I believe...

I believe that if high school teachers do their job, and high school students do their job, then the students can succeed in all academic things, even the ones they find difficult.

I believe that high school students should be held accountable for their own decisions and the consequences thereof.

I believe that if high school students are given too many opportunities to eliminate the effects of their mistakes, they will never learn to avoid them.

I believe that a child of any age living in poverty does not have an equal opportunity to succeed because s/he has more important things going on in their daily life than school work, such as finding enough food to eat.

I believe that students who are the primary caregivers to their siblings when they get home do not have an equal opportunity to succeed.

I believe that students who have no choice but to work after-school jobs to keep their families financially sound do not have an equal opportunity to succeed.

I believe that students who go home to an empty house, who do not see their parents very often for whatever reason, do not have an equal opportunity to succeed.

I believe that if given an equal opportunity, every student can have a successful academic career.

I believe that every school should have the same resources to use per student.

Let's talk about this upcoming holiday, the one in December, shall we?

What do we want to call it?  Here in the United States, most folks call it Christmas,the obvious reference being to a mass to celebrate the birth of the Christian god Jesus.  I'm not going to rehash all the arguments about his birth really NOT happening on this date, just check out the evidence presented here, here, here and then there are these folks who still think he was born on the 25th of December.

In my own still-developing beliefs, I call it Yule.  I like to think that my ancestors did some partying and celebrated the solstice that occurs at the end of December (the 22nd this year).  It seems there is some scholarly evidence for merrymaking in many different cultures during this time of the year (see here if you can stand Wikipedia, here if you can't, or just use your favorite search engine).  The ancient ancestors to which I refer come from our agricultural time, not the hunter-gatherer phase.  The lit-up part of the day getting longer was something they needed to happen, so the day on which it started, the day the trend of longer nights reversed, was a big one.  Also, being farmers, there was not a whole lot going on outside of the home/barnyard during that time, so yeah, why not a big party?

The Jews have Hanukkah, a very important celebration for them that, as far as I can tell from quickly perusing the internet, has nothing to do with someone being born or the solstice.

Kwanzaa has been around since 1966, and another very brief read through of multiple internet resources (here and here to keep the list short) has informed what I am about to type.  Kwanzaa is important to some African-descent people, and not to others.  It's stated goals are ones of community building and heritage remembrance.  It is not a religious holiday, which means you can celebrate it and any of the other religions' holidays without being untrue to your faith.

Other December holidays include, but are not limited to,

Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)

Eid'ul-Adha (Muslim)

Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)

St. Lucia Day (Swedish)

Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)

Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)

Omisoka (Japanese)

Saturnalia (Pagan)

 (List shamelessly stolen, then modified to eliminate some glaring errors, from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson246.shtml#sthash.wDKit8Dj.dpuf)

So, all these different December holidays, all with different names, all from different religious/cultural sources.  Is it any wonder those trying to be inclusive say "Happy Holidays" during this busy, dark, and cold(er) month?  If I know what holiday the person to whom I am speaking is going to celebrate, I'll wish them a happy one of those, just like I wish my students a good weekend every Friday.  But what about those whose personal lives are not known to me?  The person I just bumped into accidentally, the person holding the door for me, the random person with whom I have struck up a conversation about some random just-shared experience?  Not that I am a conversationalist, but I have learned to be polite enough to talk to strangers in some situations.  And if one of those polite conversations happens in December, what should I say to them?  How can I not offend them?

Oh, wait, there it is.  How could saying something positive to someone 'offend' them?  Saying 'Merry Christmas' to a non-Christian is not rude, it is just ignorant.  If I got all worked up over ignorance, I could not be a teacher, where our job is to confront ignorance and beat it back into submission on a daily basis (Monday through Friday, 36 weeks or so each year).  Of course, I have not yet been told 'Happy Hanukkah' by anyone. I think that is because Jewish people don't assume I am Jewish.  No one has told me 'Happy Kwanzaa' yet either, though it would not necessarily be wrong to do so.  Merry Yule has been said to me, but those folks know I am Pagan.  Hmm, I think I have found the solution to the holiday butt-hurt!

Look, it is simple.  If you know what holiday the other person to whom you are speaking will celebrate, just wish them a happy one of those.  If not, just say 'Happy Holidays' to them.  If they get offended, it's their own fault for being self-centered enough to think you should know their holiday.  If they wish you a Happy something-you-don't-celebrate, just smile and tell them to have a Happy Holiday, or if you are feeling snarky, a Happy what-you-do-celebrate.  Again, if they get offended, they can suck it up.  

So, here is yet another blog from me.  I hope you have enjoyed it.  Leave comments of they are constructive, I'll delete them if they are destructive, and let me know what you think.  If you think I can improve my presentation, let me know that as well...till new to this bloggy thingy.

