The Future of American Education

I don't feel like writing about my personal life.

Ok, well, here:

Satisfaction with work: Dwindling
Relationship with police sargeant: Over
Dieting: Unsuccessful
Last book read: Peyton Place

For filler and / or possible interest, here is my response to a discussion question on future trends in education for my 'Standards in Education' Class:

The future of standards-based curriculum and instruction will be partially determined by future trends and events in our society. If our schools grow more violent, an increasing number of parents may choose to home school their children, and / or have them attend school online. More students may start attending private schools. With shifting dynamics like this in place, it will be difficult to enforce standards.

Within public schools, standards will continue to adhere to what the market will bear, so to speak. College-bound students will likely invest extra time in supplemental education and or preparation classes in order to pass graduation exams. Ambitious students have always done this to pass college entrance exams like the SAT. Having to pass graduation exams will put extra pressue on them.

It is not likely that standardized testing will go away. It may become more culturally sensitive since it is under fire for not being so. I suspect that more schools will offer alternatives to passing scores on graduation exams. This may lead to the sort of stratification schools had before the 1960s or so, in which there was a distinction between students who were 'vocational' and students who were 'college prep'.

Hopefully schools across the country will focus on each others' best practices. It's not going to be easy to find the right balance between setting high expectations and making unrealistic demands.

*&#%!

I received word today that one of my students died. He was a new student and hadn't posted into his online classes in over a week. I'd left him several messages and knew something was wrong when he didn't return them; he and I'd had a great rapport when he came in for his initial appointment.

His father called the main number today and it was reported to me that Scott had died. I don't remember exactly how old he was, but he was under 30. He had some physical deformities and had told me of kidney problems but I figured he'd still get to live out his life. He was a positive person, with a lot of goals for himself. He had a great sense of humor and was one of those people who I'm sure was liked by everyone who knew him. I'm sorry if it seems morbid to be writing about this, but he was a neat guy and I just want to pay him tribute.

In more upbeat news, I am deciding on a Halloween costume. What I really want to be is an angel. Yes, that's right. Don't laugh. However, I just started dating a police sargeant, so I had the idea of going as one of the women you see on the TV show 'Cops' (if you happen to watch it. I watch it about as often as I thumb through the National Enquirer in the grocery store line, which is to say every now and then if I am really bored). I'd wear a stained tank top with a thick white bra strap hanging out. I'd get a fake tattoo on my upper arm and mess my hair up. I'd complete the look with sweat pants from WalMart and a touch of garish makeup.

But no, I'd rather be an angel. So an angel I shall be. That is if the Halloween Superstore isn't sold out of angel costumes by the time I finally manage to get down there.

Platinum Blonde

Two days before my 40th birthday I dyed my hair bright red. I lived in Portland at the time, and flew to Denver for a lovely party my friend Martha was hosting for me. I hadn't seen my Denver friends for almost a year. You know how when you make a major change in your appearance, it's the first thing people comment on when they see you? You know how they ooh and aah and fuss over you? That's only if it looks good. No one said anything. Not a word. Finally, I turned to one of my friends and graciously implored "Would you please say something about my *ucking hair??!" The best she could manage was "Oh...well, I guess I just need to get used to it."

Ok then, no more bright red.

Let's try copper. Let's try copper and wear a mauve twin set while on major network TV (a Portland station was running a feature story on the singles group I'd started). Copper and mauve. Very, very bad idea. Even without the mauve.
Next.

Ok, maybe something a little closer to home is the key. Blonde. But golden
blonde. And new makeup to go with it! I don't fully trust the Clinque salesgirl's choice of bright coral, but hey! I'm sure it looks better than I think! I just have to get used to it! That night I was cohosting an event with little southern belle Patsy (see the Ted Nugent Style of Home Decorating post). She took one look at me and a look of great distress came over her face. The kind of great distress expression most people reserve for seeing someone who's just been shot. "Windy" she hissed "That is the wrong shade of lipstick on yew. Yew go take that off raht now."
Do you think I said "Thank you very much for the excellent suggestion Patsy. I'll go do that right away." If you guessed 'Yes' you don't know me very well. After a few choice words the orangey smear on my lips stayed on. It was, however, never reapplied.

Actually with a few adjustments the golden blonde wasn't that bad. Light brown was pretty nice too. Dark brown? Won't be going back to that anytime soon.

For the past few years I've stuck with the tried and true- highlights. In Sweden I decided my hair needed some perking up, so I bought a highlighting kit. Thankfully the directions were not just in Swedish. They were also in German. Oh well, I've done my own highlights before, no problem. And yes, they came out well. A lighter blonde than I'd ever had but it looked good. Did Peter notice? No. Did he notice my zig-zag bangs the time I'd trimmed them with toenail clippers? (I was stuck in a minimally stocked cabin in Ugglarp, Sweden. What else was I supposed to use? A knife?) Yes.

My point of this whole bimbo-esque post? At 1:30 this afternoon I announced to my mananger that I was taking two hours off to have my hair done. "Investing in my professional image" I supplied. I went to the salon across the street and told the stylist I wanted cool blonde highlights. Really light. Platinum. And that's what I got.

When I got back to work, my whole team was in a meeting in the room next door. I walked in, planning to scurry to the nearest available seat when a very loud collective "Whooooo!" of admiration went up from the group, followed by an equally loud round of applause and lots of "Wow, it looks great!" type compliments. Never one to accept a compliment graciously I blurted out " I think I look like Edgar Winter!". Only about four people on my team are old enough to remember the albino leader of the Edgar Winter band, but never mind. When questioned why I didn't like it, I said I need to get used to it. I think I'm liking it though.

Within a few weeks I'll post a picture. I'm dieting. God help me.

Will this insipid post ever end?

Yes.

Sweden

I left for Sweden on October 13th, 2005. I wonder if 20 years from now October 13th will still be a significant date for me. Logic would dictate that it shouldn't be, but I've never been particularly logical.

For whatever reasons my memories of Sweden are very deeply etched.

In a weak moment around mid September, I called Peter. He is finally divorced, but big deal. He is distant in more ways than one. Yes, he was friendly but...whatever. Except for that one weak moment I've moved on.

Jacksonville, NC

As mentioned, my family gathered in Jacksonville, NC last weekend to see my nephew Jeff since he will be deploying soon for Iraq. We got to see Jeff and Taylor's house in Sneads Ferry, which is about half an hour from Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. When I stopped to ask for directions to Peru road (pronouncing it like the country), I was told -in an 'you idiot' tone of voice - that it's PEE-roo road. Ok then. This is not to say that the area is redneck. It's actually much nicer than I thought. From what we saw of the base, it didn't look much different from an ordinary suburb. The foliage and beaches in the area are beautiful. The picture below is of Jeff. I won't go into the 'not only is he handsome, he's brilliant and has the kindest heart and is a wonderful person' thing again. Oops, I just did.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet Jeff and Taylor's beloved dogs Brooklyn and Sierra. They are very bonded with the dogs, and the dogs are very bonded with each other. They like to walk together with both of their mouths on the same toy or frisbee. Sometimes they wrestle over toys like two wolf puppies.The picture below is of Sierra.

Here's Sierra doing what Jeff and Taylor call the bone parade. She picks a bone off the floor and walks across the back of the couch five or six times in a row. Then she walks across the laps of whoever happens to be on the couch, in this case Mom and Dad.

Doing the aforementioned sharing the toy thing.

Mom, Jeff, doggies, and my ridiculously skinny sister Jill at the beach.

Being used to Oregon coast beaches in recent years it was amazing to wade in bathtub-warm water.

We went to a wonderful restaurant on Saturday night with a great view of the beach. The reception for the wedding party below (totally unrelated to us) ended up being in an adjacent room.

Performance Review

I had my first performance review today with my new manager. His assessment: "You're doing a fantastic job. I wish I could clone you ten times." Thanks. I like you too.

This is turning out to be a good job for me. I have a lot of fun with my coworkers and I enjoy working with students. I'm also surprised to find out how competitive I am. I'm expected to enroll four students a month. I already have seven for October.
Another comment from my manager was that everyone on my team admires me and looks at me as "the person who can get everything done."

In other news I am completely and utterly sick of school. With as hard as I'm working (I tend to work several hours of overtime a week) I just don't have the energy when I get home to do schoolwork. I'll muddle through these remaining three classes, but I'll be very happy when I'm done.

I spent this past weekend in Jacksonville, NC. My nephew is a 2nd lieutenant in the Marines and will be spending the next year in Iraq. In a short period of time he has become fluent in Arabic. He's amazinginly smart, and well, wonderful in every way. It was just about a perfect family gathering. I'll post pictures later this week.