Bogged Down

I'm feeling a little bogged down these days. I try not to complain too much about school but I'm really feeling punished by my workload. I currently have 220 students that regularly attend my class. That's not all the students that are actually listed on my roster. It makes for a pretty rough week. Last year was a little bit of a shock because I had right at about 200 students. My last year teaching in TX, I only had 99. Of the 200 students I had last year, only about 80% came to class regularly so that dropped me down to more like 160. Right now, 220 actually come to my class. It some respects, I hope that they don't stop coming. I don't want any of my students to fail but there are days when I will have 5+ students missing for a class and it's sort of a relief. It's also made the head coaching position a little more crazy because I have so much more to deal with because I do have that responsibility, as well. That's why, in TX, head coaches have a reduced class load. I could only dream of that happening for me here. In fact, we're probably going to hire another Spanish teacher for our school and they're not necessarily going to reduce the amount of students I have. The administration says that we should just be patient because we're going to get another teacher but the counselors have said that they will fill that person's classes first with all the students who wanted Spanish this year and didn't get it. If it's going to be like this again next year, I'm likely to go teach in Pennsylvania. I hear the grass is greener there.

How you doin?

This is a phrase that Irene and I found very comical when we first moved to DE. It's just so stereotypical. It brings thoughts of Joey from "Friends" with his smooth smile and even smoother pick-up line, "How you doin?" Anyway, in poking fun of it, it has now become a regular part of my vocabulary but lately I really have to think about it when someone asks. Things haven't been great here and when someone asks me how I'm doing I really think to myself, "How am I doing?" My most common response right now has become, "I'm surving another day." And if further inquiry ensues I simply say, "I'm taking one breath at a time." More and more I'm concentrating on today because it's the only thing I can control. Maybe that's the lesson God's trying to teach me right now. Maybe I've been looking so far down the road that I haven't been concentrating enough on today. Well, I don't even want to think about tomorrow because the possibilities of what could happen tomorrow are too overwhelming. I'm just surviving today. At times, I'm even stopping to make sure I'm actually breathing and take a second to intentionally breathe. So far, today is fine and tomorrow is an eternity away!

1 year in the books

I am currently sitting in my classroom watching as my last final exam of the school year is being taken. The first year at a new school is always the hardest. It's especially been hard because: 1. It's a completely different state. 2. I went from a 7-period/day schedule to a block schedule. 3. I am teaching from a completely different textbook. 4. I teach one more section than I did last year. 5. My class sizes are about 75% larger than last year. 6. There's no in-school athletics. 7. I am teaching three different levels of class compared to teaching just one level last year.

Needless to say, it's been an adjustment. The good thing is, I am really looking forward to next basketball season because I have been offered the position of head girls basketball coach and accepted, of course. That's a goal I reached about 2 years earlier than expected.

It's nice to get this year out of the way! Thank God for summer vacations!

Autism Treatment?

You should go to this website www.ageofautism.com and read the latest entry. I regularly read the blog of John Elder Robison and can recall about a month ago when he talked about starting this experimental treatment. It's really exciting to me that there might be some true possibilities coming out of it. Mr. Robison is someone who is very intelligent and, although aspergian, can truly express himself, at least in the written word. This makes for a good test subject because he can relay the differences he feels with accuracy. I'm always excited to hear about possible treatments for autism and hope that one day we can afford some of them.

Right and Wrong

This, as a teacher, is something I deal with in different degrees on a daily basis. For instance, I had a student today offer me a 62" plasma TV if I would give him an "A" in my class. A couple of years ago, a student offered me $150 or some "good drugs" just to pass him. Lately, I've been talking to a few of my students about the O.J. Mayo situation. In case you don't know, this is a college basketball player who allegedly has been receiving money under the table from a sports agent since he was a sophomore in high school. One student in particular told me that, through playing AAU basketball, he has met lots of players who are receiving money and gifts from agents and college coaches. He went as far as to say that, if they were offering it to him, he'd take it, too. I discussed with him why this is wrong and what can happen. In the end, like in the case of O. J. Mayo, there may not be a lot of consequences for anyone except for the school that he has just left to join the NBA (he just declared representation by the sports agent that had allegedly been giving him money). My student responded by talking about what you should do if you're really poor. I told him that doing the right thing isn't easy, it's just right. I truly believe this and try really hard to stick to it. A lot of people don't like Bobby Knight because of the way he coaches. I don't like the way he coaches, either. There are two things I respect about him, though. In 40 years of coaching, few coaches compare to him when it comes to graduation rate of players. Also, he has never come under question for violating any rules. Those are two things I hope that can be said about me when my time coaching is done. How might things change if people weren't so driven by the almighty dollar? Ethics seem to be no more than a college class taken only because it is required for some degrees. It seems to be one of those that you do just enough to pass and forget it all when you're done.

Going to Texas?

So, a couple of months ago, we told our oldest, James, that we were probably going to Texas this summer for a visit. This was before gas cost $4/gallon. We thought we might even make a road trip of it. Now, we're reconsidering this idea but his brain has run with it. He's been telling other people that we're going to visit Texas this summer as I've been telling Irene that we may have to rethink taking this trip. In fact, I really don't see how we would be able to afford this trip. Travel cost is ridiculous right now and we're not exactly rich. So, how do you tell a 9-year-old that has problems with fixation on certain things (TV shows, comic book characters, trips to TX) that we may not be able to take that trip? Ugh! I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

I was reminded to day of a friend of ours when Irene and I were still in college. We were already married and we had some friends that were engaged and now have been married for about ten years. At the time, we would all four go out together to eat dinner or see a movie or just, whatever. As was typical of that time also, Irene and I would have small disagreements and, sometimes, not as small disagreements. This would happen with our friends sitting in the backseat. Our friend, Brian (a.k.a.-The Goat), thought these skirmishes were funny and would consistently interject, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" This usually resulted in an immediate difusion of the situation. I always appreciated that, especially because I win very few arguments. This usually left it at a "draw".