October 5, 2013: Show Me the Money! (Scholarships)

College is expensive.  This is a known fact.  However, there is money  sitting out there just waiting for you.  In the video How to Win Scholarships, Ben Kaplan explains how to apply for scholarships as early as junior high. From experience, I can tell you that completing scholarship applications is extremely time consuming.  Is it worth it?  State your opinion and support it.

October 4: Polyglot

A polyglot is defined in this information video (“What’s a Polyglot?”) as someone who knows and uses several languages.  Why is this beneficial, especially in the business world?  Give at least two examples of when being a polyglot would be beneficial.  Support your examples. 

October 3, 2013: Marijuana–Is it really worth the high?

In the short informational video “Marijuana and Teens” the reporters inform the viewers that marijuana has become stronger than it was when your parents were in high school.  It also leads to depression and mental illness.  However, there is a push by many citizens to legalize marijuana.  What is your reaction to the video and your view of marijuana.  Support your response(s).

October 2, 2013: Man vs. Self

I’m constantly fighting myself about food, image, weight, exercise, shopping, etc. Sometimes I believe I’m my own worst enemy. What does that mean to you? What are some of your inner conflicts and how do you handle these conflicts?

Let the Testing Begin . . . or End!

Tis the season of state testing. OMG! Can the State add more tests? The Texas public school system is saturated with testing. The testing continues next week and pretty much goes all the way through May. Necessary? Absolutely not! I can go on and on and on about the issues surrounding the testing procedures that are currently in place in Texas, but blah, blah, blah. It obviously doesn’t matter what the professional teacher thinks and how it is affecting our students. My prediction: a larger welfare population as a result from dropouts because they cannot pass the tests from a curriculum the majority will never use in their chosen career paths—IF–a big IF–they graduate from high school. We are in need of a HUGE flip in public education.

Spring Break, Baby!

Spring Break is a time where students get a well-deserved break from their routine lives. Some choose going to the beach; some families go snow skiing or other endeavors; and some enjoy just sitting at home doing nothing or getting caught up on sleep. Several seniors might travel to their future college towns to select apartments, tour the vacant campus and become familiar with their future cities.

My favorite Spring Breaks are with my boys in Winter Park, CO. Snow skiing during Spring Break seems to be the best time! The weather is not too cold nor too hot, and the snow is plentiful. I love waking up in a post card wonderland. Besides, we live about an hour from the beach so there’s plenty of time in the summer to go to the beach.

What are some of your favorite memories from Spring Break?

School Cafeteria Food

I’m sitting in my technology lab classroom during my conference time preparing my lessons, grading projects, chatting with a student, editing English papers, and writing this post. A cafeteria employee comes in and asks me to persuade—okay bribe—my students to take an online survey regarding the food that is served for breakfast and lunch. If the students complete such survey, they receive a “treat”.
Woof! Woof! Well, since they do not enjoy the so-called food they are served, I’m sure they will happily complete such survey so they can get a pre-packaged treat, which is the closest thing to resembling a meal in their eyes. Students complete the survey every year; however, I don’t think there are any changes made to the food items. Most inform me they would like a salad bar and a make-shift Subway; that will do for them.

What do I recall from my high school lunches in the 1970s-80s? Well, I ate them until I stepped into the high school. I think for all four years, I pretty much selected food items straight from the vending machines (which are no longer in schools) or just skipped it altogether. Once in awhile, I even escaped the campus to eat at the local Taco Bell. Now, I do recall getting busted a couple of times when our high school principal caught on to what we were doing and literally climbed on the roof to watch us leave and return and took down names so he could call each student into the office and phone our parents (which, back then, was worse than going to the principal).

What are your memories from school lunches?

Release Me From This Hell!

Trent feels he’s dying a slow, miserable death doing the same boring things every day in high school.  His real talents and ambitions are so much more than the prison (high school) can offer.  Do you or did you ever feel trapped in high school, like you were just going through the motions because that’s what’s expected; however, you really felt like you were dying inside?