Norah Jones

When I've had a particularly stressful teaching day I usually put on a Norah Jones CD or DVD. I first discovered Norah back when her band was giving free concerts at libraries in New York. She has one of the most beautiful voices of any living female singer. Her songs are guaranteed to put you in a tranquil, mellow mood. I especially suggest the "Live In New Orleans" DVD for first timers listening to her. Try Norah the next time you come home with that feeling you want to just choke someone!

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Music

Princess

Occasionally when taking a photograph everything falls into place. The result is a fantastic photograph that really captures the personality of the subject. This photo is a perfect example of that. Here is Princess.

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Photograph

Snooky's Last Goodbye

Mrs. King wasn't expected to live more than a few days but she surprised the doctors by responding to the antibiotics prescribed for her systemic infection. Her mental condition has deteriorated over the past week. Mrs. King was released from the hospital today and was sent back to the nursing home. My wife and I decided that this might be the last chance we had to bring her cat Snooky to her to say goodbye so we packed up Snooky in a carrier and off we went to the nursing home.

For those of you who have never been in a typical nursing home, let me tell you that most of them are depressing places where people go to slowly die. We were familiar with this home because my dad stayed there for a couple of months until his death. It had not improved since that time. People sat in wheel chairs muttering to themselves in the hallways.

We went into Mrs. King's room where she lay in a semi-sleep state. She had that translucent complexion that people have when their time on Earth is short. We managed to rouse her enough to have her see Snooky. She was very confused and disoriented. She did not remember my wife Karen from an earlier visit and kept asking what her name was. She did not remember Snooky at first but Snooky obviously remembered her. She came out of the carrier and rubbed against Mrs. King, who was obviously struggling to remember who Snooky was. We showed Mrs. King a photo collage with all of our furkids on it and told her that we would take very good care of Snooky. We kept reassuring her that Snooky was in a good home and would have the best possible care. It was very sad to see Mrs. King trying so hard to comprehend what we were saying to her.

We did not want to tire Mrs. King further so we excused ourselves. When we said goodbye to her, Mrs. King looked at her beloved Snooky and said, "Bye-bye Snooky." I could tell from the sudden change on her face that Mrs. King realized for a moment who Snooky was and how much she meant to her in the past. On some level Mrs. King knew she was telling Snooky goodbye for the last time.

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Goodbye,Cat

Mrs. King Is Dying

As I said in my earlier post we were going to bring Princess, AKA Snooky, to her former owner Mrs. King in the nursing home a week ago Sunday. Snooky was not feeling well that day and we put her on antibiotics for a respiratory infection so we did not want to stress her with the trip that weekend. I made an 8X10 photo of Princess and framed it as a gift to Mrs. King. My wife Karen met her and gave her the picture. When Mrs. King saw it she burst into tears and said "She's my best friend." They talked awhile and Mrs. King was very lucid though in a wheelchair. She told Karen that she knew we loved Princess and she would never try to take her back. They talked about Princess and Karen assured her that she was fitting in well with the other cats in her new home.

We tried to take Princess to see Mrs. King this weekend but she had been taken to the local hospital for low blood pressure. Her friend just called to let us know that she had been with Mrs. King in the hospital and that she was dying of a systemic infection that they could not control. Mrs. King is awake but can not talk. Her friend held her hand and stayed with her awhile.

I am very glad that Mrs. King knew that Princess had a good home and that she was able to see her photo. It breaks my heart, though, that we couldn't take Princess to her one more time to say goodbye. I can tell that Princess misses her old friend but we will give her all the love we can. God bless you, Mrs. King. You raised a wonderful furkid and for that we are grateful. We will all miss you.

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Love,Cat

"Doing The Right Thing" in Education

Here is an example of why teachers give up trying to better the system and lock themselves in their classrooms:

At a recent faculty meeting our principal stated his concern about the large number of students wandering the hallways without a pass after the tardy bell rings. In a stupid moment of innocent mental bliss I decided to see what I could do to help the situation. I stood at my door before each class and noticed the hall was jammed with kids just standing around chatting. Even after the tardy bell they were slowly meandering to class. I watched them enter classes late day after day with no apparent consequences. We are supposed to call home after the third tardy and send them to the dean's office after that. From what I gather after talking with many of my students, I am one of the few teachers here who actually does that. Oh yes, did I mention that I was the only teacher monitoring the hallway?

It gets better. I decided to unjam the hallway myself so people could get through and hopefully everyone would go to class. When I attempted this the group just looked at me like I was crazy. Finally one kid said "I don't have to go anywhere until the bell rings. My teachers don't care anyway." Well, I told the group they had 10 seconds to clear the hall and anyone remaining would be taken to the dean. Three kids apparently wanted to prove their right to block the hall and ignore me so I got to write them up and escort them to the office.

