Rhee Rocks!

Accountability? Being responsible for one's actions?

Being good, not just being there, gets a pay raise?

I have a new hero, and she's kickin' ass without wasting time to take names in Washington DC schools!

This week's TIME magazine has an article on Michelle Rhee* firing bad teachers and offering huge pay increases to eliminate tenure -- tenure?!? -- who else has a job that's extremely safe, no matter how bad you are or how little you care to put into it, solely based on the fact that you survived the first few years? We don't even let our Presidents hang around warm and secure just because they've received a paycheck for a specific amount of time...

Now I don't want to talk too much out of my place, not even being a rookie teacher yet (plus I should read the article again -- I may have missed a few key points amidst my "amens!" and "git 'em girl!" shout outs) but why do people have a problem with getting paid based on performance? If you are good at what you do, what are you worried about? And if you're a bad teacher, as a citizen and parent and colleague I don't have one single minute to waste by allowing you to continue working with my children. If you're a bad teacher, retail is always hiring....




*not to confused with Michelle Yeoh, Goddess of the Silver Screen

The Crash of '08

The hard drive, just like my chorizo burrito-addled heart will someday, came crashing to a grinding, screeching, obliterating stop.

So the bad, and expensive, news is it had to be replaced.

More bad news: I only backed up my photos and iTunes, so all else is gone, gone, gone...

Good news: reinstalled the iTunes, bad news: did it twice and now have doubled every single song...

good news: get to make all new playlists while deleting those doubled every single song...

ok, I knew I had Inka Dinka Do but what about...*

Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) ?
Fly Trapped In A Jar ?
Bom Bom Bom ?
Sheep ?
The Cannonball Run Theme ?
Lunch Box/Odd Sox ?
She came in Through the Bathroom Window ?
I Love You, You Imbecile ?






*a free book from my shelves if you can sing 'em all...

Things I should stop doing soon so I don't regret not stopping sooner...

1. eating so much -- despite still looking good, I've gotta be up over 220, and the kids are going to be curious about their Halloween candy bags any day now. Shoot, at the rate I'm going they'll soon be curious about the cat...
2. saying "whatever you want, my love" -- she either hates it and we argue mis-communicate in sarcastic tones or she says "ok" and we end up wandering through another *%#@$&in' mall...
3. watching Dexter -- when that evil entity called Netflix sends a season's worth of discs, do we have to watch them in one sitting? in the dark? until it's very late at night? and very dark? Confessions of a wimp (I prefer "more sophisticated and culturally evolved"): I avert my eyes when the cellophane comes out...
4. random blogs -- 90% I can't read due to language difficulties, as in they ain't in English, 10% I shouldn't read, as in I can't hit the back button quick enough, and the other 10% never reply to my utterly witty comments...
5. making lists -- letting my mind wander when I should be studying. Or eating. Or making sure that guy from Dexter isn't hiding behind the couch...

cool website (but dorky graphics) with tons of power points for lesson plans, or for using at home for homework help/making your kids do extra work to make 'em smarter...

if I didn't do the link right, this is it: http://www.pppst.com/

Redemption vs. Election

Just had a nice couple on the doorstep, the type I usually brusquely remind about private property and trespassing laws. But since the she of the couple was mildly cute, I let her talk a minute and invite us to church. Alas, when opening the screen door to get her pamphlet, the daily cascade of voting placards* landed at their feet and I asked "did ya vote yet?" --

Awkward silence.

They stammered a bit and said no, they were more concerned with my eternal soul and the end of the world. They did want to see the right Propositions pass (no gay marriage being the big one), but always left it to God's will.

When they asked why we didn't go to our regular church anymore, I told them it was because no one there ever voted...


*thanks, Slim + meriam-webster.com