my long overdue update

Here is my long overdue update to the almostjoes.blogspot, now that I've been called out by Dave Dunn ....

The biggest piece of news is that I have now moved into a house in Roseville, MN, although I've been told that I should actually tell people I live in St. Paul because the mail will come faster. It is a three-bedroom house on the main level, with a good-sized living room, and a basement with zebra-colored walls (the previous owners has some zebra fascination). Here are some pictures:

Though we are both happy with the place and the location, holy shit! -- owning a house is exhausting some days. I am trying to get a dishwasher installed and having a hell of a time with that. So I quit that project, thinking I would have a better time with the grill outside, and had no luck trying to get that to work. And now my whole Saturday is gone, and my back is killing me again. About the only plans I have for this holiday weekend are to finish those two projects and bet on the horses at Canterbury Park on Monday (and have a few drinks too).

While the house has taken up all of our time lately, I have to remember that Kayla and I are getting married in September and still have to get invitations sent out, tuxedos rented, etc.... Work-wise, Kayla is doing great working with Children's Hospital in St. Paul, and I am still working in Minneapolis and now taking a new bus route. I have to stand most of the time though, as ridership has jumped with the gas prices going up as of late. It's $3.30 a gallon here, but it might be worse elsewhere. Somebody told me it was over $4.00 on the west coast, is this true Michaela??

Dave and Jill came up to visit us last month and Kayla and I will be visiting them in Des Moines next weekend, provided that a snowstorm doesn't blow through southern Minnesota the night before, which is actually what happened to us last March. So, Des Moines, here we come ...

And lastly, I have found a close substitute to Joe's Place near the U of M campus, though it doesn't quite live up to all of Joe's standards, like the pool table and the dartboards and the quality graffiti in the bathrooms. Cheap beer is really the main attraction there, which makes me think back to those much simpler, less back-breaking days. Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend --

Dan

I should be working

Congrats to Jill on finishing school and to Matt for getting a new job and moving to Denver. I expect you'll be much happier there.

Wanted to say "yo" since its been awhile. I've been back in the midwest off and on for the past couple weeks. One of my best friends got married this past weekend. I was a bridesmaid for the first time and now understand why be able to say "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" is usually meant to be negative. I just don't like the ceremony part of weddings - just skip to the reception!! That part was fun except for when I took pity on the 8 year old junior bridesmaid who wanted someone to hold her up during "Loveshack". My arms are still sore!

Anywho - saw lots of friends and family in the past few weeks and came to the conclusion that our days in California are numbered. We like it here but not enough to miss out on so many things with friends and family. Flights are too expensive and unreliable as well.

It is hot here already (well, sort of). We'll soon be looking for a new house or apartment, which will be tons of fun. We're also both hoping for raises in the near future - we'll see...

I should get back to work - its been an especially unproductive afternoon.

Ah, the joys of moving

Right now I am being lazy and putting off packing another few minutes. I realized yesterday that this is the 8th time that I have moved in 7 years. The next time I move, it will be to a place that I own (read that last line as: "the bank owns").

Anyway, enough bitching, I came across class notes buried in a box at the back of one of my closets. As I debated pitching "Land Development Process," I decided to hold off a bit and ask myself "What classes will I really use?" Being too lazy to really pursue that thought, I decided to find out which ones you guys are using and I'll save those.

Of course I'll save VR out of a masochistic need to use it again some day...

Goodbye Windsor! Hello Paycut!

Well, I got a job offer. I don't have to reach any decisions until tomorrow, but it looks like I'm going to take it. It's for a regional park district in the southern Denver suburbs. I'll be heading up their new GIS department... Now, you may ask, what kind of planning will you be doing in that position? I refuse to answer that question.

Anyway, it sounds pretty good, but doesn't pay quite what I'm getting paid now to sit on my butt. That said, if I take it, I have a place lined up near DU and that's a pretty awesome neighborhood. So I'm assuming I'll know my decision tomorrow and have put in my two weeks... I'll let you know how that goes. I suspect my insane boss may fire me on the spot.

Behold: The Power of Data...

Hello, everyone! I thought I'd post a guest spot on the blog to share what I learned this year at school about education, Texas, and school politics. It all comes together nicely in what they call here my "Annual Summative Conference," where administrators get a chance to tell their teachers everything they should have done over the course of the year to make sure they were successful. See, teachers in Texas are scored on 8 domains, which include professional communication, discipline (what's wrong with letting kids do what they want?) professional development, compliance with rules and regulations, and other boring stuff. It was similar in Iowa but much more laid back and informal, like most things in Iowa when it comes to education (especially testing).

I would first like to point out that education in Texas is focused on one thing:

MAKING SURE THE KIDS PASS THE TAKS TEST.

To that end, my life was focused for the majority of the year on making sure I did all that was in my power to make sure these kids passed. From practice tests to strategies to extra hours tutoring on the weekends to silly stories written for the sole purpose of practicing TAKS skills, I did it all.

And, I had to admit, I felt like a sellout.

Anyway, all that paid off now (or not) because we have our TAKS results back. My passing rate was 85%, "Fantastic!" for a first year teacher, but I should shoot for that goal of 90% or higher.

At my annual summative conference, after helping me remember how to get a percentage (you divide, not multiply!) my administrator asked me if I like data.

"Oh, sure," I said, thinking quickly, "but sometimes it makes me nervous."

"Aren't you using it in your classroom? Haven't you looked up your kid's scores and data before?"

"Oh, sure," I said, thinking quickly.

"It's the best tool teachers have," she said. "It gives you kind of a skewed mirror view of your own teaching."

"Oh, sure," I said, nodding.

"In fact, you should take all your kids scores, spread them all out on the floor or on a big table, and disaggregate them. You never really know how helpful data can be until you disaggregate it."

"Oh, sure," I said.

"And then you can even split them into subgroups. That will really give you interesting insights." She smiled.

Silence. At this point, I said nothing, because we both knew that "subgroups" was a euphamism for "minorities." My student's scores showed an abundance of "subgroups" that didn't pass the test. This, I believed, was obviously a red flag showing the bias of the test, but I couldn't think of a way to say that diplomatically.

I realized she was waiting for me to say something. "I bet."

"The important thing to do," she said, "Is to keep doing what you must be doing--teaching them how to think. Then the test comes naturally. Because we aren't just teaching them how to take a test. We're teaching them valuable skills to last a lifetime."

Again, numerous offensive and cutting remarks about the value of the principles and objectives I am required to teach crossed my mind, but, looking at her sincere face, I saw how strongly she bought into this hype, and I worried for her mental state if I said any of them and shattered her belief in the test.

Instead I said, "I'll be sure to look at those scores."

"They reorganize them at the end of June. Make sure you get them before then."

"Right."

"Then you can plan your teaching for next year over the summer." She smiled. Again.

I had planned to do this, in between drinking, traveling to assorted other states, drinking, playing video games, and drinking. It just frustrated me to be told that I should do it.

"Then you can get that 90% passing rate. This isn't rocket science, after all. It's teaching."

Finally, I thought of something diplomatic to say. "Of course."

And I was summarily dismissed from my summative conference.

Sick Day!

So I took a mental health day to evaluate some job prospects. Anybody recognize Emerald Lake there on the left? No jumping in today! Despite evidence to the contrary, it was actually quite hot and I got sunburned...

Doing our part tosave the world

Here's a car parked across the street from the Capitol. Truly proud to have a high-efficiency vehicle (by Wyoming standards, that is!)

This time it's not April Fool's

I can't get over how petty City employees can be towards each other. This is too funny. As a result the agenda item in the City Council meeting was riddled with the proverbial (sic). Read'em and weep.