank my green iced tea from my clear plastic jug (no labels; could be used for cheating), and hung out in the cafeteria where they herded all of us after checking for cell phones and “any device with an on/off switch.” I half-read the misspelled posters touting the nutrition and energy that come from eating vegetables in season, grooved on the
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This week and next, while beauty by definition, are going to be a bit more hectic than usual. I am plowing through research papers. (I caught my first big plagiarist of the year – he took one of the free samples from one of those research paper mills on the net. He used to have an A…) Plus, the dreaded CTEL test (which certifies those of us without a CLAD - if you don’t teach in California, follow the links) is the next day after the last work day, and obviously I haven’t studied. I’m up to chapter 4 in the book that supposedly covers what’s on the test, but… My plan is to take a shot at all three parts (7 hours or some such) and see what happens. There’s another round of testing in the fall, and I can take another, better informed shot at it if I fail this time. Our district has been offering classes to prepare. BUT THE PEOPLE TEACHING THE CLASSES HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE TEST! How silly is that? The classes span hours and hours after school and on weekends. BUT THE PEOPLE TEACHING THE CLASSES HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE TEST! The classes
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First off: Ok, Ok. I’m starting to find my happy place with research. Thank you for the comments and suggestions; I think next year will be better. You guys gave me some good ideas. We’re working on outlines this week, prepping for research. Among other activities, I give them partially completed outlines and word banks to fill them in with. I strategically place a few clues in the outline, and they have to determine the hierarchy of the various entries I provide, and fill in the blanks. Like this (the stats are kinda dated, but it’s a topic near to my heart): Topic: The automobile has become the American Nightmare kills 265,000 and injures millions annually, road rage and reckless driving have increased, better city design to decrease auto dependence, leading source of air pollution, alternatives to the automobile, main means of transportation, too many people dependent on the car, large SUV’s: rollovers and danger to smaller cars, more cars and more roads mean more traffic congestion, average car: 5 tons of carbon dioxide each year, contributes to acid rain and smog, leading cause of death and injury, new dangers with 2 recent developments, public transportation I. Main means of [...]
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