Matt’s Random Thoughts

School starts on Tuesday, and I get a double whammy! Not only top internet casinoкомпютри втора употребаcasino club bonusonline casino kostenlosvideo poker spielenbaccarat downloadeinarmiger bandit online spielenhohe auszahlungeninternet casino pokerflash games roulettepoker on line multiplayerholdem poker on linestrip poker gamespoker tour giocopoker da scaricaresiti pokerworld championship pokerregole omahasrtip poker gratispuntare Pokerstrategia pokerregolamento texas holdempoker heads up onlinescaricare gioco pokerpoker on line,poker room on line,poker on line multiplayerwww poker gratisgiochi di poker da scaricaregioco a pokertornei poker on linepoker itpoker live,live action poker,tornei poker livescaricare gratis pokerpoker regole di giocoregole poker omahapoker no on linehow to play pokersuper poker comgioco strep pokergiochi on line pokerpoker 5 drawmach zehnder modulatortexas holdem softwaredd tournament pokerpoker gioco pc,gioco poker,gioco poker italianocarte pokerstrip poker da scaricare gratisлеглаtilt pokerstrategie pokerpoker tournament 2007poker gioco pcstreet poker gratisdownload gioco poker am I going back as a teacher, I’m also going back as a student. My next class with Walden University, Collaborative Action Research, is also starting, and therein lies my grief.

When I started the program last February, I figured out I could finish in December if I started taking two classes at once. Imagine my surprise when I found out they do not let students take another class along with Action Research. Now I won’t finish until February. Argh! I just want to be done with online courses for now. Although it’s just another two months, I was hoping to download midi ringtones free ringtones for cricket cell phone sony music box ringtones 24 ringtones free crazy frog ringtones free real music ringtones sprint info nokia remember ringtones free us cellular audiovox ringtones free ringtones verizon real music ringtones crazy download free frog ringtones free ringtones for cricket phone download free ringtones tracfone download mosquito ringtones make your own free ringtones free ringtones for verizon wireless phone crazy frog ringtones download free mobile ringtones virgin nextel real music ringtones free verizon wireless ringtones be done by DECEMBER so I could start getting paid more. Bummer. But after talking to folks, I understand why they don’t let you take another course with Action Research.

So it begins, my third year of teaching,
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and my final few months of Walden University (which is an amazing program, by the way!). At least I have honors students this year. I can have a little less stress, hopefully, each day. And next summer I’ll either be courses for my MA in History or Ed.D in Educational Leadership. Well, that’s the plan for now. The baby could say otherwise.

For those who actively read my blog (all 2 of them) you may remember a post in which I mentioned dressing up as a pharaoh when we went over Egypt in my World History class. The kids got a kick of it.

We recently started Rome. Guess what that means! Julius Caesar made an appearance in room 114 the other day. (And yes, the students, and some of the teachers, chanted “Toga! Toga! Toga!” as I walked past.) I spent the first 5 or so minutes greeting them in Latin, and continuing in Latin an explanation of who I was and what I was doing. Surprisingly, although they had never taken a Latin course in their lives, most of the students could tell what I was talking about. I guess my old communication professors were correct. Communication is predominantly non-verbal. Regardless, the kids had a good time. I even dressed up a few of them in the Toga and explained its significance. They were disappointed, however, that my legs weren’t showing this time.

Don’t mind the stupid expression on my face. I have no idea what I was thinking. Maybe I was worried a Brutus-esque student was hanging around or something…

So we were going over Egypt in my World History class the other day, and since we can’t take the students to the past, we have to bring the past to the students…

Tuesday was supposed to be the first day of school. It wasn’t. Tropical Storm Ernesto made sure of that.

So we moved on to Wednesday. The day was going great. (My freshmen are TONS better than before!) Seventh period had arrived, and the baroness of bookkeeping strolled into my room with a stack full of letters. School would be closed Thursday and Friday due to issues with the water resulting from Ernesto. He has struck again.

We move on to Monday. As of now, that’ll be the 2nd day of school. Of course, Hurricane Florence is potentially on her way, so we’ll see.

If this is any indication of how this year will be, I’m looking forward to lots of snow days. Up yours, Global Warming!

I’ve been a horrible blogger. There, I’ve said it. I broke blog commandment #1 - “Thou shalt update thine blog.” (And possibly #2 “Thing blog shalt not suck.”)

How much have I forgotten to talk about? Let’s see…

I’ve begun a Master’s program through Virginia Tech. It’s a Curriculum and Instruction degree with a concentration in Instructional Technology. I just completed my first “semester” of courses, and naturally I got all A’s. Whoohoo! Only 27 more credits to go. Let’s see, this is grad program #3… will I finish it this time? That could be a possibility.

Instructional Technology isn’t really a passion. It’s more like something I thought I could do to make myself more marketable. Then again, so is a Masters in History, which is what I also want to pursue. I’ve found a great online program through American Public University, which is actually a school environment designed for military personnel who are all over the world. But hey, it works for me too. They have a concentration in Classical and Ancient History, which is just what this nerd likes. I haven’t taken a class though them yet because I’m enrolled at Tech, but I think this fall I’m going to take a course this fall. Hell, I’ll just work on both programs at the same time!

Wedding plans are coming along. We’re going up to Delaware soon to get some stuff done. I can’t believe a month of my summer has already passed. A month ago I was at graduation. It’s kinda weird to not wake up and go to work, not to mention not seing my kids.

Tara and I bought a new car. It’s a 2006 Honda Civic. VERY NICE! This bad boy gets helluva great gas mileage. We traded in her cavalier, but it was well worth the trade. For those who have not bought a new car, if you go to do so, make sure you have lots of time. We were there for about 6 hours. Totally too long, but we had a really good sales rep. I’m sure we’ll be going back soon to trade in my hunk of junk sunfire for a CR-V or something.

Cleo and Caesar are doing just fine. They do the traditional cat things, that is, eat, sleep, play, poop. I’ll have to post some pictures. The ones I have in the photo album are almost a year old!

Nothing else to really update, at least not that I can think of. Yeah, anticlimatic I know. I guess I broke commandment #2 again.

Given the two month absence from the blogosphere (if that’s a word), it may have seemed I disappeared. Sorry to ruin your day, but I did not. Just like Gloria Gaynor, I survived. I made it through my first year as a teacher.

Today is Monday, June 12th. It’s 9:42 AM. Normall I would be in my planning period. However, I woke up this morning, I’m sitting in pajamas, and realizing I’m done. Now I’m bored. I have a whole summer to catch up. But it’s weird. I actually miss being in class. I miss the kids. I guess seeing them everyday affected me. WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO ME!!! Did they infect me with some mental/emotional bird flu?

Who knew that teaching a bunch of wild seniors and ruthless freshmen would be so rewarding. I think I’m now qualified to teach in some inner-city juvenile prison… or work with baboons at the San Diego Zoo. Either way, both groups throw shit at you. Granted I had my share of energy laced empty skulled teens, I did have some wonderful students as well. These are the ones whom I hope keep in touch.

Looking forward to next year, I won’t be teaching Geography or Government. I can’t say I’m saddened. However, I can say I almost soiled my pants in joy at learning I’d be teaching all World History I classes. Yes, I may have the worst freshmen every, but at least I’ll have them in a subject I’ll enjoy. We historians love dealing with dead people. Otherwise we’d just be your average supermarket tabloid journalists. Ancient history is my cup of tea, and I hope to make everyone else excited about it as well.

But I still miss my kids. I keep calling them “kids” even though I was only 5-6 years older than my seniors. That would make them less “kidlike” and more “little brotherish”. Ahhh… maybe I’ll see some of them this summer at the carnival or Walmart. We all know what a hangout Walmart can be!

On June 11th I awoke early to journey to William and Mary to take the Praxis II: Social Studies Content Knowledge test. After waiting in a massive line, I was directed to the room where I would be taking the test. As it was passed out, the facilitator read the instructions. We began.

Holy crap! The test began with US History questions. I knew a lot of them. Then it went to World History questions. I knew some of them. (Hey, there’s a LOT of World History out there!) Next was Political Science, Geography, Economics, and Behavioral Sciences. After the test concluded the others who also took it were complaining about the economics. I only took Macro. I left the building as the proud new owner of a freshly ripped second ass hole.

Flash forward to this past Thursday. I received my scores. I had no idea how it would be scored. I couldn’t find anywhere that I needed to get “X” number right to get the passing score of 161. All I could find was an article someone had written about missing 40 questions and still receiving a 186. That made me feel good. Perhaps they judged the test more leniently since it covered so much. Regardless, I stood with the ETS envelope in my hand. I ripped it open and slid out the sheet of paper. 165! I PASSED! It may not have been a great score, but it was a passing score! Not bad since I didn’t study.

So, my $125 I spent to take the test was used wisely. Now I’m on my way to becoming a teacher. Hooha! Look forward to another post in a few days about a potential advancement!

A few years back Nsync came out with their second album which had the song “Digital Getdown” about doing things ditally. Looks like that’s what I’m going to do. And no, I’m not talking about cyber sex. (Though you know you’d like to see me typing about sliding my boxers off, etc. etc.)

This past weekend I spoke with Erin Murray, an old key club friend of mine. She was telling me that she was going through the University of Phoenix Online to get her MAED and teaching license. I didn’t realize Virginia allowed that. When I got back from the convention, I filled out the online interest form, and my advisor, TJ, got back to me the next day. I’m faxing in my forms tonight, and if all goes well, I’ll be starting my first class on May 17th. Fun times!

The program lasts 21 months. I’ll get my teaching license, AND a Masters degree. Sure, the cost is a little more, but it evens out in the end. I think it’s rather convenient as well. Of course I don’t really know for sure because I haven’t started, but Erin said it was nice. I’m looking forward to it. Finally I can get back to what I wanted to do in the first place, be a high school teacher.

If all goes well, perhaps I could get a job under a provisional license as well. I just have to register for the praxis 2. Nikki said she studies for that with SOL sheets. I printed off the SOL tests from the past two years. I got a 90%. That’s passing, right?

Well, that’s all for now. I have to go to work in a few hours. It’s my second night audit shift. More on that later.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve dropped out of graduate school at ODU. With Great Wolf, I seriously won’t be able to keep up with classes. I seriously thought spring break would have been a catch up time, but boy was I wrong! I ended up more behind than I was originally.

In the end it came down to an issue of time and money. Great Wolf is paying me for work. ODU is charging me for work. Hmmm… easy decision there. Being as far in debt as I am, I really need to work as much as I can. There will always be time for school.

I’ve been in school for the past 20 years. I think I need a break anyway.

What’s on the plate for today? Here are some updates.

DCON
The rest of it (most of it) went well. ODU won Most Improved Club. I’m so proud of them. Granted I didn’t do much with them this year, it is great to see them grow. They won it a few years ago under Jamila. Lauren is going to do an excellent job with them this coming year. Maybe I can be their faculty advisor. I really didn’t care about the rest of the awards. From what I understand, many of them only had one applicant, so who’s to say the winner really “won”?

Pieing on Saturday evening was fun. We raised quite a bit for the Alumni Association. I have to go to the bank and set up our account. We’re off to a wonderful start though. Just wait until FTR. We may not be able to cook, but we can still make those bitches sing!!!

What would DCON be without drama? The sad part is that it revolved around my division. I can’t say I’m very proud of the way they handled it. In all honesty, it was low, and very disrespectful. On the upside, however, Kiln Creek will be gaining a new member.

School
Hey MacLeods! You can take my life, but you can never take my freeeeeeeeeeeeedom! What the hell am I talking about? This paper I have to write on this coat of arms is taking up every bit of freedom I have. And it’s due Tuesday! Let me commence with the taking of laxatives, because I’m going to need help pulling these 15 pages out of my ass.

Kiwanis
I really hate Kiwanis right now. I joined to do service projects. I thought that was what Kiwanis was about. Clearly I was wrong. They’re talking of nixing our club tomorrow at the district board meeting because we only have six members. Despite the fact that our 6 member club does more than HALF of the clubs in the district (just look up the stats) they apparently don’t value our membership in the organization. They only see numbers. Well you know what, you dumb ass incompetant boobs, go ahead and cut us. If anyone in our club wants to remain a Kiwanian, they’ll join another club. I, however, will not. Nor will I be giving the keynote speech on Saturday morning. Cutting us would, however, all us to just relax and stop having to hear them bitch about how we only have 6 members. Like they’ve done anything to help.

Midwinter
Will I be a Kiwanian at Midwinter? That’s to be determined. If not, no speech for me. I think I’m just going to wait until Friday night to write it then. On the other hand, getting prepared to handled all of these Hospital Dolls and Happy Hats has been a nightmare. I’ll be so glad when this conference is OVER!

I just want a break. Spring break is coming. But that won’t be a break. Why? I start training with the Great Wolf Lodge then, let alone the fact that I have 5 million papers to write for class. I can’t handle all this. ARGH! One thing at a time… one thing at a time.

Okay, back to work.