The Praxis of Pedagogy Day 29

My vocab words for this week are oligarchy, annex, denotation, connotation, and autonomy. Though denotation and connotation would usually be in the world of English, I want the students to think about the underlying meanings and messages that people use. There are explicit and implicit messages. They need to start to see below the surface of things cause that's where the sexy and juicy stuff is. I talked a bit about each word and how they related to what we are doing.

In my Asian American studies class I showed them the cartoon "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips." Then I talked briefly about the use of cartoons as propaganda to further nationalistic and patriotic messages. Then I talked about the images within the cartoon. Kowtowing soldier to the Japanese general. Made up gibberish that was supposed to be Japanese. Racist statements made by Bugs Bunny. Objectification of females. Japanese Sumo wrestler. Buck toothed, slanty eyes, coke bottle glasses Japanese soldier. Then we started in on a reading of the historical context of the Japanese internment. Class ended on this.

In my US history class, I talked about the main things that I wanted them to know about WWI. I added Woodrow Wilson, the 14 points, collective security, and the League of Nations. I really messed up and didn't include the Lusitania but I'll get that on Thursday. IMO, WWI wasn't really a war that the US was really involved in. There was sail of arms and stuff but the US didn't get in until the end of the war. I want to get through this war so that we can talk about WWII and its use as propaganda for the idea of a benevolent US foreign policy. Then hopefully Korea and/or Vietnam. Oh yeah in the beginning of class I showed them how to add statcounters to their blogs and assigned them the homework of having a statcounter on their blog by Friday. But after I lectured about the different topics I went through and drew sticks to see if students had learned anything. My one student that is great but runs her mouth really seemed to get and understand the ideas that dominated WWI. I made the not completely precise analogy of Gavrilo Princip killing Franz Ferdinand to Osama Bin Laden orchestrating 9/11. The Austro-Hungarian desire to smash Serbian nationalism would be compared to the US desire to crush Wahabiism. The US ultimatum to Afghanistan was simliar to the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to the Serbs. I also completely forgot to talk about the Russian Revolution but that can also be for Thursday, cause I was running short on time and didn't get to talk more about Wilson's 14 points, collective security, and the League of Nations.

In my multicultural ed class I played some Joao Gilberto for them while they wrote their vocabulary words. They really got into it and it helps mellow them out. I want to make it a habit of introducing the students to different types of music. They shouldn't just confine themselves to hip-hop. This class gets me off track somehow and through reviewing what we had read before in the essay "nigger and caricatures" we got onto the topic of professional wrestling. I spoke briefly about my youthful love for professional wrestling and how pro-wrestling was used as a form of nationalistic socialization/propaganda. I told them about Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik fighting Hulk "The Real American" Hogan. We spoke about racist stereotypes in the world of wrestling and how they still continue to this day. Then I showed them racist imagery from the Jim Crow Museum as I tried to show them some racist cartoons. Unfortunately, the laptop I was running off of didn't have quicktime or real player. Next time... but after that we reviewed the reading quickly and I pulled sticks and asked basic questions. I really had to bust on some people for not following along. We didn't get very far in the reading before class was over.

Part of my harem of dancing girls!

Best costume

I thought this girl had the best costume in our group. She made the whole thing herself. Beads!

Getting ready

A sea of feathers.

Allison

Swish!!!

Allison, Beicola, and Me

The guy in the middle is Mestre Beicola. He's my mentor and friend. If it wasn't for him and his group I would never have met Allison.

Dancing in Carnaval

Carnaval was crazy fun. Allison and I got up early and drove into the city and parked at the police station. I didn't realize how primo parking this was until later on. It was literally right next to the entrance of the post parade grounds. It was also at the end of the parade route in case you wanted to jet afterwards. Few things make me more happy and excited than good parking in the city.

We walked over to our group and people were still getting ready. We were 30th in line so we wouldn't be moving for a while. So I took time to say hi to everyone and then stretch out and stuff. If you are going to shake that ass then you got to be loose.

We were all camped out in front of this Asian family's driveway. This whole mess of scantily clad women. The people living in the house were looking down at everyone from above. How's that to wake up to in the morning?

So I was going around taking a bunch of pictures while Allison was getting all done up. All I had to do was put on gold sequin pants, a belt, and a vest. I wasn't in a hurry to rush out of my clothing. I realize from the pictures that my pants were totally see through in the sun. But hey modesty isn't the watchword with Carnaval.

The actual parade went by so fast. And I just want to say that my fear of bustin wood didn't come true. But at some points we were running. We were like 2 blocks back from the other float. It was crazy. There was one sequence when everyone was totally off beat from each other, but other than that I thought we did pretty good. It was funny cause the girls were harassing cops standing around. They would go up to them and go freaky on them. The guys would just stand around smiling. Rough patrol.

It was really fun to dance in Carnaval with Allison. We met through Samba/Capoeira. BCA are my family. I've known these guys for a long time. I lost touch for a while, but now Allison and I are starting to reconnect with people. It's a beautiful thing to reconnect with people and see how they have grown. All the little kids are now turning into young adults. It's crazy cause I'm getting old. Kids are or have been growing up in front of my eyes. And the best part is that they've turned into good people.

Ben, Can't remember her name, and me

Notice how my pants are see-through.

Tambourines

I tried to get all artsy and shit with this one.

Rasa, Gabriella, and Isabella (left to right)

I've been beating up on these children ever since they were born.

Celina (on the left)

The oldest daughter and my buddy. I can't believe she's in high school and going to go off to college soon. It's ridiculous.

Julian and Karen

That's Beicola's wife Karen with Julian

Julian muggin for the camera

This is the newest edition to Beicola's family. His name is Julian and he's a cute kid.

Carnaval

It's tomorrow. I know it's coming. I know the choreography well enough. I do a run through everyday. I haven't been working out to get all fit and trim. I got my 29 year old more sedentary maitreya buddha belly. Whatever... I'm gonna have fun dancing and I don't really care how my body looks. I got a girl. I can go to slop if I want cause she's gonna be stuck with me. Isn't that a healthy attitude?

My greatest fear? Popping wood in my outfit. Scantily clad women everywhere. I've got eyes. I may be getting married but I'm not dead. I'm 29 and have far more control over my body than when I was in my teens. But every so often...nature will sneak up on me and I become engaged in the greater jihad (the struggle against our passionate souls).

Rumi says that Jesus on the lean donkey is the emblem of how the rational intellect should control our animal souls. Let your spirit be strong like Jesus or the worn out donkey grows into a dragon (horders of virgins and treasure, western dragons at least). There is something primal and basic about dance that I love though. The movement to rhythm. The pure joy of dancing and not knowing where the music will take you, only knowing that your body will respond. The samurai call it mushin. When your body just moves to the right places. I know the movement but I haven't practiced it enough with the music. It is choreographed and I'm not used to that. I have to find the music.

Allison has been making her outfit for the past few days and cussing like a sailor the whole time. There's just so much sewing and glueing and shit. I'm glad my outfit will be easy. She had to glue all these feathers to a backpack and sew hanging beads off her belt. I just glued a sequin piece onto another sequin piece. I have to sew up my belt but allison offered to do it for me later.

A lot of people said they would try to come out just so they could get a picture of me in my gold sequin pants and matching vest.YEAH BABY!!! Whoever has the best picture of me I'll post up. The best picture of me in gold sequin pants and matching vest, how paradoxical. Anyways, it's going to be fun out. I just hope the weather is ok.

Last night I spraypainted my running shoes gold. I wasn't going to go buy no gold shoes. Pay money to own a pair of gold shoes. Hell no. I just bought spraypaint and will get a new pair of running shoes. Plus I couldn't go into somewhere and buy gold shoes. I'm not Prince.

Wedding stuff and other rambling

Allison and I printed out wedding invites and rsvp cards today. I've been having problems with my officejet printer so I was hesitant to use it, but it turned out ok. Interesting... the warranty is up and it starts having problems. I think sometimes they buy parts that will malfunction after a certain period of time.

