Unions are causing the educational system to fail. This statement may be a little harsh but there is certainly a fair amount of truth to this. In 2007 there was a 20/20 documentary about how America is failing students because this current educational system is basically a monopoly for the government. Money is the common answer for how to make things better but does it really help? Schools are constantly being compared on grades, test scores, and standardized tests. The amount of money that each school recieves per students is also compared. Many schools are spending upwards of $10,000.00 per student while others don't spend $3,000.00 but are more successful with their students.
I feel like unions are causing more problems for education than what they are doing to benefit teachers. Yes it is good that they make sure teachers are not just fired for any argument or miniscule item, but making it nearly impossible to even fire a teacher over sex offender level activities is just outrageous. There are too many teachers that are still working only because they have reached tenure. It would be far more beneficial to get rid of tenure and do your job because you want to help students learn and not just keep a paycheck and retire at 55 because of your contract. There are far better ways to ensure you still get this same opportunity if you only work to be a better teacher and create an effective learning environment in which students are safe and interested in the content.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Week Away
After one week on my new work schedule, things have been fantastic. It is so nice to actually get time away from the hospital and spend time in the world doing things I enjoy. I feel like this week has been full of accomplishments, some larger than others.
1. I was able to spend time fishing, both fly fishing and ice fishing. The weather has been wonderful this week with a few warm days to fly fish a few open streams followed by a few cold days to get out on the ice and fish a few hours with the guys. I bought a new fly rod/reel combo this week. It's just a beginner set but it will come in handy when in need of a second setup for a friend or my girlfriend on trips we are planning to do this summer. One can never beat a day of fishing.
2. With fishing comes knowledge. The extra free time has allowed me to located new fishing areas and look for new possible locations in the future. I have been able to follow the great MN DNR trout stream maps to locate nice areas to head out. I have also spent a good amount of time tying new flies for the future. Some should be okay for trout while others will work better for panfish and bass. Hopefully this summer I will be able to get out to different lakes, rivers, and streams to fish more frequently as well as do some camping.
3. Because there was a drastic increase in the amount of free time this week I was able to dedicate a lot of time for creating lesson plans for my big unit plan assignment. I have been able to get a strong outline for the unit as well as create the majority of the lesson plans and assessments. It will be nice having a good portion of this completed now rather than doing the sprint finish like I have for most assignments thus far.
4. With this free time I have been able to relax and spend time with my lovely girl and some friends from school. Having the evenings off to actually go on dates or date like activities has been great and I cannot wait for a lifetime with this girl. We stopped at the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in St Paul on Saturday evening. It was pretty exciting and kind of a neat even although seeing the entire course was difficult. Here is a neat photo I found online.
2012 has been rather eventful thus far and I don't expect deviation over the next 11 months. A few major changes will be happening in my life and I cannot wait for them to start happening. The next 6 months will be huge as they will be the months that really shape my future and determine how the rest of my life will look.
1. I was able to spend time fishing, both fly fishing and ice fishing. The weather has been wonderful this week with a few warm days to fly fish a few open streams followed by a few cold days to get out on the ice and fish a few hours with the guys. I bought a new fly rod/reel combo this week. It's just a beginner set but it will come in handy when in need of a second setup for a friend or my girlfriend on trips we are planning to do this summer. One can never beat a day of fishing.
 |
| Top: Scientific Angler Rod, SA Reel (green line) Bottom: Cabela's Traditional II rod, Ross Reel Flystart (orange line) |
2. With fishing comes knowledge. The extra free time has allowed me to located new fishing areas and look for new possible locations in the future. I have been able to follow the great MN DNR trout stream maps to locate nice areas to head out. I have also spent a good amount of time tying new flies for the future. Some should be okay for trout while others will work better for panfish and bass. Hopefully this summer I will be able to get out to different lakes, rivers, and streams to fish more frequently as well as do some camping.
 |
| The first flies I have made. |
 |
| Part of my mix of homemade flies. |
 |
| These should be decent to try for bass. I'm hoping to try a red one soon. |
3. Because there was a drastic increase in the amount of free time this week I was able to dedicate a lot of time for creating lesson plans for my big unit plan assignment. I have been able to get a strong outline for the unit as well as create the majority of the lesson plans and assessments. It will be nice having a good portion of this completed now rather than doing the sprint finish like I have for most assignments thus far.
 |
| I thought this was clever. |
4. With this free time I have been able to relax and spend time with my lovely girl and some friends from school. Having the evenings off to actually go on dates or date like activities has been great and I cannot wait for a lifetime with this girl. We stopped at the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in St Paul on Saturday evening. It was pretty exciting and kind of a neat even although seeing the entire course was difficult. Here is a neat photo I found online.
2012 has been rather eventful thus far and I don't expect deviation over the next 11 months. A few major changes will be happening in my life and I cannot wait for them to start happening. The next 6 months will be huge as they will be the months that really shape my future and determine how the rest of my life will look.
