Whoa! Is it April Fool's instead of Christmas?

Yes, indeedy, Ms. Cornelius was actually stopped by an administrator and asked about a request a kid had made to change something, and the admin actually came to ask my opinion and preference before he allowed said request.

Man! Christmas came early! Now if only my colleagues didn't think I was lying or hallucinating!

And yes, I am wondering how long we'll be able to keep this guy. Probably not long, damn it.

ROFL! Fantabulous Educat advice for new coworkers!

Mah darlin' Ramblin' Educat hath unleashed the most bodacious, sagacious and probably perspicacious words I have read all month. Ladies and gentlemen, through Educat, I give you this (and add a BIG "AMEN SISTAH!" to it as punctuation):

....And so, new counselor, a choice presents itself to you. Choose carefully, for the road you take at this juncture will define your first year if not your entire time with us here.

You must choose to be either mean or incompetent. You cannot be both.

I'd advise you mull over your options here. If you choose to be mean, it will mean you must be smart. If your job is done to its utmost, I can handle your bitchiness. I would even respect it, because your work will be done and I won't have to speak to you.

Should you choose to be stupid, I can respect that choice as well. Many others have made this choice and if you'll watch the most successful among them, you'll notice that they're kind souls. We smirk sympathetically when we speak of them and shake our heads with a "bless her heart". We help those dumb people. We even love them.

Dumb bitches do not make friends at work. They don't get much respect either. Please be aware that if you choose this option, you will become an object of contempt to many of your co-workers.

The choice, then, is yours. Thank you in advance for allowing this unsolicited advice: Be mean, be dumb. Just be aware that you cannot be both.

Word.

It's a RACE!

So head on over to The Best of Blogs at http://thebestofblogs.com/ and vote for the best blog in all kinds of categories. I would post a link, but when I did, blogger changed it to something else and it didn't work. I swear upon my honor.

Like Education/Homeschooling. You will see all kinds of our friends listed there. Even moi.

Aw, shucks.

Dooce makes me shoot saliva spritzers out of my mouth... and she's on the TODAY show.

This post caused me some serious health problems.

And then I watched her Today show appearance.

I'm trying not to indulge in one of the deadly sins here. But she was brilliant!

Thank you 300,000 times over

Sometime tonight the Statcounter rolled over 300,000 visits to my little ol' piece of the Edusphere! And an adorable and precious friend has nominated this blog for a 2007 Best of Blogs award.

Thankyew! Thankyewverymuch!

Send your love to California Teacher Guy

California Teacher Guy's father passed away last Tuesday. Please stop by his blog and drop him a note of condolence.

California Teacher Guy is a person of refinement and sensitivity who is also a wonderfully moral and upright man. Pray for him and his family at this time of sorrow and turmoil.

I like this. I think you will too.

Once again, Mamacita has written a beautiful piece about the real meaning of Christmas.

Go read it. Trust me. This one is absolutely timely, even though it is weeks until Christmas. It might take that long to sink in in our stupid commercial culture.

And tell Mamacita how great she is. We love her.

Happy Blogoversary to Dr. Homeslice!

Although I am a few days late, I still want to wish the good Dr.Homeslice a happy year in the blogosphere.

His passion for teaching and for the right to organize is truly inspiring.

Head on over and say "Hi there,"-- won'tcha?

5 Blogs that make me think

Darling Elementaryhistoryteacher chose me as one of her five blogs that make her think, and I am indeed humbled by her support.

The original idea for this award was from ilker over at The thinking blog, which is a site I had never visited before and I am so glad that I did-- this looks right up my alley.

One of the greatest things that I have enjoyed since entering the blogging world has been the conversations that I have had with all kinds of people all over the world. I really appreciate the free exchange of ideas, the polite back-and-forth and give-and-take that has so enriched my life.

Although it will be incredibly difficult to limit myself to a measly five, since I am a serial blog-reader, here are five blogs that really make me think, besides the ones that have already been tagged that I read all the time, such as elementaryhistoryteacher's site, Californiateacherguy, Mamacita, and From the trenches of public education:

1. Educationwonks is my blogfather, the person who inspired me to stick my boat in the water. He is the gravitational center of the Edusphere, the creator of the Carnival of Education, that weekly smorgasbord of the bests of educational blogposts, and besides that, he is a really great guy. But he always finds the most interesting nuggets relating to education anywhere. There's always something good to read over at the Wonks' place.

2. NYC Eduator is another blogger who really makes me think. I know a LOT more about NYC schools since I added him to my blogroll, let me tell you. Even if your situation is different than NYC's, you can see the best and the worst of the urban educational landscape here.

3. Scott Elliot at Get On the Bus reports on education for the Dayton Daily News. This is a great place to find out what the world of education is like from a non-teacher perspective here in the Land Between the Coasts.

4. Quaker Dave over at The Quaker Agitator has such a refined sense of ethics and morality-- you know he really believes in practicing what he preaches in the classroom and in his life. This is a man with a real moral compass, much like California Teacher Guy. A moment at his blog refreshes my soul, and provokes much soul-searching.

5.Polski3 at Polski3's View from Here is one of the wonderful examples in the Edusphere of someone who is so invested in public education and who is continually reflecting upon his practice as a teacher. When he threatened to stop blogging this year, I panicked. We've lost a lot of good bloggers this year, and I am so glad that Polski3 decided not to be one of them.

And there are a hundred more people upn whom I depend to help me reflect upon my practice and beliefs as an educator. If you have a chance stop by these blogs and see what I mean. Thanks so much for coming by to my little corner of the world every day!

My Words! In Lights! Validation!

Love those Edwonks!

Every now and then, they let me hijack some of their space in their nifty open threads. And they've given little ol' me my own frontpage soapbox on the effects of technology to the teaching day! Given that they get about a million more hits a day than I do, I'm thrilled.

I'm having a Sally-Field-at-the-Oscars moment, here.

Go See! Go See!

Sometimes, I just think I'm talking to myself-- which is okay, as long as I don't answer.