Anyways, Allison and I agree that having expensive invites was a waste of money. People are just going to use it and throw it out. I'd rather put more money to the party. But the after-party (one of my responsibilities) is coming together a whole lot better. The after party situation is set up at the bar/club we want. My friend Stevie's friend's older brother is the head chef at the bar and so he might/probably hook us. Then I got all my friends that will DJ. The place has a jukebox and pool table for those that won't/don't dance. This is going to be fun. Now we just got to get a photographer.

So we went on Tuesday to check out the photographer of one of my students. I preface this by saying my thoughts on the situation have nothing to do with her as a student. I knew as soon as we walked in it wasn't going to be the right one, but I followed through with the little play. So first off the guy was this old, balding, and shuffling Mexican guy. I'm wondering if he will be able to get around at the party. We wanted documentary style preferably digital. There wasn't a computer in the place. The pictures on the wall... blown up glamour shots from what looked like the 80s judging by the hair and clothing style. We said that we wanted wedding photography and video stuff and he takes us over to this one room. As soon as he opened the door I was tripped out. There was a marble floor and a piano. As I went in it got stranger. In the left hand corner closest to the entrance there was a mirror and dresser set. To the right of the piano was a wrap around bar and he lighted up the fluorescent beer sign. Then on the right was an old school video camera. He started talking about having Allison come in early and sit in front of the mirror and pretend to get ready for the wedding. I could tell he had all these scenarios in mind and so I cut him off and said we were doing a non-traditional wedding. He then got up and went outside. We followed him and he started talking about going to a rose garden to take pictures. I said that we already had the wedding location and that was where we were going to do things. He started saying that the rose garden was wonderful and then he started showing me all these pictures from the rose garden with my student in them. It was weird. After showing us all the rose garden photos Allison asked him if he had wedding photos. One taken at a wedding. Then he says he has more quinceneros photos but he has wedding stuff. Then he takes us over to sit down and show us wedding photos. Here was where my will was tested. I was going to fuckin bust up laughing. The photos were all these posed cheesy photos. Couples back to back. Sitting in front of faux backgrounds doing all kinds of poses. I couldn't look at Allison cause I knew that if I did then I would bust up laughing. Hey maybe it's a Mexican thing and that's the way they do their wedding stuff. That's fine. But it is sooooo not me. He was talking to us about not doing Vietnamese weddings cause they wanted him to get up early in the morning and go to their house to take pictures of the bride in the morning. He said it was too early and there were things happening with among the women that he didn't want to see. If there was an anti-what-we-want-in-a-photographer, then he would have been it. Allison said, "I'm not gonna sit in front of no damn mirror and pretend to get ready for my wedding while he takes pictures!" After we left I lost my shit. Good fucking laugh. One of those muscle relaxing full body laughs.

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 28

I started off my classes by reading "Animal Farm." I'm probably not going to finish reading this by the time school is over. Maybe I'll get far enough that students will want to read it by themselves...but probably not.

Then in my Asian American studies class I started in on my lesson on the internment camps. Without telling them what was going I had them make a list of all the stuff they owned. Then I had them make a list of all the people that were important to them. Then I had them underline from the first list whatever they would bring with them if they were going away, didn't know for how long, where, or what conditions they were going to encounter. Then I asked if it was easy or difficult to decide what to bring. Next, I asked them how their list would change if they found out that metal or electrical items would be taken away. Finally I asked them how they would feel and what would they do if they were separated from many of the people in list #2. Finally I showed them a copy of "Civilian Exclusion Order No. 5." We read the order and then I asked questions about the order. I noted the use of the term alien and non-alien and asked how that tied into our readings on the perpetual foreigner. It follows in the racist thinking about Wong Kim Ark where he wasn't considered American even though he was born in the US. We also compared this internment camp to other camps within US history, like the camps used to hold native Americans and people in Guantanamo. We talked about the fear of the Japanese when they were moved. The lesson finished faster than I thought it would. Once again this is my major problem. I don't know the timing to things. But after this I had to dance for a while talking about history and its relations to us. So I really focused on Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the recent San Bruno prison situation. Considering that prisoners are often abused in the US prison system (see link above), it would be naive to think that such behavior didn't happen overseas. The guys on top aren't getting busted, cause it would be there friends doing the busting. They blame things on the common soldier, who is responsible for their actions, but also takes cues from above. How come Kenneth Lay hasn't been arrested? Cause he's buddies with the GWB all those guys. As much as John Kerry and GWB debated and what, when it comes down to it they aren't that different. They're frat brothers.

In my US history class we started in on WWI. This is such an interesting time of nationalism, communism, industrialization, imperialism, and other isms I'm sure I'm leaving out. I think the main things they will ever need to know about WWI are:

1. European fears of the German nationstate and the system of alliances in response to those fears
2. Russia as the Slavic Eastern Orthodox big brother
3. Monarchic fear of nationalist movements
4. Trench warfare, the end of cavalry, and chemical weapons
5. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip
6. The German blank check, Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, then wider war by alliance

When I was explaining this war I had one student break it down well. She is one of my favorite students. Runs her mouth like craaaaazy, but a good girl nonetheless. Basically it's like everyone getting into a big gang war cause two people had problems. I also tried to explain the geopolitics of WWI by relating it to gang/turf warfare. This seemed to perk some students up. I have one male student that is interested but doesn't want to seem like he is. He's trying to be the tough guy and it wouldn't be cool if he cared. But he really seems to get history and why I think it's fascinating. Nothing has changed. People are still doing the same thing. Nothing new under the sun.

Then in my multicultural class we read from "Nigger and caricature" from the Jim Crow museum (check out my link on the sidebar). I want them to see the various usages of nigger. There is one young black girl that sits in my class that pays attention to what I'm doing and seems to fume when we read about how blacks have been treated through history. I think she is starting to really think about the word, its history and usage. A great moment in class though was when one of the knuckleheads used nigga in class and I told him to watch his language. Then other students stepped up and one said that I wasn't down with that in my class. Peer group social control through an agreed upon social contract. I will accept and respect their right to use the word nigger/nigga once we have studied the history of it and they still decide to do so, in return they will accept/respect my right to not want to hear it said in my classroom. Many want to conduct themselves in an adult fashion. They just need the opportunities to have someone (i.e. me) truly deal with them as such. I always try to demand better from them and if I always come at them with that attitude they will see that and try for themselves. People want people to believe in them. If someone loves you and believes in you...anything is possible. We'll see how this ends. I'm thinking about doing forced debate.

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 27

Today I had to cover for a co-worker for a while in the morning cause her car was stalled. The tobacco and drug prevention class was over and the students are going to do gardening now. We didn't have gardening gloves but we did have latex gloves so I had students put on gloves and start weeding the garden. A lot of students didn't want to do anything but that is typical. Anyways, we overturned the whole garden and are going to start over. On the way we pulled potatoes and carrots which we are going to give to the cooking class to make up some food.

In Meta...it was better. Not so much craziness. Not great. But better. For a journal we had them draw a picture of where they will be in 20 years. Just as a change up from what we normally do. Then we talked about extra credit work. Lots of students need to do extra credit if they want to pass the class so we talked about extra credit. They can do a project on social justice, war, the person the school is named after, and other progressive social stuff. Then we handed out credit sheets and talked about credits that students need to graduate from high school and where they were now in terms of credits earned. This was a real eyeopener for students. I think that for a lot of them this was a wakeup call. Some people don't have the credits to be in the grade they should be in and some don't even really have credits to their name. Then we talked about 4 year and community college. Some students started thinking that they could drop out of high school and just go to community college and start their grades over. We had to talk them away from this option as much as possible. Things like having to pay for college instead of getting a free public education, learning the skills in high school so they won't have to catch up in college, and not getting into the habit of dropping out when things are hard.

