ECONOMICS:

Trade was very important to the Mongols because they could do things like clothes from the horses fur or the goats too. It's learning how to create and manage the institutions and infrastructure required to function effectively in a market economy. The new knowledge and technical skills that are required by it's developing. Another thing is that it's learning how to build effective trading relationships with foreign markets, and protecting against he negative side-effects of market driven economic activity and its tendency to leave some people out of its benefits. [sic]

-excerpt from research paper on the Mongol Empire

I've been trying to think about what effect (affect?) this blog has on the readers. Most of the time, I've focused on the difficulties, because those are often more entertaining to read about, and in any event sound less like TFA promotional material, than any triumphs or successes that I've had. Consequently, I have to wonder whether y'all are getting a skewed view of what my kids are like, or the community in which I teach. This doesn't mean that I'm going to stop telling the stories of hellish things the kids have did (new one for Friday- used sanitary pad on my chair... fun fun fun), but I figure I should probably include something useful in here as well. Like how on Friday, all hygenic products aside, I had one of the better days I've had so far, because the kids seem to be getting in line with my new hard-ass policy of grading them on their behavior (err, work-habits and participation, in case anybody from District J is reading). I was working under the assumption that my previous discipline policy was too confrontational, and the kids wanted to be kicked out, or yelled at, or whatnot, so they kept acting up. This denies them the chance to show off, and it gives them a decent incentive to play by the rules. With the screwing around cut down a little bit, I'm able to actually get some instruction done, so we got through a unit (Scientific Revolution) in a record week's time.

Also in the process of looking for new housing, and trying to decide if I'm looking for 3 person lofts or 1 bedroom places with nice kitchens and hardwood floors. Looking like that will be cleared up by tomorrow or Tues. at the latest, so I may have some news there soon. Either way I'm probably going to end up in Silverlake, which is where I went last weekend for the Pattern hootenanny. Did some house hunting this weekend and was really happy with the places that I saw, so definitely looking forward to ending up in that neighborhood, no matter how the chips fall.

Definitely needed a break on Friday. The day started off reasonably well, my homeroom kids finished an astonishing 9th day in a row of State testing, and the kids were figuring out the difference between knowledge they create and knowledge they consume. Maybe it was due to the Friday-ness, the end of testing, general squirrelyness, or whatnot, but everything went to hell after lunch. Within three periods, I had a student walk out of class (she showed up 5 minutes late, and then spent the next 10 asking repeatedly to leave to go to the restroom, which I was not inclined to allow), a condom placed on my chair, and various other difficulties, culminating in a disastrous attempt at detention at the end of the day, the details of which are too traumatic to put down in words.
Fortunately, got some relief that evening. Went with my indie-loving roomate BL to see The Pattern, a white-stripes knockoff who were actually damn good. Started out at the SpaceLounge in Silver Lake, which was a really entertaining retro-futuristic 80s joint, replete with a sit-down Ms. PacMan table and spaceage chairs. Unfortunately, the firemarshalls shut the place down after the opening band, possibly due to some illicit smoking in the back room. Despues de las problemas, we were outside on the sidewalk conferring with the band on where they should go--BL tried to offer our place, which I reminded him had had the cops called on it two weeks ago when nine people were talking loudly in the garage past midnight--they opted for somebody's loft on Santa Monica & Hoover. Awesome place and definitive hipster hangout, also handily close to a 7-11, where we rolled down to buy some beer along with about half of the crew from the Space Lounge. All in all a good night, just what I needed to recharge and tackle the 12 year old menaces tomorrow.

I can't spell the word religious or tomorrow for shit (I forget, is it legit for me to curse here? I can't do it at school, and sometimes I don't really talk with adults much during the day... I need an outlet) when i'm writing and both get written on the board at school all the time. They come out fine when i type (see: religious, religious, tomorrow, tomorrow), but i'm baffled as to how to spell them in 2 inch letters on a white board, which the kids can't read anyway because of my atrocious handwriting. I had somebody come into my class to observe me as a new teacher and offer hints (9 months into the year, go Nimitz MS!) and one of his top 5 was to practice my handwriting. I refuse.

Class Discussion

Me: "Okay, so how di Martin Luther disagree with the Catholic Church?"
Kids: "He thought they should let black people in"
Me: "Ok... no. You're thinking of Martin Luther King... He was named after Martin Luther"
Kids: "Was Martin Luther his dad?"
Me: "Uh, no... look at your textbook, there's a picture of Martin Luther... do you notice any ways he's different from Martin Luther King?
Kids: "He's bald?"
Me: "Um, how about Martin luther was in like 1500 and white, Martin Luther King was black and doing stuff in 1960"
Kid: *belately waking up* "They made Martin Luther a King?"
Me: *Shoots students, self*

Goddamnit it's been a while since I've posted. Since the last time, I've managed to put a vaguely incompetent woman on the LA school board (with the help of half a million teacher's union bucks) and am now back to teaching. Things have gone downhill since my last smooth-sailing, video-watching end of the semester. In the past 1.5 weeks, I've been hit by a pencil, 2 raisins, a penny, and some spit while having my back turned/head down. The perpetrators have not been caught. After contemplating buying a hidden camera I was informed by former LA sheriff's deputy NAV that it would be wildly illegal. Damn the wretched ACLU. Any suggestions would be welcome. Currently trying to get kids to write a research paper. Especially difficult when, after 3 days of work, students still ask "what's a source?" and my all-time favorite, "mister, what's research mean?" I'll be out back building a gibbet.

