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May 26, 2004
Who knew a nightmare could extend to 100 pages
I'm currently on page 105 of the thesis. I think I'm cutting work tomorrow to try to wrap up this bastard creature.
I'd like to write about the wonderful blogparty on Friday, all the great people I met, and how I woke up Saturday morning wearing Bob's necklace, but some of the details are a bit vague. Nothing like an empty stomach filled to the rim with memory-killing alcohol.
I have all sorts of great stories. I just have no desire at the moment to write anything until this blasted thesis is done. IT MUST BE TURNED IN ON MONDAY.
On an aside, does anyone out there have good examples of the golden ratio in music and art for kids? The musical and artistic sections of my brain show quite dark on EEG scans.
Posted by G at 04:35 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 20, 2004
Redrum! Redrum!
Thesis is at 15000 words. Typing is painful and horrid. Blessed be Jesse, from whom all entertainment blessings flow.
For pure entertainment, "The Shining, reenacted by bunnies"
should keep me laughing for days. I just like passing my mouse over the 'begin' icon. If anyone knows how to import the rabbit voice as a cellphone ring, I'd be ever so grateful.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES GLENN A DULL BOY.
Posted by G at 10:19 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 18, 2004
The scorching must-read thesis
Fascinating excerpts from my thesis (currently on page 65). I don't know about anyone else, but this is FASCINATING.
I will be wearing a funny costume and weird hat, grabbing a vellum paper with my name on June 3. I really can't even think about life past that moment.
The cycle of poverty has built up a negative perception towards education in my school, so convincing parents to buy basic scientific calculators is laughable. Bourdieu (1973) states “the negative predispositions towards the school which result in the self-elimination of most children from the most culturally disfavored classes and sections of a class—such a self-depreciation, devaluation of the school and its sanctions or a resigned attitude to failure and exclusion—must be understood as an anticipation, based upon unconscious estimation of objective probabilities of success possessed by the whole category, of the sanctions objectively reserved by the school for those classes or sections of a class deprived of cultural capital” (p.495). The parents weigh the options of spending fifteen dollars on food, or a cell phone, or television, and find the purchase of the calculator to be a waste of their investment. Through observation of their environment, their family, and their culture, they see that the educational capital is a wasted investment. They are resigned to the fact that they will remain poor and economically unfavored.
.....
Research shows that students can naturally develop highly complex ways of dealing with addition and multiplication. One fascinating study (Schliemann, 1998) of Brazilian street vendors demonstrated that minimally educated children developed their own internal commutative property in order to efficiently calculate numerical values, rather than skip counting. Research from Bolduc, Van de Walle, Paris, Fuys, Ball, and Cofield show that a systematic instructional sequence can help students not only memorize their multiplication tables, but more importantly, develop efficient methods of solving more difficult problems. There are criticisms of attempting to teach this mastery, namely that the students still don’t memorize the necessary facts, but I feel that having students develop their own strategies at basic math could help them solve larger, more difficult problems.
Posted by G at 11:07 PM | TrackBack
May 17, 2004
Frozen like a time slushie
I thought my dad has always been a bit silly about chronemics. I dreaded his 'just a minute' talks with boring rednecks when I was a child, as they stretched to about six hours. He would find me asleep in the pickup truck, battery dead from six hours of radio use. He can calculate unit cost for thousands of yards of concrete, but my sisters and I have been frozen at the age of 18. He can mentally tell you the balance of any of his bank accounts, but he seems incapable of ever being anywhere on time.
I thought the melding of the parental genes had resulted in a successful elimination of that trait. Considering I got all the bad heart issues, the baldness, the weird conservative bent from dad's side; the shortness, the baldness, and the near-sightedness (surgically corrected) from mom's side, I feel I should have been granted a few genetic reprieves.
I catch myself doing the same thing as my dad, on occasion. Take the electric bill. I remember paying $100 for electricity during the height of the furnace summers of Phoenix, and every time I see a utility bill above that value, I get freaked out. Roommate Charlie has pointed out that our bill for $117 is fine, but I only see excessive use. My nieces are becoming beautiful women, but they are still frozen at the ages of ten and eight in my head. I think I'll go fetal when they graduate from high school.
Maybe I want to freeze certain things in time, maybe time seems to be passing too quickly. Maybe I can't picture these things changing, because I feel like I am the same person from these time frames. The pictures tell a different story, but I still feel like the insecure kid making his first break out of adolescence.
Posted by G at 11:45 PM | TrackBack
May 12, 2004
Patterns
Okay, math lesson. Give me the next two lines in this pattern, and I'll buy you a beer, coffee, send a prize, or perform some vaguely sexual act.
1
11
21
1211
111221
Posted by G at 11:52 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
May 10, 2004
New Sparky of the Swanktuary
I've managed to resist the super-sexy new powerbooks from Apple. I'm just strong that way, or maybe I'm just broke. My ancient toilet lid iBook has been with me for some time, but I'm not sure how much longer.
For some time, the screen has had this nice lurid red glow. It is still workable, but only in lower light situations. I like to call it moodlighting, rather than the accident of some random radiation. On the positive side, the same accident gave me the mutant ability of lasers shooting from my uvula.