Have a Cool Yule!  ;)

So, today's topic will be educational in origin.  Specifically, the idea that if a school is failing, firing the people who have been there for, like, ever is the way to fix it.  This has been dramatically referred to as the 'nuclear option' by some.

The first to be fired, if this option is engaged, is the administration of a school.  This is a bad idea.  If it is the administration's fault that the school is failing, there should be some sort of evidence.  Complaints from parents, teachers filing grievances, students being suspended well above, or well below, standard rates.  Before firing someone who has dedicated a considerable portion of their time, energy, and life force, the benefit of the doubt should be extended to them.

Principals are put on an 'action plan' when their school is rated as failing.  But what are these action plans based on?  Some sort of research-based principal actions?  Best-practices administrating?  I understand if you have a chronically under-performing school (and for the record, I only understand high schools), then the administration definitely needs a hard looking-at.  But having one bad year should not trigger some sort of untested overreaction that throws the whole school community into a tizzy.

It seems that after they fire the principal, if things do not improve, they fire all the teachers, then let them re-apply for their jobs. Only 50% will be allowed to come back.  How does eliminating all the people who know best how to get work out of the students help the students?  Again, each teacher should be evaluated on their own merits.  Who is to say that 50% of the teachers are the problem? Or that any of them are the problem?

My own personal experience (12 years teaching as of this post's date) is that the children decide if they are going to learn the material or not.  I do not run a dog-and-pony show in my classroom.  I lecture, using PowerPoints so students can read and hear what is being taught, along with guided notes I create that follow the slide shows.  I, and all the other teachers I know, do my job.  It is up to the students to realize that they must do theirs.  And who makes them come to that realization?  The parents/guardians!!

If a teacher is not doing their job, then yes, they must be fired.  A principal too.  But should we be lose our jobs because parents are not administering consequences on their children for failing classes?  I don't think so, and I hope none of you think so either.

CURMUDGUCATION: TeachStrong's Nine Steps (To Teacher Awesomeness)

Sharing this one because it is awesome and informative.



CURMUDGUCATION: TeachStrong's Nine Steps (To Teacher Awesomeness): We've already discussed who and what the new #TeachStrong campaign might be . But I still think it's only fair to look at their nin...

Pagan?

So, new pagan or old?  I've been studying, in a very haphazard way, pagan religions, focusing on Wicca but not exclusively, for about 20 years now, and I still have no idea how to label myself.  I can outline a few beliefs, I have what I consider to be a set of morals based on those beliefs, and I try to live by those morals as much as I can.  I get lazy sometimes, like not cleaning out that icky but highly recyclable container holding the no-longer recognizable former foodstuffs, and throwing it away instead.  But I also bend over to pick up trash in the hallway, or in a parking lot, and I recycle as much as I can at the school where I work.

New pagan or old?  Over the 20 years I have never actually been to a ritual, joined a group, or done any dedications, self or otherwise.  It has been a struggle because I want the benefits of being a part of a community, but I want one wherein I can be true to myself.  I have been to the last three Central North Carolina Pagan Pride Days festivals, but have not made the kinds of connections I am looking for, probably due to my own silly shyness.

New pagan or old?  I have started many books on Wicca and Paganism, but never finished any of them.  It seems I lack dedication to the process.  But is the process really all that important, at least to me?  I feel a little bad about not finishing any of these self-imposed studies, but maybe I do not finish them because some part of me knows that what I am looking for is not in any book.

New pagan or old?  I find myself thinking more and more about my religion these past few years.  I yearn to meet regularly with like minded individuals, maybe even do group rituals.  But rural USA is not quite the place for finding such things, especially here in the bible belt.

What I believe:

• The divine is not just one gender.  It is both male and female, though they are two sides of the same coin.
• The divine comes from life, not the other way around.  As life has developed (I can not speak for anywhere but here on Earth!), the divine has also developed.  As life got more complex, so to did the divine.
• The Goddess represents the raw materials needed for life to exist, so therefore she is matter.
• The God represents the energy needed for life to exist, therefore he is energy.
• Since energy and matter are equivalent (energy = mass X the speed of light squared) I conclude that the God and Goddess are different forms of the same thing.
• Since we have both matter and energy in us, we have both the male and the female in each if us.
• Nature is sacred, only nature (WHO wrote this quote originally?  I have found it all over, first saw it on an Omnia video )

So, do these beliefs make me a Pantheist?  Something seems a bit missing to me in Pantheism.  Just a bit.  I think I want the divine to be more personal than what I think it is to a Pantheist.  But just because I want something to be does not make it so.

Also, I really like what little is known about the Celtic gods and goddesses.  Either as real personalities or archetypes to help us focus prayers/magic, they speak to me more than Norse or Greek or Roman or any other pantheon I know of.  But then again,I do not know of all the pantheons out there.

