It's been awhile...

Well, it's been awhile since I've sat down to blog and there's been a bunch of stuff going on. Normally when I say there's been a bunch of stuff going on its got something to do with my kids. Not this time! This update is all about me.

Let's start with inclusion teaching. Last blog, I talked about inclusion and that it had started off much better and it has continued to flourish. In the 7 inclusion classes that I have this year I actually co-teach the class. In the 4 Math Models classes its working great. Some days I do the notes and some days I do the examples. We work great together and I hope that the school allows us to work together for many years to come. In my 2 Geometry classes, its not quite as smooth. The teacher I work with is great, but I don't know my geometry as well and its harder for me to teach it. I'm learning though and we are working well together. Given time, I can see the same success in Geometry as I have in Math Models. My freshman Algebra class is a whole other story. First of all, its freshman. Enough said. Second, its the last class of the day. WOW! Outside of that, the teacher I work with is phenomenal. He is super organized and is a great teacher of detail. I am really at ease teaching Algebra, but not in his class. He does such a great job of teaching the kids to use highlighters, using their calculators and ways to eliminate answers on multiple choice tests. I know the material and believe that I can teach it too, but not the way he does. I enjoy watching him work. He's good.

Let's move from high school to college. A mere 24 years after I finished my undergraduate degree, I had to do something about getting a Masters degree. I didn't want to do it, but I didn't have a choice if I wanted to keep my job at North Mesquite or work in the MISD. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I had to do something. I heard about a program that the district and Texas A&M Commerce were offering called the Secondary COHORT program. The program consisted of 6 COHORT classes and 6 electives in 3 years. The COHORT classes would be taken 1 at a time in the Fall and Spring semesters. Each COHORT class would meet 5 times spread out over the semester. The electives were up to me. One option for the electives was to bundle 30 hours of Professional Knowledge classes offered by the district. With a wife, 4 kids and my desire to be a part of their lives, this sounded like the best option for me. So, in January, 2008 I started on my graduate degree. Last Wednesday, December 8, 2010, I finished my degree. I am now the proud owner of a Masters degree in Secondary Education. It was a unique experience for me. I enjoyed the COHORT classes, the people I got to know in my class, the teachers and the knowledge that I learned that has made me a better teacher, but it was hard. I stressed over every assignment and struggled writing every paper. When I finally turned in that last assignment, you can't believe the amount of stress that left my life. I guess the good thing about all of the worrying and all of the stress is that I finished with a 4.0. Not bad for a guy that barely survived undergrad school!

I saved the best, er...the worst for last. Halloween weekend, I was having problems with my eyes and when I woke up Monday morning I had double vision. After a trip to the eye doctor, I went to a Neurologist who said I most likely had a diabetic stroke, plus my blood pressure was high. I didn't know I was diabetic nor that there were blood pressure issues. Went and had an MRI and MRA on Wednesday (That's another blog someday), Cardiologist on Thursday, Endocronologist on Friday. Basically, I was messed up! The good news was that if I took care of myself I'd get my vision back. The bad news was it would take 3 to 6 months. Until then I have to wear an eye patch. Well, that was 6 weeks ago. During that time, I have taken control of my diet, taken my medications, lost 20 lbs and started walking 3 to 4 times a week. Now its just a matter of being patient until the eye gets better. There's more medical stuff to tell, but this has gotten long and I'll save it for another post.

High expectations

So, I went to a staff development training last Thursday to learn how, for the umpteenth time, to write IEP's. Besides the fact that no one can figure out the right way to write IEP's, I heard once again that Special Education teachers weren't pushing their students, weren't teaching and had low expectations. You know what? I'm sick and tired of hearing it. I have decided that from this moment on, I am taking offense to being told I had low expectations for my students.

Not only do I have to hear that I had low expectations for my students, I have to listen to my peers agree to it! "You have to admit, that our students were progressing..." NO! I do not have to admit that my students were progressing. My students were progressing. It just took several years to get the right tools in place to assess the SPED students and actually track the data.

Seriously, you want to know what's offensive, forcing students to take classes that they are ill prepared to take. Let's force all students into general education classes when they don't have the skills to be successful. I'm pretty good with numbers and do okay in math, but just because you put me in an aeronautical engineering class doesn't mean I'll get it! I couldn't even pass Trig in high school! Students with learning disabilities have just that, a disability. Does that mean they can't be successful in the general education classes? No it doesn't. As a matter of fact, I have several current students who are doing an outstanding job in their general ed classes. I also have several students who are so far over their heads, that they've begun to shut down and give up.

