The English language as we speak it has eight parts of speech. Can you name them? Hint: they are nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. If you younger than 40, you might want to google School House Rock or maybe go to You Tube. School House Rock probably taught me more about … Continue reading Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and The Parts of Speech – How the NC General Assembly Teaches Us How to Use Prepositions
Public Education
The Newest Member of the Endangered Species List in NC, the “NorthCackalacky Magister expertus” Otherwise Known as the North Carolina Veteran Teacher
There are many on West Jones Street in Raleigh who are deathly afraid of a certain “genus” of people, and more scared are they of a certain species in that genus that they have exerted great effort to make it endangered in hopes of making it extinct. The biological classification of this genus / species … Continue reading The Newest Member of the Endangered Species List in NC, the “NorthCackalacky Magister expertus” Otherwise Known as the North Carolina Veteran Teacher
Shakespeare Would Start School Earlier, At Least Before Football Season Begins
Love, whose month is ever May, Spied a blossom passing fair Playing in the wanton air. And students’ eyes wondered far Their studies not import any more. (Love's Labour's Lost, 4.3.104) Actually the last two lines are not Shakespeare’s. They’re mine, but it really fits into what I am about to argue. There’s seems to … Continue reading Shakespeare Would Start School Earlier, At Least Before Football Season Begins
You Need to Know This Term – “Sine Die”, Or How the NCGA Will Not Let Bad Bills Die
Can you identify these Latin terms and phrases? “Carpe Diem” – Dead Poets Society “E Pluribus Unum” – look at a dollar bill “Et Cetera” – also known as “etc.” “Et tu, Brute?” – read some Shakespeare “Fac simile” – just the fax “In memoriam” – can be saddening “Magna Cum Laude” – not on … Continue reading You Need to Know This Term – “Sine Die”, Or How the NCGA Will Not Let Bad Bills Die
Merit Pay for Teachers and Other Bad Ideas
Much of what written below was also in a letter to Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam in response to an interview he gave concerning teacher pay. With the idea being floated to give bonuses to teachers whose students pass AP, IB, and CTE tests, the myth of merit pay needs to be revisited. I do not know … Continue reading Merit Pay for Teachers and Other Bad Ideas
Fifty Shades of No Way – New SBOE Member Todd Chasteen’s First Book To Challenge
Now that Todd Chasteen has now been appointed to the NC State Board of Education, I would like to go ahead and ask that he and others on the board read the latest installment of the Fifty Shades of … book for possible inclusion in schools, or at least in the dialogue of what is … Continue reading Fifty Shades of No Way – New SBOE Member Todd Chasteen’s First Book To Challenge
Censorship and the Fear of Free Thought – The Nomination of Todd Chasteen for SBOE
When Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, he was living in a time of the rising Cold War and the end of Nazism. The novel is a futuristic look (in 1950) into what society might be like if reading books were banned by the government. Firemen, who were the governmental workers who burned rogue books, would … Continue reading Censorship and the Fear of Free Thought – The Nomination of Todd Chasteen for SBOE
Gollum and his “Precious” – The Achievement School District and What is in Its Pocketses
Yep - I went there. In the latest besmirching of public schools, leaders of the Senate Education Committee gave their approval to an Achievement School District in North Carolina, a GOP backed endeavor that places low performing schools from poverty stricken areas in the hands of out-of-state, for-profit charter organizations. Past ASD “experiments” have … Continue reading Gollum and his “Precious” – The Achievement School District and What is in Its Pocketses
TABOR – A Tourniquet Around the Bloodlines of Our Republic
TABOR. To many in the NCGA it is called the TAxpayer Bill of Rights. Makes it sound like it truly benefits those in our state. It doesn’t. It’s just another catchy acronym that acts like a Trojan horse for something more destructive. Acronyms are easy to shape and easier to sound beneficial. However, the “benefits” … Continue reading TABOR – A Tourniquet Around the Bloodlines of Our Republic
SB867 – Background Checking The Right to Bare Arms
Again, irony makes this world go round. In an effort to wrap up the long session of the North Carolina General Assembly in record fashion, the reactionary creators of HB2, vouchers, unregulated charter school growth, and limited health care options are proffering one more reactionary measure to pass, probably with a midnight session. Senate Bill … Continue reading SB867 – Background Checking The Right to Bare Arms
caffeinated rage 