Man, where has the time gone? Since I last posted here, the city has paved many of the roads, instituted a water rationing scheme and school has started. It blows my mind that in less than 150 school days my charges will be in high school. Another post when I get a chance.

Oh well.

This summer is not turning out be as great as I had hoped. The student loan issue, the trial in Florida, the horrible events in my school district, the fire behind Hemet that is burning towards Palm Springs. More later.  

6 weeks to go!

We are on the final weeks of the school year. Hard to beleive how fast this year has gone by. STAR testing starts next week for my school. The kids seem ready for that massive interruption of their education. They are so tested out they really don't care that these tests determine what will happen to them in school for the next 4 years.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of "A Nation at Risk", the report that started all of this testing stuff. This report had no data to back up its claims and it was created during the time of trickle down economics. That alone should indicate that it was most likely an attempt to disguise the fact that the economy was tanking and a scapegoat was needed.

Reality based food shows.... seriously????

The cooking channel, that Scripps-Howard cable TV network property, must be running out of things to broadcast. Extra Virgin, a show about the ups and downs of an Italian farm boy who marries an actress from New Jersey. Vapid is the only word I can use describe this program. Who cares if she is learning how to pluck a chicken or milk a goat while having perfect makeup, and dressed to the nines? One more reason not to watch too much TV. If I must... I use the DVR and edit what I subject myself to.

Algebra 1 for 8th graders gone....

Well the California state board of education finally did something positive. They removed the requirement that all 8th graders take algebra 1. This was done to align  the state standards with the common core curriculum that will be implemented soon.   Methinks many 8th graders will be very happy....

Its been a while... so many things have happened since I last posted here. New Years resolution is to be a bit more regular in keeping up this blog. Topics this year will include Food, Public education, and general observations of the human condition.

CST Security Breach....

Well it finally has happened. 442 images of the California State Standardized Test (The infamous CST, a high stakes test) were posted on Facebook and other social media. This will delay the CST results while an investigation as to who did what is completed. 11 districts were involved.  In California, most districts follow the guideline that it is ok to have cell phone on campus, but it must be out of sight and turned off. Trouble with this is who is going to check all of the students? Also it is hard to enforce a behavior when the administrators and teachers use their cell phones all the time during the school day, in classrooms, walking on campus, while students are doing "seat work." One of the first things taught in teacher ed classes is that you model the behavior you want to see in students. It was inevitable that a security breach would occur.  This makes me wonder about the viability of online education. Given the power of modern computers, you can have two windows open at the same time and then its a simple matter of "cut and paste" and that makes passing a class rather simple. Could it be that it is time to re-examine the works of John Dewey and see where America's educational system went wrong.... at least from a pedagogical standpoint.