Now my power supply shorted out. I noticed little arcs of electricity on the plug a few days ago, it got all melty and soft, and I had to replace it with one from eBay. I was tempted to try to fix it myself, but burning down the loft by accident would probably make roommate Michael fussy.
I'll keep it running for a little longer, but eventually it will become a stylish doorstop.
Posted by G at 09:09 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 09, 2004
babbling
In the stillness, in the center of the chaos
every new beginning comes from another beginning's end.
Posted by G at 04:32 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 08, 2004
Stupid Gay Hockey Players
Gay hockey players really should just come out of the closet. Killing lovers is bad.
Mmmm, gay hockey players. The lack of teeth could be interesting for blowjobs. He is cute, but 23 year old boys can be a bit stupid. Hence the Canadian hitman. A Canadian hitman?!? Can I blame this attempted outsourcing on Bush's policies? He is originally from Canada, as are most good hockey players, so maybe he was just wishing he didn't live in a homophobic country.
Posted by G at 12:39 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
May 07, 2004
Tunnel? Light?!?!
6:30 pm, and I just got home from school. It's been a weird week. Teaching is becoming much more relaxed now that the tests are finished for the kids. My principal is trying to blame the teachers for the impending failure of our school in math, but I'm not blaming myself like I did last year. I think my kids will maintain their scores or possibly improve, and that would be entirely because of my efforts, not the administration. My administration has been chronically lacking in support and structure, and they pull stunts like using different calculators for the test than the ones used in my room for the entire year.
I did everything I could for the test prep. More importantly, I have actually taught a few kids how to be better problem solvers. I've been administering some remediation lessons that are part of my thesis, and I'm prepping some amazingly fun lessons to teach to the kids.
I have family stress right now, but my freaking out over my thesis seems to keep any other anxiety at bay. This weekend I really have to crank out an enormous amount of dreck, so I'm hoping the weather will be miserable.
Next week, I don't teach THE ENTIRE WEEK. I have to go to the regional office to score 8th grade tests. Of course, I am happy, although I wish they had told me earlier than this afternoon. Nothing like having to prep five days of coverage lessons for other teachers, hence the 6:30 arrival at home.
I'm fixated on my thesis for the next few weeks, but then I graduate and begin the reflection process. Do I stay at my school? Over the last few weeks, I've been feeling strangely sure-footed in my teaching abilities, and continuity could reallly do wonders for next year. One of the biggest flaws in the system is the burnout of new teachers in really difficult schools. I'm seriously considering high school, but staying in the neighborhood has benefits.
Once I've graduated, I'll begin looking at my options. I think it is time to move, so that will seriously influence my decision. One of the huge bonuses of my school is its close proximity to my loft. If I find a loft close by to the school, I'll stay. If I move to another neighborhood, then I'll also find another school.
Posted by G at 06:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 03, 2004
Grocery Porn
My neighborhood is an interesting place to buy groceries. Some time ago, I came across a wonderful soup mix. The actual mix is salty MSG death with very little actual cock, but I love the package. I trashed the contents, scanned the package, and ex-roomie Sparky cleaned it up.
I printed and ironed it onto a shirt. Discussions with roommate Michael as to what size the cock should be were filled with double entendre. We decided that six inches was perfect across the chest, although the girth is about eight. Because I am bad about balance, it also leans slightly to the left.
Any orders for more? I'm in the mood to make some as gifts for the bold and spicy.
Posted by G at 09:47 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
May 01, 2004
Sisyphus and breakfast
I woke up all fuzzy this morning. When you are as hairy as I am, every morning is literally fuzzy, but this fuzzy was more figurative. I stretched lazily under the covers, postponing the whole waking for a half hour by playing with Bear. We have this game that involves me grabbing her paws and batting her head with her own paw. It's the canine version of "Stop hitting yourself!" She loves it.
I finally roll out of bed, boxers akimbo, doing the whole chest-scratching thing, tracing a Family Circus path to the bathroom. I read the Onion in the bathroom, feed the dog on the way to the kitchen, and put on the kettle for some tea.
It always happens on Saturdays. Monday through Friday are fiercely regulated days, revolving around the priority of not being late to school. The pattern never deviates, as I definitely don't do my best thinking in the mornings. Every weekday morning has the same breakfast- real oatmeal, mixed with fruits, honey, and soy milk. Healthy, healthy, healthy. While the oatmeal heats up, the water boils, the tea is started, I compile the healthy lunch for school, fill up the water bottles, blah, blah, blah.
Saturdays are bursting with weird food opportunities.
I decided on biscuits and gravy, the center of the biscuit filled with jelly. Oven set approximately 450, Bisquick out.
Damn. No eggs.
Ooh! I have fake eggs! Frozen.
Omelette? Duh, no eggs.
Chocolate covered blueberries? Maybe for dessert.
Ummm, toast with every imaginable topping? Maybe.
The finished plate has four pieces of toast with the following combinations:
1) Peanut butter/ jalapeno jelly courtesy of mom
2) Peanut butter/ Miracle Whip courtesy of my dad's hunting trip cooking
3) Almond butter/ Nutella
4) Almond butter/ honey
I did discover by mixing the post-eating frenzy sludge that Nutella and Miracle Whip have an interesting taste, Miracle Whip and jalapeno jelly do not. Back to eating healthy tomorrow, but no idea for next Saturday. Blini, perhaps.
Posted by G at 10:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack