When Will I Use This?

It a Function of Something...

2009-08-25T21:56:00.003-04:00

I admit that I am not nearly as motivated to write blog posts. I know that I have said that before. But shoot, another two weeks has gone by. The new school year marches on and all of a sudden we are in the middle of week three and open house is on Thursday. The first football game is on Friday against a rival where the old boss landed.

When I mentally sift through all the crap, the new principal, the made up stuff to do, the lack of respect for my fellow department chairs I find the golden nugget - the reason that I teach. All those excentric students from last year stop by to visit me every morning. I really like these kids. Finally, the new Georgia Math Standards are making sense to me. My new students seem to get the math a little better. The students and the math are the reason's I teach and that's what makes it fun.

Arrrgg...

2009-08-10T22:30:00.004-04:00

I am feeling compelled to be here, at my keyboard attached to this blog. I can't say that I have gone back to read any old posts but many of them are with me. I am thinking about them, especially the stories about Mathman H.S.

I wonder if I complained too much in those stories. Maybe. All those problems with admin 1 and admin 2. Honestly, those were false issues; not then but now. Problems that did not go away but have been smoothed out, mostly.

I am worried about Mathman H.S. The jockeying for position seems ridiculous. People who have no business in a leadership roles downward delegating (because of ignorance) and writing emails with big words used incorrectly are distracting us from our goal. They cause the minutia to seem more important than educating our students. I am considering walking the plank. More wine (or beer for JIM), please.

The Yellow Limousines are Approaching

2009-08-09T22:14:00.006-04:00

My brother once told me that I should be able to do any job. I assume, he meant that most jobs are essentially the same. I am not sure that I agree with him but this week I have my own, half stolen, half made up and half trite statement: Everything I learned about careers I learned as a Radio Shack Sales Manager.

If you've been to one of these stores you know exactly what I mean. When I worked there I had a staff of over aggressive, not entirely qualified, mostly nice people who worked for me. I just wanted to the best job I could and make a lot of money, thank you very much!

I don't know when I learned of the golden rule of people but I think it is essentially true.

Sometimes it's referred to as the 80-20 rule. 80% of my customers had no clue. And I mean no clue about anything. These are the folks that have trouble finding a 5 dollar bill in a pocket that contains 2. The 20% get it and are mostly OK. This rule works in many other situations.

As a teacher, my goal is to teach my students well so that they stay out of the Radio Shack 80. The other night, I ran into one of my former students and she is trying like hell to enroll in other 20. Lisa and I pulled up to the DQ drive-up window and after ordering, I commented to Lisa, "She was very polite." Surprise! - one of my own.

She proudly told me that she's going to college. "Great", I said. As I recall, college was never a certainty for her. She has many strikes against her but I am confident for her.

Back in the Radio Shack days my good friend, also named Doug told me, "Douglas, I can out survive any of our District Managers." And we did. There were 5 in the 7 seven years that I ran stores. Most of these guys were pretty good at the job. Education has not been much different. In my seven years working in 2 school districts I have worked for 5 different principals. "Holy shit, Batman that's the same as Radio Shack."

At Radio Shack the real problems were my colleagues and my employees. Now, as you know, I work with some incredible people. Some are great teachers and leaders and educators. Some are absolute boobs. In 1989, I managed my first Radio Shack store. I had one of those boobs working for me. At first, he acted as if he was incharge. He told me that we did things this way or that way while answering my questionswith a nasally "eh".

Eventually, I took control of the situation and the store. I ran the store my way and the boss transferred "eh" to a different location. Mathman HS has some "eh"s, too. One who happens to be my new current administrator. The day before the old boss left, he saidMathman sorry about the "eh" but we'll talk about how to work him.The next day the old boss was gone and the new boss was in.

"Eh", I said. Over and over and over and it continues to echo in my head.

Just like my1989 "eh" the current "eh" is puffing out his chest and claiming expertise that he didn't have last year or the year before that. I hear claims of knowledge and solutions when I walk around corners. Everyone has noticed and people are talking. I am listening above and below. I hope that the new boss is listening, too

What Should I Do Now?

2009-08-05T23:38:00.008-04:00

I used to have blogging goals. Now, I only have thoughts that rarely make it onto a typed page. I keeping thinking I want to write about how the egghead's who run our school district moved our principal to a different school and left us with a rookie leader. I could tell you about how school will be different this year for the kids or for me. I did accidently post a draft of my course syllabus the other day, maybe my best work. It is entirely possible that Facebook has ruined me for blogging.

