I listened to Paul Ryan's speech today and am not impressed.

He made an excellent case against the Obama administration.  The problem with this country is a lack of job.  If I vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket I am voting for jobs.  How those jobs will come about is unclear.

He also spoke about the GM plant in his home state of Wisconsin -- how Obama visited the plant and told the people there that he hoped the plant would be there for the next 100 years.  Since the plant is closed down, Obama failed to keep his "promise".  The trouble is, it was Obama and the Democratic Party who chose to bail out the auto industry.  Does Mr. Ryan not know that GM is an auto maker???

I heard Ryan appeal to the younger people.  If they vote for the R/R ticket they can get a job and out of their parent's house.  Again, I am not certain how that will work.  He set a goal for his ticket to create millions of jobs, but I still don't see how that will come about.

What's odd is that Paul Ryan and I seem to have the same values.  Do the work and don't look for handouts.  The trouble is, I have worked with the population that receives handouts.  Trust me, they would like a better life.  We don't actually offer one and that's a real shame.

And, those who are against Obamacare should know that sick people cost all of us.  We throw millions of dollars at failing schools.  We try to get the best teachers.  Or, we open Charter schools to help those disadvantaged students.  They still get sick.  They cannot afford the bit it takes to get better.  That's real.  Kids who cannot get glasses will continue to lose ground in the classroom.

Much of the Ryan speech addressed freedom.  He believes that lifting all the rules and regulations created by the Obama administration will pave the way to economic growth.  Funny, while he was talking about that, I was thinking of the fat cats who owned companies before unions came in and demanded a safe work environment and a job that did not exploit the worker.  Those rules and regulations are a pain in the ass.  They are also necessary to keep us safe.

Ryan mentioned tax reform.  Nice idea but what does he mean?  Lower the rate for the rich and continue to keep stacking on the backs of the poor?  Hmmm.....before long, no one will be paying taxes.  The rich will have all the jobs and the poor will have none.

I'm waiting to hear if Romney has a plan or if he just wants to tell us all how difficult these past four years have been.

It's amazing how American capitalism finds strength for the big man while leaving the little guy in the dust.

I was so delighted when the law came through allowing consumers, when phoned by a marketer, to request to be removed from the list.  That lasted about 6 months.  Now I am hounded by computers.  How can I tell them not to call?  It's not as though I just need to press "9" to be removed from the list.  (I admit, I have listened to some computers just to see if I had that option.)  It'll probably be 10 years before the law changes so we can actually tell a computer to leave us alone -- then another month before big business finds a way to harass us again.

I am beginning to stress about money issues.  I received a direct deposit from Clark County that was more than I usually receive.  Did they make a mistake and pay me for this school year?  Or, did this pay constitute my last?  This three hour time difference makes it difficult to followup on anything.

What will I do with no pay?  Will I be employed in NY or will I have to seek employment elsewhere again?

While this is a tough market, I know plenty of people who are getting jobs.  So, the question is:  what am I doing wrong?  I'd like to have a consultant, but I don't actually have the money for one.  Further, I don't know anyone who has gone to a consultant -- was the effort worth it?  would they recommend said consultant -- so I cannot determine if it's worth the effort.

Many jobs out there are nothing more than prey to those who are the victim of unemployment.  Pay some money to get the job of a lifetime.  When is the last time anyone you knew paid to get a job??  It's scary business.

Well, if I have to do work that I don't want to do, I think I'd like to stay local.  There is no need for me to be driving all over the place for minimum wage.

Guess I'll see if they're hiring at Holiday Inn Express in Fort Montgomery.

Parenting is really hard work.  I have a son who scored below a 3 on the New York State ELA exam and will probably receive additional services.  The trouble is, he was in the additional services class last year too and no change has occurred.  I have it easy, however, because my child does not need special education.

I often scratch my head about special ed.  It seems that the idea to include all students is a no brainer.  The problem is that the actual education of those students falls short.

Here's a for instance:  A special education student needs "extra time" to take a test.  That seems fair, but who wants a kid with learning difficulties spending more time taking a test?  Wouldn't it make better sense to create tests that provide the same information in less test questions?  I feel sorry for the parents of these children because those kids get a bit of a run-around.

Don't misunderstand:  there are many students who receive special education services and go on to earn higher education degrees.  I just am not wowed by the system in which these students are placed.  The educational system needs to support these students in ways that actually help them.  If we know a student is going to have difficulty in school, why do we place the same expectations on that student as we would on a student who obviously will go on?  Why can't we offer something that will make learning more hands-on or real?  The BOCES program when I was in high school was a program for students who wanted some vocational training since college wasn't in their forecast.  (By the way, some schools with high drop out rates have begun adding the vocational, hands-on learning curriculum in place so students will enjoy learning and seeing how their education will apply to the work field.)