After the class was over I got on a bus and went up to Sacramento to protest Arnold. They say it was the biggest protest in Sac-town in over 20 years. The place was thick with heads. It was great. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, correction officers, and many more. It was a great showing of people and very encouraging. Momentum is building to fight the wacko powers that be and this was an example. Sacramento was hot though. I was sweating like crazy. I hope carnaval isn't going to be like this. Anyways, there were firey speakers and people chanting. News crews were all over. It was a great gathering of people. Allison and I definitely had a fun time for a great cause. The right wingers are destroying New Deal benefits and shifting everything onto the people's back. While at the same time they are taking the people's money and waging war overseas. It's ridiculous that people have to fight for a proper education. One would think that in the year 2005, education would be a political third rail. But we are constantly struggling against the forces that would try to dehumanize us.

Rambling

I have to admit it. This teaching thing is kicking my ass. I mean there is a lot of responsibility. I have to try and provide a quality education to students. Really teach them something worth knowing. Then I got 3 different classes to plan for. My principal said that's the way they do it there. Throw you in and you sink or swim.

I'm pissing off a lot of students with my liberal contract subtraction style. They are pissing me off with their lackadaisical, apathetic, and enervating attitudes. So then we're even. I mean if I don't have hours over them what do I have? We all need accountability. Just not in the governator way. Or the GWB way.

What's wrong with my country? I love my country but a lot of times I really don't like it. I can't believe this frat boy was elected president. 51% of voting Americans I am not down with at all. I mean I got a lot of problems with the Democrats, but the Republicans don't stand for anything I believe in. The family values card. Oh it's got family and values together in one statement. I believe in both those things.

I like how the word card has now become used to delegitimitize any term it is attached to. As in they are pulling the race card. As if it was somehow unfair to bring in any racial analysis. While I don't like the people I'm against, I respect them. They are good at what they do. It works. Right wing spin is far superior to supposed left wing spin. By supposed left wing I mean the Democrats. Any other industrialized country in the world and the Democrats would be the right wing. It's ridiculous that the Democrats are seen as the legitimate vehicle for the "left wing."

The more and more I learn about British history the more and more I see it being mimicked by the US. The US is a continuation of British history in many ways. The US is entering its post industrial phase. But the brits were smarter cause they did that whole educate the populace thing. The plutocrats are eviscerating public education and help to the indigent.

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 26

Today the journal prompt was "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," by Eleanor Roosevelt. What does the quote mean? Do you agree with it? Why or why not? 1 pg.

In all my classes I talked about the language and culture of power and how in school we are trying to learn the culture and language of power. I said that slang amongst friends was acceptable and just as good, but in academic and professional settings we had to use the culture and language of power. They can speak in slang all the time, but in school they need to practice the language of power so that they can have more options in life.

Then I asked people to give me thoughts and comments on the break-in at various schools in our district including ours. The reason was that the more I thought about it the madder I got. I really don't like the idea that people are feeding on the people at the bottom. It goes against everything that I am trying to do as a teacher and what the schools are all about. Schools are trying to uplift people but these people are trying to pull the students down. Then I got angry at my casual indifference to the break-in. My first thoughts towards not having school was that I was going to see "Revenge of the Sith." I mean the break in was a violation and wrong. Many students believed that it was done by the government or people hating on us because of the recent protests. Whatever the case may be we all agreed that hitting the people on the bottom made sense because the cops weren't going to do anything for us and probably weren't going to catch the criminals. It's wasn't cool but it was "smart."

In my first and second period class I talked about how to do research, only changing what I did in 3rd period by saying that they needed to write the paper in the steps between 6 and 7.

After that with the remaining time in 1st period, I had them summarize the perpetual foreigner syndrome. On Thursday I'll bring a summary for them to compare and we'll talk about it. I didn't realize that they would have so much trouble doing this. I really have to go slower and break things down more and teach them skills. This is what they lack. Skills not intelligence.
I have to admit though I was pissed at this class cause they were being rude and talking too much. I assigned 6s for people that hadn't done their blogs yet and they left unhappy. It did make me feel better though that they were unhappy, cause I was unhappy with them for not doing their work and talking too much.

In my second period class, we had a great discussion about the break in and absolute/relative truths. I wanted to ask hard question to make them think. If they are going to have views are they going to be consistent views. If everything is relative does that make everything acceptable. We saying that we didn't know why these people were breaking in and stealing. They could have been stealing to get by. But we could come up with reasons for everything but did that make it right? These are important questions in history. Can we place values and judgements on history. Was slavery always wrong? Is murder always wrong? Is rape always wrong? After this was done I read to them the real version of the "Template for US war in Iraq." This was a good project and I had fun with it. Class ended on this.

In my 3rd period class, we listened to Cornel West's "Street Knowledge" about the N-Word and about the B-word. I know that the students would have trouble understanding what they were saying but I thought it important to introduce them to these eloquent and erudite intellectuals. I wanted them to hear an intellectual debate between two people that disagree but were able to argue academically. Some of them did seem to get it and they did seem to enjoy listening to it. One student said that they were hella intellectual and stuff. Through listening to this and with my buddy sauce's comments and just thinking about things in general I have come to a slightly different viewpoint on the use of the word. Before I didn't even want anyone to use the word and I thought it wasn't a good thing to use the word. Like jesus said, "It's not what goes into us that defiles us, it's what come out." Not that I completely agree with what jesus said, cause I do think it's important what goes into you. But in a free society, I have to give people the right to use language that I don't like. But if I am to respect their right to use language as they want then they also need to respect my right to not have to hear that word. I can't force them to not use the language. But I also want them to be knowledgable and intelligent in the usage of the word. To not just use it cause the rappers are and their friends are. So we agreed that after our exploration of the word that if they continue to use the word then I would accept it. But they would also have to make sure they didn't use it around me. They agreed to that and thought it fair. Classs ended on explanation and discussion of the two tracks on "Street Knowledge." My principal wasn't able to come in and talk to the class today cause of work, so I'll have to try and get her in on Thursday.

Star Wars

I went to see Star Wars tonight. I couldn't take it anymore. Everyone at work had seen it. So Allison and I went at 7:30. The theater wasn't jampacked. There were people but not jampacked. We actually got great seats right in the middle walkway area with no seats to the left of me. There is a hierarchy of seating and I am very happy with what I had.

I loved Revenge of the Sith. IMO Lucas hasn't made a good Star Wars movie since "The Empire Strikes Back". This almost made up for how bad Episode I and II were. Allison even said that this was her favorite of all time. Now considering her... that's saying a lot. At the end as people were walking out some girl was complaining about how long the movie was. Stupid man taking an obvious date that isn't into Star Wars to the movie. I don't need people raining on my happy dorkdom. I love Star Wars. I read the books. My buddy Sauce let me borrow Revenge of the Sith.

The bad part was of course any scene between Padme and Anakin. I was reading this and thinking... Anakin meaning without kin. No family. He was made by the midichlorians. Maybe I'm totally off base with this one, but who knows. Lucas is known for doing crap like that. Vader's helmet is off of "Judgement Day" in the Sistine chapel. Anakin being the messiah figure. The One. Anyways back to the terrible scenes between Padme and Anakin. No chemistry. What is wrong when you can't have chemistry with Natalie Portman.

But visually the movie was stunning. Majestic. A virtual buffet of sci fi imagery. Lord of the Rings quality but Sci fi.

Stupid going to hell motherfuckers

Someone broke into the school over the weekend and we don't have school today. We sent the students home and we are just hanging out doing work. I talked to the guy fixing the locks and stuff and he said that 8 different schools were hit. Are the fuckers going to break into churches next? Stupid fucks! Hitting the people on the bottom.