The next day the same group was jamming the hallway to the point that kids could not even get to their lockers. I ran two of them to the office that day. At the end of the day I wrote an email to the deans and administration explaining the problem and lack of teacher help. The next day nothing changed. I got to escort two more kids to the dean.

Finally the following day another dean appeared one period and stood in the hallway shooing kids to class. Later that day, of course, the hall was again jammed. I unjammed it and sent two more kids, one of them a repeat offender, to the dean for not going to class when I asked him to. At this point I went to teachers directly and asked for help in clearing the halls. Though they all said they would, only one teacher actually appeared and marginally assisted clearing the hall for a couple of periods. By the afternoon the hallway was again jammed.

I wrote the principal directly and told him about this entire idiotic farce, including the lack of teacher support in giving tardies and assisting in clearing the hall. I never got a response from the principal but he did apparently have a short blurb about tardies placed on our weekly video news show. That afternoon two of the students involved in this came up to me. One of them smirked and said sarcastically "Gee, thanks for clearing the hallway, Mr. Albin. It looks so much better now." I calmly said you're welcome to them and went back to work.

So was it all worth it? I managed to cut down on tardies in the hallway for several days.

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Teacher,Education

The Strange World of Cats

You know, living with 9 cats and a bunny makes for some interesting moments here. Our white cat Luvey has been told repeatedly not to get up in the window next to the cockatiel because she throws the bird into a panic. Luvey decided one day that if she closed her eyes and tucked her head under the potted plant that we would not be able to see her! Unfortunately for her we did happen to notice her large 14 pound body perched in the window and down she went.

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Kitty,Pet

Snooky and Mrs. King

Snooky, whom we renamed as Princess, has been with us for the past 3 weeks. She was previously the furkid of Mrs. King. With time, Mrs. King started to forget to feed Princess or to clean her litter pan. Mrs. King was eventually placed in a local nursing home at the age of 90. Snooky was placed for adoption by Goliath and Bebe's World. When she wasn't adopted due to her age and the fact that she didn't 'show' well at Petco, we adopted her. Mrs. King was told that Snooky was being fostered until she could return to take care of her, but I think she knew that her loved one was forever in another home.

My wife Karen went to see Mrs. King in the nursing home after she had told a neighbor that she greatly missed Snooky. Karen brought Mrs. King a photo of Snooky that I took the day before. When Mrs. King saw the photo she burst out in tears and said "That's my best friend." She thanked Karen for taking care of Snooky and said she would never take Snooky from us because she could tell that we loved her. Mrs. King said that she would love to have her back if she could.

We are going to take Princess (Snooky) to see Mrs. King tomorrow. The love that she has for her furkid transcends poor health and time. We will reunite her with her beloved Snooky once again as her days near their end so she can say goodbye to her favorite little girl.

And They Say Dogs Can't Paint!

Saturday in addition to the cat adoptions for Goliath and Bebe's World we had a charity animal art exhibit. For a donation to the rescue group the pet owner would have washable paints placed on their furkid's feet. The cat or dog would then create a work of modern art suitable for framing. I just want to know which room this painting wound up in!

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Charity,Pet

Things That Raise And Lower My Blood Pressure

Something to raise my B.P. :
Friday I returned tests to my Physical Science class. One student announced loudly to the class "Of course I failed. He didn't teach anything." Usually I ignore stupid comments but not this time. I told her "You spent the week doodling and writing notes to your friends instead of participating in class and going over the questions with us. You did not read the chapter material. You never once asked a question about the material or asked for extra help. You didn't study for the exam. And now you think it is my fault that you didn't learn the material?"

Something to lower my B.P. :
We had 4 cat adoptions Saturday for Goliath and Bebe's World. Here is a shot of Tux and Ella, a brother and sister we are trying to find a home for together. No luck this weekend but maybe next week.

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School,Cats

ESOL Requirements

We just had a faculty meeting that centered around students who use English as a second language. We are now supposed to put numeric codes on our lesson plans to demonstrate how we are modifying our teaching to accomodate these students. In addition to this all science teachers have to take 60 hours of ESOL methods training. I've had this training two years ago and it was, to put it kindly, not helpful in assisting us in teaching students who barely speak English.

I have one student this term who is from Madrid, Spain. I occasionally practice my fractured Spanish on her, which causes her to burst out with laughter. This student is currently making a "B" in Anatomy class so I must be doing one heck of a job helping her to overcome her language deficits. Yeah, sure! Education appears to be getting to the point that actual teaching is a minor task amidst all of the silly chores we must now carry out so our school will achieve politically correct, state test taking superlative nirvana. As for my feelings about ESOL students, I don't think it is too much to ask that they be taught English so they can do the work required of them without special treatment. Those who are struggling to understand the English language should be placed in intensive English courses designed to get them up to speed with the English language as quickly as possible. These courses should take the place of elective courses they are currently taking until they can demonstrate proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding English at a level equal that of the average student their age. That's my opinion.

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School,Students