I just got through (literally moments ago) a unique situation to me. In my years of teaching, this was my first time dealing with something like this, although I know its happened to others. What's your opinion on the subject?
Here's the scenario - I gave an assignment to my 9th grade Earth Science class on Wednesday and told them to finish it for homework. Friday came and went and I forgot to collect the assignment, instead I put in a video and worked with a pair of my chemistry kids to prepare them for a test that they were to take the next period. I figured that I would collect it on Monday - something usual for my class (I often forget to collect assignments the day that they are due).
So its 7pm on a Saturday night and I'm chillin' on the sofa watching tv when a knock comes at the door. I open it to find one of my 9th graders standing there - trembling and on the verge of tears, let's call her April. She stammers out that she has something to tell me about what happened in school on Friday and I invite her in. I can hear some of you already - "Never invite a student into your house! Especially a female student! Oh my God, you're going to get accused of so many things!". I couldn't leave her standing on my doorstep like that, she was an emotional wreck at the moment and it would have been cruel of me to have her expose her crime while standing in a doorway.
April came in and the tears started to flow. She was sorry for what she did and wanted to tell me about it. Truth be told, I had no idea what she was apologizing for but I wasn't going to stop her from letting it all out. After a bit of stuttering and stammering, she finally let it go.
"Mr. Expat, remember how the lab was due on Friday? Well, I didn't get it done for homework and I copied the answers from a friend. I got caught copying the answers in another class and that teacher took both of our papers away. I told my mom and she said that I needed to come over and tell you about it ahead of time and be responsible for my actions." *the conversation has been paraphrased since I don't want to write it all down.
This was a first for me. A student was caught by another teacher copying answers to an assignment for my class and was confessing to the act before I even knew. But here's the kicker - technically she didn't turn in the assignment so technically she hasn't cheated yet. Or did she? I asked her if she intended to submit the paper as her own work and she replied that she did intend that, if she hadn't been caught.
Where does the line of cheating/plagarism start? While she did intend to cheat, she hasn't yet, in a technical sense. However she was caught before the act came to fruition and wasn't allowed to follow through with the actual act of submitting someone else's work. She should be treated like any other person caught cheating or is this something different? Our school states that cheating is punishable at the director's discretion, up to a day's worth of in-school suspension and a zero on the assignment. Does she receive the full broadside for the act when the act has yet to be completed yet? Does the letter of the law cover intent? What do you think should happen to April?
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
mama always said...
With me at the point of departure, I'm getting ready to sell my motorcycle before I leave Holland. I came across this on Google video - perhaps its a good thing that I don't ride sportbikes...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
darling cherub
At the beginning of this year, I put up a post about what to do if you deal with the kids of teachers in your school. I only wish that one of the teachers at my school had read the article and taken it to heart. Today I was blindsided by this teacher, we'll call her Ms. Protective, and I wasn't too happy about it.
Ms. Protective's son is in my chemistry class. He has aspirations to go into the medical field and attend a good British university. Since I know this, I do my best to ensure that this darling cherub is ready for the rigors of university life. When he doesn't turn in his work, I ride him just like every other student. When he doesn't perform up to his ability, I 'promote learning' with a gentle nudge by privately saying to him, "If you want to get into dentistry school, you're going to need to do better than the C you just earned." In essence, I do what every other teacher does - encourage and cajole.
The darling cherub is also a musician. He is an excellent string player and attends many workshops aimed at promoting high-level musicians. Unfortunately for him, these workshops are usually a week long and he misses school as a result of it - throughout the course of this year he has missed 3 weeks of school to attend various workshops. Our school has a rule that if a student is going to be absent for functions such as this, they must see the teacher for work before they go on the trip. This darling cherub always waits until the last minute before getting his checkout sheet signed with his teachers.