The thing that everyone seems to forget is that each student is an individual and its not a one size fits all solution to preparing students for after high school. Not all SPED students need resource classes, but some do. If teachers aren't teaching the students, don't have high expectations and aren't moving their students forward then find new teachers! This is my 11th year to teach and 10 years ago, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and it was extremely difficult to have high expectations went you don't know what you're doing, but that's a whole other post. It didn't take long to figure out where my students were and what weaknesses that had and with that information I was able to teach my students skills they needed to be successful in the world. As soon as that happened...BOOM! Teach grade level material, period! Doesn't matter if they can't add, subtract, multiply or divide, they can use a calculator for that; they need to know slope, system of equations, conics, etc... They can use a calculator? Sure they can, unless of course they are taking the accuplacer test to get into college or the asvab test to get in the armed forces.

We aren't preparing students to be successful after high school and everyone is going to have to pay for it.

Change

Change is a necessary part of life. Sometimes change is good, sometimes change is not so good. I have to say that my life is full of all kinds of changes these days. Trying to deal with all of the changes in my life is probably the biggest reason why I haven't updated my blog lately; Mostly, because I don't think that I'm ready to talk about all of it. For the most part, I don't mind change. I like to keep things simple and change messes that up, but change brings excitement and I like excitement too. The cool thing about all of this is that I have an ace up my sleeve. What is that ace? Easy. I know that God is in control and that as long as I follow His lead all of the changes in my life I'll be able to handle because, God won't give me more than I can deal with. Not bad, huh?

What's been happening...

WOW! So much has happened since I last updated this thing. I was drawn to it to write, but never felt as if I knew what I wanted to say. I guess that I'm going to just have to start typing and see what ends up on this thing!

Ok, so here's the breakdown.

Patrick's graduation. Moose was able to survive a bad case of senioritis and actually finished pretty good. There was time there I was not too sure though. He really enjoyed wood shop and I can see Moose setting up his own wood shop one day. He was pretty impressive with the things he made. I think the hardest thing he did all year, was to give his testimony at church on Senior Recognition Day. I know he was really nervous, but he really did a good job. Made his dad tear up and his mom cry. I was really proud of him. Since graduation, Patrick seems older. I don't know if its the facial hair or what, but he seems older. I watch him when he's with others and he's still the big goofy kid he's always been, but it seems different now. I guess graduating high school is a passage into young adulthood, I don't know.

Shelby's an Aggie. Talk about a whirlwind ride, I wasn't sure this thing was ever going to end! She applys and is denied, she talks to them and they determine that they didn't review her whole transcript, so they (A&M) do it again. They post on Friday that a decision is made, but don't update what that decision online forever! I think it was the following Wednesday before we actually found out. I can't tell you how many times I checked and Cindie checked that website looking for an answer. I'm so happy for her. She really wants to go to A&M and now she gets to! She's happy, Mom and Dad are happy, Josh is happy, Patrick is happy and Zach is estatic! He gets to be the only child at home. I think he's going to find out real quick how much he misses his siblings.

Josh home from school. Josh walked in the door and started working. He substituted almost every day he could. I think he really likes education and I know without a doubt he will be a great teacher and coach. He really cares about the kids. Now that school's out, he finally found a job as a security guard. Another uniform. This is the kind of job that teaches you how important an education is. Between work, an Anatomy class and Jenny, I don't get to talk to him too much these days, but that's what happens as they grow up. It's a hard adjustment for me, but I get it. I'm just not a fan of it.

Zach is Zach. He constantly makes me laugh, he's completely spoiled and he knows it. He's still a great kid and I am looking forward to having more quality time with him now that graduation is over. He played baseball again this year and he did okay. He pitched a few times, played a good second base and was a surprisingly good little catcher. I was proud of his effort and his willingness to do whatever needed to be done. He may never be the star of the team, but he will be the glue that holds a team together. He's a great kid.

I think that's enough for now. I'll try to write more now that it's summer.

Are you serious? It's T-Ball!!!!

One out, runners on first and second. The batter waits with baited anticipation. The umpire places the ball on the tee; the pitcher makes a throwing motion, and the batter swings with all of his might. The ball flies between the shortstop and third baseman, hits the ground on the edge of the dirt and rolls into the outfield grass between two five year old outfielders who watch the ball pass by before realizing they need to give chase. The runners take off as the crowd yells with excitement. The runner from second scores with ease. The runner on first stops at second and smiles. His coaches and fans yell for him to run and he takes off for third. By this time, the two outfielders have fallen down, and begun wrestling for the ball. Finally, the left fielder comes up with the ball and heaves the ball toward the infield. The ball doesn't make it to the dirt and the shortstop runs to the ball. The batter has reached first and is headed for second. The runner who started on first, stops at third and smiles. By this point his coach is red-faced and about to pass out from a lack of oxygen as he "encourages" the five year old to head home. He takes off for home. The shortstop throws the ball toward home. The batter stops on second base and raises his hands to the sky in triumph. The ball hits the dirt and rolls right to the catcher at home plate. The runner heading home sees the ball, turns around and runs safely to third base. Time is called.

