Pick Up the Pieces

Osama Bin Ladin is dead.

So yay and everything. A man who probably wouldn't have been able to become so powerful without our original military/weapon help is now dead.

The war's not over. None of the wars are over. Iraq, Libya back-up, revolutions in Middle East, the War on Terrorism (Thanks, Bush, for declaring war on a concept.) Soldiers are still everywhere, still fighting so we can live in our suburban houses with our two door garage and our 2.7 children and don't have to get touched by anything that isn't "clean," isn't "right" for our kids. I bet their families are celebrating. They can come home, right? Nope.

We still have a national debt that our *children* won't be able to pay off - and it's rising.

And did you know New Orleans is *still* rebuilding? Yeah, six years later. Thanks, FEMA.

Plus, you know, the 857 tornadoes last month kind of screwed our "great nation" over in a big way. Whole towns have been destroyed. Wiped off the map. People were killed, are dead. Yeah, I bet their families are celebrating. While they're trying to salvage what they can from the wreckage of their lives. Because, hey, rains are coming...which will destroy whatever they have left out.

That's just the US. Just a small part of what's wrong.

And the thing that's right is that we're celebrating a man's death?

Because he became what we probably made him to be?

National Holiday? What will we call it? Yay It's Over Day? Yes He's Dead Day? How about War Win? Except the war isn't over, is it? And we haven't won it yet, I don't care what the press releases say.

So yay. He's dead. See me waving my tiny little American flag in the parade as they march with a funeral procession.

See me cheering.

Can we pick up the pieces *now*?

Free Speech is Not a Suggestion

So. Let's play a game of pretend.
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You're a teacher, regular public school. You get paid an average wage for doing an incredible job - you teach children. You have gone to school for a certain number of years expressly to do this job. You enjoy teaching - since you sure as hell can't enjoy the money that you get out of it.

But the problem is some kids don't enjoy learning. Or don't think it's important. Or are too damn lazy to do the work.

Admittedly, in a lot of cases, it falls to you, the teacher, to make class more interesting for these kids. But maybe the kids don't care. Maybe the only way to get your kids to pay attention is to come in dressed as a giant clown.
Maybe you don't own a clown costume.

More seriously, what if the parents don't care? What if the kid comes to your class, sits in the back, slouches, scribbles odd things all over the desk, (oh yes, you know this kid. You might have been this kid.) gets into fights, refuses to turn in the homework. What if the kid, yeah, sits up front... but only does that to be closer to the exit? What if the kid paints her - or his - nails, and you are *sick* and *tired* of getting a migraine from the smell everyday?

And this kid comes to your classes, listens (or doesn't) to this talk about how education is important... and then goes home and listens to how it isn't.

Or turns on the TV to find out that Our Government obviously doesn't think it's all that important.

And that's just the classes. Afterwards, you get to go through the homework. Check the answers. Figure out the grading system - which gets more complex every year.

In the cases of a lot of teachers that I have had, this will take you until at least 6 pm every weekday.

So you're a teacher. Got a tough, nearly impossible job for half the year on abysmal pay. How do you work out frustrations? You could rant to people.
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I rant to people. My friends rant to people. I think it's one of the healthiest ways of dealing with frustration, stress, and anger ever. But apparently the school district of Central Bucks East High School doesn't believe in this... or free speech.

For a state that gave birth to John Dickinson, 1765 author of The Declaration of Rights and Grievances, and the first two Continental Congresses, Pennsylvania is remarkably torn on the issue of Natalie Munroe, a high school teacher who was escorted out of the school after a parent posted on Facebook a blog post that Munroe had written about her job.

"Of my 84 blogs, 60 of them had absolutely nothing to do with school or work. Of the 24 that mentioned it, only some of them were actually focused on it--others may have mentioned it in passing, like if I was listing things that annoyed me that day and wrote without any elaboration that students were annoying that day." Where are we going & why are we in this handbasket: Bloggate

In a country that has a multitude of IP addresses, emails, blogs, computer systems, surely it isn't a surprise to find out that a few teachers have blogs...and, god forbid, have blogged about their students?

One need only look at my facebook page to find comments much more sarcastic...and much more profane than the comments Munroe posted on her blog. (No, I won't give you the link. Check your own facebook.) In addition, I will freely name places, people, and events, and I'll probably post links to things that piss me off.

Natalie Munroe blogged under the name "Natalie M", mentioned no students by name, didn't mention her school...but remains suspended from teaching as the Internet debates rage on.

I'm coming back to teaching issues later this...week...(Jeez, it's already Thursday) because in Wisconsin, there's another issue that's even nearer and dearer to my heart. And eventually I'll comment on how not only are we making war on two fronts at once, but one of those fronts is a concept. And how this takes money away from making your children almost bearable.