Rambling

The major pieces are in place for the vertical offense. Strong armed Kerry Collins. Deep threat Randy Moss. Power running LaMont Jordan. Al Davis loves speed. Power running to make the safeties come forward. Then hit them deep when there's one on one coverage. Randy Moss is going to demand that the safety and cornerback pay close attention to him. The guy was hurt last year and he just didn't fit in Minnesota, but he'll be a great Raider. If Norv Turner can't win more than 5 games with this offense then he needs to leave the sport of football. Simple as that. I know the defense is enervating, but the Raiders got some serious offensive firepower. He's got to win at least 10 with this offense. I just worry about the offense scoring too quick and the defense getting run ragged. I would like the Raiders to address the linebacker position. The Raiders have to be able to stop the run and make teams one dimensional. And pressure. No turnovers without pressure. Warren Sapp has played tackle in the 4-3 all his career and now he's an end. I really hope that the 3-4 has been scrapped. Football is such a beautiful sport. The strategy and tactics are sublime.

I think a problem I see at my school is that students are not taking responsibility for the school. Teachers are more than holding up their part. I work with some incredible people. Yes I could do much better and I'll keep trying. But the students aren't taking ownership of the school. If there is going to be social justice then the students need to be on each others case. They need to check each other so that the teachers aren't always the ones doing it. The students need to help create the social environment. We got a leadership course but it's on the quarter system. I would like to see a year long leadership course with students attending staff meetings. Keep the students informed on what is going on in their school. Then they can disseminate info to their friends. Also the selection process needs to be more selective. If people come in then they need to be on a probationary period where everyone has got their eyes out for how people act. Students need to reign in the knuckleheads and not have ignorant people mess up the school.

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 25

Today was the day that students could work on their final projects. I went around checking students' progress and it was 70/30. 70 being the percentage that didn't have shit. It was good though to have the day so that I could yell/encourage them.

So I've been having some problems with this one student in my class. She's a good girl, but very very unhappy for various reasons that when I heard them I understood. If I had the shit in my life now that she does at her age... I'd be pretty unhappy too. Anyways, students were supposed to be working on their projects and I was wandering around working with different students. She was sitting on a computer with one window doing an online community thing and in another window she had stuff on her project that she was doing. I knew that she wasn't doing the project work cause when I was away she was typing loudly and furiously but when I got closer the typing would go silent and she would be doing work... I hate it when they think I'm stupid. I don't know the minimizing trick??? I've been doing that since they were in elementary school!!! Anyways, I left the room to check on students in the computer lab and when I came back I ran into the room and caught her at the computer in the midst of minimizing. I yelled "HAHA!! I caught you. You are so not slick!!!"" Everyone around her including her laughed. They were surprised that I ran in. After that for the rest of the class she did her work. I didn't take any points off of her contract cause she did work for the rest of the period. It was a good humanizing experience for us though. We hadn't been getting along and this I think helped break some tension.

Then in my 2nd period class a fuse blew. All 3 crappy computers in the back of my class went out. The computers sucked but at least they had internet access. Now I got one computer that works and has internet access...ghetto-ass. This is a fucking ridiculous situation. I had to send students to other classes and a lot of those classes didn't have many working computers. I'm going to fix this computer situation cause I can't stand it. I'm going to get the school on easy grade pro and try to get school administration software going. I can't work in such a crappy computer situation.

I realized after the first two classes that most kids had no idea how to research. I should have realized this. So in my 3rd period I gave an impromptu lesson on the steps to researching. The steps I laid out were

1. Encyclopedia. Look shit up in an encyclopedia to give you some general knowledge on a subject.
2. Key Words list Make a list of key words so that if you need to do searches on internet.
3. Library/Internet search Find books and do searches with the key words
4. Find 1 good book and check out its bibliography Then you can use that bibliography to find other books and check out that bibliography. Repeat that step and you've got a lot of sources
5. Notecards Keep notecards with quotes, book title, and page numbers
6. Make an outline Figure out where notecards will go and the outline is the skeleton of the writing. After that is made then 80% of your work is done. Now it's just a matter of expounding.
7. Comment on quotes Ok so this isn't really part of the research but is more part of the writing the paper part. But the whole idea is that students just throw quotes in and never really comment on them. They can fill more space and make their paper waaay better if they just comment on quotes.
8. Spellcheck, read aloud, edit 21st fricking century and kids don't spellcheck. REEEdiculous. They also never read their own work aloud and because of that their writing sounds stilted and bad. I also told them to get someone else to read their work.
9. Rewrite Final Pretty much self-explanatory

After this I had them do work in various classes or make up outlines and stuff.

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 24

I'm thinking that I'm going to go with the title Praxis of Pedagogy. So then knowledge, action, and reflection of the art and/or science of teaching. If someone in blogosphere thinks this might be the wrong wording combination please comment.

Anyways... today I started off all my classes reading from "Animal Farm." I really wonder whether or not I will finish this book by the end of school. I also reminded all classes that their funniest piece of writing or funniest anecdote is to be posted on their blog by the end of the day tomorrow. Also, tomorrow will be a day to work on their final project so they better bring in stuff and work on it or I would give them a zero on their contract.

In my Asian american studies class we finally finished the Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome. This took to till the end of class but on Monday I'll have them summarize the writings. This is an excellent writing and having done this and the model minority I feel that I can now move onto specific discrimination against Asian Americans. I'm thinking that I want to work on the Japanese internment camps because then I'll be able to show my movie "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips."

In my US history class we finished up the chapter in Zinn on Imperialism. Then I had them work in groups on the "Template for a war in Iraq." Check this article out on my Read this links. This is a cool reading that ties into what I've been teaching. I've been drawing analogies between the Spanish American war and Iraq and then I went online and found this great article. The author takes a piece of writing about the Spanish American war and changes the names and dates and it matches up very well with what's going on nowadays with 9/11 and Iraq.

In my Multicultural studies class I was supposed to interview my principal but I totally spaced on a conscientous objector presentation. 2 people from the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors came to my class and gave a class long presentation on conscientious objecting. I have to say I was pretty embarrassed by my class. They were rowdy and rude. I'm going to have to yell at them tomorrow. Freshmen. I even had to throw one student out of the room cause he couldn't control himself. That's the thing with teenagers... so many hormones, so much arrogance, so little self control. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything. ;)

Praxis of Pedagogy Day 23

I had trouble waking up again today... I was up till about 2 am working on my paper on Haiti that is way overdue at university. The paper sucks. There's nothing insightful in it. It's crap. But I'm less and less worried about that now. I just want to turn it in and get my grade and be done with it all.

So I went to school today and the teacher that was teaching a Drug prevention class had taken another job and today was his last day. He brought pizza and so I had pizza at around 11:00. That was nice cause I didn't bring a lunch.

After that was meta... so hard this class. We collected homework and did a journal prompt on what would they do if they were teaching the class, what would they teach, and how would they manage the class. Then we had them take their progress reports and fill out a paper saying what grade they got and what they need to do to improve things. They got done with this stuff quicker than Amanda and I anticipated. Usually they take so long doing anything but they were getting things done really quickly today for the most part. But there were a lot of discipline problems today. I had to take a number of students out to the hall and talk with them. I've developed a rapport with a number of students so this makes disciplining much better. I find it works best when I speak softly and nicely and guilt them to hell. I don't want to yell at kids. I don't want to yell at anyone. They also respond much better when I don't yell. If I yell then immediately there becomes this confrontational situation. Most of these kids are so used to confrontational situations that they have conditioned responses to them. Speaking calmly and softly and guilt tripping the hell out of them seems to work well for me. But they were still acting like idiots today. I don't think the students are mentally stupid... but they do act stupid often. Something about Meta though... we only meet once a week and there are so many "personalities" in the room. We revised the seating chart numerous times today. Those 2 weeks when Meta was good messed with my head, yet it let me know what they are capable of.

