See What Happens?

My Strategies' classes' averages are slowly on the rise, and have been throughout much of the quarter.

Great, you say. Stick a feather in your cap and call it a job well done on your teaching methods.

But really, it's nothing I've done differently. Most of what's changed is that more and more of them are wising up and getting their homework finished, or at least handed in within the five-day window (which they'd better enjoy while it lasts because it may not be long for this world). As I've stressed to them repeatedly, actually turning in their assignments, however minor they may seem in isolation, makes a big difference when the time comes to calculate their quarterly averages. It really does.

See what happens when you listen, kids? Good things, that's what.

If anything, I hope I've toughened up my expectations bit by bit over the course of the school year. I'm not about to get lax on anything we've established since August 19th. I want to move them beyond. Keep pushing them. Even if we slip up on the way. Otherwise, we get complacent.

Excellent Writers Club meeting this afternoon. Easily the best so far. We lost a member (sob) but quickly gained another - and she read her completed short story to the other charter members of the club. They really enjoyed it, and they told her so. You could tell that made her feel good.

Meanderings

- Day off from work for Presidents' Day. This explains why I didn't seem to have my usual spring in my step working out at the YMCA. I ran about the same mileage, and I burned roughly the same number of kilocalories, but I seemed to tire a bit faster today. Guess that's the reason.

- This week, and the next couple of weeks, will be crazy. We're about to enter the "mean season" of testing - ITBS, MAP, and the writing portion of PASS. But we have to devote at least two periods of this week in preparation for PASS. Whatever. Two less days to prepare for.

- My instructional coach had a nasty car accident last week. It resulted in several broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung. But they got it re-inflated, and he actually came home early sometime before Friday. Prayers for him and his family are much appreciated.

- Still awaiting my final ADEPT evaluation, and the summative conference that will soon follow.

- The schizophrenia that has permeated Clemson's football team has officially caught up to the basketball team. We follow up a decent win against Boston College with a real stinker against the Hoos of Virginia, the second-worst team in the ACC. Now we return home to face a suddenly red hot Maryland team ready for revenge against the squad that single-handedly wrecked its Senior Night last year. Huh boy.

Agape Day

In honor of Valentines Day, my "Word of the Day" for my sixth graders was "phileo." Which is the Greek word for "brotherly love." Obviously, I wasn't about to use "eros;" some of them have dirty enough minds as it is. As for "agape?" Hmm...sacrificial love? Unconditional love? I considered it, but in the end, I decided that as a whole, the kids needed to view love as a process. Like you have to work up from physical love to brotherly love to unconditional love. So I went with "phileo."

Also in honor of Agape Day, Anna Kate and I had a multi-part celebration. Friday night, we took in Winter Jam at the Bi-Lo Center. Now if you know anything about Winter Jam, you know that there are no tickets involved; it's a meager 10 bucks to get inside. Which makes it an instant public access thing. I'd been for two consecutive years until last year. Anna and I got stuck in the crowd awaiting entry, and they were running behind (as usual). It got to the point where we just couldn't stand it any longer. So we bailed, and I resolved to do my darnedest to see that it didn't happen next year.

Flash forward to 2009. I'm running slightly behind since I have to go to the post office to order my overseas passport for our honeymoon. So all my vows have pretty much been blown. But of course, it's Anna who comes through in the clutch. You see, one of the perks of being a teacher is that you have friends in high places. And her assistant, and her daughter, had early seats, being VIP members (that's "Vision Partner" in HIS Radio terms). She asked, and they agreed to let us go in with them. Talk about a difference. We wait outside for no more than 10 minutes, and then we're strolling through a half-empty Bi-Lo Center concourse while the mob stays out for another half hour. We could pick out any seats we wanted (and we took full advantage and got some nice floor seats), get food & drink, use the potty, and relax while the rest of the populace crammed in. Now that's a plan!

Oh, and it helped that Winter Jam itself was a total blast. Hawk Nelson and Tony Nolan were my personal highlights.

The next part of Agape Day '09 involved a road trip for the two of us to Chimney Rock, NC. This was supposed to happen last Saturday, but my normally stout Chevrolet Tracker caught a screw in its right front tire, and...well, you know the rest. This time, the trip went off without a hitch. I love the mountains. I like the beach as well, but when I'm up in the high peaks off winding, curvy roads and hiking trails, I'm in my element. We took the Hickory Nut trail that ended with a nice waterfall. Then we visited Chimney Rock itself and the Opera Box that overlooks it. Even got to say hi to our folks who were watching us via the web-cam. Then, after chilling in the Sky Lounge we visited Moonshiner's Cave. Thankfully, it wasn't the time of year for bats.