An average play in any T-Ball game played any in town, in any state. I was an umpire in this game. It was a great game. The team out in the field was losing the game. They played great and managed to tie the game to force an extra inning. Alas, they lost the game.

The final outcome of this 5 year old T-Ball game is not the point. The outcome of a 5 year old T-Ball game should never be the point! I was utterly appalled at what took place at this game.

Before I start my rant, let's come to an understanding. I believe that if you play the game, you play to win. If you don't play to win, then why keep score? My belief in playing to win does not mean win at all costs. Some costs are too high. I do believe that it is important that children learn how to win and lose with grace. Sports are a great teaching tool for that very thing (Another blog on another day!).

Now for the rant... I cannot believe some of the things that I heard coaches say during this game. The coach of the winning team was so incensed that his team gave up the lead, that during the game he called a practice on Mother's Day and he didn't care if it upset families. His team wasn't playing to their capabilities and they were going to run, and if they didn't show on Sunday, then they were running more on Monday. He continually berated these 5 year olds throughout the rest of the game. Threatening them to run after the game, do pushups, sit on the bench and not play...the list goes on and on.

The other team's coach was just as bad. After the play above, the head coach said that he wished he had run the kids more at the previous practice, and he wouldn't make that mistake again. He also decided that he wanted to argue that the runner heading home should be out for running out of the baseline. There was no attempt made to tag the runner. As a matter of fact, the runner didn't get within five feet of homeplate or the catcher. The coach said to me, "He must of run away from the tag, I taught my players to tag the runner." So, basically, the coach didn't see the play and really just wanted to argue. I let him say his piece, and explained the rule to the coach. He continued to be defiant, so I tossed him! I actually enjoyed that part. The guy was a jerk. I really wanted to toss the other coach too, but there was no cause.

There are a couple of key points I want to make.

1. This is 5 year old T-Ball! These are 5 year old kids that when the game is over don't have a clue as whether or not they won the game. They just want to play.

2. If you are going to coach youth sports, know the game, know the rules and focus on the fact they are just kids. All you should really focus on is teaching the fundamentals of the game. In this case, catch, throw, hit and run. I'm not saying don't play to win, I always play to win, just do it with some class.

When I coach kids, its always about the kids. As much as I think I would like to be a major league manager, I know that this is not the time for me to live out that dream. I hate to lose. My family can attest to that, but come on people, they're kids!!!! I've seen guys making $25 million dollars a year make errors, what would make me think a 5 year old won't??? Adults need to get a grip. Just some information...most colleges don't give full rides to baseball players. It's not a money sport, so they don't get the money that other sports do. Second, do you realize the odds of making to the major leagues??? Astonomical!! So lighten people, let the kids have fun and teach them what the game is all about.

Heroism

Behind the house is a drainage ditch that the City of Mesquite built...it's got steep angled walls and when it rains, it moves alot of water. When it snows, it gets really slick. Now, we just found out it gets really slick, because it never really snows here until yesterday. We probably got 10 inches of snow. It's awesome. Anyway, back to the ditch...my two younger boys decided that it would be fun to take the plastic trash can lid and slide down the walls of the ditch. It was great once. Problem was, the walls were so slick that they couldn't climb back up! There's no telling how many times they tried, but they couldn't get more than halfway up. Finally, Moose was able to get Zach onto a piece of wood that had fallen from our neighbors fence and Zach made it to the top. Moose tells Zach go get Mom and Dad and Zach says, "I'm not leaving my brother!" After several minutes of pleading, Moose finally convinces Zach to go get a rope from the garage. As he heads for the garage, he sees me sitting in the front living room and knocks on the window and yells that Patrick is stuck in the creek. I get my shoes on and head out back. By the time I get there, Zach has already tied this really small nylon rope to a fence post and is trying to throw the rope to Moose. The rope is so light that he can only get it to go half way down. He tries three or four times with no luck. At this point I'm laughing hysterically, Patrick is laughing hysterically, but not Zach, he's trying to save his brother. Out of frustration, Zach sits down to slide back down into the culvert to take Patrick the rope. Moose and I tell him not to do that, he'll just get stuck again. With a serious look on his little face, he says "Dad, let me do this". My little man was willing to "sacrifice" himself for his brother.