In honor of my facebook summer I am reducing this post to a list of words of stuff that I may have done or thought about doing:

fireworks

read

walk

treadmill

weights

mountain

Indiana

BBQ

tomato

tire

clutch

tea

boobs

teeth

crown

boss

baseball

lawn

computer

sprinkler

plants

flowers

vacuum

laundry

dishes

kitten

liter

plunger

balance

theapy

cobbler

farmers market

cars

wine

reflecting

deck

library

books

birds

squirrels

cats

in-laws

bubble bath

flowers

pictures

photography

facebook

make up

Steve

Forrest

cousin

Australia

Dance

XBox

She Blinded Me With Science....

2009-07-16T23:12:00.004-04:00

Hello and Ahoy!

Summer is going well, so far. But I am realtively boring so...

I wanted to show you a cool project that one of my Mathman H.S. colleagues is working on this summer: Paleoceanography - check out his blog.

Camper Van Beethoven Good Guys 1987 Vusic Video

2009-06-26T00:27:00.001-04:00

A little music for between posts.

Camper Van Beethoven Good Guys 1987 Vusic Video

Shared via AddThis

What Does BMI Mean Anyway?

2009-06-15T20:19:00.005-04:00

You may be wondering where I have been... then again maybe you haven't.

After wrapping-up the school year, I started right back planning for next year. I also went to a car show and the doctor. He knows that I have been going through a persona change. I guess I'll have to fess-up to the kids - I am not pregnant.

The doc pinched my ass and twisted my balls and typed into his calculator.

"Technically, you are obese" he said.

I am Fat-mathman.

I know exactly, when it happened. I checked my exercise log - star- date last January. And before that, I have no idea. Fortunately, for me we have moved and there is a small gym less than two miles away before you get to the Chicago hot dog Joint. I stopped by today and signed up. I am there dudes. I'll be force feeding myself healthy food that would make Miss Healthy Pants proud.

"Is there more?"

"Yes, there is and thanks for asking."

... insert procratination here... insert unfinished business here...

Won't Get Fooled Again, Unless Your A Student In My Class Because You Might Learn Something

2009-05-28T23:22:00.005-04:00

Another school year is done and done. But not really, I still have amath teacher to hire and with our department's admin leaving for another school and the replacement being really lame, it's up to me. So I have one more interveiw tomorrow and if she's really good then she'll get the job but if not I have another candidate in mind.

How do I wrap-up the school year in a post. I have been thinkg about it for couple weeks. Our school really had an incredible year and for me it was most memorable. I will never forget our Band trip to the inauguration in Januray. Lately, I avoided writing about the sadness because at some point it is just too, much (yes this happened last week).

One my most cherished memories happened last Thursday as my students finished their final exam. I actually have an office attached to my classroom. The office houses most of our math texts and teaching materials as well as a few personal odds and ends.

Since, I am a teacher pack-rat I have box full of paper wads that I collected over the year. While I collected the last of the final exams several students sneaked into the office and retrieved the balls of paper. Then Suddenly a wall of paper rained down on me. At the moment. I knew that most of these kids got it - they understood. Math doesn't have to be boring. We can do crazy stuff and learn. Next year - their first task will be to write an equation for the path of a paper ball taveling from their hand to my head. Could it be quadratic?

Collectible Moments at the New Digs or Sort of a Memorial Day Post

2009-05-25T11:12:00.005-04:00

This post has been fermenting since Mother's Day and now it's a Memorial Day post. As high school student, Memorial Day was about concerts and school assemblies. The assembly was always in the Lane Stadium. The band would play American Patrol and a speaker would talk to the students about some relevant topic.

When we lived in Des Plaines, we often visited my Dad's grave - he was a veteran after all. Then we would officially open the Prospect Avenue Bar.

The move to the new digs has helped tidy-up our lives. We cleared out piles of stuff that we don't use and don't need anymore. During the process, I've run across lots of mementos and many collectibles. One of my favorites is my dad's Algebra book from his old World War II Army days. The book was tucked away for at least 15 years. I don't know why I never looked at it closely.

Obviously, I am the the family math person; my sibs are the real musicians. I never even considered a musical career after high school. I knew that my talent for music was minor. My dad was the musician, the band director, the performer, and the teacher. Connecting him to math is a little weird.

I guess my father had to take Algebra when he was in the Army I can't imagine why he really needed it,especially in hindsight. He was a great music teacher but this old book with his writing connects me to him when he was 18, the dancer's age and the age of many of my graduating students. It's a snap shot in time that I apprecite now more than when I received the book.

Beam Me Up Scotty...

2009-05-23T22:09:00.004-04:00

Back in 1979 my father took me to see Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was my birthday present. Today, I took the Dancer to the new Star Trek Movie. If you have seen the movie and you're a Trekie you'll notice the "Star Trek" patterns. But you also know that the Wrath of Khan is the best of those movies and that Kirk reprogramed the simulator in the clip below. He didn't like to loose.

We can't all be Captain Kirk. We can't cheat death.

Here's advice to my graduate daughter. Create your own Koybiashi Maru. Write your own rules for life. Lead, win, celebrate, learn, smile, dance, sing, run, play, laugh, cry, fly, and mostly be happy.

2 Times One Year

2009-05-18T17:34:00.003-04:00

I wrote my first blog post two years ago, today. It's not really a big deal except that we count time in years. Since I have had jobs for shorter time periods and school will be out on Friday...

Baseball Been Very Good To Me, Maybe

2009-05-14T22:46:00.004-04:00

I am not bragging about the actor even though it may sound like I am. A coach doesn't brag about his team when it loses 13 - 0 We are plagued by nagging injuries; sore arms, bruised wrists and twisted ankles. We were bad at the little things and some big things, too.

First, the boys didn't hit tonight. They were intimidated by the opposing pitcher. Coupled with a strike zone from the ankles to the shoulder it was tough to draw a walk. Our hitters were reduced to bobble head dolls.

The actor did walk. He stole second using his self proclaimed ninja move. The catcher made a quick throw and the boy was going to be out but instead of sliding, he jumped the 2nd baseman in stride. He landed and dove into second from behind. On the next play he was called out stealing third. The ump had a blocked view. Coaching 3rd, I clearly saw that he was safe. Too, bad for me.

In the last inning, I brought the actor into pitch. He is our last resort guy - the one we bring in because he can throw strikes and maybe get an out or two. He has three speeds: slow, slower and slowest. Slow is a little faster these days.

As he warmed-up, he yelled at me; " Why am I pitching? Look, I can't even get it to the plate."

Then something changed. The boy - the actor had a Bull Durham moment from the mound. He started talking to the batters. "What do you want me to throw? OK here comes a fastball" or "Here comes another one - no change-up" He was deep into the opponent's heads. One guy managed a base hit just past the shortstop. Other than that hit, the boy stuck out the side.

Our team is notoriously tight in games when they get their asses kicked. But tonight... they had fun. The bad call ump was laughing hysterically and baseball was what it should be: the greatest game in the world.

Happy Birthday Dancer

2009-05-06T21:49:00.005-04:00

I am not the popular blogger of Golden Manor but occasionally I get fan mail. Today, I received a note from M. Contact from Sweet Home Chicago. He found me while looking for information about the old Albany Park Neighborhood. Even now, I am traveling back to my childhood home, Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony is playing on XM (naturally it came from WFMT) and I used listen to that almost everyday back in 1980.

1980 was the baseball year. I went to so many games and the White Sox were terrible. If I had $3.00 or $4.00 dollars I could go to the game and often sit in the first 5 or 6 rows in the outfield of our Comiskey Park. Cheap Tickets. Jorge Orta, Alan Bannister, Lamar Johnson and Bob Molinaro where some of my favorites. And of course Harry Carey and Jimmy Piersal were in their prime telling it like it was; bad fielding and bad base running. It was great.

So M, has set me off on a sentimental rant of sorts because he mentioned the old hot dog joint I wrote about a few months ago. I decided to google the places I stop by when I go home to Chicago: Super Dawg, Susie's, Shelly's Freeze (well I think about this one but I don't stop), Hero's and Charcoal Delights. Charcoal Delights has a special place in my heart because the original store is near the childhood home and the newest store is by the old Des Plaines homestead.