Minor notes:

- Anna and I invented a new game in the Sky Lounge. Bottlecap Air Hockey. It's pretty similar to traditional air hockey only a soda bottlecap is the puck and your pinky fingers are the sticks. And being the competitive types that we are, we probably had twenty personal fouls between us.

- Tried a new soda, Mountain Dew Revolution, yesterday. It's got a wild berry fruit flavor with a touch of ginseng. It's quite tasty.

- When we got back, and before we capped off the night with a romantic dinner at Larkins on the River, we watched Little Manhattan. It's a beautiful, charming, sweet movie about first love. I'd originally thought about getting us Fireproof but when I saw this, I just couldn't resist. Also, Josh
Hutcherson is this decade's Elijah Wood.

So, happy Agape Day, everyone. Tell your significant other you love them. And never forget that there is a God Who loves you far beyond what a Hallmark card, or a mountain trip, or a romantic dinner, or a silly comedy can express. His love gives true meaning to "agape."

Lofty Company

Clemson 74, Duke 47

"Play hard, Tigers," I said yesterday.

Yeah ... you could say they played hard.

I'm on a belief that desiring payback is wrong. And I stand by that belief. Still, it was nice to see the shoe on the other foot for a change.

Last night was one of those magical nights where everything gelled perfectly for Clemson at both ends of the court. Offense finally clicked into gear. Our full-court press fixed its reputation. And I would say despite the slightly less than anticipated student turnout, the Littlejohn Loonies and Oliver Purnell's Posse did their part to make life even more miserable for Duke.

We haven't thoroughly enjoyed a romp like this since the 31-7 GameDay stomp of Georgia Tech in 2006. And even that was reasonable close for nearly half the game. Last night, our basketball team not only played with Duke in the first half - they beat them like an old, dusty carpet. The 33-21 score did not reflect just how much the Devils got flat-out punished by the more seasoned, more athletic, and more driven Tiger squad.

But in the second half?

Heck, we clicked into an even higher gear and pushed our foot clear through Duke's jugular. Who was waiting and waiting for one of Duke's patented "runs" that would surely tighten things up in the second half? Never happened. And anytime there was a thought it could happen? Oh, there was Trevor Booker slamming home a monster dunk. Oh, there was Terrence "The Assassin" Oglesby nailing a dagger-like trey. Oh, there was K.C. Rivers disrupting things from the inside.

I think we all knew Clemson could beat Duke. Last year in the ACC semis was proof enough of that.

But flat out humiliate them? Give them the same spoonful of pain they've given us for years? Wow. Didn't see that coming.

Now let's go beat Florida State. GO TIGERS!

Signing Day

Compared to recent years, National Signing Day '09 has been ... less than riveting.

But surprisingly, I'm not too worried. Oh, it makes the class of '10 that much more critical to load up at just about every position. But I have confidence that Dabo, Billy and co. can handle it. 2008 was just a big bump in the road set about by mitigating circumstances. Losing your coach, having a disappointing regular season, and getting destroyed by Alabama will do that to you.

But I like the few that we have. Tahj Boyd will have some ACL rehab ahead of him, but I look for him to be right in the mix with Willy Korn and Kyle Parker.

Roderick McDowell is short but very, very fast and flashy, kind of like Andre Ellington last year. With C.J. Spiller back for his senior year and Jamie Harper and Ellington behind him, it will be interesting to see whether Roddy can break into the rotation or wait for '10.

We piled on linebackers this year with Spencer Shuey, Corico Hawkins, and Quandon Christian. Which is good; we need a boost in talent in that area.

It sucks to lose promising safeties like Craig Loston (but he was never gonna get pried loose from the Longhorn state) and Devonte Holloman (this stings more because he chose the Gamecocks, along with Leon Mackey), but we've got a good one in Jonathan Meeks.

Tyler Shatley and Chad Diehl in the mix as fullbacks could be fun to watch.

But that's about it in Tigertown. The only other news? Oh yeah, there's that basketball game on primetime this evening, nationally televised on ESPN. It's against ... who is it? Oh, right. Duke.

Sigh. Play hard, Tigers...

Thoughts on Rex's Address

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex spoke yesterday via a virtual conference (broadcast over ETV.org) about South Carolina's budget crisis.

Hot topics included the possibility of teachers and administrators being put on furlough for up to five days, salary cuts (for administrators and teachers (including those who are National Board Certified), cutting back on mid-year testing, and releasing state funding for classroom expenses.

I missed the conference at its original airtime thanks to my Furman errand, so I had to catch it late last night.