After Meta my fellow history teacher Jeff and I went to see Daniel Ellsberg speak at a nearby high school. Way cooler than attending the weekly Wednesday meeting. Ellsberg is a real interesting character. He told about knowing that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a load of shit. That the administration was lying to go to war. Surprise surprise. Then finally releasing the Pentagon Papers later. One guy who was a history teacher asked this incredibly dumb question about Ho Chi Minh that had Jeff and me clowning on him. We're such elitist snobs... LOL. Afterwards I got a chance to ask Ellsberg a question. I asked him what was it that allowed people in the administration (himself included) to continue on with the attack on Vietnam knowing that it was wrong and that they thought it was a bad idea. Earlier he had said that at one point during the war only 3 people in the administration were for the war. What was the inertia that kept the war going? Ellsberg replied that Johnson wouldn't back down from the war. I asked him again though what about the people in the administration that he had said knew it was wrong. He said fear. Fear of losing their jobs. Fear of the government coming after him.

I find it incredibly interesting when people are on one side (he worked for the administration) then they switch to the other side. What is it that triggers that change from bad to good? From the dark side of the force to the light. It's like when Vader killed the Emperor at the end of Episode VI. Yeah I'm a dork.

Praxis through Pedagogy??? Day 22

Today the journal prompt was

Isaiah Berlin said that the civilized person ought to care about "how they came to be where they are, where they appear to be going, whether they wish to go there, and if so why, and if not, why not." Explain what the quote means. do you agree with it? Why or why not. Where do you think you appear to be going. Is that where you wish to go?

In my Asian American studies class I pulled sticks and asked questions and then we continued with the readings on Perpetual Foreigner syndrome. One of the hardest parts for me in school is knowing how long things will take. I think that this point I just have to realize that I don't know what I don't know. And that I will only learn as I do it. Plus I need to develop my own routines and style better and that takes time.

In my US history class I pulled sticks and reviewed and then we read more from Zinn. This section is really interesting because it is all about the racism in US thinking with regards to the Philippines. All the racism, paternalism and crap. I told them anecdotes about how Filipinos used to tightly wrap their bodies in bandages to act as tourniquets and take some herbs to numb pain, then they would go into US camps and slaughter US troops. The US troops would shoot the Filipinos but they wouldn't leave their friends behind with the US and so stories went around that the Filipinos were ghosts or demons because there were no bodies. So to keep a running tally of Filipinos killed the US would cut off heads from the Filipinos that they did kill and that's where the term head count came from. We also started to get into how the US soldiers called the Filipinos nigger. Also, the internal struggle among African Americans that went to the army to improve their situation and be patriotic, but recognized the problem that they were in the Philippines killing brown people that the white US forces called nigger.

In my 3rd period we went to a rally to "Take back our schools". Today is the 51st anniversary of Brown vs the Board of education and there was a student led protest that was going on. There were also student led workshops being held. We went to the protest which had a lot of different schools attending and from there we marched over to a church that held the workshops. It was a good chance to get the students involved in the community and social justice. I was worried cause my 3rd period is...raw and young. So before we went I told them there was a 1 pg. homework assignment on the workshop that they went to. They would have to tell which one they went to, what happened, what did they learn and what did they think about the whole thing. Also I threatened them saying that they were representatives of the school and that if they embarrassed me or the school that I would make it my personal mission to make their lives miserable. They did well. Some kids were acting like the immature young boys that they are, but for the most part they did ok. It's a good experience for them. I also mentioned that the principal didn't want certain students to go but that I stepped up for them to make sure that they did go...so those students shouldn't embarrass or let me down. I have to say though that the student led protests and workshops were pretty good. The students did a good job with it coordinating a lot of people.

Praxis of Pedagogy? Day 21

I'm experimenting with the title of my work/school journal entry. Before I was saying Pedagogy and Praxis. Now I'm gonna try out Praxis of Pedagogy. I see pedagogy as the art or science of teaching, though I'm leaning more towards favoring the art view of it. Refining and such. Daily decrease instead of daily increase. Then I use Freire's definition of Praxis as knowledge, action, and reflection. So I'm combining the ideas of knowledge of subjects, teaching that knowledge as action, and reflecting through this blog on the art of teaching. So the knowledge, action, and reflection of the art of teaching. Maybe Praxis in Pedagogy... I don't know I'll play with it a little and see what I like best. If anyone out in blogworld wants to give me help with that please do.

So I didn't give out vocab to the kids because I'm working like a frickin dog and don't have time for that. But I think after STAR testing they don't mind so much.

In my Asian-American studies class, we continued on with Perpetual foreigner syndrome. I explained to them the term coolie and its roots in the Chinese term ku li meaning bitter pain/strength. As in working to the point of bitter pain. I also explained naturalization because we were reading about the cases of Takao Ozawa and Bhagat Singh Thind before the Supreme Court. Crazy shit that is said about Asian people by the US government. Still blows me away to read it. We also read a little about the racism of novelist Jack London. This really blew the kids minds. They didn't know that Jack London was such a hater.

In my US history class, we read more of the people's history and I made analogies between US imperialism in Iraq and US imperialism during the early 1900s. I mean this is fun stuff. The same exact arguments being made, you just got to pay attention. The products may have changed from timber and sugar to oil, but the propaganda is still the same. I explained to them what inflation is and I talked a little supply and demand with them. The way that has always worked for me to help me understand the market has been drugs. Use drugs as the commodity and then think of supply and demand. If the demand is high then the cost goes up. If the supply is great then the cost goes down. We also talked about a sentence in Zinn about Cuba saying that after the military occupation then came the commercial occupation... then I strained and strained my my brain to think of possible analogies. ;) Then we talked about Prez McKinley praying to God to get answers as to what to do about the Philippines and McKinley's "revelations" that were part of a white supremacist ideology. We also talked about the Platt amendment that gave the US the right to intervene in Cuba for basically whatever reason. Fun stuff. At one point I said to the kids that all the propaganda that the US was saying was a load of shit. I never swear in class and since I did swear I did 25 pushups to make up for it. But I did this for a reason. My first reason was to emphasize the point about US policy that would grab the students attention. Secondly, by doing the pushups I show that I am accountable for the choices that I make and that I will pay the consequences for them also. So if they swear then I can hold them to doing pushups or getting points taken off their contracts without as much bitchin. Plus I got to get ready for the Carnaval parade and doing the pushups helps get me in shape.

In my multicultural studies class, we finished the reading by Randall Kennedy. Then I talked a little about power in language. Then I gave an example of power through language and concepts. I asked the students to tell me some racist jokes about black people. They told me some. Then I asked for a racist joke about white people. Nothing. OK there was one joke about a lady who asks for a bowl of soup and two crackers and she's brought a bowl of soup and two white men... but that wasn't that harmful or even funny. Then I briefly brought up the ideas of anti-black caricatures. Caricatures like the Picaninny, the Coon, and the Jezebel. It is a powerful thing that there are stereotypes (concepts that are created) to represent various ways to dehumanize black people. I asked for some white caricatures. None of the caricatures they said were immutably white. Because in a racist world, whites are allowed to exhibit the wide range of human actions and emotions. People of color especially blacks are given stereotypes that tell them and others how they are. We stopped class while we were making a list of pro and con arguments for the use of the word nigger. I also hooked up our principal to come in to speak to the class. I've made her a secret guest speaker and I want her to come as a speaker and not as the principal. I just want her to explain her role and life in the civil rights struggle and her encounters and views with usages of the word nigger. She is a woman that all the students respect and I would like them to hear her view on the word. I have to find out good questions to ask her.

My friend Sauce suggested that I won't be able to change their minds about the usage of the word right away but at least I can give them the tools to make an informed choice. I think that would be the most realistic goal to accomplish. If I try to reprimand and preach to them not to use the word then all the more reason they'll want to. I can only hope that through our examination and inquiry into the word that they will at least stop and think about what they are saying.

My blog homework to the students is for them to post the funniest story that they have written or the funniest thing that has happened to them. They posted some serious stuff on the last post, now I want to laugh.

Crap!

Just taking a short break from my studies. I still have some work that I need to turn in at Holy Names that is due tomorrow. Looks like the students aren't getting vocabulary words this week. I'm unhappy that I'm not able to devote more attention to school, but I am bogged down with crap from the teacher credentialing program. The more and more that I do this teacher credentialing program the less and less I like it. Now that I have a possibly permanent job teaching I really want to get out of this program. I'm living mi vida loca with teaching high school and going to school myself and trying to plan for a wedding and closing up my business. Thank God that the semester is over because I swear I was going to crack.

