Macbeth as a Game of Thrones

If I was teaching Macbeth today, I would have made this analogy, too. I used everything from REVENGE OF THE SITH to THE TWILIGHT ZONE to THE SIMPSONS to Abbott & Costello's famous "Who's On First?" routine in my English classes.

"Funky Winkerbean" Sunday, September 21, 2014

Some Funny Comics About Teaching

 All comics are by Jonny Hawkins from the "2013 Teacher Cartoon-a-Day"

The Difficulty of Teaching

I came across this interesting article today that was published a few days ago in the Washington Post. It's from a gentleman who left a job in the high-tech industry to become a high school math teacher. In the United States, people generally have no idea how difficult it is to teach. For the most part, teachers are constantly asked to do more and more and more with less and less. When I was getting my teaching certificate, the statistics were that within the first three years of entering the profession, 30% of teachers leave and never return. In the ten years since then those statistics have risen and the percentage is now around 45%. I'm actually surprised it hasn't raised above the 50% mark, yet. However, my guess is that in another 1-3 years from now with the full implementation of Common Core it will rise above that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/03/teaching-is-harder-than-working-in-high-tech-by-a-teacher-who-worked-in-high-tech/?tid=up_next#comments

Teaching Perseverance

--Jonny Hawkins, 2012 Teacher Cartoon-a-Day Calendar

Geology and the Flinstones

--Jonny Hawkins, 2011 Teacher Cartoon-a-Day Calendar

I Wish I Had a Watermelon

-Jonny Hawkins, 2011 Teacher Cartoon-a-Day Calendar

Teaching and Game Shows

-Jonny Hawkins, 2011 Teacher Cartoon-a-Day Calendar

What Teaching Can Really Be Like

--by Jonny Hawkins

Exploding Class Sizes

--Cartoon by Jonny Hawkins

Education Comics

Here are a few cartoons about teaching and education from the TEACHER CARTOON-A-DAY: 2011 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR by Jonny Hawkins. My favorite of the three is the one that alludes to Byron.

A Few Laughs From Ziggy

The comic strip "Ziggy" is 40-years-old this year. As part of the anniversary, Tom Wilson (II) has released a book called Ziggy that collects some of his favorite strips over the run of the comic. Here are a few of my favorites that can be found in the book.

Oct. 23. 2001

Ziggy isn't my favorite comic strip, but the strip above is one of the reasons I do enjoy the little guy. I can really relate to his sentiments here.

Aug. 1, 2009

I love penguins, but I hate Winter. That's why I fond this strip so enjoyable.

April 10, 2010

I love Chaucer. I've read many of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English. Most of my senior high school students hated me when I had them recited the prologue the way it was written. I'm afraid the sentiments in this comic would have been the most positive things they would have said about the experience.

Books Versus Wikipedia

This comic came out of a daily calendar I have that is all teaching comics.

Unable to Fail in School or Socialism in Education

As reported by The Washington Post, students at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, VA will no longer be able to receive an "F" and fail their class. Instead, they will receive an "I" and have an opportunity to receive a "regular" letter grade before the end of the year. According to the article, "the change in educational philosophy is intended to encourage students to continue working toward mastery of material rather than accepting a failing grade and moving on."

As many of the teachers at the school have pointed out, the new policy just provides an out for students not to do the work when they are supposed to. One English teacher reported that during the first quarter half of the students in her classes received an "I". I know from personal experience in teaching at high schools that unless a student commits a crime, it's next to impossible to remove them from school. I also know that if a teacher is doing their job, students actually have to work to fail. I had some students who failed a class, but they really worked at it--they never turned in any homework, they tried to sleep in class, they didn't study for tests, they didn't participate.

According to the Assistant Superintendent at the district, Peter Noonan, "If we really want students to know and do the work, why would we give them an F and move on?"

Why would you give a student an F and then move on? Well, because that's how life is Mr. Noonan. You usually don't get an opportunity to go back and fix the mistakes you do in life. This is just another example of a policy and philosophy that has no meaning in the real world. It's also another way to punish students who actually do the work when they are supposed to. It all sounds a bit socialist, perhaps even communist to me.

Education in the U.S.

In an interview entitled "The Apostle of Reform" in the Apr. 27, 2009 edition of TIME magazine, U.S. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan says in response to the question, 'Should students be going to school longer?' that,

" I think the school day is too short, the school week is too short, and the school year is too short."

I realize that Duncan was the head of the Chicago Public School system, but Sec. Duncan is an idiot. This statement, and others in the interview, illustrate that Duncan really has no understanding about the history of education in the United States (for example, mandatory schooling largely came into effect because of unions who wanted to cut the work force) nor the way that youth, particularly high school students, think and behave.

In all honesty we do a pretty good job of educating the students in our country until about 8th grade. Examine the statistics and you'll find that the majority of our students in the elementary grades do really well on comparative tests with students from other countries. Scores for U.S. middle school-aged students drop some, but are about the same. This is actually quite remarkable considering that the U.S. is still the only country on the planet that strives to provide a basic education to all children. We have one of the top-five populations on the Earth and we try to make sure all of our children get an excellent basic education. Also, unlike other countries which only allow testers to test "select" (aka their best) students, we allow all of our students to be tested. Sure there are problems and issues, but all things considered we are doing a decent job at the elementary to middle-school levels.

