Standard Panic Mode - 2009 edition

I've been in SPM since basically last January. The fashion show is in 2 weeks and I feel like I've done nothing.

Oh yeah, and I'm moving in 3 weeks...

as Andrea G. just said: stressful.

yeah that about sums it up

Aha!

Yes, my grade 11 French is nuts... the guys, specifically, in my grade 11 French class, are 5 shades of borderline insanity. They are aggravating and a pain in the lower abdomen...

...and yet they make me laugh. At least once a day.

They are like Prozac. Take with caution...

Well, well, well...

I've been unblocked!!

Woot!

Right, so what am I going to write about?

*silence*

hmmmm

yeah, I'm going to get back to you on that one...

been away for a while...

...no I wasn't, there just wasn't anything that really caught my attention lately, but this little headline made me laugh on Fark.com. Sheesh, get a grip folks, we are going a weeee bit loopy. No one is going to shoot anyone, but I'll probably smack that mother upside the head for panicking like that!

An accute case of color mis-management

This is ridiculous: a highschool in Massachusetts sent a student home for apparently wearing gang colors. Blue? Red? Black? None of the typical thug-wear hues.The boy was wearing brown. Brown. Not dark brown that could be confused with black, not a reddish brick brown that could pass for red, but chocolate cocoa brown.

Well, golly gee, good for them! Colors that can alienate students and promote disruptive or dissident behavior must be eliminated from our schools in order to ensure quality education. I say we should not stop at the obvious gang related colors.

Let's start with pink. Pink is a pernicious color that many teenage girls will wear to display their true evil nature. Their adorable and cheery disposition marginalizes and stigmatizes those who tend to be surly and crabby, especially early in the morning. We should not impose that amount of cuteness on anyone who does not want to face life with rose colored glasses.

Then comes green, orange and yellow, typical colors that represent nature and the environment. We all know what those treehuggers, granola eatin' , Greenpeace lovers do on the weekend. We know what those hippies do in thier spare time. Macrame and yoga are simply gateway hobbies to more destructive activites like saving whales or volunteering at your local Y.

There's also that "false color" white worn by extremist groups like the Klu Klux Klan and first time brides. Well, we can't tolerate that color either since it could entice people into racism, cross burning or, worse, weddings!

And forget about colors like purple and grey. Can't people make up their minds? Is it blue or red? Is it black or white?

I propose we all go naked to school. Let's embrace our true selves, cellulite, pimples, dimples and all. Adam and Eve did it so why can't we? And then, when we freeze our asses off or when somebody complains that ears lobes shouldn't be shown, we can chop them off too...

*sigh*

Retirement, shme-tirement...

In an attempt to keep my post up-to-date, I will comment on this recent article about aging professors in american universities that I found when perusing Fark. I have a feeling that I will certainly not be teaching into my 70's as I hope to be pleasantly turning into an active vegetable (doing nothing, actively doing nothing, like travelling, taking care of possible grandkids, blogging perhaps). And besides, I think the government will penalize you by doing some creative deduction on your pension plan when you work past a certain age...I think... I'm not sure...I'm not really thinking about retirement at this present time. Diapers are le mot d'ordre these days.

And speaking of French, I saw Bon Cop Bad Cop on Friday. Calisse 'osti d'tabarnak was it ever good!

The bane of all teachers

I remember the day when, if you wanted to cheat, you had to write your answers on a leetle leetle piece of paper and stuff it in your pencil case. Cheat sheets made way for electronic devices, ranging from pagers, walkmans, mp3 palyers and now cellphones.

As a teacher, I don't mind if a student has these items as long as they do not use them in class or as long as they ask my permission. Case in point, one of my leadership students filmed me just chilling at my desk in class and added it to his clip montage on his hi5 or myspace page, I forget which one. Nothing incriminating, nothing tasteless, just a few seconds worth of Miss Alarie.

If a student dared film me without my consent...well, let's just say no one in their right mind at Beurling, unless of course they are new to the school, would try such a prank, because they know they don't fuck around with Miss Alarie (pardon the language). Want a 30 minute rant? Piss off Miss Alarie. Want to be banned from any possible outing and activity? Act like a twit. Want your higschool experience to be as enjoyable as a root canal? Go ahead, be all the moron you want to be.

Let's be clear, I am not saying that I am the ultimate disciplinarian at school nor do I hold all the power over students. Sheesh, that's Mrs. Harvey's claim to fame. She's awesome. She says jump and you ask (as a student) over which building, Mrs. Harvey?

So, to make all this rambling coherent, I am not at all shocked to see 2 students suspended after filiming their teacher. This was done without his knowledge and after the students harassed him at a restaurant. What? Did they think they were going to get away with it? I hope there are criminal charges because (and crap am I going to sound old saying this) kids these days think they are untouchable. Sorry to burst your bubble kids, but Eliott Ness, you ain't...

Big Bad Musak

So I am reading up on ADD and ADHD... mostly because I am now a parent and if my daughter has any of the two disorders/afflictions/malaises, I can't go complain to the principal that I don't have enough aids in my classroom to help me deal with the situation. Googled ADD and found many nifty sites ranging from the "We have the meds to deal with ADD!" to the "ADD is a genetic disorder" (hoo-boy), but only one really caught my attention and, dare I say, pissed me off.

At first it seemed quite comprehensive and thorough when listing possible causes of ADD (why the italics? Well, there is no single official cause to the disorder as per determined by the various medical communities at large). They listed nutrition (check), certain pregnancy behaviors (check), video games (hmmm, ok, check) and music. Why music? This is what they say regarding music:

"Studies have attributed similar effects on the brain when listening to music, particularly in regard

to learning and studying. Classical music, with an average 50-70 beats per minute was optimal for

learning. Interestingly, it also provided health benefits such as lower blood pressure, lower muscle

tension, and a slower pulse rate."

Ok, so far, I have no issues. But wait, it gets better:

In every one of several human and animal studies" done of having

subjects listen to Mozart versus Hard Rock, the effects of classical music were in comparison to the

control group consistently of a calming, soothing nature, while the Hard Rock group invariably lead to

an aggressive, or even violent behavior."

Now there's a generalization to end all generalizations. Why don't we say that if a boy wears pink he's gay! Now here's the kicker:

"It is not difficult to understand how the influence of the hypnotic rhythm and beat of Heavy Metal Rock

music induces a drug-like effect that removes inhibitions, morals, and incites rebellion and aberrations

of conduct."

Aberrations in conduct? Any of these twits seen the movie Amadeus? Mozart himself was an abberation in conduct par excellence! He boozed it up like Tommy Lee back in the good ol' Crue days. Sure we can say that the movie is a dramatization of the life of Mozart, but to believe that classical composers were god-like in comparison to today's rock stars is a wee bit foolish. I can understand the value of classical music and its benefits (and I am a fervent fan of classical music), but to poo-poo rock music is sooooo yesterday and proves only that this website is attempting to a find scapegoat than real factors to ADD.

If Evelyn wants to listen to Metallica, that's fine by me. Who knows, she might want to pick up a guitar or bass and become the next Melissa Auf der Maur. Rock on, sweetie, rock on!