new idea

i have this idea, and i have a great name for it, but i will not tell the name, and i will only vaguely hint at the premise. it will be a business and ethical venture. i have been cheated on so many times. so have almost every single one of my friends; this has happened multiple times from people that have seemed reliable, stable, happy, in love. why? wouldn't it be a fantastic idea to start a networking site that exposes, specifically, the people who cheat? at least that way if someone sees the cheater, and still decides to date them, they pretty much know what they are in for? i know that there is an ethical dilemma here. there is also this thing called "fuck cheaters", which is on it's own merit an ethical balancing scale. what say you?

at least

i know of two people who read this thing.

summer!

so, it is officially summer in my life, and in two and one half hours, i have a work meeting, shuffling of school furniture, and then a road trip down to santa barbara where i will eat, drink, and sleep well. there is a chance that i will return to san jose with a typewriter on my arm.. yes, ON my arm, not in my arms. had a wonderful date with a friend the saturday night (maybe that was the beginning of my summer? hmm..) in which we played pool, ate ethiopian food, and then watched true blood all night (yes!). i begin teaching summer school next monday, so i am going to try and squeeze in a lot in a little bit of time, so if you are my friend and you are reading this, please be nice if i cant quite see everyone.

love and a perfect summer song:

the email i abandoned

i abandoned this email, not simply because i started to sound like a dick, but because before i send it i want my motherfucking tenure.

This year has been a privilege. In so many ways. First, it has been a privilege to work with the students that live in this district. All of them: the "good" kids; social misfits; intellectuals; migrant; athletes; plain heroes; all. Additionally, I cannot imagine working with a group of individuals, professionals all, with such a clear focus on a singular goal: student success. If only such sentiment was always put into practice and policy. This is the state of things. We recognize and understand it, if not always agree with it. This sentiment is not defeatist, no. Rather, this is a call to action. I, and many, many, many others may not be back next year, and if that is the case, the call is this: remember why you are here. If it is SIMPLY a paycheck, go away, leave a position for those inspired. Leave before further taint upon an educational establishment already tainted. Popularity matters in elections; popularity matters in rehire. But popularity will never matter in equity unless your position relegates equity to all.

Ian Fay
Andrew P. Hill H.S.

“Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.” ~ William Saroyan

number two pencils

to my dear reader:

you are likely tired of reading me complain about testing. well, tough shit. nah, forget it, let's write about something fun! like...

having someone over to watch a movie, but never quite making it to starting the movie

coasting on my brand-new rebuilt burnt-orange schwinn continental through japantown during farmer's market, buying zilch

having debates about israel and zionism in the comments section of a hip-hop website

hanging tough with addie (no new kids)

writing poems about having a broken heart, yeeeeeeeeeeee!

having a stranger rub your face with theirs because they thought you "sang niiiice"

signing yearbooks, having yearbook signed (sample: "what's crackin my brotha? when we gonna go pull them crazy rips from the club!") <---- what does this even mean?

work picnic. sike!

huey smith the piano man. hey, a-yo! zooba zooba zooba zooba, ha-ha-ha-ha!

writing about having fun.

ringtone

my face feels all smooshy and sunburny

and warm

and the ring is turned back and facing south

and slips are a pretty summer pink

some good, some bad

reopeningtolovewasaNEWRARETHING

and some words sound better in spanish

well spoken, or not

and some knees, some ankles have

mountains before them

living room wrestling be damned

and lobe tugs in original ringtone

will not unsettle a restful night

because it is set to

vibrate

ah yes, testing!!!!

testing sucks, plain and simple. the process, the logistics, the distribution of materials, the test itself, the administration of, and yes, most of all, the stupid rules. tests operate under the guise of, "hey, this information is going to inform us educators what you have and have not learned in order to maximize our educational effectiveness for you to be successful." well, doesn't that sound lovely? and it would be too if it were true, but here's how it actually operates: tests are taken, and taken, and taken by students over, and over, and over (losing valuable instruction time mind you) in order for a bunch of educrats to put them through a machine that tally's bubbles, judges a person based upon these bubbles, and then tracks the students according to the bubbles. efficient system yeah? the great part is, you don't even have to know the student, just the bubbles!

i do have an idea though. i propose that we make the educators and the educrats take the test along with the students. after all, we are experts, we are PROFESSIONALS; this morning, while reading the sample question for history about the bolshevik revolution, the overwhelming response from students was, "i have never even heard of that." now, the cynic within me thinks a couple of things:

a. these kids were not paying attention in class
b. their teachers have FAILED

now, the other, less cynical part of me thinks:

a. these kids pay attention in my class, why wouldn't they in their others?
b. i know most of their teachers, and they ARE professionals, intelligent, etc.

so, let's just test the positive side of my brain. let us all, experts in our subjects, take the test alongside our students. of course, many teachers will get every single answer correct, but one question remains: do they know how to TEACH their subject so that their students may do the same?