Me

Illin’

February 2, 2012
By
Illin’

I’ve been one of the walking dead for the past several days (it feels like a hangover–or, ahem, so I’m told– with a cough). I finally called in for a sub this morning. I forgot that practically every math teacher in the district was supposed to be at their version of our “benchmark scoring day.” The difference with the math people is that they were required to come; ours was voluntary. So. It seems every sub in the district was out. My boy tells me that his class had a different sub than the other classes which means that they were covering my classes with the other subs’ preps. D’oh. I used to hate doing that when I was a sub. The boy said his was 10 minutes late, and they were stuck outside the door, milling around. Which, as you know, seventh graders don’t do quietly. Another teacher shushed them a bit until the sub showed up…without a key. I looked online, and roll got taken in only three classes. Double d’oh. Anyway, I have spent almost every moment not at school asleep (yes, even on my bike to and from), so I only have enough energy right now

Read more »

Argh…Sometimes I Hate Computers!

January 17, 2012
By

…even new ones. See you tomorrow. (Guess I coulda’ used Twitter for something like that, huh? Or Springface.)

Read more »

The Bus

December 13, 2011
By

On the fourth day of Christmas… In all my years of schooling back in the day, I never got to ride the school bus. For first through eighth grade, I rode my bike to St.Mel’s–which obviously didn’t have bus service. Actually, I rode in a carpool for awhile until they figured I could ride the 2 miles on my bike. I think maybe about third grade. By seventh grade, I had a ticket. But I hadn’t ridden a school bus. I know…why would you want to? But I did want to. Then it was high school at Jesuit. Too far to bike. So we rode the city bus. Not quite the same, though there were so many of us going to the same place, AND doing all the requisite yelling out the windows, it might as well have been a school bus. Except you had to pay. (I know, our district charges for the bus now too.) Things got so wild sometimes, especially during afternoon boarding, that the city threatened to stop the line if we didn’t shape up. Dang those Catholic boys. Then, during my first year here, back in ’93, I didn’t have the right rain gear dialed in for

Read more »

mrC’s 7th Grade Report Card

November 17, 2011
By
mrC’s 7th Grade Report Card

Of course my parental units also had to visit for my fittieth. (I tell the kids that as a certified English teacher, I have a license to make up and misuse words. Most of them believe it.)  And here’s Mom sporting my 7th grade report card from the school year 1973-1974. So let’s deconstruct this “artifact.”   First it comes in one of those tight-fitting envelopes with the little curved notches in the top for ease of sliding the card out. Mom didn’t spring for a yearbook that year, so the envelope has a bunch of signatures and a couple of “see ya next year’s.” It’s also signed by Dean Martin, right above my best friend’s signature. I don’t remember Deano hanging out at Mel’s. I think that’s the logo for the diocese. We were the Saints, but we didn’t have a logo. 1. Old school typewriting, typed by our school secretary (mom of a classmate, and as scary as the nuns). St. Mel was St. Patrick’s cousin. 2. Dunno why the COWARD is in all caps. She does that on the inside too. Now, let’s look inside. 1. There’s that all caps thing again. Must be intentional. 2. Knowledge of Religion. Catholicism from

Read more »

Five-Oh

November 14, 2011
By
Five-Oh

I turned fifty last week. Or as we like to say in my room, fitty. I’d like to think that’s accurate too. Although, my sister-in-law gave me a big sticker to wear at my (surprise) party that said, “I’m 5 Today!” That’s probably most accurate. Then she went and wrote “decades” in small print under the five. D’oh. My nephew was over playing my pinball machine this weekend. My wife had told him that she got it for my 50th birthday. “I can’t wait ’til I’m 50.” He’s 21, and he was totally serious. His girlfriend said the same thing. So did another nephew. Who knew fitty could be so desirable? All it takes is the right toys. Meanwhile, I’m feeling closer to 100 after this weekend. I will see you all on Wednesday. Here are a couple of books to check out. I especially liked Downtown Owl. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman. Even though nothing really happens until the end, the characters are just so great, you don’t really care about the plot. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Narrated by a precocious nine-year old, who isn’t too annoying. Very touching and funny too.

