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October 2009 Blog Posts (74)
Gonna chill and digest...
I wrote thousands of words this week and read thousands and thousands more on this series about "best" teachers and where they ought to teach.Gonna come back on Monday after digesting all of the ideas -- and all of the Halloween candy -- and try to see what's to be taken from the series.
Certainly had me thinkin' tons... and it feels like my brain, like my stomach, is pretty full right now.
Trick or treat and HAPPY… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 31, 2009 at 5:30am — No Comments
Why the “best” teachers are needed to teach our "middle level/average" students. (Part IV)
In the fourth part of this series, I am going to chat about Why the “best” teachers are needed to teach our "middle level" students.NOTE: Part I was, "Which students deserve our school’s best teachers?" Part II was, "Why our "best" students deserve our "best" teachers" and Part III was, "Why our "most challenged" students deserve our "best" teachers." Coming soon Part V: A review of the discussion and a exploration of what I think I’d be forced to do if I… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 30, 2009 at 9:46am — 1 Comment
Why Our Most Challenged Students Deserve Our Best Teachers (Part III)
In the third part of this series, I am going to chat about Why the “best” teachers are needed to teach our "most challenged" students.NOTE: This was the question raised in Part I: which students deserve our school’s best teachers?
(I have already made the case in Part II as to why our "best" students deserve our "best" teachers and coming soon, an argument for Part IV: Why the “best” teachers are needed to be teaching the “middle level” students... as… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 29, 2009 at 5:30am — 1 Comment
My Dads Side of The Family♥
My family means the world to me because no matter where I go or what happens to me I know they will be there to support me.I know sometimes my family can be mean but they only tell me where i could and could not go because they want to try to keep me as safe as they could.Sometimes I say that I hate them but I only do that to let out my anger.Thay do get me mad sometimes when they talk about my friends when they don't even know them or when they talk about my mom's side of the family...but lets… Continue
Added by Selena De Leon on October 28, 2009 at 3:30pm — 4 Comments
Why Our Best Students Deserve Our Best Teachers (Part II)
In the second part of this series, I am going to chat about Why the “best” teachers are needed to teach our “best” students.NOTE: This was a questions raised in Part I: which students deserve our school’s best teachers?
(Coming soon, an argument for Part III: Why the “best” teachers are needed to be teaching the “middle level” students and an argument for Part IV: Why the “best” teachers are needed to be teaching the “challenged” students as well as… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 28, 2009 at 5:30am — 3 Comments
The answer as to which students deserve our school’s best teachers? (Part I)
So I am going to try something new and pose a question. Here we go: Which students deserve our school’s best teachers?Next I am going to answer the question. (One sec.., it’s coming.) And then I am going to explore this question over the course of the next 3 blog posts (it’s too long to dive into in just one post) as I have divided an argument for my answer into 3 parts.
And then, based on the comments, feedback, answers I get, I am going to see if I… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 27, 2009 at 5:30am — 3 Comments
T.S. Eliot was wrong -- October is the cruelest month, not April.
T.S. Eliot was wrong -- October is the cruelest month, not April -- which he should have known because at one point he was a schoolteacher. And not too be too critical of a Nobel Prize winning poet, but I think if he would have really considered the plight of educators in the month of October, The Waste Land might have gone in a slightly different direction.As almost all teachers know, October is the part of… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 26, 2009 at 9:55am — 2 Comments
To Be a Writer You Gotta Trudge Through the Sludge
Some days I am a madman. I can crank out 2,200 pretty-close-to-publishable-words in a day's work and then come right back and do another 2,200 the next day. (Usually in the summer when I am off from teaching.) Without a doubt, when I am in the midst of a novel and it is rolling, let me tell you, it can get rolling!!And then there are the days when I know that to be a real writer, you gotta trudge through the sludge.
I actually happen to be in that exact phase… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 24, 2009 at 5:30am — 3 Comments
Goals
We all have our goals, especially us younger students.
Goals to be successful, have tons of money, and a good job.
It's funny how the people who want this the most, are the type that that don't care
about their education ONE BIT.
The students I see in school who skip class all the time, talk back to the teacher, never do their work, have averages lower than a %50 cause… Continue
Added by Erickkkk on October 23, 2009 at 7:00pm — 2 Comments
Mr. Duncan's oncoming assault on Teacher Training Programs (and it's about time!)
So I gotta hand it to Arne Duncan cause the man is not afraid to use pointed words and ruffle some feathers. His latest spear is aimed at teacher training programs. (BTW, I do not say "spears" in a condescending manner because when you look at the state of education today, you gotta admit, we need some "new stuff" and unless you are willing to break some eggs you're not going to be able to make a new educational omelet -- so a part of me salutes Arne Duncan in a BIG Ol' WAY simply for… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 23, 2009 at 10:03am — No Comments
My Apology to the Good Folks in Alabama
I want to keep this short and sweet today but I feel as if I owe an apology to the folks in Alabama who found my blog post from two weeks ago to be hurtful, inappropriate and incendiary.That was never my intention. And you should know that I took down the post.
Though I thought I went out of my way to salute the educators making strides in the Deep South -- the ones really laying it on the line in an admirable way who are working their tails off, bringing change… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 22, 2009 at 5:30am — No Comments
The life i usto know [rough draft]
The life i usto know was easy to handle
there was nothing simpler than duing just that.. nothing.
In the 5th grade i discovered the real life not the fake
Disney World happy ending storioes.
Its not easy for anyone to go from
Candy land to the reality its sad to losse something that you loved and cherished
and watch it fade away as the years go right thru you.
You have to mature and be ready for the next tragedy that will happen that very next day.
I miss… Continue
there was nothing simpler than duing just that.. nothing.