So, old pagan?  New pagan? Neo-pagan?  Whatever I am, there it is.

Thanks for reading.

So, second entry not associated with Samhain's Sirens.  Let's see where this takes me...

I want to blog about being sick and being a teacher.  Anyone in the teaching business knows the old meme about how much easier it is to just go in sick rather than coming up with plans that are worth the paper they are printed on.  I have been sick since last Friday (it is Tuesday now).  Over these days I have taught 3 separate concepts in Physical Science and two in Physics.  If I had taken this time off, would the children have learned any of the things I taught?

The problem with taking a day off is that only a few of the children can actually learn a new concept without the teacher there to give the lesson.  Those top readers could just read something, say a textbook (if we had updated ones), and be given some practice problems/questions and from those two things figure out the concept well enough to not need much intervention from the teacher.  Sometimes a sick day falls on a review day, but with block schedules the norm in my district I rarely have a whole day spent reviewing.  Just not enough days to spend doing that.  Plus my reviews often involve active participation (modified jeopardy or other whole-class games of review).

I hate leaving plans that involve just watching a movie.  I show October Sky for both Physical Science and Physics, an inspirational film approved for these classes.  It gives the kids a break from the rigors of the Physics part of Physical Science, makes them feel like they are getting a reward, and can be inspirational (have you seen the film?).  Plus I make sure they watch it by giving a list of questions and grading them.  But I still get the nagging feeling that they are simply not learning...especially when I get back answer sheets that are half-filled.  If I am there I can just send a kid out of the classroom with a sheet of practice problems if they are not watching.  The practice problems are graded and that grade added in for the movie questions grade.  But when I use the movie to fill in my sick-day plans, it simply gives me a tinge of guilt.

As for emergency plans, well, those are only for extreme emergencies, like the teacher getting in an accident on the way to work.  They are not for sick days!

OK, griping over.  Now, what can be done about this problem?  Maybe nothing.  Maybe if I had just taken Friday off, I would have been better by Monday instead of feeling progressively worse and needing tomorrow off.  But then the movie would have been Friday, and the students would have three days to forget whatever I taught Thursday.  Really, being sick as a teacher is a no-win situation.

And that's all I feel like typing about that.  Hope you have enjoyed reading this.

Samhain's Sirens: October 30: Forget-Me-Not Friday

The last Hoo-rah for the Sirens this year.  Also your last chance to get an entry in for the big give-away from LaPulia Studios.  Presenting final farewells for some beloved departed and great recipes to boot.  Go see what the hub-bub is all about, and check out the beautiful works of  https://www.facebook.com/lapuliastudio/



Samhain's Sirens: October 30: Forget-Me-Not Friday: As we close out our Samhain celebration season, we want to turn our thoughts to a more serious note. Today, we honor our ancestors, fri...

Samhain's Sirens: October 29: Throw-it-to-the-zombies Thursday

It's almost over :(  Go check out the Sirens by clicking the link below before ll the fun is done!



Samhain's Sirens: October 29: Throw-it-to-the-zombies Thursday: The apocalypse is nigh! Throw whatever you can to get away! Our very last Thursday brings you all kinds of fun.. let's do this! ...

Samhain's Sirens: October 28: Why-are-we-searching-the-basement Wedn...

The final Wednesday, the awesome giveaway, the recipe, the info about a ruby, wisdom about Samhain, and a song from Rob Zombie.  Go see what the Sirens are cooking up!



Samhain's Sirens: October 28: Why-are-we-searching-the-basement Wedn...: You know you've asked the question... why, if the killer is in the basement, would you go down there? Let's be stupid daring to...

Samhain's Sirens: October 27: Trepidation Tuesday!

The last Tuesday before Samhain!  Prepare your feast, get your rituals ready, and go see what Samhain's Sirens has in store.



Samhain's Sirens: October 27: Trepidation Tuesday!: It is with some trepidation that we inform you this is our  last Tuesday of the celebration. Still, we have some amazing offerings for y...

Samhain's Sirens: October 26: Morose Monday

Go see what's shaking over at Samhain's Sirens.  It's their last week this year!



Samhain's Sirens: October 26: Morose Monday: We're feeling a little morose today. It's our last Monday with you, but we're determined to make it fun! Join us for our ...

A relative passed away last Friday.  I knew him, though we were not close.  Son of my grandfather's sister, so I guess that makes us some form of first cousin.  We have met at family reunions, and I ran into him occasionally at work, since he has nieces/nephews going to school there.  His passing has caused me to think some thoughts, so here I am sharing them.

Christians believe that all who have passed watch over them from heaven.  Pagans have a few different ideas on this subject, but my own belief is that the departed can chose who they peek in on and will do so until time to come back.  How much influence they have over events in our lives I do not know.  Will this cousin peek in on me?  Doubtful, as we had so very little interaction.

