...subject to change

(If you read this there may be a video bonus at the end.)

A lot things on my mind about summer school so far:

• We don't have enough students, but that isn't the end of the world.  We have one student in Mississippi Studies which is definitely better than none.  One student is not ideal, but I turned out okay, right?  ....Right?

• I am enjoying the schedule of a second-year.  I haven’t taken advantage of using TWO planning periods, but it has given me time to observe other teachers and give feedback.

• Molly has turned me into a feedback crazy person.  I know I can’t write nearly as much as she did on my evals, but I’ve come close a couple of times.

• I am impressed by the first years so far.  Everyone I have seen so far has great potential.   A big shout-out to my first years, John and Ashton, who have weathered the first week in great style.  Also, props to Trevor for a very nice lesson today.
  

• I am pretty happy with my three lessons.  The first two I had never taught before, but that will change this fall.  My first formal eval went well.  I feel like I have improved which is a good thing.  Still a long ways to go though…
  

• I can’t wait for volleyball today.

And now for your reward:

This may help to explain why Sealand and I say strange things when we are messing with any golf clubs.  The following clip is from Caddyshack.  If you haven't seen it, then stop lesson planning and go rent it.

*Required

I’m going to keep this blog topic short and sweet—and not because it is due in less than an hour, but just because I expect only Molly, Ben, and maybe some interns to read it.

Things I want to work on this summer:

1.    I would like to get better at sets.  These really disappeared at times with the occasional exception (e.g., discussion over drug turf wars).

2.    Less talking, more work for students.  Now that I have taught my subjects twice and know my lessons pretty well, I need to make them more succinct.  I noticed that second semester I became more to-the-point.  I hope that trend continues.

3.    Consistency.  I think I will be working on this for a looooooong time.

Something I do well:

1.    Other than party like it’s 1999?  I’d like to think that I can break things down for students.  This doesn’t happen all the time and I was actually not sure if I was doing a good job of this until I had students review my class.  Generally, they thought I broke topics down so they could get it (even though everyone agrees “Mr. Lasseter you TOO MUCH”).

*Required

You can find my school district project HERE.

I can't say that this project is perfect.  I can't say it is very original.  I can't say that there is anything that is mindblowingly creative.  Sorry.

My school district was modeled off of what I know and what I have seen in North Panola.  I tried to address problems that I see here in Mississippi and to incorporate things that worked when I was in school.  What I really thought long and hard about was improving community relations and getting information about the school district to parents in the county.  By being active in the community, support will grow.  My old high school had incredible community support it seemed which was boosted immensely by high school football.  If that's why people care, then I don't have a problem with it.  At least they are involved.

Also, I really had a hard time trying to find a way to spend that much money.  I kept raising teacher salaries to use up my funds.  I understand that, most likely, my school district would still have crazy problems.  To those people I say, "Do better then."

Set the scene: Seventh period, not doing much because half of my class is out.  They are almost finished with their work in groups.  DJ comes and asks for a pass to another teacher...  I slowly oblige...

Too slowly, I guess.  She turns around and blows chunks on the floor.  Woops.

At least it didn't set off a peristaltic reaction, but it did make me think of this:

So while some countries are shutting down, I am relishing the blogging opportunity that swine flu has given me.

Kramer was on to something... Listen to the uncontrollable "oinking"--it's indicative of swine flue, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC, symptoms of swine flu can include:

• fever, which is usually high
• cough
• runny nose or stuffy nose
• sore throat
• body aches
• uncontrollable "oinking"
• headache
• chills
• fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme
• diarrhea and vomiting (sometimes)

So, as you can see, it's pretty much the same as the regular flu.  Oink Oink.

*Required

Maybe I’m going to get swine flu for saying this, but it doesn’t really scare me.  Everything I heard has seemed to be panic-driven over flu-like symptoms.  Nevertheless, if people care about it, then it will become an issue for schools.  How would I tackle the issue at our school at state-testing time?  I’ll keep this one short and sweet.

Firstly, I would wait and see what happens over the next couple of days.***  Also, if it seems to be an issue (or if another epidemic were impending), then let students wear school-distributed medical masks in school.  Make hand-sanitizer readily available and have teachers use first period to inform students of preventative measures when they distribute masks.  (Obviously the “cool” kids will not wear them, but they deserve to get sick, right?)

If this so-called “pig sickness” becomes that big of a problem, then the state should and would become involved in some manner.  I would only close if they deemed it necessary.  In the cases of students becoming ill and missing tests, I would treat it as if they had the regular Homo sapien flu and make them retest.  If they can’t make it, then they can participate in retests next year or later on in high school.  So it goes.

***EDITOR'S NOTE: A baby died from this swine flu which is very sad.  However, while I risk sounding insensitive, I would like to point out that there are approximately 30,000 deaths per year from the REGULAR FLU.  I'm just saying, let's not panic quite yet. -- 04/30/09 PL

*Required

Can schools strip search?  Short answer?  I’m going to side with the school on this one, but not necessarily because I think they were right in this incident…they weren’t.

I definitely do not think that the search was needed in this particular case as the girl had no prior history and the tip came from a random student.  There were grounds for searching the backpack, but not personal areas.  The bottom line is poor judgment.  Yes, if you have never had an incident with the student, then check her records.  Conference with her and her mother or the other student who gave the tip.  Send her home for the day if there was a problem.  Don’t make harass her.  If she’s a good student, I’m sure she’ll be scared straight anyways.

So why do I support the right to a strip search?  Probably for all the reasons this school does.  In cases of ACTUAL weapons, drugs, or other harmful materials, strip searches may be necessary to ensure that the students remain safe.  I would have to say, however, that a warrant in each case would not be out of the question.  I guess the highest court in the land will decide.

How does this impact curriculum and instruction?  Well, I’d say pulling students out for strip searches would definitely have students on edge and unable to focus in their learning environment.  Also, if students are accused by teachers and are not found guilty will loose all trust of any teachers.  That teacher will also be in trouble as an instructor.  Word gets around.  The key is keeping the decisions out of the hands of teachers and in the hands of CAPABLE administrators.

So a friend of mine greeted me with an instant message that may have changed my life today.  It said, "Have I got something for you!"  That was followed by a series of links through the wonderful world of ukulele covers on YouTube.  Here are a couple to make you smile and get your school week off on the right foot...

I would recommend you take some time and look through other ukulele videos...  It's a great way to waste an afternoon.