Raftin

I went river rafting today on the American River in Sacramento. We drove up late and just got to the place before they stopped renting. My friends lag, but so do I. CP time... but Steven's German so he's got no excuse.

Anyways, it was essentially a booze raft. We just drank the whole time. There were baby rapids but nothing serious. But it was hilarious during the baby rapid part cause Allison went flying up into the air and landed in the middle of the boat. Then Tonya went flying up in the air. In our boat was Stevie, Tonya, Patrick, Allison and me. Nelly also came with a bunch of her friends and they went in another boat.

But one really funny part was when we all decided to go into the water. Allison went in first. The water was freezing. She got back into the raft and tried to push stevie in but couldn't. He then just jumped in. Then I jumped in. Water was so damn cold. I jumped back into the boat very quickly. Then patrick decided that he wanted to go in. He was wearing shorts over his swim trunks and so he started to take them off. When he got his shorts to about his ankle, I pushed him in. I couldn't resist. It was fucking hilarious. Then Allison jumps in to rescue his shorts. She gets the shorts and throws them back into the boat hitting tonya in the face with it. Then Patrick is trying to get in but he is laughing so hard and the water is so cold that he can't get his muscles to work. Stevie and I are laughing so hard trying to pull him in that we can't find the strength to pull him up. Then we pull him in and we think he's in and he slides back into the water. We start laughing again and try to pull him back in. Finally we get him in and my sides are hurting cause I am laughing so hard.

I love a good laugh. Nothing makes you feel better. It cost about $15 to ride the river and it took 2 hours to ride it. We drank the whole time and were loaded when we finally got back on land. It was cool cause it wasn't strenuous. It was totally relaxing and fun. It wasn't something I normally do. The end of the rafting is at this park and we said next time we go we would have to bring food to cook at the end. Oh yeah it was hilarious cause when we first started the trip everyone was like this is cool. And then Allison and Tonya were saying how we should go whitewater rafting. I was thinking real ambitious after we just got on this dinky slow moving river. Our no stress booze cruise and they are thinking whitewater rapids. I don't think that we would have been able to drink and keep our beers if we were doing real river rafting. But it was fun anyways and we will totally do it again

Bobbin's comments to me

Dave,In response to your observations of the allocation of resources away from low income area parts of our country....It is obviously a truth, most would recognize this, but there has recently been some comparisons, by some very left organizations up here, that what is occurring, and what history will record, is a discrete and systemic form of eugenics...in that we are very much producing a society in which the elite, defined by monetary wealth, is sustaining and developing a society of "good traits", and eliminating those "bad traits" through poverty....there are of course many faults with this argument, but I think it is on the doorsteps of something profound....understanding the concepts of eugenics, then its not hard to realize that systemically our institutions protect what is considered "good traits", and in a capitalist society that is usually those who can "produce"....and essentially allowing those who do not fit into this model to die off by simply reducing resources, or creating new legislation that interferes with the ability of certain populations to live....some criticize this argument as an extension of Darwinian thought, that simply the survival of the fittest philosophy is at work, but personally I think there is something that extends from this concept of eugenics...I am still sorting it out.....I feel for a fact that this, mixed obviously with arrogant racist economic policies, is why the AIDS problem in Africa and Asia is simply being ignored by the western world....its natures genocide...I know it sounds horrible....but I am starting to realize that some of these head of states and their administrations actually think in this manner....anyways food for thought...would love to hear your thoughts....A fool speaks forcefully to everyone of those things he does not knowAn intellect speaks little and to few of all he knowsA wise man engages the intellect, learning all he knows and teaches the fool to speak less Bobbin

My good friend bobbin wrote this to me in a email then posted it at my request in the comment section. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Darwin which goes "If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." While there are some positives to the capitalist system such as its innovation and better allocation of resources through the market. I believe not taking human life into account is its greatest problem. People are exploited for greater profit. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and Mammon. The Capitalist structure is Mammon incarnate. Jesus also said that God will judge people by how they treat the least among us. The capitalist structure cares not a lick for those that cannot produce. So this Darwinian corollary of survival of the fittest among humans goes against Darwin's own beliefs and very much against Christian beliefs. Interestingly there were a number of US eugenicists in the bay area. Lewis Terman of the famed Stanford Binet IQ tests conducted those tests on people in Oakland. I agree with you though... I don't think the people in power give a crap about the poor and/or people of color.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 20

The one thing I don't like about blogger is the fact that I can't cut,paste, and copy. Cause I wrote a bunch of stuff yesterday and the connection at school wouldn't access anything and I lost all the work that I wrote. So here we go again and see if I can remember shit.

So in my Asian American studies class, one of my favorite and brightest students explained the analogy from the previous day to the students. She broke it down into language that the students could get and more of them got it. I don't think all of them got it... but that's cause some are apathetic bumps on logs. Before we started the reading I had them review what we had underlined, bracketed, and written. Then I pulled sticks and asked questions on the reading. I've been trying to hammer into their heads that to be sucessful with texts you have to look at it a bunch of times. You aren't just going to get a reading if you read it only once, unless you are some photographic memory having genius. This is a fun text to read cause the students really like exploring racism. Scandalous is a word that is spoken often in connection with this reading. After the reading I'm going to show "Bugs Bunny nips the nips". I got a copy of it on the internet and it will blow the kids away.

In my US history class we read from Zinn's People's History. The kids were far more animated and interactive with this text. I think that I shot myself in the foot by reading about the problem with textbooks from "Lies my teacher told me". Now kids really don't want to read from the textbook. But when it's other readings they are more interested. I also threatened to give 4s for people that hadn't turned in their homework and I got more homework this time. There wasn't a lot of writing on the homework but I had more of them. So I had a greater quantity of papers but the quantity and quality of writing in the papers were lacking. But hey... baby steps. That I got more than 5 homeworks is an accomplishment unto itself and I need to recognize that. I also introduced the students to the concept of surplus value cause we were talking about the corporations crushing labor organizing during the Spanish American war. Then I also had them write down the imperialist line. Humanity, love of freedom/democracy, and money. When the gov't propaganda machine starts spewing that out... watch out. We are going to be killing someone.

In my multicultural class, I asked questions about the text "nigga or nigger" because I want the kids to understand what Davey D is trying to say. I didn't want their opinions at this moment I wanted to make sure they understood. I am trying to get the idea across that they must learn to understand another side's argument if they are to really disagree with it. The questions I asked are

1. What does Davey D mean by "Internalized so much negativity that it's ridiculous."
2. What does Davey D mean when he says Notorious BIG was giving license to people to use the word nigger
3. What does the saying "What you say or allow to be said about you is what you will become."
4. What does it mean that "many within the Jewish community ain't letting stuff slide. There seems to be an attitude that says you will not mischaracterize our people.
5. What is the difference that Davey D is talking about between the public and private arena.
6. What is blackface and what are the stereotypes associated with it.

It is interesting and disturbing to me that there is so much resistance by the students to hearing the notion that nigga is a bad thing to say. Much of the argument seems to revolve around the idea that older people don't like it but that with younger people it's ok. That there is a definite difference between Nigga and Nigger. This is going to be a hard one to crack. With the last question I asked them to define blackface and we made a list of stereotypes good and bad about black people from the perspective of the dominant white culture. Guess which list was longer.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 19

I have to admit something. I like Thursdays cause when I wake up, Allison is already up and she doesn't have class till later in the morning. She'll pack me lunch and make me coffee and it rocks. So Thursday was at least going to be have a good lunch for me. I had Pork fried rice from last night, a hardboiled egg and an orange. I got 4 hours of sleep last night cause I was up writing a paper (for my Latino Studies class) and lesson planning, so I was hanging on to every last minute. It was rough getting up.