With Samhain less than a week away, I was contemplating whether to include him in any rituals I may perform.  Acknowledging departed loved ones is the main focus of my plans.  But would it be rude/presumptuous of me to ask for his attendance when he and I were not that close?  Would it distract him from the ones to whom he wants/needs to be paying attention?

Perhaps just making the invitation is enough.  It's not like I will be forcing him, or anyone else, to attend.  Just open the door, leave a sign to come in if interested, and see what happens.  Come or not, the rites will end, and I will see what happens.

Samhain's Sirens: October 23: Frightful Friday!

Recipes galore!  A give-away to help you see your future!  And a loving tribute to a dearly departed friend.  It's Friday on the Samhain's Siren's blog.  Share the fun while October lasts!



Samhain's Sirens: October 23: Frightful Friday!: It's creeping up and coming near.. that hallowed night so many fear! Join us in our celebration, fill your hearts with jubilation! ...

Samhain's Sirens: October 22: Thorazine Thursday!

Cool Ghost stories, Hallowe'en sweet treats, the awesome Omnia performing their musical version of the Edgar Allen Poe poem 'The Raven', info on one of my favorite gemstones, amethyst, and a book give away to die for (there's a pun in there somewhere...).  All on today's Samhain's Sirens post.  Why are you still reading this blog?  Click below and go there now!



Samhain's Sirens: October 22: Thorazine Thursday!: The closer we get to the thinnest veil, the crazier it all becomes! Lock up your madmen, the Sirens are taking over the asylum ;) Come ...

Samhain's Sirens: October 21: What's-that-sound Wednesday!

I have had a busy few days with work and meetings and social life!  But now I am back, and following Samhain's Sirens.  Go see what they have for you today.



Samhain's Sirens: October 21: What's-that-sound Wednesday!: Stop. Wait. What's that sound? Sh.... It's coming from the basement. Who's coming with us to investigate? Let's go!...

Samhain's Sirens: October 16: Forbidden Friday!

Samhain's Sirens is worth a look.  See the recipes, the music, the cocktails, a tribute to a dear friend, and, yes, an awesome give-away!



Samhain's Sirens: October 16: Forbidden Friday!: Even though the sign clearly says, "Forbidden", you know you want to come on in... We have food (even Paleo), drink, and songs...

Samhain's Sirens: October 15: Thrill-Kill Thursday!

Go over to Samhain's Sirens and see what's new today!



Samhain's Sirens: October 15: Thrill-Kill Thursday!: Just about the time you think it's safe.. that thrill turns into chills.. *shudder*.. see what our Sirens have stormed up today! We ...

Samhain's Sirens: October 13: Torturous Tuesday!

Check it out!  The latest from Samhain's Sirens



Samhain's Sirens: October 13: Torturous Tuesday!: *CaCkles, rubs hands together* Muahahahahaha! Welcome our party on this Torturous Tuesday! Brace yourself.. here we go! ...

Samhain's Sirens: October 12: Marauder Monday!

Check it out, whomever is reading this blog!  Good reading about visiting ancestors, yours and others, good squash recipes for your Autumnal cooking, and of course a great giveaway!



Samhain's Sirens: October 12: Marauder Monday!: Welcome back, you Monday Marauders! Let's plunder this treasure! We have all kinds of booty in store for you today. Come check out...

Samhain's Sirens: October 9:Freaky Friday!

OK, here is the proper link for the Samhain's Sirens blogpost.  Still getting used to this thing.



Samhain's Sirens: October 9:Freaky Friday!: Welcome back! Woohoo, it's Friday and time to get our Freak on! We have some really delicious recipes for you to start your weekend ...

Check out Samhain's Sirens for the latest in October-based awesomeness!
(Did I spell that correctly?)

http://samhainsirens.blogspot.com/2015/10/october-9freaky-friday.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Samhain's Sirens: October 7: WrongTurn Wednesday

My wife took one look at the give-away for today's Samhain's Sirens post, and her eyes lit up!  Check it out at the link below. There is also a very good post about dealing with death of loved ones and about the people who are offering those services; not just spiritual, but also legal and financial advice.



Samhain's Sirens: October 7: WrongTurn Wednesday: We see you've taken a wrong turn, but look where it brought you! Don't be shy.. come on in, we don't bite- much ;) We have...

This is a test of this here new fangled blogging thing.  I am 43 and new to blogging, though it has been around for a while.  I am also a pagan, believing in a god and a goddess.  I believe that the female divine represents the raw material needed for life, i.e. the Earth, and that the male divine represents the energy needed to manipulate that matter, which here on Earth comes from the Sun, our own personal star.  Other than that, I am still discovering my beliefs.