Back to work

While the vast majority of folks and students are still on summer vacation I actually went back to work on Monday. Our school district starts earlier than the rest of the schools in the state and classes actually began on Monday morning....Lucky me..... Seriously, I really can't complain because I have been off for nine weeks which is much longer than the rest of my working comrades.... This year I transferred to Caesar Chavez High which is entering only it's third year of existence. It's a state of the art of high school and has a beautiful campus but it takes forever to walk from one side of the campus to the other. I told one of the administators that if they didn't get me my own personal golf cart than I was going to bring my mountain bike to school and rip back and forth across campus running over anybody that gets in my way and that includes administrators. I really don't intend to bring my mountain bike but it would be nice if the campus wasn't so huge. It has the feel of a Junior college, it's that big.

I woke up Monday morning on the first day of school at four thirty in the morning because I was somewhat anxious about going to work. I now have second thoughts about going to the new high school, in large part, because it is apparently much more regimented and there is a lot of emphasis on rules, particularly keeping the dress code. Let's just say that conformity and keeping dress codes are not my particular cup of tea. It also grieves me because I feel that education is quickly losing it's "soul" during the lastest round of education reforms. All anyone talks about anymore is improving the test scores and almost every teacher who teaches a core subject is now teaching to the various tests we have to administer on a regular basis. Teaching to tests is not what I got into education for and it saddens me to see the educational powers that be drag everyone down this road. It also grieves my soul because alot of important aspects of the educational experience is now being lost or repressed during the ever increasing testing frenzy that is now at the forefront of the education culture. Can't remember that last time we had a good motivational speaker or any discussion or emphasis on the importance of creativity, creating lifetime learners, distilling a love for learning, or the other things that are near and dear to my heart. It's all about testing, standards, and conformity.......Well, I could talk about this topic for hours but I better move towards closure. I'll make the best of it and hope I can stay under the radar screen which is becoming increasingly difficult to do because over the years I have gradually become more and more eccentric and willing to stand near the edge of the abyss when it comes to how I do my job. Reminds me that there is often a fine line between those on the edge and those who take pride in being normal and sometimes it doesn't take much to trigger events that may send a person over the edge. Since I have went over the edge in my life on more than one occasion I now think I understand some of the dynamics of our soul's persistent attempts to satisfy it's deepest desires. Of course, some people are better than others at repressing the souls cry to be satisfied but a deprived soul cannot or will not be denied indefinetly. .....Need to wrap this up because I have to get up at the crack of dawn to work on worksheets and curriculum. Fun, fun, fun.....One positive note. I am teaching psychology again after five years of being deprived and that should give me an opportunity to teach a subject that is not driven by tests. Should be alot of fun for both me and the students.....Fallen asleep at the key board so I better go now....Over and out......