In case you were wondering....

Well, folks, an update on me! I now am the official holder of a master's of education degree in elementary education, with a minor in special education. I am only four courses and a thesis away from a master's of arts in Reading, with a specialization in ESL, with a split minor in psychology and rhetoric/linguistics/composing. Go ME!

I'm applying to the PHD program in Educational Psychology. Yippee!

Well, welcome to 2009!

Well, welcome to the new year, fellow readers (and lady readers for all you PC types) We are greeted with a new presidency, a sense of strenght, huge debt, promise for the future...Wait a minute? Did I say, "huge debt"?

Actually I did. I inherited my own great deal of huge debt. I inherited three more girls, two grandkids, a newly married son, and a busted relationship. Plus three B's to boot. Go me. Humph....

Yeah, folks had all this hope for the future, yet all they ended up with was writing the auto industry a fat check. And yet, I and my kids are going to inherit their debt...

First off, I would like you guys to meet my girls--Abbie, Chloe and Lily, and my son Nick.

I think that their pictures are in the top left. If not, I will adjust it later. Yes, I have a mountain of debt. And it looks as though graduation is growing further away....Yet, I am still studying my butt off, as my health will allow me.

I am still studying elementary education and reading. I am also applying to the school psychology program. I want my doctorate, but that is in the near future. Right now, I just want this stimulus thing to work and I want to feed my growing brood. Off with me--to the libarry!

The puppet of Eminem--he's funny, but he is sure working my nerves!

I noticed something on t.v. the other day that I caught myself laughing at. Everyone likes Eminem, the rapper, right? Well he has a puppet that he puts in some of his videos and "promotional materials," named "Special ed". He is supposed to be funny because he is constantly gleeful when something "funny" happens.

But I no longer find Eminem funny. As a matter of fact, this damn puppet is damn right offensive. As a former special educator, it was my job to be "positive" constantly. Believe me, having to treat 4th graders like they were in preschool, constantly having to stretch a smile across my face killed me. "Research based best practices" according to my mentor, Mrs. Marth Vincent at the Regiion VIII Education Service Center.

Yet, sometimes, I wanted to hang my head and cry. My first year was so damn difficult, made more difficult by veteran teachers because of literal professional jealousy. No, I wasn't educated to become a special educator--but then again, it wasn't much of a stretch.

I believe that much this sickening positivity is only being practiced in Northeast Texas. I read constantly another blog that makes me a little jaded, even though my friend Janet Morrison, who subsequently writes one of my favorite blogs, http://www.janetmorrison.blogspot.com, doesn't mean to make me cynical.

So yeah, Special Ed, kind of works my nerves, in the way that white folks in black face might offend Al Sharpton. But then again, I'm just a sourpuss.....

Where have all the cowboys gone?

I have just been flipping through the newspaper here lately. I hear a whole lot about dress codes, accountiblity, and TAKs scores. I basically have gotten where I just shrug and turn the page.

I understand they are going to do away with TAKs. Whatever...All the state is going to do is replace it with something else. There is still a move toward accountibility. I read so in the Sulphur Springs News Telegram.

Who cares really? This damn tax-free weekend is another bunch of bullshit. I read the stuff you are allowed to buy and the things you aren't allowed to buy. They don't make anything worthwhile tax-free, like school supplies. Supposedly our local representative, Mark Homer, made a move to have other items included on the tax-free list. It was never even made a motion on the House floor. Who does Mark Homer think he is kidding?

Well, if you all have read the fine print, tax-free only counts on items under $100. Since when have a pair of sneakers cost under $75, at least decent running shoes that kids won't outgrow? And Wal-Mart in Mt. Pleasant, Texas only lets you buy up to $100 dollars. My kids' backpacks cost more than that.

And dress codes--my pastor is all for them. As if dress code is a distraction. In Sulphur Springs, if you fail to comply, you aren't sent home--you are given an orange jumpsuit to wear. You know what--I love orange suits...Sign me up!

Testing...discipline...You know what I call for? I think we ought to allow for state vouchers. I really do. Then the state legislature can find out how bad the charter schools, magnet programs, and home-schooling suck. Hell the private schools that they so desperately want the state to pay for suck too. Just look at the national average.

And it serves Texans right. They don't want to pay for their children's education. That's right folks. The school system is based on property tax. Compared to California, we have one of the lowest tax rates in the country. We don't even have a state income tax, and yet, people still complain about their taxes.

Well, folks, you get what you pay for. Next time you order from your favorite restaurant, just ask the high school dropout behind the counter to make out change in their heads. They can't do it half the time! They are usually so tired of dealing with sick kids, sick parents, or so fried on drugs that they can't even remember how to spell "French fry."

Texas can kiss my ass. After everything I went through my first year of teaching, I'll never teach in the public schools again. And don't think I'm alone in this feeling....

So where have all the cowboys gone?

Where in the world do the highly qualified people go?

The buzz words now in education are "left behind", "tougher standards", "accountiblity", and "higly qualified"?

This is my question to you:
Where is the highly qualified president? We haven't had a decent one in about forty years. People born past 1957 seemed to be stuck in stupidity, while the people between the ages of 62 and 53 are "herding" into a kind "sheep" mentality. You guys are running the country for the very first time, and you are whining that you are too old. And you wonder why people don't want to hire you...

People like me, who are living out their second childhoods by returning to school, know that is is time for change. We are getting close to the age to run for president. Wake up 'Boomers'--the gen "X"-ers are taking over....