Tuesday, September 30, 2008

When will we learn?!

As the fall weather slowly creeps up on us, we begin to notice slight changes in our student population. Yesterday, all of our students came to school in their pajamas. Today, we had clowns, kids with their clothes inside-out, cross dressers. Tomorrow, if I were to make a prediction, I would bet that a majority of our students will be wearing sports jerseys of some sort. Odd behavior isn't it?

That's right, loyal readers (all 3 of you), it is Homecoming Spirit Week. That crazy time of year when the student council begs us to let the student body do crazy dress up days. Each year we say that it will be fine. Usually, it is OK. We are still in the honeymoon period of the beginning of school and think the best of our students.

When will we learn???

I must say that 90-95% of our students do exactly what they are asked to do. While some of that 90-95% will push boundaries, when the guidelines are clearly set they will follow requests of the staff, faculty and administration. But it is that blasted 10% that think, hey, it is homecoming week...I can do whatever the @#$%^#&* I want!

Do modern day students even know that Homecoming is not for them!? They are already at home.

This week should about inviting alumni back (former students COMING HOME, hence the name) and showing current students how successful they have become with hard work, perseverance, and some times learning the hard way. As a school, we should be showing off our best and brightest, our hardest workers, students who were on the edge of failure and fought long and hard for many years to make a decent, respectable, honest living. Homecoming week should be a beacon for our students showing them that it is possible to achieve their dream. Any alumni reading this, please contact me to get this going. This idea of homecoming should be inspirational!



I am not sure how that gets interpreted to our starting football players wearing ballerina tutus.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Sleep is for Wussies!


For some, or most (how many of YOU are out there reading this?), you may not be aware that on September 9th, my wife gave birth to our first child! We are ecstatic about his arrival. He is perfect and the cutest baby around. So, I will introduce you to Logan.
Logan is getting better at eating and is a decent sleeper. In general, he does not cry or scream. The only times he does is when he is hungry and when we lay him down to change his diaper. As soon as we pick him up, he is quiet and smiley.
When I was in college, I would pull all-nighters all of the time. Working on 2-3 hours sleep was no big deal; happened probably 1-2 times a week. I would be able to study all night, go take an exam, score well on it and then go out to celebrate that night. That is when I came up with the theory that Sleep is for Wussies!

To quote Barenaked Ladies, "Who needs sleep?". While I have not been up since the second world war, the amount of sleep that I have received in the past 15 days has been comparable to those wonderful college days. Logan is up and feeding about every 2 hours. My wife is amazing and really supports my theory. I have done some considerable research on this topic and had some favorable data to support my hypothesis.
I have recently gone back to work to add another challenge and variable to the experiment. I must say that the first day back was very odd. It was as if I had never worked before. I sat at my desk, stared at my computer, had multiple conversations about the delivery, showed pictures of Logan to anyone who I could walk faster than; but all in all, I could not really focus on projects that needed to be completed, or even think about what my responsibilities are.
But still, I had data to support my theory. I have been successful before on minimal amounts of sleep. I can handle it! I will persevere. I must! After all, have you seen how cute my child is?!
A good scientist and educator is one who is reflective. They must examine the current data and observations, and continue to evaluate the current situations. With that in mind, I have reached a conclusion based on my 15 years of research!
I am a wuss.