Monday, January 9, 2012
A Day Away
Today was the first day I've had nothing planned out in a quite a while. It was nice to sleep in especially since I've been getting a bit sick lately. Not sure what it is but my head is cloudy and unpleasant. For my new year resolution I said I was going to fish more and the last two days have finally allowed for it to begin.
Sunday I was able to meet with an old friend and go ice fishing for a little while before work. It wasn't successful but it was a good time catching up while we were able to spend a beautiful afternoon outside. Today I was lucky enough to accompanied by my girlfriend to scout a trout stream. It was a somewhat successful trip but I think that because of the dry 2011 year the water is low in the streams and it was difficult to find much public access for streams.
My next plan is to head south a bit and located a few good streams to try out and keep in my list. In order to keep track of these new things I decide I would get organized with my locations by keeping a binder with information about what I found and what needs to be done the next time I go in that direction. We'll see how long it keeps up but at least I'll be able to keep printed off maps somewhere.
The next step in my fly fishing adventure would include more flies for the winter and early spring seasons. I've got a handful of fly styles but I do need some more winter flies if I'm going to be successful and I think I'll need some smaller flies in my case as well.
Hopefully this week I will be able to get out of town and track down some good streams and spend a little time tying some new creations.
On the school side of life I've been working fairly hard on lesson plans that are coming together nicely and I think I'll have a good unit plan that I can actually use in the future. Student teaching will begin soon and I cannot wait until I have more information on this experience. I do feel prepared but I am anxious without more information.
Sunday I was able to meet with an old friend and go ice fishing for a little while before work. It wasn't successful but it was a good time catching up while we were able to spend a beautiful afternoon outside. Today I was lucky enough to accompanied by my girlfriend to scout a trout stream. It was a somewhat successful trip but I think that because of the dry 2011 year the water is low in the streams and it was difficult to find much public access for streams.
My next plan is to head south a bit and located a few good streams to try out and keep in my list. In order to keep track of these new things I decide I would get organized with my locations by keeping a binder with information about what I found and what needs to be done the next time I go in that direction. We'll see how long it keeps up but at least I'll be able to keep printed off maps somewhere.
The next step in my fly fishing adventure would include more flies for the winter and early spring seasons. I've got a handful of fly styles but I do need some more winter flies if I'm going to be successful and I think I'll need some smaller flies in my case as well.
Hopefully this week I will be able to get out of town and track down some good streams and spend a little time tying some new creations.
On the school side of life I've been working fairly hard on lesson plans that are coming together nicely and I think I'll have a good unit plan that I can actually use in the future. Student teaching will begin soon and I cannot wait until I have more information on this experience. I do feel prepared but I am anxious without more information.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
If politics went half as fast as real life....
A few days into the new year and things seem to be going pretty well. I have bought some more fly tying supplies that should keep me busy for quite a while. Hopefully I can find a few different styles to try out that work with the supplies I have on hand. I think at this point I have 5 or 6 different style that I have tied and I will probably work my way up to 10 different fly types over the next few weeks. Some have been pretty basic but others take a bit more concentration. I think I will get the hang of things quickly but it will also take practice.
Working out has not been going quite as well. Started out strong the first day of the year but haven't done much since. I will run again in the morning so I will have day 2 completed for the first week and I plan on going swimming at least once or twice around the weekend.
Food moderation is tough stuff. I love food. I love to eat. I'm eating cookies as I type. I think one of the things that would help is if I were to buy different tupperware containers for work food because I tend to just put leftovers in somewhat large containers and go with that. The biggest problem there is that I feel like they must be FULL! I have been doing fairly well with drinking more water again so that should help a bit.
As far as the rest of life goes, things are pretty busy. Work is going to slow down soon with the schedule change for school, but each shift seems to be getting more and more busy. My school work is continuously being put on the back burner but thats mostly because I don't want to work on some of this stuff. It's a bad habit that I'm trying to break and it is slowly getting better.
Politics is crazy. I hate that in order to run for your office you basically have to completely bash the current person there. All of these extra polls, caucuses, and other BS doesn't really matter much but the coverage is everywhere. The nice part about this stuff is that it does coerce a few in the running to dropout. After the Iowa Caucus of 2012 there should be at least two people dropping out of the race. It seems like the top position will be pretty obvious after this vote and the next two or three "big voting states." I'm just ready for there to be a smaller number of options because in a time of crisis we do not need more options on how to do things wrong. I feel like what we need is a large number of people to really agree on something and make it happen. We need those in power to step up to the plate and make a choice. We need those people to take charge, to take the blame for not getting things done. Each party is at fault and there should not be any argument with that. Both sides are too stubborn to listen to the voices that matter. More people are losing their jobs than those that are being hired.
If politics went half as fast as real life, many of these politicians would have heard in the phrasing of America's television: "You are the weakest link, goodbye" "The Tribe has spoken" "You need to pack up your knives and go" "Your work of art didn't work for us" "Your time's up" "I have to ask you to leave the mansion" "You must leave the chateu" "Your tour ends here" "You've been chopped" "You have been evicted from the Big Brother House" "Your dessert just doesn't measure up" "Sashay away" "Give me your jacket and leave Hell's Kitchen" "I'm sorry, you did not get a rose" "You have been eliminated from the race" "You are no longer in the running to be America's Next Top Model" " You're Fired" Auf Wiedersehen!
Working out has not been going quite as well. Started out strong the first day of the year but haven't done much since. I will run again in the morning so I will have day 2 completed for the first week and I plan on going swimming at least once or twice around the weekend.
Food moderation is tough stuff. I love food. I love to eat. I'm eating cookies as I type. I think one of the things that would help is if I were to buy different tupperware containers for work food because I tend to just put leftovers in somewhat large containers and go with that. The biggest problem there is that I feel like they must be FULL! I have been doing fairly well with drinking more water again so that should help a bit.
As far as the rest of life goes, things are pretty busy. Work is going to slow down soon with the schedule change for school, but each shift seems to be getting more and more busy. My school work is continuously being put on the back burner but thats mostly because I don't want to work on some of this stuff. It's a bad habit that I'm trying to break and it is slowly getting better.
Politics is crazy. I hate that in order to run for your office you basically have to completely bash the current person there. All of these extra polls, caucuses, and other BS doesn't really matter much but the coverage is everywhere. The nice part about this stuff is that it does coerce a few in the running to dropout. After the Iowa Caucus of 2012 there should be at least two people dropping out of the race. It seems like the top position will be pretty obvious after this vote and the next two or three "big voting states." I'm just ready for there to be a smaller number of options because in a time of crisis we do not need more options on how to do things wrong. I feel like what we need is a large number of people to really agree on something and make it happen. We need those in power to step up to the plate and make a choice. We need those people to take charge, to take the blame for not getting things done. Each party is at fault and there should not be any argument with that. Both sides are too stubborn to listen to the voices that matter. More people are losing their jobs than those that are being hired.
If politics went half as fast as real life, many of these politicians would have heard in the phrasing of America's television: "You are the weakest link, goodbye" "The Tribe has spoken" "You need to pack up your knives and go" "Your work of art didn't work for us" "Your time's up" "I have to ask you to leave the mansion" "You must leave the chateu" "Your tour ends here" "You've been chopped" "You have been evicted from the Big Brother House" "Your dessert just doesn't measure up" "Sashay away" "Give me your jacket and leave Hell's Kitchen" "I'm sorry, you did not get a rose" "You have been eliminated from the race" "You are no longer in the running to be America's Next Top Model" " You're Fired" Auf Wiedersehen!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
It's the New Year
As 2012 has finally arrived, the usual activities continued. Lots of parties, lots of friends, lots of resolutions. For 2012 I have created a list of 4 resolutions that I plan to work on and plan to accomplish in full.
1. Work out at least 3 days a week, possibly increasing as the year goes on and personal time allows.
2. Become more organized in planning, in my apartment, and being on top of homework.
3. Fish more frequently this year and make it a point to fish on a regular basis.
4. Be the best boyfriend I possibly can.
I believe this list will be something that is achievable but also easily expandable as time moves on. While the things I have listed here are not necessarily as detailed as I plan to make them in the future, they are a great starting point. Today I was also able to accomplish all four of these things (well somewhat).
First I started the day with a nice workout session that also included a run. Next I was able to spend the day with my wonderful girlfriend working on some homework and cleaning up the apartment a bit more which meets goals 2 and 4. I was not able to get out and fish today, however I was able to make some flies for fly fishing in the coming months. I decided I was going to make it a point to fly fish more often this year and in order to do so I need more flies.
Today was a great day to start the year and this trend should continue. I do feel I should add a fifth goal to the year to include more blogging of these efforts, but I think this will come as I make it a point to track my daily and weekly efforts of the new resolutions.
1. Work out at least 3 days a week, possibly increasing as the year goes on and personal time allows.
2. Become more organized in planning, in my apartment, and being on top of homework.
3. Fish more frequently this year and make it a point to fish on a regular basis.
4. Be the best boyfriend I possibly can.
I believe this list will be something that is achievable but also easily expandable as time moves on. While the things I have listed here are not necessarily as detailed as I plan to make them in the future, they are a great starting point. Today I was also able to accomplish all four of these things (well somewhat).
First I started the day with a nice workout session that also included a run. Next I was able to spend the day with my wonderful girlfriend working on some homework and cleaning up the apartment a bit more which meets goals 2 and 4. I was not able to get out and fish today, however I was able to make some flies for fly fishing in the coming months. I decided I was going to make it a point to fly fish more often this year and in order to do so I need more flies.
 |
| Starting Top left then down - Woolly buggers, Elk hair Caddis, Adams Nymph, Pheasant Tail Right - Gray Rock Worm, Olive Rock Worm |
Today was a great day to start the year and this trend should continue. I do feel I should add a fifth goal to the year to include more blogging of these efforts, but I think this will come as I make it a point to track my daily and weekly efforts of the new resolutions.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)