Last Thursday was his last day of the week and he didn't have my signature on the sheet. No sig means no credit for work done during the week. So Ms. Protective bails him out by finding me at softball practice and asks me to sign his sheet. I do so but tell the mother that it is unacceptable for this to happen. A student needs to take responsibility and see me personally. I thought it was over and that the darling cherub would find me upon returning to school.
But no, it could never be that easy.
Ms. Protective finds me in the lunch line today and in front of staff and students alike, brings up the topic of his missing work. I tell her that I need to talk to her about it and that in the lunch line is not a good place. She keeps pushing and so I tell her that if she wants to get his assignments, she needed to come visit me in my classroom for them - just like every other kid would do. Hey, if she is going to take responsibility for his actions and cover him when he fucks up and doesn't get the necessary signature then she can go through the same song and dance that every kid has to deal with. She goes off on me in the lunch line about how I'm being rude (?!) and not giving her the assignments right then and there.
WTF???!!! I'm trying to eat my lunch here lady!!!!
So I tell Ms. Protective that enough is enough and that if she has a problem with the way I conduct my class that she can talk with the director about it. Being aptly peeved about the situation, I decide to bring the head honcho in myself. I'm tired of Ms. OVERLY Protective going off when her boy doesn't get what she feels is right or that he is "being screwed". Whatever lady, you've pissed me off one too many times. Let's get the powers that be involved.
We have our meeting after school (during which I miss a bunch of practice time with my softball players - ya know, kids that show up to school and are responsible) and it comes out that darling cherub is didn't get his sheet signed BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID OF ME. Yes, that's right - he's afraid of me, the giant teddybear. His reason for being afraid - "Mr. Expat tells me that I'm not being responsible when I come to him late with my signout sheet."
No shit Sherlock, what else would I say?
"Congrats on being late for the 3rd time. This time you get a prize!"
"C'mere - lemme teach you how to be even MORE irresponsible."
Better yet -
"So my teeth are a complete mess because you didn't bother to get the assignment you missed in dentistry school?!?! No problem, I'll just eat soup for the rest of my life."
No - I think not. I'm a teacher for crying out loud. I teach. I teach more than just chemistry or physics or math. I teach your kid how to be a responsible adult. I teach your kid how to be a good and moral person. If you don't like it, then get your kid outta my class because I ain't gonna stop teachin' that way.
What did the meeting result in? More excuses from Ms. Protective and more allegations focused at me. Yeah, I'm the one whose wrong. I'm the one picking on the darling cherub because I think like the rest of the world. Whatever lady, I ain't teaching your kid anything more than what the curriculum demands.
And if I ever see the darling cherub's name on a dentist office door, I'm gonna run away screaming.
Ms. Protective's son is in my chemistry class. He has aspirations to go into the medical field and attend a good British university. Since I know this, I do my best to ensure that this darling cherub is ready for the rigors of university life. When he doesn't turn in his work, I ride him just like every other student. When he doesn't perform up to his ability, I 'promote learning' with a gentle nudge by privately saying to him, "If you want to get into dentistry school, you're going to need to do better than the C you just earned." In essence, I do what every other teacher does - encourage and cajole.
The darling cherub is also a musician. He is an excellent string player and attends many workshops aimed at promoting high-level musicians. Unfortunately for him, these workshops are usually a week long and he misses school as a result of it - throughout the course of this year he has missed 3 weeks of school to attend various workshops. Our school has a rule that if a student is going to be absent for functions such as this, they must see the teacher for work before they go on the trip. This darling cherub always waits until the last minute before getting his checkout sheet signed with his teachers.
Last Thursday was his last day of the week and he didn't have my signature on the sheet. No sig means no credit for work done during the week. So Ms. Protective bails him out by finding me at softball practice and asks me to sign his sheet. I do so but tell the mother that it is unacceptable for this to happen. A student needs to take responsibility and see me personally. I thought it was over and that the darling cherub would find me upon returning to school.
But no, it could never be that easy.