Goddamnit it's been a while since I've posted. Since the last time, I've managed to put a vaguely incompetent woman on the LA school board (with the help of half a million teacher's union bucks) and am now back to teaching. Things have gone downhill since my last smooth-sailing, video-watching end of the semester. In the past 1.5 weeks, I've been hit by a pencil, 2 raisins, a penny, and some spit while having my back turned/head down. The perpetrators have not been caught. After contemplating buying a hidden camera I was informed by former LA sheriff's deputy NAV that it would be wildly illegal. Damn the wretched ACLU. Any suggestions would be welcome. Currently trying to get kids to write a research paper. Especially difficult when, after 3 days of work, students still ask "what's a source?" and my all-time favorite, "mister, what's research mean?" I'll be out back building a gibbet.

I was just putting on some music to take a nap to, and had a thought I needed to post. Searching through my MP3 collection, I tossed on Dave Brubeck then lay down. I realized that after Brubeck ended, I'd hear my week-old playlist of Jay Farrar songs (good, but probably listened to a good 50 times) so I used the musicmatch jukebox, punched in Dave Brubeck, and asked to hear music like it. It put on Charlie Parker, which was good but I wanted something more mellow... more mellow like what? Maybe mellow like the stuff they play when I'm in the Gap... Jesus, there's nothing farther away from Jazz than wanting your room to sound like the Gap. This is less funny or enlightening than I thought.

Well, hopefully somebody read that last post- more info is available at . Back on the campaign trail for this week, which officially kicked off on Saturday with a rally of sorts. On the one hand, it was nice to see South Central all decked out in balloons, but basically only 40 or 50 people showed up, which was kind of a disappointment, and they came I think for food and T-shirts. Campaign remains full of fools. Today the field director (in what reminded me eerily of parts of the Gore campaign) insisted that out of 276,000 registered voters, 186,000 were "high propensity voters", meaning that they had voted in each of the past 4 elections. This means that 68% of the registered voters showed up for EACH of the past 4 elections. This when only 43% county-wide appeared at the polls in November. Go figure.

As DV has thrown down the challenge on his blog,, to write the basics of why Howard Dean should be the Democratic nominee, I'll do my damndest. First things first- unlike many of the other candidates, he isn't a career politician (though anybody who knows me knows that I don't necessarily think that it's a disqualifier). Prior to assuming the Vermont governorship a decade ago, Dean was a doctor, and in fact continued his practice while serving as lieutenant governor. This gives him a special credibility born of experience when discussing health care, which is certainly one of the most important issues out there, affecting those of us who just graduated and are trying to get health insurance, to our grandparents struggling to pay for medicine or nursing homes. Gov. Dean has put into place in Vermont a program that guarantees health insurance for every child in the state, and also implemented a groundbreaking plan that gives all pregnant women free at-home prenatal visits, which among other things has drastically reduced child abuse in the state. One of his 3 main campaign goals is universal healthcare in the US, which is something desperately needed as we are the only major industrialized democracy without it. The other two goals are balancing the budget- something where he would fare well against Bush, who turned 4 years of Clinton surplusses into a record $200 billion deficit by way of tax cuts and other giveaways to corporations and the wealthy. The final major plank of his platform is environmental conservation, which he is enormously experienced in, having run arguably the greenest state in the country.

Two other points to consider before i head out to my current campaign gig (which is getting somewhat better) The first is pragmatic- Dean has the best shot of any dem currently running to beat Bush. As governor of a rural state, he avoids the problem that many Americans have with national democrats- they're urban, often northeasterners, who seem out of touch with the "heartland". Dean's record, and his sensible position on gun control (control handguns without demonizing law abiding gun owners) has the potential to win over the so-called "NASCAR Dads"- rural, blue-collar fathers who look to be the swing vote in this election. The second point is that Dean is a pretty courageous politician. How many politicians with presidential ambitions can you name who would sign into law a bill giving gay couples civil unions? Not many... I think it's indicative of what kind of person Howard Dean is- somebody who's highly competent, compassionate, and straightfoward about doing what's right, regardless of the consequences.

Notes on this past weekend: If you go camping, remember to bring your tent. Also, do not do anything that we did.

Back in action after a lengthy hiatus. Enjoyed a well-deserved couple weeks at home, and an exceptionally nice week here w/ EK before starting my new off-track gig. Before going into it- allow me to explain off-trackness. As most of the LA schools are so full that they can't fit all their students (ie: mine has 3700 kids and is built for 2200), the track system, wherein 1/3 of students and teachers are off at any given time, allows the schools to operate closer to their designed capacity. What this translates into is a deal where you teach/learn for 4 months, are off for 2, back for 4 more, etc. etc. Anyway, post-Xmas break I'm off until the beginning of March. In order to fill the time (and to make some cash, because as a 1st year teacher my pay isn't divvied up over the full year) I'm working for UTLA, the teachers' union, as a "volunteer recruiter" for a school board campaign in LAUSD. I started this gig on Tuesday with a meeting at the temporary campaign headquarters. It was billed as an "all-day strategy session" and took place in what was the closest I've ever been to a crack den. After finding the correct condemned building, I was met outside by a guy who said he was told to find "a white guy and a Mexican girl" who were coming to the meeting, and ushered up some rickety steps above Hank's Bar, through a warren of tiny, ill-lit hallways to a dim room illuminated only by the sunlight struggling through South Central's smog and the grimy windows. Suffice it to say that, given that the meeting was only an hour long, it was somewhat underwhelming having last done a presidential election in a hotly contested state. Fortunately, although my initial idea that the people I was dealing with were incompetent turned out to be true ("these are people who spent all of December making slipcovers for the office furniture" quoth one Union campaign pro), some other people are layered over them who appear to have some idea...