Facebook To The Rescue



One of the girls in my calculus class was confused about a question on a "take-home quiz."   These are really just homework assignments I collect and mark.  I do this to encourage them to work together and take homework seriously.  I'm not as good as I should be about checking to see who does it on a regular basis.  It just takes too much time and I still have way too much to cover before the AP exam.  (The single period is killing us.)  The reason I am writing this now is I just checked our class Facebook page and saw the request for help and a dialogue that transpired with 12 comments involving 6 kids, kids I that are not friends outside of school. Membership in the group is up to 70.

Teachers and parents complain that the kids spend too much time on the Internet.  Well, here is a group using it for something positive.  Funds may have been cut to schools, our class time has decreased but Facebook has provided a way for my kids to get the extra help some so desperately need.

They Killed Kenny

For those too mature to watch South Park (obviously I am not one of them), I will tell you that Kenny, one of the little boys, comes from a very poor family. He always wears a parka pulled so tightly that it covers his face and muffles his voice. In the first five seasons, Kenny would die in almost every episode and then reappear the following week. Doing something so despicable to a poor boy didn't really matter. No one, except for his friends and his family would miss him.

Bloomberg, in his infinite school budget wisdom, has killed the fourth year of high school math. Kids who want to take calculus, pre-calculus or discrete math as seniors are being deprived of the opportunity. Only a select group, the elite of the elite, will have classes funded and will be able to carry on.

In this day and age, where we are supposed to be moving everyone ahead, for every baby step we take forward, we are taking giant steps backward. Even expressions like "please" or "may I" are useless. There is no money for the education of New York City children. They are like Kenny, the poor, the ones that do not count for anything.

So, my message to Bloomberg and Klein:

YOU KILLED NEW YORK CITY EDUCATION, YOU BASTARDS!

I Must Be Missing Something

The DOE is running radio ads recruiting teachers.

I heard the commercial on Z100 this morning as I was getting ready for work.

They are looking for people who want to be heroes.

There are 100s of ATRs without classrooms, yet the city feels it must advertise for more teachers.

School budgets are at an all time low. Extra curricular activities are being cut. Tutoring programs are being cut.

MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON ADVERTISING!!!!

I just don't get it.