Initially, I didn't feel like Rex gave any straight answers to some of those pending issues detailed above. Probably because there aren't any, at least not while the economy remains in flux as we await President Obama's upcoming stimulus plan.

I get the feel that he wants to raise teacher salaries to a reasonable level (where it is right now is absolutely pitiful), and yet he also wants to give school districts the option of putting teachers on furlough for up to (and possibly exceeding) five days. In his own words, even if he were to lay off the entire educational work force, that wouldn't be enough to erode the $330 million in funding lost to our eroding economy.

I worry that he's more concerned with short-term solutions rather than the long-term. How long is long enough for a furlough? And what about the ramifications? Personally, I doubt I'd want to risk the future of my career on a stop-gap that may extend past my tenure as a superintendent.

Rex claims that ADEPT is doing "well." I'd debate that, but he didn't go into enough details. If he thinks an overhaul of school accountability measures is necessary to ensure that high quality (or does he mean "highly qualified?") teachers service our schools (and not just in communities with low poverty rates), I'm all for it - to an extent.

Rex wants a level playing field. For me, it all comes down to who has the power to evaluate and critique you, and what the checks and balances are on that power. Do you have to be NBC to be in good financial standing, or can your teaching experience make up some of that ground? I don't think the yearly bonuses added on by experience go far enough, but how much is "far enough," and who determines it? And what do you do for those with/pursuing Masters and Doctorates?

For the record, Greenville County district spokesman Olby Lyles said he's in agreement with the "intent" behind Rex's goal, but hasn't read the specifics of the legislation.

Just remember - intent doesn't always translate into law. There is a real possiblity that we could have a very sticky situation on our hands.

Dodge

You know what comes with teaching experience?

Improved eyesight.

Even when you've only been at this for going on two years, you can start to spot an ADEPT person coming close-by. I happened to glance past one of mine eating lunch in the teacher work room as I was taking my kids to lunch. Naturally, I assumed she was headed to my room when it was over.

I don't know why this is after so many evaluations, mostly by my Furman supervisor (Dr. Thomas) and my district mentor (Klase Gillespie), but I still get mighty nervous whenever I get observed. I can't explain it.

Maybe it's the underlying knowledge that the person seated in the back of the room has the real power for 50-something minutes and no one knows it but you. That with one major screw-up, it could go badly for you. And the worse part is, you won't know how bad until several days later.

Anyway, I scrambled to have my room ready for 4th period. I mean as close to tip-top shape as it could be. And ... she never came.

So I thought, "well, she's observing the Social Studies teacher up the hall. So she's bound to pay me a visit during 6th period."

Normally, with an entire planning period at my disposal, it would've been cake to set up for her visit. Today wasn't exactly normal. We had a parent-teacher conference. And this was one of the few meetings that take up practically your whole hour of planning time. Toward about 1:50 or so I start eye-balling the desk clock, mourning every precious second I was losing to get things set.

Thankfully, I was left with a few minutes. Just enough to set out copies of Chasing Vermeer and get the desks in order. And today, I even lined my sometimes-rowdy 6th period out in the hall to remind them of procedures for coming in and getting on task. It worked beautifully. Quietest 6th period I've had in a long time. But ... she never came.

Whatever irritation I might have felt was lost quickly because I had to run an errand to Furman and get back to the Y in time for a workout. Still, I know my wily ADEPT person is out there, and if I'm not on my toes, she's bound to catch me off guard.

(Of course, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect. It's fun to make light of my own nervousness, as silly as it may be).

Thoughts From Super Bowl '09

As I type this, Arizona just scored a TD on a fade route from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald, who had been mostly silent up until that drive. So this may be a close game yet.

Random thoughts as January winds down and we head into the "Love" Month...

- My Dad's 50th birthday party was held last Friday. The whole family turned out, from cousins to grandparents. It was an awesome time. The "roast" that we had planned for him turned into a big celebration of all the positive things he's done. I contributed a couple: our days in RAs participating in the Pinewood Derby, and the time that he nearly threw two loud, obnoxious fans out of a Clemson/USC basketball game.

- I have a new unit ready for mid-February. My GT kids are going to study bias and propaganda.

- Wake Forest can't get up for the little guys on their schedule. Why couldn't we get the Deacs that showed up against formerly winless Georgia Tech two weeks ago?

- Must beat Duke on Wednesday. Must, must, must.

- On the other hand, N.C. State looked a lot like we used to against the Tar Heels years ago. I know, I know, we got steam-rolled this year, but my point remains: the Pack managed a few runs here and there, but ultimately, you knew they didn't have the skill, the coaching, or the talent to overcome the Heels. We do now...if we can just put the whole package together.