When mother was still alive, we would visit her. She'd call in an order to Charcoal Delights. "I would like a BLT with crisp bacon." Lisa and I dreaded picking up those orders because the cooks really did not know how to make crisp bacon. Eventually, I starting asking before I paid if the bacon was crisp. I couldn't take the tears when the bacon wasn't prepared just right. Now, after 20 years I realize why the bacon had to be crisp and it's because of my busted up crown. My mom couldn't chew bacon unless it was crisp - it was that partial, no back teeth.

Occasionally, in the summer of '91 we would bring our baby, aka the dancer, to mom's house and surely we ate BLT's while we compared baby's. Yes my nephew was born just a month prior to the dancer. In the long run, the dancer won the baby contest - she's won the math award at her high school two years in row and earned a full scholarship (both academic and dance) to Brenau University.

Deja Vu

2009-05-03T22:09:00.005-04:00

It seems to me that blog posts should be interesting to someone. All ideas that run through my brain are re-runs. Same shit different day. The cycle of the same is painful. At school we're worried about our jobs or someone important to a student, parent or teacher has died. The spawn are getting under our skin and spending all of our money. Our baseball team stinks. The storms and tornadoes warnings are yelled across the county every other day by loud blaring sirens.

It is damn boring here.

Multimedia message

2009-05-01T21:01:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message,
originally uploaded by mathman6293.

We find ourselves in another severe weather situation. The girls and I are at the high school waiting it out. No power.

The Faces Of Lisa With A Spoon

2009-04-26T23:38:00.001-04:00

The Faces Of Lisa With A Spoon,
originally uploaded by mathman6293.

Silliness abounds at our house. Sometimes it just happens. We took a break from the yard work and "it" happened. It sure is something!

Multimedia message

2009-04-23T13:15:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message,
originally uploaded by mathman6293.

The boy fell on the way to school. Smart boy walked to the firestation for treatment. Now, we're at the doctor.

Update: The boy is fine. The doctor sewed up his leg with 4 or 5 stitches and he is almost as good as new. As for work today, forget about it. But we did eat Bananas Foster the other night. Would you rather see a delicious dessert instead the boy's busted up shin? That's what I thought.

Long Long Ago...

2009-04-22T21:25:00.004-04:00

It seems like so long ago... back in 2001 when I started my teacher certification program...

There were hours of observations. I went to different schools. I observed high school and middle school math and English classes. I even visited an alternative school. But pre-service seems different here in Georgia. For the last 6 weeks I had a KSU undergrad observe my class on weekly basis. He saw all my teaching moods and even went to lunch duty with me. It must be difficult to be a student in any field these days - I'd be worried if I picked a field where I could actually to find a job.

Now, in this time of crisis I agonize over our class schedule for next year. I have some idea how many teachers we'll have in the department but on the other hand there are lots of ifs. If this and if that... There are also many worries about the current year most of which I really can't write about here. But imagine the standard stuff you hear about on the news; it's question of how do you get all the parties involved in education to do better - teachers, students and parents. Many of these concerns are beyond my control but many are in my sphere of influence.

One of the first observations I did was at Maine East High School (didn't Hillary Clinton and Harrison Ford go to this school?) and that day there was a school -wide assembly about tolerance and they played this song.

Afternoon Lisa

2009-04-19T14:07:00.002-04:00

Afternoon Lisa
Originally uploaded by mathman6293

Afternoon Lisa.

Vienna Beef Makes It Opossum's Drift

2009-04-19T10:54:00.002-04:00

Originally uploaded by mathman6293

All eight of our arms were pulled in different directions yesterday. The first yank occurred after we crossed the covered bridge to attend the baby's chorus performance. And there it was... a piece of my childhood. The Vienna Beef hotdog sign and the man from down the road had a booth setup at the festival. So close to home. It was like walking to Maury's Redhots on Lawrence Avenue in Albany Park.

Flickr

2009-04-19T10:46:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

And Now for Something Completely Different and It Is

2009-04-14T21:28:00.005-04:00

I am feeling a post starting to brew. But I don't know what to write about this evening. Lisa is covering our new commuting situation and I am sure you will find it a barrel of laughs. This new arrangement reminds of a story...

Back in 2000 before I got fired from that job that November and briefly laid off from our marriage Lisa and I experimented with commuting to downtown Chicago. If memory serves we road the Metra train and walked to our respective destinations. I worked in a high rise on the Chicago River across the street from the building formerly known as the Sears Tower (who the hell knows the name now?).