It was the last day of STAR testing social studies and the 9th graders didn't have to take the test. So I was having a study hall with them. Which really consisted of me turning on music and hanging out for a while. They've been testing for this week and last. High stakes linked to funding tests. What the hell they can chill out for a while in a classroom setting. I had some of my 3rd period class in their so I gave them the reading for the day. Nigga or Nigger by Davey D. I'm sick and tired of kids saying nigga this nigga that.... Nigga please!!! I know, I know... terribly hypocritical joke... But I believe that it's a bad word, it is painful, it is a part of the colonized mindset. A proponent of the positive connotations and usages of Nigga is Randall Kennedy. I'll probably get to his stuff on Monday. Then I am going to do a computer tour of a site with crazy pictures of black caricatures. I've seen these videos "Little Black Sambo" and "Scrub me Mama with a Boogie Beat" and I want to get them to show the students.

In my Asian American studies class we kept reading Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome and I had trouble explaining an analogy to them. Here's the thing... a white person in america says to an Asian American that they understand their discrimination because they went to China and knew what it was like to be a foreigner. But that analogy doesn't fit. The better analogy is the White American in Asia and the Asian American in Europe. That way they are both foreigners or you are saying that the US is a white country. They were a really hard time grasping this analogy and I was having a really hard time explaining it in any other way. Class ended on that. Still trying to figure out a way to explain it better. I'm thinking of asking about what an american is or is America only for whites. Then from there leading them to seeing the inapt analogy as not seeing Asian Americans as Americans. Asian Americans are not foreigners in America like the white person was in Asia.... now I'm confusing me.

In my US history class we read the Spanish, Filipino, and Cuban textbook version of the Spanish American war. I had the students write a 1 1/2 page paper on the differences in the various stories. I realize that I'm not going to get to a lot of things so I want to do some things well. I think US imperialism at the turn of the century is really important and interesting stuff. Especially at this time in US history.

Then in my multicultural class we read "Nigga or Nigger". I started off this saying that if they weren't able to handle the topic matter in an academic adult way then I would throw them out. I had to throw out two students. This could easily descend into a bad lesson so I wanted to establish rules and control. We ended the class not too long after finishing the text so I didn't really get into the article. I wanted to read the article through with them and model active reading skills with underlining, bracketing, and summation. I go through this with them as much as possible asking them what to underline in paragraphs and what to say in response to text we had bracketed.

There's this student that seems for whatever reason to trust me. She's a real unhappy kid. I've tried to get her to talk to the school counselor. She doesn't want to but she wants to write to me and have me reply to her. I want to help her out but I can't be that person for her. She really needs to talk to a counselor.

Then I had to go to University. I had the last day of my latinos class and had to talk to my teacher. She recognized my situation and gave me some mercy saying that I could get my final paper to her by Monday. We were in a circle talking about our final paper and how it was different from the final. I never technically lied when I said that my paper hadn't changed. Then I talked for a bit about how I found the US occupation of Haiti for 19 years crazy. Was it straight racism or willful lack of self evaluation that Woodrow Wilson, the man who wrote the Fourteen points and help start up the League of Nations would be the guy to invade and occupy Haiti. Absolutely unconscionable. Straight racist shit. 50 years removed from the Civil War the US was enslaving Haitians to build roads. Crazy fuckin shit.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 18

I had to jump in and teach this tobacco prevention class this morning. That sucked. The kids were unhappy the teacher just up and left them hanging. Guy found another job. I hear that though. I left Woodstock. But I was a sub there. This guy was signed on to teach a certain number of classes. Kids were just being rude and I wasn't having it so I just assigned long hours of detention. Makes me less stressed out. I just take it out on their contract.

Then my meta class.... off the fucking wall. We got soft the past two weeks. We thought we had things under control. And today.... so many people sent out of the room. So many low numbers assigned on contracts.

So many unhappy kids. Interesting timing. End of STAR testing, nothing like taking lots of tests to make you feel inadequate. Family problems. Progress reports and their impending doom. Teenage boyfriend/girlfriend problems.

It's a trip thinking about the hormonal things going on during the teenage years. Surging hormones through the body make it hard to think. PMS... it does exist. I remember being a teenager. Painful and awkward was my experience. Not knowing shit and so unsure of myself. So many kids there going through that.

After that I had class at University. Last week of classes. That's been stressing me out too. So much shit going on. Planning for a wedding. Got to take courses during the summer for my credential. But here's the motherfucker... my class during the summer would end on the 13th of August. The day before my wedding. And if I'm kept at the school (The principal said she'd hire me unless I majorly fucked up. Those were her words), teacher prep for next year starts the week of the 15th. The day after my wedding. We're thinking of honeymooning possibly in the winter and maybe making a short trip during the week. But dammit this blows. Teacher credentialing is a stupid process that is unreasonably hard for very little pay in return. People want to be teachers but the process is so expensive and so hard. So many tests you have to pay for, so many forms and money you have to pay. The process and the constant cuts are driving good people away.

Public education is being ghettoized. The people that can afford to send their children to private school do so. Those that cannot are given inadequately funded and staffed public schools. It's equal. Equally bad. But even that's not true cause most of education is funded by property tax. So rich areas have far better everything. Plus parents are able to kick down to the school. I know that in Palo Alto they have children of Packard (Hewlett packard) and other real real real real rich folks. The child of the guy who makes Klutz books was in Palo Alto. Mom just wrote a $40,000 check to the school to buy stuff. It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Who cuts $40,000 checks?

Allison was telling me about a protest planned on the 25th of May against Schwarznegger. Nurses, teachers, everybody. I'm thinking about going, maybe trying to get the school involved.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 17

I had so much trouble waking up this morning. I've gotten around 8 hours of sleep from the last two days combined. Luckily, I only had to come in and do STAR testing. So I was a zombie through the whole thing. I wouldn't even consider this a day of teaching. It was a big waste of time.

Then I had to do progress reports. BY HAND!!! PEN AND PAPER PEOPLE! PEN AND PAPER! My school is in the bronze age with the computers. The computer lab is running pentium 1's. More than half the printers in the school don't print. District doesn't do shit for us except make things more bureaucratic. I'm just happy I wasn't like other people that filled out the reports by hand. They had to copy out things by hand twice. I typed once and then copied it onto the progress report. It was just needlessly timeconsuming. We got to get more computers and more people on the computers.

Finally...

Progress reports are done. Sweet sleep......

It's 2:00 AM and I just want to reiterate that I hate grading. It fucking sucks shit. Nothing worse than doing tons of work I hate doing after the hours I get paid for.

It's official!!!

I hate grading. It fucking sucks shit. No other way to put it. When kids have low skill due to whatever reason how can I really fairly judge them at their grade level. I can see where they need to be, but how do I grade them? It's not fair to grade a child and link funding to schools based on this ridiculously classist, racist, norm referenced test. The test is made for the dominant culture. Those not of that culture, unfamiliar with that culture, timid in that culture, or defiant of that culture will not do well.

A problem I see is that society places too much importance on the form of the message instead of the message. We focus on the finger pointing to the moon instead of the moon. Important human messages can be communicated through all the dialects, pidgins, or creoles in the world. But power is placed in one variation. That is the standard. I'm writing this in English not American. Am I to grade a kid based in large part on their adherence to narrow WASP standards?

"I'm sorry, I'm fittin' to get me a new pencil does not probably communicate your idea."

"You should say, "I would like to get a new pencil."
or
"I am going to buy a new pencil."

Just bitching while I take a break from grading.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 16

So this week is the last week of STAR testing. We got testing on Tuesday and Thursday. I decided not to give out vocab words this week cause kids brains were fried last week and they didn't do so well on the vocab quiz. Everyone agrees that STAR testing messes up things for everybody. I don't want to set them up for failure and teach words that no one will end up learning. Instead I talked about STAR testing and taught them the PIRATES strategy for test taking. Pirates stands for:

Prepare to Succeed
Inspect the Instructions
Read, remember, reduce
Answer or Abandon
Turn back
Estimate
Survey

I also taught them the basic strategy to do easy questions first so that they get the most points possible. Then with the remaining time they should do the hard questions.