It's when students get to high school that things get all fucked up. That's because our society really doesn't want to recognize the fact that most high school students are adults and our high school system is set up to treat those individuals more as children who are prisoners in a system in which they aren't supposed to escape. Most countries in the world will not teach students beyond the 6th-8th grades unless they show aptitude and a desire to continue their education. If they show aptitude and desire for a different education than the traditional course (college prep), such as learning a trade, they are allowed to take that route or drop out of school to do so. I realize that because of those standards many students aren't allowed to have any schooling beyond 6th-8th grade. I still think we should have the opportunity for students to continue their education beyond the 8th grade if they choose. However, I also think we should allow for them to make other choices: becoming an apprentice, learning a trade, or even dropping out of school and joining the workforce if they wish. I realize that my views on this aren't very popular, especially among professional educators. But, when you're an honest person you often find yourself being unpopular.

For example, most of the time high school teachers encourage all of their students to stay in school and go on to college. Well, college isn't for everyone and we do a disservice to our students when we make them feel obligated it is something they have to do. I had a student that ended up dropping out of high school. When he did everyone else at school talked about what a terrible life that student was going to have without his diploma. I never said anything but I felt that even if that student might have it a bit more rough, he was going to be just fine. That student was a better mechanic than he was a college-prep student and he's now rather successful and is making more money than most of the teachers at the school I taught at do. As I look back on it, I think they were resentful of him because he ended up doing the opposite of what most of his teachers and what the system was telling him to and the teachers knew it was actually better for him than what they were offering. I never begrudged that student. I was glad to see him leave, not because he was troublesome, but because I knew he was going to be better off and I've always wanted the best for each of the students I have worked with.

I honestly don't think Sec. of Education Duncan wants what's best for students. Longer school days, weeks, and years aren't going to improve student achievement. In fact, doing so, especially at the secondary (high school) level will end up having the exact opposite effect.

What My Life Was Like and My Celtics

I've tried to explain to people in a variety of means what my life has been like the past seven months. Recently (June 9, 2008) I saw this DILBERT comic strip and it does an excellent job of illustrating what was expected of me in my recent employment. I was like Asok, but teaching at a school.



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On a completely different note, my Celtics won the recent NBA Championship. I've been a fan of the Celtics since I was a kid and became amazed by the skills of Larry Bird, a white guy who could play really good basketball. I stuck with the team and rooted for them even in junior high when everyone else became a fan of the the Bulls. For over 15 years I've had to put up with all kinds of put downs and lame jokes during basketball season. Well, the Celts are back, baby! Take that, Chicago.

Flip-flops and trains

I realize that I'm a bit old-fashioned in some of my ways, but when did flip-flops become appropriate attire to wear at formal occasions? Last Saturday I was at the high school graduation at the school I was teaching at this past year. Out of twenty-five or so girls in the class, only four wore shoes other than flip-flops. Of course, the girls weren't the only ones dressed so casually. One guy also wore flip-flops and several of the guys wore shorts and shoes with no socks. It really hasn't been all that long since I was in high school and I've been to many other high school graduations since I graduated but this was the first one I've ever been at where most of the girls wore flip-flops and most of the guys wore shorts. I guess that's what happens when the school has no real dress code.
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This past Thursday was the last day of attendance for the students at the high school. It was an exam day and most of the students had turned in permission slips that allowed them to leave school after they finished with their last exam. Five minutes before the bell was to ring for the end of the day the intercom comes on. A train was stuck on the tracks near the school. The only way I know of going home was by crossing those tracks. "We've been told that the train will probably be on the track and blocking the crossing for two hours." I burst out laughing for two solid minutes. It was either that or cry.

Fences and Indiana Jones

Yesterday in one of my English classes we were discussing the Robert Frost poem "Mending Wall". When asked what they thought about the ambiguous ending of the poem a female student responded, "You can't borrow sugar or anything from a fence."
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I took an informal survey with some of my students. Out of about 110 students, only 8-9 have ever seen an Indiana Jones movie. I find that rather depressing.

Just an Idea or CHALK.

I haven't written much in the past several months. Things have been very busy for me. I've tried to jot some thoughts down from time to time to share, but things are so busy that I haven't even been keeping up very well writing in my own personal journal, let alone being able to write something worthwhile to express to the world about what's been happening, how I've been feeling, the things I've been struggling with and enjoying, etcetera. I still don't know if I'll ever be able to express in written form all that's been going on. However, this past weekend I saw a movie that does a really good job of summing many things up for me. It's called CHALK. It's a fake documentary about some high school teachers. It was filmed by two guys who used to be teachers. If you want to know some of what I've been living through, rent CHALK and pay special attention to Mr. Lowrey. That'll give you an idea and just maybe you can begin to understand.

Cultural Deprivation and Depravation of Youth

Yesterday about 75% of the students at school were gone for the day on an "honors" trip. It's two days until exams and for most of the classes we watched the first part of THE MUPPETS CHRISTMAS CAROL. I thought it would be a nice way to spend the day, yet also have a connection to a famous piece of English literature. I didn't expect many students to know anything about Charles Dickens. However, I though many of the students would at least have known who the Muppets were. I was wrong. Almost all of the students I had in class had never heard of the Muppets. I thought the Muppets were a group of characters that were a part of American pop culture, like Charlie Brown and the Simpsons. The Muppets are a part of Americana, but most of the students I teach have never even heard of them. How depressing is that?

Grammar Wanted

Last week I had something happen to me that I thought would never happen to me as an English teacher. I actually had one student say to me, "Why do we have to read these stories and do all these presentations? Can't we just do a bunch of grammar worksheets and stuff?" I almost fainted. I would never have believed I would ever have a student pleading with me to do more grammar work. Of course, if I give them the grammar stuff that the student requested, that same student will be complaining about all the boring worksheets and editing they will be doing.