Ms. Protective finds me in the lunch line today and in front of staff and students alike, brings up the topic of his missing work. I tell her that I need to talk to her about it and that in the lunch line is not a good place. She keeps pushing and so I tell her that if she wants to get his assignments, she needed to come visit me in my classroom for them - just like every other kid would do. Hey, if she is going to take responsibility for his actions and cover him when he fucks up and doesn't get the necessary signature then she can go through the same song and dance that every kid has to deal with. She goes off on me in the lunch line about how I'm being rude (?!) and not giving her the assignments right then and there.
WTF???!!! I'm trying to eat my lunch here lady!!!!
So I tell Ms. Protective that enough is enough and that if she has a problem with the way I conduct my class that she can talk with the director about it. Being aptly peeved about the situation, I decide to bring the head honcho in myself. I'm tired of Ms. OVERLY Protective going off when her boy doesn't get what she feels is right or that he is "being screwed". Whatever lady, you've pissed me off one too many times. Let's get the powers that be involved.
We have our meeting after school (during which I miss a bunch of practice time with my softball players - ya know, kids that show up to school and are responsible) and it comes out that darling cherub is didn't get his sheet signed BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID OF ME. Yes, that's right - he's afraid of me, the giant teddybear. His reason for being afraid - "Mr. Expat tells me that I'm not being responsible when I come to him late with my signout sheet."
No shit Sherlock, what else would I say?
"Congrats on being late for the 3rd time. This time you get a prize!"
"C'mere - lemme teach you how to be even MORE irresponsible."
Better yet -
"So my teeth are a complete mess because you didn't bother to get the assignment you missed in dentistry school?!?! No problem, I'll just eat soup for the rest of my life."
No - I think not. I'm a teacher for crying out loud. I teach. I teach more than just chemistry or physics or math. I teach your kid how to be a responsible adult. I teach your kid how to be a good and moral person. If you don't like it, then get your kid outta my class because I ain't gonna stop teachin' that way.
What did the meeting result in? More excuses from Ms. Protective and more allegations focused at me. Yeah, I'm the one whose wrong. I'm the one picking on the darling cherub because I think like the rest of the world. Whatever lady, I ain't teaching your kid anything more than what the curriculum demands.
And if I ever see the darling cherub's name on a dentist office door, I'm gonna run away screaming.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
something different
Now here's a picture that you don't see everyday. How many white peacocks have you ever even heard of?
Saturday, April 01, 2006
big brother
I was reading an article a few days ago on the BBC (click on 'big brother' above) about how Apple has introduced a feature in its iPods that will allow parents to control the maximum setting that a person can listen to. One of the reasons that they are doing so is because of a potential lawsuit from an American as well as US politicians who are calling for congressional investigation about hearing loss. After reading all of this, I have decided that its time for another rant.
First of all, let me go off on the frivolous lawsuit that John Kiel Patterson is bringing against Apple. He is suing because his iPod is capable of producing a sound level of 115 db (the pain threshold for humans is 120-130 db) and that prolonged use can cause damage. He bought an iPod last year and isn't sure if he has suffered hearing loss as a result of using this product. His lawsuit is focusing on the potential of iPods to cause permanent hearing loss.
Lemme get this straight. A guy buys a product, frequently sticks it in his ear and cranks up the volume to the point of causing pain. Now he wants to sue the people because he is such a dumbass that he didn't bother to turn down the volume. This John Kiel Patterson (and his lawyers) is such an amazingly stupid person that he should have his reproductive organs removed so that he can't spread his idiocy to future generations. Seriously, if you can't figure out to turn down the volume when your ears experience a painful blast of music, you shouldn't be allowed to operate a reproductive organ.
My second point is about the fact that there are 2 US Congressmen that are calling for an investigation into the matter. Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) are wanting the National Institutes of Health to look into this 'new' problem that Americans are having with hearing due to media players. Statistics from the American Speech-Language-Hearing (ASHA) estimate that 10 million Americans suffer from hearing loss or impairment due to the portable media players. Markey and Ferguson rely heavily on the ASHA statistics as a reasoning for a formal investigation.
I will come out and say this - I am a conservative liberal. I believe in the idea that the government should do certain things to improve our country but also believe that they should keep their nose outta my business as much as possible. Democrats are often considered to be pro "big government" while Republicans were also thought of to be pro "minimalist government". But now we have government permeating every part of my life and now even the minimalist politicans are wanting to check to see how my hearing is after listening to an iPod. GET THE HELL OUTTA MY PERSONAL LIFE. IF I WANNA LISTEN TO AN IPOD AT 150 DB AND BE DEAF WITHIN A YEAR, THEN LET ME DO IT. Stop wasting money on stupid shit like a multi-million dollar investigation that is going to tell you that hearing loss can occur from listening to music at high volumes. We've known that since rock and roll started over 50 years ago. Why not spend that money on something a bit more important - like finding an alternative energy source to oil.
Thirdly, Apple. Apple came out during the SuperBowl in 1984 with their fancy commercial about big brother watching you and how should break out of the mold and buy their product. What a total bunch of hypocrites! Apple itself has turned into big brother through all their products. For example -
Mac OSX - despite the fact that Windoze (any version from 3.1 thru Vista) can be a total pain, it will allow you to do almost anything you like. If you want to erase files that are essential to your OS, it will let you. Whatever you want to screw with, Windoze will gladly oblige and let you nuke your OS into oblivion. Mac OS doesn't let you do that. It treats you like a kid and won't let you do anything too destructive (well, at least as destructive as Windoze). You are only given certain options and can only change certain parameters. Ever tried to change a registry on a Mac?
iTunes - how much more big brother can you get than that? The new version has a Music Store that will track what you are listening to and 'suggest' other artists that you might want to try. How on earth do they know what is good? Easy, they keep track of what you are listening to and what others are listening to. The software is built on the premise of watching everything you do. And limiting the number of computers I can listen to my songs on? While I understand that piracy is an issue, don't limit me on where I can listen to my purchased music. I paid for it, I should get to listen to it on 1 or 1000 different computers.
iPod - the final straw. Now there is a limit to the volume that I can listen to my Science Friday podcast that I listen to because some idiot (see above) can't figure out what relationship the volume control and the bleeding in his ears have. Granted this feature has to be activated but why is it even there to begin with? We've had "portable media players" around since Sony introduced the Walkman back the early 1980s. But now Apple has decided to be cautious for all of us and install a way to limit my listening experience.
Why this rant? I want a few things to start happening in my native land; being an American can be somewhat embarrasing at times. First - pull your heads outta your ass and stop blaming others for your incompetence. If you are such a boob that you f**k up your hearing, then I guess you learned a lesson the hard way. Second - fix what needs fixing in the US and stop wasting money. Why does the government need to spend money on a research project that we already know the answer to? It has more pressing concerns than hearing loss from earbuds. Thirdly - let me have my freedoms - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Stop worrying about how I'm gonna hurt myself and let me ride my bike without a helmet. Sometimes I need to crash and smack myself good to learn my lesson. If you keep trying to protect me from all the "bad" things in the world, I'll never know how to make a decision when I need to because I've always been sheltered. Stop being my parent and make actual parents do that job (a topic for yet another rant). Let me be my own best advocate.
First of all, let me go off on the frivolous lawsuit that John Kiel Patterson is bringing against Apple. He is suing because his iPod is capable of producing a sound level of 115 db (the pain threshold for humans is 120-130 db) and that prolonged use can cause damage. He bought an iPod last year and isn't sure if he has suffered hearing loss as a result of using this product. His lawsuit is focusing on the potential of iPods to cause permanent hearing loss.
Lemme get this straight. A guy buys a product, frequently sticks it in his ear and cranks up the volume to the point of causing pain. Now he wants to sue the people because he is such a dumbass that he didn't bother to turn down the volume. This John Kiel Patterson (and his lawyers) is such an amazingly stupid person that he should have his reproductive organs removed so that he can't spread his idiocy to future generations. Seriously, if you can't figure out to turn down the volume when your ears experience a painful blast of music, you shouldn't be allowed to operate a reproductive organ.
My second point is about the fact that there are 2 US Congressmen that are calling for an investigation into the matter. Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) are wanting the National Institutes of Health to look into this 'new' problem that Americans are having with hearing due to media players. Statistics from the American Speech-Language-Hearing (ASHA) estimate that 10 million Americans suffer from hearing loss or impairment due to the portable media players. Markey and Ferguson rely heavily on the ASHA statistics as a reasoning for a formal investigation.
I will come out and say this - I am a conservative liberal. I believe in the idea that the government should do certain things to improve our country but also believe that they should keep their nose outta my business as much as possible. Democrats are often considered to be pro "big government" while Republicans were also thought of to be pro "minimalist government". But now we have government permeating every part of my life and now even the minimalist politicans are wanting to check to see how my hearing is after listening to an iPod. GET THE HELL OUTTA MY PERSONAL LIFE. IF I WANNA LISTEN TO AN IPOD AT 150 DB AND BE DEAF WITHIN A YEAR, THEN LET ME DO IT. Stop wasting money on stupid shit like a multi-million dollar investigation that is going to tell you that hearing loss can occur from listening to music at high volumes. We've known that since rock and roll started over 50 years ago. Why not spend that money on something a bit more important - like finding an alternative energy source to oil.
Thirdly, Apple. Apple came out during the SuperBowl in 1984 with their fancy commercial about big brother watching you and how should break out of the mold and buy their product. What a total bunch of hypocrites! Apple itself has turned into big brother through all their products. For example -
Mac OSX - despite the fact that Windoze (any version from 3.1 thru Vista) can be a total pain, it will allow you to do almost anything you like. If you want to erase files that are essential to your OS, it will let you. Whatever you want to screw with, Windoze will gladly oblige and let you nuke your OS into oblivion. Mac OS doesn't let you do that. It treats you like a kid and won't let you do anything too destructive (well, at least as destructive as Windoze). You are only given certain options and can only change certain parameters. Ever tried to change a registry on a Mac?
iTunes - how much more big brother can you get than that? The new version has a Music Store that will track what you are listening to and 'suggest' other artists that you might want to try. How on earth do they know what is good? Easy, they keep track of what you are listening to and what others are listening to. The software is built on the premise of watching everything you do. And limiting the number of computers I can listen to my songs on? While I understand that piracy is an issue, don't limit me on where I can listen to my purchased music. I paid for it, I should get to listen to it on 1 or 1000 different computers.
iPod - the final straw. Now there is a limit to the volume that I can listen to my Science Friday podcast that I listen to because some idiot (see above) can't figure out what relationship the volume control and the bleeding in his ears have. Granted this feature has to be activated but why is it even there to begin with? We've had "portable media players" around since Sony introduced the Walkman back the early 1980s. But now Apple has decided to be cautious for all of us and install a way to limit my listening experience.
Why this rant? I want a few things to start happening in my native land; being an American can be somewhat embarrasing at times. First - pull your heads outta your ass and stop blaming others for your incompetence. If you are such a boob that you f**k up your hearing, then I guess you learned a lesson the hard way. Second - fix what needs fixing in the US and stop wasting money. Why does the government need to spend money on a research project that we already know the answer to? It has more pressing concerns than hearing loss from earbuds. Thirdly - let me have my freedoms - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Stop worrying about how I'm gonna hurt myself and let me ride my bike without a helmet. Sometimes I need to crash and smack myself good to learn my lesson. If you keep trying to protect me from all the "bad" things in the world, I'll never know how to make a decision when I need to because I've always been sheltered. Stop being my parent and make actual parents do that job (a topic for yet another rant). Let me be my own best advocate.
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