Today I took a group of my United States history students down to the San Diego Harbor to tour the U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrrier. Another teacher was handling the details (I organized an trip earlier in the school year), so all I had to do was, well, go. To some one who is already experiencing high levels of stress, I couldn't handle just going. I mean, when I am I going to be productive. I have work that needs to be done during passing period, at lunch, after school - when was I going to do all those things on my list. Amazingly, spending a day in beautiful downtown San Diego with no strings attached was hanging me up.

Well, we just got back. I did bring some work, but I didn't even think of taking it out. The audio tour of the Midway was great. We got to wander around a ship that spent 50 years cruising the world. Plus, you can throw in perfect weather (low 70's with a cool breeze), a nice lunch outside, 53 perfectly behaved kids, quality time with a couple collegues, and a ben and jerry's ice cream cone to top it off.

What a great day. I definitely needed today. Let the rat race continue when I push Publish Post.



Looking from the front of the Midway towards downtown.

Found this at Dr. History.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

"We laughed. And, for an hour, in that season of death, we celebrated a life." From: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. A great book about the plague in 17th century England.

One of the many aspects of this job that no one really discusses before you get hired is the fact that many of us are in unions. We pay union fees, have the benefit of union representation if there are issues with your performance, and negotiate for pay increases through the union.



Over the last nine years I have been teaching, we have had several situations that required the union to actively fight a school board or superintendent for stability, cost of living increases, etc. This year is proving to be the most contentious yet. Conflicting information is constantly being thrown back and forth. Teachers are talking that the distance between the two sides has never been bigger. We have picketed a board meeting and the school. It has been ugly. And, unfortunately, I think it is only going to get uglier. Fear is in the air, potential layoffs have been announced, seniority is being determined. Simply writing this makes me a little nervous (and one of the reasons I moved this blog).

What I have noticed over the years though, is each time this happens, we see a coming together that doesn’t otherwise seem to exist among teachers. Yes, we share a district, a school, even students in some cases, but we rarely carry the same greater cause (above and beyond the incredible cause of preparing our students for life after high school, of course). When over 400 teachers (of about 1100) picketed a board meeting last month, I felt the same kind of energy I experienced in college at various protests. However, this time the stakes are much more real. I have a family and a mortgage.



I wonder what the community thinks? Are we greedy for wanting a cost of living increase? Do they sympathize? What story will they believe? Does it matter?

February is half over. Spring break is at the end of March. School finishes in June. Like many other teachers, I do a lot more then teach my classes (which can be overwhelming in its self). This semester might be my busiest on record. A 6/5s assignment, a family with two little ones, a house in constant need of upkeep and repair, a board position on the local educational technology committee (SDCUE), several side web page projects to help supplement my income, my dad’s retirement, a newish prep next year, and six units in my masters program. Luckily I turned down a couple opportunities that would have swamped me even more.

The biggest obstacles seem to be related to graduate school. In one class, a partner and I are taking on a client to develop a web-based marketing and instructional tool. The expectation is that we spend at least 75 hours each working on it. I guess that is not too terribly significant, but I do like spending some time with my wife and children. I’m also doing a special study where I’m going to be developing a second wiki-based project that I started in a seminar class a couple weeks ago. If all goes well, I will co-author an article to be published in an education technology publication.

The only small sign of relief is that I have a student teacher taking over two of my world history classes. While it will eventually allow me to actually have a little prep time this semester, it is hard to give up classes that I have developed a good rapport with, right at the time when the curriculum becomes so much more compelling and interesting.

I guess the whole point to this entry is that I am busy. I have a half dozen draft posts saved in blogger, but no time to develop them. In fact, I should probably be sleep or grading or reading about how to be a consultant now. Good night.

I saw this link over at hipteacher and was quite skeptical. I've done some of those quizzes in the past and I'm never satisfied with the results. This one seemed a bit more intellectual, so I tried it out. And who knew, one of favorite books came up.

You're Catch-22!

by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of people.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

After a few tries, I finally got it to change over to the new server. I always felt a bit uncomfortable with it on the school server. I've had a couple things I wanted to add, especially about our current situation between the union and the district and thought it would be unwise to put those reflections on a district server. More to come...

Well, we are going to see if I can do this without losing any of my posts, but it is time that I moved this blog off the school web site. The new home is at: http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/blog.

I am about seven days into a ten day video project on propganda and totalitarianism in my world histoy classes. Each year, I tell myself, this is a great project. The kids get so much out of it. They work in groups, get to use five year old video technology (that's all we have), and produce a pretty cool product.

Then, about seven days into it, I realize that it is a logistical nightmare. With four periods, I have 28 groups of four to six students. 28 video tapes so they don't record over each other's footage. Seven MiniDV and Digital8 video cameras. 28 five year-old iBooks running the old OS, with short battery lives, and very slow processors (especially compared to my G4 PowerBook). Plus, a large variety of technical issues, groups unable to work together, and an inability to follow instructions plague the process.

No doubt, when we watch them on Monday, I will be satisfied enough to put myself through this process again next year. I might even add a second video project this year. I need to wait and see how well they actually do.