Crushed

Posted by on May 19, 2005 in dish | 0 comments So my school gets its FCAT scores today. They stink. No surprise there, unfortunately. The strongest correlation between standardized test scores and some other factor is income. The higher the income of the student population, the higher the scores. The lower the income, the lower the scores. Since our school is located in one of the poorest ZIP codes in Central Florida, you get the...
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Runaway Bride, My ***

Posted by on May 4, 2005 in dish | 1 comment I’m finding all the kvetching over Jennifer Wilbanks, Duluth, GA’s infamous “Runaway Bride,” quite interesting. Here’s the short version: Ms. Wilbanks, faced with her impending 600-guest wedding, told her fiance John Mason she was going jogging, then disappeared. A manhunt–er, bridehunt–ensued. When they finally found her, in Albuquerque, NM, hell and...
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Thank a Teacher

Posted by on Apr 27, 2005 in dish | 1 comment I buried a friend yesterday.Tom, someone I’ve worked with for more than twelve years, died last week of cancer. Nancy, his wife, is devastated. His kids are devastated. Her kids are devastated. So are 120+ inner city kids who had him as their biology teacher this year.You never really understand how much impact a teacher has until you say goodbye to one too soon. When my HS English...
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Pawns

Posted by on Mar 21, 2005 in dish | 0 comments Florida’s in the news again. Again, the news isn’t good. You’d have to be living in a cave not to have heard about the Terri Schiavo case.I’m sorry for Terri Schiavo. I’m sorry her life was cut short. I’m sorry her husband Michael had to cope with losing his wife so early in their marriage. I’m sorry her parents lost their daughter. Mostly, I’m...
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No Child Left…My Behind!!

Posted by on Mar 8, 2005 in dish | 1 comment Okay, so it’s testing week in sunny Central Florida. This means that all meaningful learning screeches to a halt while a slew of young people between the ages of 15-18 determine conclusively whether I’m a good teacher.All together now: Oh, Holy God.I’m not against testing per se. However, I do have issues when 160 minutes of read-and-answer, with a little writing sprinkled in,...
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