Then I gave them released test questions from previous STAR tests. I had them take the test using the Pirates strategy and then we answered the questions. The questions were from the 10th grade STAR test but many students had trouble answering the questions. The whole point though was to teach them to use the strategy and to teach them how to make educated guesses. Then I went through the questions and answered and modeled how to think and how to eliminate. I also pointed out the hardest questions which students should have just skipped and come back to later. One example was:

In 1900, anti-foreign sentiment in China led to an uprising known as the

A Nian Rebellion
B Boxer Rebellion
C Taiping Rebellion
D Sepoy Rebellion

Unless the student knew about these rebellions they would have trouble using the PIRATES strategies. Other questions had answers that could be puzzled out and reduced through careful thought, but this question was an either you know it or you don't. These tests are lame and No Child Left Behind is a joke. If money is to be distributed based on test scores then areas with low test scores should get more money cause they need more resources to help raise them up. Instead the regressive thinking seems to believe that low test scores schools should get less money. I see a parallel to the racist assumptions that say why put money into colored communities cause its not like it will help them. The conservative line is that throwing money at the problem will not fix the problem. I agree with that. However, the problem cannot be fixed if schools lack the resources. Money is only part of the solution but it is an essential part of that solution.

One of my favorite pictures. Forbidden love

Allison and I went cake tasting Friday and Saturday. We first went to this ice cream parlor that also makes cakes. It was there we thought that maybe we should do an ice cream cake. Lots of times wedding cakes look good but taste ho hum. We are all about the taste. We both love food and we want to have good food at the wedding. So we came away from the ice cream parlor thinking that we were gonna get ice cream cake. But then on Saturday we went to this bakery and that pastry chef made super good cakes. So now we are thinking about going with her. Choices, choices, choices...

I have to say though, this has been my favorite part of the wedding planning. I mean I am well qualified for this job. At the bakery we came late to the appointment (Allison's fault) and so the baker gave away our cake spot. But she seated us anyways and brought out normal size pieces of cake. We were supposed to get smaller pieces and more variety. She told us we could go back later and try different flavors. We were also supposed to pay $10 for it but she gave it to us free. We took home a the huge amount of cakes.

We are thinking about doing a 2 or 3 layer cake with different flavors on the layers. I'm down with coffee type and fruit flavors. This has not helped with the diet.

...after the tasting on Friday, we went out to a bar with my coworkers. It was my meta co- teacher Amanda's birthday. This is the first time I've had a chance to hang out with the other teachers in a social situation. It was cool. I got to introduce Allison to them and vice versa. The staff is cool and friendly and lively. And I'm sure the drinks didn't hurt either. But Amanda told me about this crazy place to honeymoon in Cuba. The hotel surrounds this HUGE tree that is the size of a good sized building. Sounds interesting. That would be a sweet place to have a honeymoon. But I would want to stay there longer.

I would want to get to Cuba before Castro dies. Just to see what life is like under his regime. It is kinda fucked that he just gets to turn things over to Raul. Raul will probably run things through a coalition. But Cuba does get major props for having a well educated populace and healthcare. I would like to see the regime for myself though. I've been to Russia post communism and Communist China. I would like to see communism in Cuba. The world is such an interesting place.

Pedagogy and Praxis Day 15

So yesterday was our school's big Cinco De Mayo celebration. The school went back to last year's schedule where there was 3 periods of 1 hour and 15 minutes and no lunch. We ended at 12:50. After that we had the celebration. But in my classes...

In my Asian American Studies class, we started on the perpetual foreigner syndrome chapter by Frank Wu. This went very very well. Since many of my students are African American they found this interesting because they don't really experience this type of racism. My Latino students liked this because they experience a similar type of racism. This reading stimulated a lot of conversation among the students. I also told the students the story of my mom and me and the 1989 earthquake. This is one of my best stories and never fails to makes people laugh. DAVID!!!! DIS IS DA BIG ONE!!!

In my US history class, I gave fours out to students. What's really awesome now though is that I am getting along with students. Now that I am getting along with them and they know what I'm all about and they listen better and I can check them way easier. Anyways... in this class I pulled sticks and asked them questions about terms and names in the text. Basic basic shit they need to know. Bare minimum stuff. Still had a bunch that hadn't done the work. Then using the terms, I drew connections between what happened in the past and what is going on in the future. I also introduced them to the idea of geopolitics. I showed how geography has influenced history and politics. In particular how the US wanted Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines as stepping stones to cross the Pacific Ocean and gain access to China. Then I re-assigned the one page critique to be done or the threat of 4 hours of detention. We'll see on Monday who did the homework.

In my multicultural class... the kids were out to lunch already. They are used to eating at 11:45 and class started at 11:35. So they were hungry, it was Friday, and they were setting up for Cinco De Mayo right outside our window. The kids are used to order and when that order is upset they don't like it. Didn't get much done that day and at one point when I realized that they weren't listening to a word I was saying I just said forget it. I turned on some music (Digable Planets) and we just chilled out for the last ten minutes of class.

The Cinco De Mayo celebration happened after that in an open area right outside the school building. There was a lot of dancing and poetry. While it was a Cinco De Mayo celebration it was also a multicultural celebration. They also did Capoeira at the celebration and after the students went, I went in and did some Capoeira.

I started off with the one handed upside down kick and then went into three both hands touching the ground spinning kick and finally a outside arcing kick. I would write the portuguese names but most wouldn't know what I was talking about and many capoeira schools call the same move different things. Then I played some against Gina. Then later I played in a roda vs some people. This won me big points with students and that is why I did it. I haven't been wanting to do Capoeira lately. No violent martial things at all really. Things in my life are different and I don't want certain things right now. I think at some point in the future I'll want to kick, punch, stab at, or strike at people again. And I look forward to that one day coming back. But not right now. My ego was too invested in it. I don't want to fight... I just want to dance! Dazed and Confused anyone? Anyways, after the celebration this kid says to me he was surprised by me. When I first went on stage he was thinking, "What's he gonna do?" I asked him if I was better than he thought I was going to be. He said yes. I've been underestimated my whole life. I've tried to use this to my advantage.

Ramblings

If there's one thing I hate about teaching... it's grading. It sucks. There is nothing good or fun about it, especially when a student doesn't do well. I've got to turn in grades by Tuesday. I've got the last week of Teaching Cred school next week and I've got to turn in some work to my teacher. I'm stressed. I'm going to be grading and writing papers all weekend long. I didn't realize that giving the students that Friday to do their missing assignments would really bite me in the ass. During the day on Saturday I'm going to taste cakes for the wedding and at night I'm going to take Allison to see a play. Then on Sunday I'm dancing samba in preparation for Carnaval.

With the nearing of Carnaval there is a vain side coming out of me. For the most of my life I've been in pretty good shape. When I met Allison I was in slamming Capoeira shape. Then I stopped doing Capoeira and I started getting sedentary. Now I've got somewhat of a Buddha belly. And not Shakyamuni. I'm talking about Maitreya. Big fat laughing Buddha belly. What's really strange is that this change in my body has also been accompanied by a shrinking of my clothing. My shirts and pants are shrinking and strangely enough even my belt. Must be something in the air. Anyways... I'm going to be wearing gold sequin pants and a gold sequin vest! FUCK! I'm going to be dancing in front of a whole lot of people! Ok... I've just written myself into being nervous. Great!!! I've got to learn the choreography better.

One more thing to worry about. Great... now I've got anxiety about my anxiety.

I've got the cutest cat in the world. Her name is Hokulani and she is a sweet little lap cat. She also chirps instead of meowing. It's ridiculously cute.

This is a picture from the top of Mauna Kea when I went to visit my friend Josh who worked on a telescope over there.

St Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin