So, Let's Give This Another Try . . .

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. A lot has happened to me since then:

-I finished my first year of teaching
-I became an Atheist
-I earned my Master's Degree
-I am actually able to save money
-I celebrated my first year of marriage

The first event above is the primary reason why I basically gave up on the blog so long. My job kept me so incredibly busy that blogging not only dropped on my list of priorities, it went completely went off my radar. However, perhaps with the free time I have had from a summer break, the urge to start blogging again has slowly crept back into me. A new school year is coming soon, and I can't promise as much activity on this blog once I report back to work. However, the first year of teaching is always the hardest, and I am more prepared for the demands of the job than I was. Hopefully, the amount of time I put into the job will not be as long as it was this past year, and I can spent a little more time focusing on other things in my life. My marriage and health will come first, but I will make room for the blog as well.

Education Cuts in Kansas and Missouri

These are tough times for everyone, including those of us in education. For myself, living on the salary of a first-year public school teacher can be a very challenging thing. I make enough to get by, but just barely. My wife only recently found a part-time job, which will help, but only slightly. We have already cut a few things out of our own personal budget, which was not really that hard to do, but now we will likely cut our health insurance coverage because it is just costs too much. Indeed, the road ahead is sometimes too much to think about, as the economy of education funding is not looking good.

The KC Star has put out this article on the cuts that will likely take place in education in both Kansas and Missouri (the image above comes from the same article). Missouri has been able to avoid making cuts so far, but will no doubt be making them in this upcoming legislative session. Kansas, on the other hand, has made several cuts to their budget, and will be making more as their budget deficits aren't getting any smaller. I know my school district has already announced they will be making budget cuts, although what and who will be cut out has not been announced.

While the cuts are understandable (and from a budgeting policy standpoint, somewhat necessary), they are truly unfortunate. It is not just my own job that is on the line, but the jobs of numerous other teachers and school staff. In the greater scheme of things, the quality of education we will be giving our children will only be hindered by increasing classroom sizes and decreasing lack of resources to school services.

Now is the point in this blog post where I would go off on my socialist rant about the need to increase taxes on the wealthy and cut military and prison budgets to help out health care, education, and other social services. But I won't; not right now anyways. All I want to do is show what 2010 has in store for myself, and the education system in the state of Kansas. I will promise to continue to look at this issue as is develops, and keep readers of this blog (if there are any) informed of the situation both with myself, and here in Kansas.

In addition, I will continue to work as hard as I can to be the best teacher I can be, and continue my professional development requirements so that I can better ensure a renewal of my contract next year (or at the very least, make myself more marketable to other school districts if my contract isn't renewed).Beyond that , I will pray and hope. It isn't just my job, or the jobs of other teachers on the line, but the quality of education so many children in Kansas need.

My Top 11 Movies of the Decade (2000-2009)

If you can't tell, I am a movie buff, and this will no doubt be reflected in my blog. As I mentioned in my introduction to this blog, while I will primarily be writing about education and policy topics, I will not rule out talking about non-education/policy related subjects. This will include movies. While this list may be of no particular interest to anyone else who reads this blogs, I have none-the-less presented here my top movies of the decade. And yes, I did choose 11. Why? Because 10 just wasn't good enough.

11) Wall-E (2008)
10) The Corporation (2004)
9) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
8) The Dark Knight (2008)
7) Traffic (2000)
6) Children of Men (2006)
5) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
4) Munich (2005)
3) Borat (2006)
2) There Will Be Blood (2007)
1) City of God (2003)





















I will probably do a top films of 2009 list as well, but, I will probably wait until around Oscar season until I have had the chance to see a few more films.

Professional Development and Blogging

As a first year special education teacher, updating and maintaining on a regular basis is not going to be an easy task. I cannot promise that I will be able to write something every day, but I hope to give relevant postings as much as possible.

One way to help post regularly is to have a good source of websites to go to for relevant information. But having good access to resources is not only important to me as a blogger. It is also important as a professional teacher who wants to continue to grow. I am finding more often than not in this job that it is too easy to slip into lazy routines and outdated methods of teaching. This is not to say there is anything wrong with "old school" methods to teaching. One of the most common phrases in teacher college is that "you don't have to reinvent the wheel".

But since society changes, students change, and thus, teachers need to change (transitive property in practical usage). Many teachers feel that there are way too many professional development activities they must go through. I understand the massive amount of time that PD takes up, but I tend to take a contrarian viewpoint in my profession. I believe a good teacher is always one that is looking for new ideas and ways to reach students. This is not only true of the education profession, but in any profession. In addition, because we are in the business of education, it only makes sense that our education is always ongoing. Teacher education never ends.

One good source I just found is a list of the "50 Best Blogs for Special Education Teachers", put out by OnlineUniversity.com. I have visited a few of these sites before, and look forward to perusing through the other sites.

Welcome!

Here is my first post on this new blog. This is not the first time I have tried out a new blog, and I don't want to spend too much time explaining who I am and what this blog is. But I feel I should do some explaining here in my first post.

First, let me give some background information about myself:

• I teach special education at a high school in Northeast Kansas. I work with students at both an adaptive level (Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, etc.) and a functional level (Intellectual Disabilities, Mentally Challenged, Autism). This is my first year of teaching.
• I live in Johnson County, KS with my lovely wife and our dog.
• Although I live in Jayhawk/KC Royals territory, I am originally from Central Missouri. Thus, I am fans of both the Missouri Tigers, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
• I am very liberal, some might say almost socialist, in my political views. I would prefer to think of myself as a "democratic socialist" if the "s" word has to be applied to me at all. I currently do not belong to any political party.
• Although I am a Christian, I would describe myself as a Unitarian Christian (although I don't currently have a regular church I attend).

I would like this to primarily be a blog about education and policy matters. Sometimes, posts will be about interesting articles I have found surfing the internet or doing research. Sometimes, they will reflect what is going on in my own professional career. And although this blog is primarily about education and policy, I will not rule out posting non-education items that reflect my interests. Above all, I want this blog to create a dialogue with web-surfers about topics and ideas pertaining to both education and non-education related issues. This requires not only me expressing my own views, but hearing the views of others in both comments on my posts and e-mail feedback. As I tell all of my students, teachers aides and co-workers, if you have any suggestions to help make this a better place to learn, please let me know. I crave feedback!