Read more »

Random Featured Post

Best Faux Pas Ever. (Glad it wasn’t me.)

(Friday Flashback – Last Year) “Mrs. G” has been teaching in our district for over 40 years. She’s been at our school since it opened in 1980. She’s taught English, art, social studies, music, and much more. She is literally an immovable object, and doesn’t need to rise from her chair to strike fear (well, not exactly fear any more, but…) into 8th graders’ hearts. She doesn’t care what people (parents, admins, other teachers) think of her, and speaks her mind whether it’s “appropriate” or not. She currently teaches 8th grade US history, and has been going toe to toe with a particularly pesky student I had last year. Now, this “Steve” sends me e-mails about how the posts he’s reading in the discussion forums on our Moodle don’t have enough thought behind them, and he has a real brain. But he’s a loud-mouthed pain in the rear, whose parents it seems, are wrapped around his finger. I was probably the only teacher he got along with…until Mrs. G. He’s still a pain, and though, like me she recognizes and likes the Steve underneath, she’s not afeared of giving what she gets. So… Food is not allowed in our classooms. [...]

more -->


Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.

Archives

February 2012
M T W T F S S
« Jan    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
272829  

Recent Comments

  • mrC commented on It’s Go Time!@Sarah-Most excellent! Keep up the good work, and don't let any of them talk you out of it. Glad to hear your kids recognize the value too. Fight the good fight!
  • Mrs. M~ commented on Illin’Feel better soon! There is nothing worse than being at school and trying to be "on" when you feel like death.
  • Sarah commented on It’s Go Time!I just came across your blog...I am a second year teacher and I am currently reading The Outsiders aloud to my seventh graders. I read it to them last year, too. I catch a lot of criticism for reading it to them...but they LOVE to have me read to them. I actually had a group
  • joan commented on Illin’I'm on day two of out-with-the-crud. I needed the rest. Hope you're in tip top shape by Monday!
  • mrC commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”That one oughta be strung up like they used to do to horse thieves.
  • Heather commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”The last sub I had left no note at all and broke the arm of my spinny chair by leaning back in it so far that he fell in the floor. The kids all said he was the best sub ever. I politely asked the school secretary to never have him sub in
  • mrC commented on The Future of Space Travel@Heather: Gawd I hate that. I think I even posted about it awhile back. @Kelli: This reminds me of high school. I went to a Jesuit high school (all boys) and for our Friday football rallies, we would import cheerleaders from other schools to be a part of the rally. And the girls would always begin
  • Heather commented on The Future of Space TravelMy eighth graders just have the habit of prefacing every question with, "I have a question." And announcing "I'm done" when they complete an assignment.
  • Kelli commented on The Future of Space TravelIs it bad that I sometimes start my stories with "Okay, so...."...? I guess the kids have rubbed off on me. Sigh.
  • Kelli commented on Blogging the Scoring Session (Part I)Ugh! Been there. I have been to those "Scoring and Rubric" type meetings in two different states now... Not fun, and not entirely informative, either.
  • Meg commented on No Groove Yet (Also: The Giver and No Homework Returns)There was a district I student taught in that hand the no fail policy. I child could not be held back a grade, even if they did absolutely nothing the whole year, until they were in high school. It took most of the middle schoolers about 3 seconds to realize they didn't have
  • Kelli commented on No Groove Yet (Also: The Giver and No Homework Returns)You know, that whole "no-zero" policy goes hand-in-hand with the "no-failure" or "no-retention" policy, and my school district is a definite contributor to this madness. I can understand the desire to stop giving zeros and MAKE the kids do the work (giving countless opportunities until successful), but I have been in a situation where
  • commented on Obligatory Santa VideoWe have an unofficial "no zero" policy. It takes a little extra effort on the teacher's part to get all of the students to complete their assignments but we have made it work. The thing that was most helpful was instituting a "homework detention" that is separate from discipline detention. If a