Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. Did you know there is a National Day of pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced?  I guess it was Monday morning when I made a special trip to the bank--only to find it closed for President's Day.  That meant a second trip out yesterday.

2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job?  Usually me--Darrell hates painting, but will assist under duress.

3. Are you friends with your cousins?  Not as much as I was when we were little and not as much as I'd like to be.

4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else?  I'm going to say no on this one.  The only day I get up earlier than Darrell is Sunday and I do use an alarm clock then.

5. What do you put ketchup on?  Fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, meat loaf.  When I was a kid, I put ketchup on mashed potatoes, green beans, lima beans, etc.  

6. What smells make you nostalgic?  Baby powder, White Shoulders (that's what I wore in high school)

7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

What are your thoughts-If you're a parent is your child's teacher online and are you 'friend' or 'follower' there? If you're a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students on fb? How about their parents? If you're a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you're a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss...

I'd not heard of this situation until now.  I think she has every right to voice her frustration.  Better to write about it in generic terms than to have a major meltdown in front of students like a couple of local teachers have done over the past year.  Better to blog and vent than to bring a gun to school, or drink, or do drugs to cope.  Perhaps she should have a private blog open only to those she personally invites to read it.  Many seem to think she acted unprofessionally.  I don't agree.  She didn't mention names or talk about any child or family in particular.  She did it on her own time.  Teaching is a hard job--there's not enough money in the world to entice me to take it on.  Give the woman her job back and leave her alone. 

If I were a teacher, I would not be friends with students or parents on Facebook.  And my blog would be private.  Keeping work and personal life separate would be key to my mental health.

8. Insert your own random thought here. My 5-year-old granddaughter has been chosen to be queen of her preschool's Mardi Gras parade next week!  Go, Cassidy!