No, BOCES is not for special ed students.  But it could be.  In fact, it could help many struggling students.  And, if students could hate school a little less, then perhaps their parents could feel less stressed about their future.

Unemployment is so exhausting.  I am constantly worried about finances and feel as though I'll soon go over a cliff.  While the truth is that we are basically okay, it's not easy being in this position.  And, the longer I am unemployed, the less positive I feel about my prospects.  So, here I am faced with another presidential election in which I am unemployed.

Can a president do anything for me?

No.

I am an unemployed teacher.  I cannot find work because the schools are funded in a way that makes them hire less skilled workers to save money.

The economy sucks.  In my life, the economy has pretty much been a thing outside my world.  When people were making oodles of money in the 80s, I just barely made enough to make ends meet.  When there was big gains in the 90s, we were trying to scrounge money to buy a house.  Early in the 21st century, we were finally living like the middle class.  Then I was let go from my job and the world as this family knew it has been in a downward spiral for four years.

My family and I will get through and weather the storm.  We are lucky to have support where others do not (family with money).  Still, my greatest desire is to be able to provide.  I can't.  It makes me sad.  No president can do anything about it, though.  In fact, I don't really think politicians get it.

Unemployment gives me too much time to follow a campaign that hardly matters to my financial situation.  The candidates are saying things that matter to one side or the other, but only those issues that impact our quality of life should carry weight.  The environment.  Healthcare.  Education.  Vote wisely.

And don't expect the economy to be magically fixed.  The world is in an economic turmoil.  One guy won't fix it.

The list of issues that bother me is so long.

What does it take to make a good broom?  Is there a reason the broom head is screwed onto the handle?  How many times have you replaced the handle of the broom?  Or, changed the broom head?

I am left-handed so it's possible that's the reason for this problem, but when I sweep, the broom head becomes unscrewed from the handle.  It's annoying.

Education Wednesday

I had a long talk with my old Las Vegas friend yesterday.  She had a horrible year in North Charleston, South Carolina working in a middle school of poor-performing, underachieving students who did not have to be held accountable for their work.  Instead, the teacher was constantly criticized and given no source for improvement.  As a result, the teacher received a poor evaluation.  Since it was her first year in the district, and she received a poor evaluation, her license in the state can be revoked.

As a teacher whose last three jobs were in different schools each job lasting only a year, I have a lot to say about how a teacher is evaluated.  I believe there is a better way too.

First, school culture is probably the most important aspect of the job.  What a school says about itself, and what it presents to the public are not the same thing.  When I began at Shadow Ridge High School last August, the principal announced that I was working in the "best high school in Clark County, bar none."  In his mind that was possibly true.  I took him at his word, however, and failed miserably.  To me, working in the "best school" indicates a level of academic performance and interest on par with a top private school.  With that information I gave assignments and set expectations much higher than my students could handle.  Worse, I actually assigned, and expected to receive, homework.  Again, in the "best" school it should have gone without saying that students could handle that work load.  The trouble is, I was given misinformation.  The misinformation cost me a good evaluation.    Culture:  what  is happening in the school that is not on paper.  I was told that I should give and expect homework, I discovered that I was alone in giving homework.

My recommendation:  let first year teachers (and by first year I mean first year in the school with that principal) work with a less rigid performance rubric.  If I were to return to my old job, there is no way I'd make the same mistakes.  I learned through doing what was expected of me because no one actually told me early enough to do the job well.  Unspoken rule one:  don't fail students even if they do nothing.

Second, make recommendations fair.  If you work for someone who doesn't like you, you may get a poor evaluation even if you're doing the same job as the person in the next room (who received a good evaluation).  When I was told to sit in on the better teachers' classes in my department last year, I expected to see teaching styles much different from my own.  That was not the case:  I saw one excellent teacher (who only received a satisfactory evaluation), two teachers like myself, and one teacher whose class was quite unruly.  I was the only one who received a poor evaluation.

My recommendation:  when administrators find a new teacher lacking, they should be responsible for putting the tools for success in the hands of the teacher.  For example, if the lesson plans are not up to snuff, provide good examples of what is expected.  This may also require some coaching.  Teachers know how to write lesson plans, but what administrators are looking for is not always clear.  Make it clear.  If a teacher has behavior issues, help that teacher.  In Clark County, in order for a student to get sent to the dean's office, I needed to provide documentation of progressive discipline.  When the same student was unruly while my principal was in the room, he hauled her to the dean and she got suspended.  Imagine the power that could have given me if I were allowed to handle the same student in the same way.  Fairness.

Good teachers should not be run out of a school because they failed to understand the unspoken culture of a school.