Reflections

I was checking out the new Blog of Note list and came across written inc.  On the second post, when I got there, was a couple of pictures of a Hummer.   Not the real one, one of those Chevy faux things.  The first sentence of that post was “I'll come right out and admit it: I'm a bit of a car freak,”.  My interest is piqued.  Then he goes on to slam the faux-Hummer culture, finishing the post with his photographic assignment for the week.  Hook, line & sinker.

So, here’s my homework.  Actually, it’s times like this that I’m convinced there is some power helping choreograph my life, because I took this yesterday (before I saw the assignment) and was looking for a way to prominently present it.  I couldn’t decided if I liked it better right side up or upside down.  I’ll let my readers decide.

   So, written inc., here are my reflections.

La Derrière Rouge

Ok, so it’s pronounced like beautiful, not your butt, either way I had an enjoyable afternoon with Writer up at  the University of Utah’s Red Butte Garden.  We walked around, talked and took pictures.  Pictures of flowers, bushes, the mountains, buildings and fish.  At the fish pond I bought a handful of food, threw it all in at once and took rapid-fire pictures of the fish response.  (Writer fed them one piece at a time).  It looked pretty funny on the little screen on my camera as we flipped through the pictures so I agreed to make this little video.  It’s real short, less than a minute, so if it’s boring you’ll only waste a few seconds.  Below the video you’ll find a link to the picture gallery with what I considered the best photos.  Hope you enjoy.

View Full Album

Just in case you were wondering, Red Butte is serious when they close their bathrooms.  This is the door to the men’s room, held tight with a huge padlock.  Click on the picture and you’ll see that it is made of thick steel.  I don’t care who you are, you ain’t kicking that thing in!

Dylan

Irony is not just for breakfast anymore

I told you about my new classroom, and that I got it from a teacher that I’m friends with that was sent to another school, right?  Well, now you know.  She got sent to the first school I worked at and the science teacher we hang out with and I went up there to visit.

Now, guess what room she was given up there?  Yup, my old room, 306.

The Irony is just mind boggling.

Dodged one this time.

The Scenario:  7th grade classes have 46 per, 9th grade Math has 32 per.

The Solution:  Eliminate one Algebra class, use that FTE* to open up another 7th grade class.

I accept that these kind of decisions are a part of life teaching in Utah (and other places too, but not as bad because Utah is proud to be dead last in per pupil spending and #1 for big classes).  The problem was that when I first heard about this from a certain, previously herein mentioned Math teacher, it was made to sound like my classes were going to increase by 6 to 8 students every period.  My classes, because now I teach all but 1 section of 9th grade Algebra.

After hearing the rumor, I went to see the principal to see what the reality was.  I have found that there is often a big chasm between these kind of gut reaction rumors and what is really going on.  And, alas, I was right.  The principal confirmed that the Algebra class was being disbanded.  She also pointed out that since 1/3 of the class was 8th grade, the max I would get was the 2/3, spread over 4 of my classes would work out to be about 4 or 5 kids a class. 

Now, to be frank, my class sizes seemed kind of low (I fear giving actual numbers here), so I have been expecting the other shoe to drop since the beginning of the year.  4 or 5 more per class, and I’d still have been 5 below my average last year.

Here’s the kicker.  8th period (the same time as the class that was disbanded) went up 6 students.  The rest?  A maximum of 2.  Why?, you may ask.  G’head, ask. 

Because said, aforementioned, Math teacher wanted to keep a bunch of her students, so they all got assimilated into her 8th grade Algebra classes.  All fine and dandy, but tell me, why the hell is she still complaining about her class sizes when it was her choice?  I would have, reluctantly yes, taken those kids into my classes.  I fully expected to have no choice, and prepared to make the best of things.  And, yes, I am glad that she chose to keep those student, but I half expect that she only did it so that she would have something to bitch about.

I could be wrong.

Julia

Just some pictures I took on my walk through Sugarhouse Park