You hope and pray that in times of crisis that you would respond in a manner to save others. That you would sacrifice yourself for the protection of others... to be a hero. Really now, how many of us growing up have dreamed of being a hero? Rescuing someone from a bad guy or pulling someone from a burning building, we all want to be the hero. I know without any doubt now, that my little Zachary would be that hero. To him, Moose was in big trouble and he was not going to abandon him and he was willing to put himself back "in danger" if it meant helping his big brother. In something so simple to us adults (and really funny too), this little guy was acting to save his brother.
So, Zach slides back down taking the rope to Moose. Moose takes the rope and pulls it tight and starts his climb up the incline.

After about three steps he says, " I'm scared! I'm afraid that the knot is going to come undone!" Now this is a legitimate fear. Remember, Zach tied the rope to fencepost. Zach has a hard time tying his shoes! I work my way over to the neighbors yard and get to the fencepost and check out the knot. I wish Zach would tie his shoes as good as he tied that knot, because under no circumstances was that knot coming undone. I help Moose the last few feet to safety and throw Zach the rope for his climb out.

After several comedy of errors, he still can't get out, so Moose slides back down to help Zach out. When Zach gets to the top, he is soaking wet, but he has a smile on his face...my little hero! He rescued the trapped Moose. Patrick makes it back to "safety" again and all is well.

McGwire Speaks

So, last week Mark McGwire confessed that he once used steroids...DUH! Honestly, how many people actually believed there was a question about that?

I read several articles about McGwire and how insincere his statement was and that even though he did confess it didn't mean anything. Writers were still not going to vote him into the Hall of Fame. You know, I'm okay with those who have votes for the Hall choose not to vote him in because he used steroids and his stats are tainted, that's there choice, but PLEASE, PLEASE tell me that you aren't going to vote in those other guys who confessed too!

A-Rod, probably the most talented player of his era admitted to steroids and all is forgiven, same thing for Jason Giambi. I even understand holding a grudge against those who denied using steroids and later failed a test like Rafael Palmeiro, but just because others like A-Rod said yes, I did and I'm sorry doesn't clear their record. If they used steroids their stats are tainted too, period. Would A-Rod have just volunteered the information, NO! He waited until it came out that he was a user before he confessed. He, like many others, was hoping that he would slip through and not get caught up in the roid-hunt in baseball.

I guess what it all boils down to for me is this; If the voters for the Hall of Fame say that I'm not voting for anyone who was caught using steroids, I'm okay with that. If the voters for the Hall of Fame say I will only vote for someone who confesses they used steroids, I'm okay with that if they do that for everyone, but the second they say "His confession wasn't sincere enough" so I'm not voting for him, then that voter should lose his vote.

In my opinion, steroids are wrong and should have no place in athletics. Problem is, there was a period in history where steroids were all over sports. I don't think that you can just ignore those who played during the 'roid era. The Hall of Fame sure didn't think it was too bad to vote in those players who took amphetamines like they were candy in the sixties and seventies. I guess, all in all, each voter of the Hall has to make a decision about their stance on steroids and whatever that stance is, they need to stick to it. Don't be wishy-washy about it, make a decision on what you believe and stick to it. If they used, too bad you can't be in the Hall; If they used and confessed its okay, you can be in the Hall; I don't care if they used, they can be in the Hall; I really don't care what the voters choose, I just want consistency.

I know what I think...if there is undeniable proof that the player used steroids, then I'm sorry but you don't deserve the Hall of Fame. So, no Mark McGwire, no Barry Bonds, no A-Rod, no Rafael Palmeiro. It's sad, but that's how I feel.

Mortality

So, Zach got a basketball goal from Santa this year. Because of the weather and Christmas commitments, it took a couple of extra days to get the thing put together and put in place. Now that its together my two older sons wanted to play me in HORSE. Seems that when we had a basketball goal before, we played HORSE or PIG (Based on the amount of time to play) quite a bit. So, yesterday Josh and I get out on the driveway to play. Josh wins the first game. He raises his hands in the air and yells "Finally!". He says that he's never beaten me before. I have a hard time believing that, but okay. We play two more games and the old man wins them both. As far as I'm concerned two out of three means I'm still undefeated. Tonight Moose and I play...I win the first one, he wins the second one and does a happy dance. I hang on to win game number three. Still undefeated in my eyes, but I can see that the winning record won't last too long. My two older boys are way too young and strong for this old man to hang with much longer.

I remember playing HORSE in the driveway with my dad. He never let me win, but I remember the first time I beat him too. Why is it that the boys want to beat their dads so bad? I know that I wanted to and its obvious by the way my boys reacted that they wanted to...is it a sign that manhood has been achieved? Is it the sign that we've become better than our dads? I know that when it came to basketball or baseball I was a better athlete than my dad, but over the years I've quickly assessed that I haven't even come close to being the man he was. I was blessed with a great example of what a dad is supposed to be. It's a goal that I strive for everyday. I hope that when my boys pass me by in sports, they pass me and become better men too.