I recall waiting for Lisa to meet me at my office. At that time I had a window seat with a great view of the river. I sometimes watched the sail boat parade down the river waiting for the draw bridges to open so that they could pass. It was a great view from the 22nd floor. Then I spotted her from all that way. I learned that I could pick out Lisa in a crowd from 22 stories up.

The Economy Really Sucks

2009-04-12T06:59:00.001-04:00

While sifting through the keep and throw-away in the garage last week I came upon many documents from the past. The memories of past mistakes and job issues came alive. As I read through the documents from my last corporate job, it occurred to me that I lost the last two on the cusp of the Bush presidency and that corporations really want to keep their nefarious dealings (see my termination agreement) quiet. But now, that the economy is so bad it is coming out and it effects all levels of the economy.

On Decemeber 12, 2000 I received my last business world job offer:

Dear Mathman:

I am pleased to offer you the opportunity to join A... Corp.

Your starting gross salary will be $60,000 annualized; $2,500 for each semi -monthly pay period... The 2000 target incentive compensation is $30,000...

I never recieved the incentive (commission) plan and on March 31, 2001, my boss gave me a weeks notice before I revceived this the following week:

IT IS HEREBY AFFIRMED by Mathman and A... Corp, that Mathman has been terminated from his emplyment in his position in Business Development effective April 6, 2001. In consideration of this termination, it is hereby agreed that:

1. A.. Corp... will provide a lump sum payment...

2. ... Cobra...

3. ... agree that they will keep the terms, amount, and fact of this agreement completely confidentional...

This was the second time I was terminated for corporate economic reasons in 5 months. Between the first (11/00 -1/01)and second job there were lots of interveiws and job opportunities. After the second teminiation there were absolutely no jobs. That's when I decided to teach. So much water under the bridge. Did I tell you that we live near that covered bridge and the puff the magic power plant? Then there is the current reality. Ultimately, a reality that revolves around economics - for us the move, the job and the family.

Last Wednesday, I had my annual reveiw. You know the kind that only really matters if you are a crappy teacher because either you keep your job or you may not get that contract offer. If you are good there are no pay raises other than the annual "two cents" step raise as indicated on the chart posted on the district's web site.

My suprervisor observed me a few weeks ago and liked my lesson. On Wednesday at our meeting, she explained my evaluation. I immediately decided that I was not entirely happy with her explanation. I felt her evaluation of my lesson planning wasn't accurate and told her so. I have evidence and professional development to back me up. I explained my case and she agreed and graded me accordingly. It felt good to defend myself and come out a head.

Later, that day we had our monthly staff meeting. I knew that the news would not be good. I am worried that my department will lose teachers and seniority matters more than if you're a qualified. However, the boss did take care of one of the clunkers and he won't be back. The bad news is that the district projects a 55 million dollar deficit. The answer a 2% paycut but I will get my two cent step raise. If we lose teachers in the department that's another cut since I get paid by the number of teachers in the department.

The summary: an excellent job review earns me a paycut. If I was surfing a desk and shuffling papers instead of teaching kids who need me - they would get 2% less work. But unlike my former business development job, the district needs teachers. The students won't be leaving beause of the economy and neither will I.

It Is A Dark and Stormy Night

2009-04-10T19:07:00.007-04:00

Sirens are going off again... 7:27...

What were we thinking when we moved here? Nice weather? Sure. Georgia's Tornado Coal Ash Alley. Nope, but we are here. We holed-up in the basement hallway. Unlike, last year the TV has worked most of the time. Fortunately, no twister yet.

A Dozen Pins For Free

2009-04-08T22:16:00.003-04:00

I am so boring. All I do is unpack, put away and throw away. Then I drag the trash bags to the dump. We do live in rural North Georgia after all. Last night, I did managed to go to a Hawiian themed party.

Great to chill with the gang but you know how we teachers are; not me, but my friends don't get out enough. Then they really throw it down. One friend admitted that one of the smells that gets her going is not Axe or Old Spice or Phyeremones but bleach and water.

More beer or pudding please!

Any since my life is so boring I give you another memoriablia collage.

There are some oldies in this. Most notably a pin that my dad picked up when he was in high school. I hope you enjoy the nostalgia.