Just sayin’ on the plane
There are a million things I think if when flying,
mainly because I’m being held hostage by airlines and airports
until my travel has ended.
I really wanted to reach out and grab your hand,
just to have that connection,
to know that this weekend had been real.
In the end , as always, I let it go.
This was written after spending a long weekend with a man I absolutely adore
Songwriting
+Tuesday
Write a song with the word “fences”
I’ve been riding all day
Not a soul to be seen
All along the whole way
Alone not a team
I’ll be happy for sure
To see the home fences
Nothing else will ensure
That I’ve come to my senses
+Wednesday
Rhyme scheme AABB
The season has just begun
Once again we are on the run
There’s layers of ice everywhere
Go out if you must, if you dare
Beware the danger that lurks
Have at the ready your pikes and your dirks
With them the walls will come down
Then you’ll know you do own the town
+Thursday
Master my emotions (use phrase)
I’m doing all I can
To master my emotions
Not your usual devotions
I don’t know where I began
Maybe from the band
All I can say is that this will be an ongoing post until I get things written down. Sounds like a Blog right? Lol
My earliest memories, way back in the early 70′s were of such icons as Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough. My father would watch the races and of course my Brother and I were fascinated by them. I learned names like Allison, Parsons, Baker, Gordon, Pearson, Childress, and Waltrip. The late 70′s saw us going to our local Saugus Speedway to see people like Ron Hornaday race.
The 80′s brought more televised races, the death of my Father, and real NASCAR racing to Saugus Speedway. It was also the era of the Local Street Races, very much illegal but very well attended. Who could forget Glenoaks and Peoria, or San Fernando Road at Roxford?
The 90′s saw the demise of the Saugus Speedway, stupid County of Los Angeles Red-tagged the Grandstands and the track was closed. This happened after we saw racers like Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, and Ron Hornaday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In 1997 the track at Fontana, the California Speedway opened for it’s first race. Of course it is now the Auto Club Speedway. I missed the opening event, but was at the second race at the track. What a difference from Saugus Speedway and the Streetraces.
Once we hit the 21st Century I really started to get back into NASCAR.
You have to wonder what people are thinking. I mean it’s all fine and dandy to research and begin to implement renewable energy resources,but not at the expense of those we already have explored, are exploring, and/or have in place. Think about it, we already have powerplants, drilling rigs, exploration in progress, but the so-called ‘Green’ movement would have you stop all of that an immediately go solar, turn to wind power, or use only green energy. These all take years to put in place on a wide scale, in the meantime what are you supposed to do?
Look at what’s happening in Europe today, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100110904/chicken-little-jumps-the-shark/, it’s happening all over, a huge movement, but at what cost?
“The Government faces demands to tear up or delay plans to force through a £200billion shift to wind turbines, wave power and new nuclear power stations.
Energy industry analyst Martin Brough, of Deutsche Bank, warned that a quarter of households could be driven into fuel poverty by 2015.”
That’s just one example of how crazy things are getting. I’m not opposed to ‘Green’ energy mind you, but it has to be implemented after it is proven effective, not on a whim.
Is anyone really surprised about this? We have dumbed down education so much that’s it’s no surprise to any educator, I’ll tell you that much. We have to be so careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings anymore that kids are passing classes they should be failing.
SAT reading scores fall to lowest level on record – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44519433/ns/us_news-life/#.TpBNOHLqJBl
Case in point: at a school I was employed at the following scenario took place…An AP Chem teacher had over half of his class failing on semester due to lack of participation, not turning in homework, and failing quizzes and tests. He was told he couldn’t fail these students even though he, the students, and parents had all signed a contact clearly stating what was expected of the student in the class. This is just one example
Opinionated Question of the Week
opinionated@dailynews.com
There are many underlying problems with education today, just as there were when I was going through the LAUSD system.
Teachers are only partially to blame for the current state of affairs in our system. Today’s parents don’t seem to take the time they used to in order to assure that “Little Johnny” can not only read but understand the meaning behind what they read. When it is found that “Little Johnny” is failing a class, parents often blame the teacher instead of finding out if “Little Johnny” has been paying attention in class, doing his assignments, participating, asking questions, or even attending. Teachers on the other hand need to find ways to make material relevant to their students.
Poor teaching is one of those problems that have been around as long as there have been schools. It’s hard to get a student interested in the Industrial Revolution if they have nothing to correlate it to in today’s world. Teachers also need to stop teaching to the test, and instead present material that challenges the student. If a student works hard on something, no matter what the outcome is, there is a sense of accomplishment in getting the assignment done.
Value-added analysis is a useful tool in seeing how effective a teacher is in helping a student, but it is underused like most tools these days. It should be used to help both student and teacher and it should be reviewed yearly. Educators need to know now if they need to change something, five years from now is a bit late to change something that is wrong today. Teachers should also be evaluated as to how much they increase a students understanding of things outside the test. Can the student read better than they did, are they reading more, is the shy student more social? Parents need to get involved in the process as well. You cannot complain about a teacher if you don’t know what your child is learning in the classroom. My parents both knew what all three of their children were learning in school, as well as what we were reading. There was no playing or watching TV until after lessons were done.
Test scores and teacher evaluation scores should be accessible to parents and administrators only, and then only when a child is to be placed in that particular class. The effectiveness of teachers should be published or available to any tax payer though. If we pay into a system the system should have some form of accountability. If we can take the time to do it for a Doctor or First Responder or even the soldier who is protecting us overseas, it should be done for the person educating our youth.
Finally, there should be a method to remove ineffectual teachers. As with any job, not everyone is cut out for teaching. If a person cannot teach they do not belong in the classroom.