In the 5th grade i discovered the real life not the fake
Disney World happy ending storioes.
Its not easy for anyone to go from
Candy land to the reality its sad to losse something that you loved and cherished
and watch it fade away as the years go right thru you.
You have to mature and be ready for the next tragedy that will happen that very next day.
I miss… Continue
Added by Michelle Gonzalez on October 21, 2009 at 7:55pm — 2 Comments
How to Become a Published Author: Time with your Butt in a Chair
So how did I become a published author? I think the first answer I'd offer is, "mathematically".Here's how I do it nowadays.
I am a full time high school teacher. This means I am up really early and am perpetually over-worked by the demands I face at school. But still, as we all know, so, so many teachers have 2nd jobs to make ends meet. I am no different. My school salary is not nearly enough to meet the financial demands of modern day life -- especially in… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 21, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments
I AM RIGHT HERE
THE MEAN THINGS YOU CALLED ME
THE TROUBLE YOU GOT ME IN
THE FRIENDS YOU TOOK FROM ME
YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GONA HURT ME
BUT GUESS WHAT AM STILL HERE
THE TIME YOU NEEDED SOMEONE BUT NO ONE HELPED YOU UP
BUT I DID I SAT DOWN AND CRIED WITH YOU
WHAT YOU DID TO ME DIDNT MEAN ANYTHING
YEA YOU TOOK THE ONLY THINGS I HAD
BUT YOU NEVER TOOK MY HEART
THE TROUBLE YOU GOT ME IN
THE FRIENDS YOU TOOK FROM ME
YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GONA HURT ME
BUT GUESS WHAT AM STILL HERE
THE TIME YOU NEEDED SOMEONE BUT NO ONE HELPED YOU UP
BUT I DID I SAT DOWN AND CRIED WITH YOU
WHAT YOU DID TO ME DIDNT MEAN ANYTHING
YEA YOU TOOK THE ONLY THINGS I HAD
BUT YOU NEVER TOOK MY HEART
Added by Ashley Guerrero on October 21, 2009 at 4:12pm — 4 Comments
FAR APART ♥
No matter how far away we are from each other your still my best friend
i know we havent talked for a awile but your still my best friend
i will never forget the promise we made to always be best friends
and hopefully you wont forget that we will always be best friends♥
i know we havent talked for a awile but your still my best friend
i will never forget the promise we made to always be best friends
and hopefully you wont forget that we will always be best friends♥
Added by Ashley Guerrero on October 21, 2009 at 3:48pm — 2 Comments
Feeling The Worried:(
I know you and I dont go to the same school, and I have this feeling inside of me that I really hate this feeling that is killling me in the inside. I do believe in you, but how can I know your not gonna hurt me. I know you tell me that your not gonna do anything to mess this up for us, but what if you do, than I'm the one who gets heart broken again. I know that we have been together for 2weeks and a day;♥ but to me it feels like forever;♥ I want this feeling to go away I dont wanna be with… Continue
Added by Jasmine Garcia on October 21, 2009 at 3:30pm — 1 Comment
We Had The Best Grandmother in the Whole World
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry
I picked a fight with you
on the day of our grandmother's memorial.
It's just that...
all those people
keep going
on and on
about how much they loved her.
And they all have
a stupid personal memory to share.
But
she wasn't their grandmother.
She was our grandmother.
Yours and mine.
And that's gone now.
It's all gone--
the purple wallpaper in my bedroom
the… Continue
I'm sorry
I picked a fight with you
on the day of our grandmother's memorial.
It's just that...
all those people
keep going
on and on
about how much they loved her.
And they all have
a stupid personal memory to share.
But
she wasn't their grandmother.
She was our grandmother.
Yours and mine.
And that's gone now.
It's all gone--
the purple wallpaper in my bedroom
the… Continue
Added by Manuel Garces Jr. on October 21, 2009 at 2:30pm — 9 Comments
How to Become a Published Author: Time with your Butt in a Chair
So how did I become a published author? I think the first answer I'd offer is, "mathematically".Here's how I do it nowadays.
I am a full time high school teacher. This means I am up really early and am perpetually over-worked by the demands I face at school. But still, as we all know, so, so many teachers have 2nd jobs to make ends meet. I am no different. My school salary is not nearly enough to meet the financial demands of modern day life -- especially in… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 21, 2009 at 10:16am — 1 Comment
Why I Am Not a Fan of Teaching Tolerance
I am not a fan of the whole idea of "tolerance". I mean, I get the spirit of the campaign but as an English teacher and as a writer, I am just not a fan of the word choice at all.To me, to "tolerate" someone connotes that I should endure them. That I should "bear" them. That I should recognize that I am superior to that person but, for the sake of not creating conflict, I should shut my trap, bite my tongue and suffer the shortcomings of this person's inferiority and… Continue
Added by Alan Sitomer on October 20, 2009 at 5:30am — 3 Comments
You help me survive [rough draft]
I die every day as seconds go by
i cant take it im no longer alive,well thats only if you werent alive.
If i ever stay and survive this dreadful world,
its only because you showed me love and persuade me to stay.
My persuit of happiness is no longer in play,
if only we could stay here like we are today living life on full edge enjoying each day.
Together forever you wispered in my ear,
as chills crawled down my spine
and we both hugged and drowned in… Continue
i cant take it im no longer alive,well thats only if you werent alive.
If i ever stay and survive this dreadful world,
its only because you showed me love and persuade me to stay.
My persuit of happiness is no longer in play,
if only we could stay here like we are today living life on full edge enjoying each day.
Together forever you wispered in my ear,
as chills crawled down my spine
and we both hugged and drowned in… Continue
Added by Michelle Gonzalez on October 19, 2009 at 7:23pm — 5 Comments
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