Still loving Aldi

My appreciation of Aldi remains undiminished.

I like the food, the prices, the employees, the other shoppers. I'd
like it if there was one within walking distance.

I can get in, get some stuff, and get out in less than 5mins if I stay
organized. Try that at walmart where mouth-breathing customers and
mouth-breathing checkers conspire to waste maximum time and block every
possible walkway.

Walmart reminds me very much of the end of Wall-e with all the
semi-conscious human globules were carted around in electric scooters.

written offline and synced later

Stage 2 Water Conservation Measures

No lawn watering between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. (From May 1 – September 30), mandatory watering schedule, etc.

I wonder how this affects the golf course.

Radio geeks and the COR radio system

And I mean geeks in the most loving way.

Anyhow, they're expecting testing to start soon in the P25 (digital) system. See this thread.

I don't have any digital gear at the moment and my personal economic situation won't allow that anytime soon. Hopefully someone will put a stream up after it goes P25.

A forceful anti-HOA argument

One of the best arguments I have heard against HOAs. Not talking about Neighborhood Associations here, just HOAs:

...HOA assessments are "forward looking". The homeowner did not incur debt, the HOA corporation incurred it. The homeowner has little control over the debt that the HOA racks up. The HOA seeks to pay for its debt by assessing the homeowners. There is no "principal balance" or term. As long as the HOA exists, it will continue to run up expenses. The HOA assessments are perpetual. Homeowners are burdened by a lien securing payment of future HOA assessments which last into perpetuity. There is no sum certain that the homeowner can pay to terminate the lien even though the debt has yet to be incurred. HOA assessments are more akin to illicit taxes by a corporation that has not been delegated governmental taxation authority.

A note on a house (or anything else) can eventually be paid off. HOA assessments are ever-increasing and never ending. HOA assessments are never "done"...

It's from this post in this thread.

RISD: wrap-up

I have one more piece to write about the alternative certification
situation but will let that age until later this year.

For practical purposes this is the last post in the RISD series.

-= to RISD =-

Please ensure there are enough desks and books for the students. Pencil
sharpeners are mandatory, not optional.

RISD is (in both reality and reputation) a good district. If you do
not get a handle on thug behavior the reputation and reality will
suffer. It's chiefly a cultural issue: kids who have no exposure to
academic culture will wreck the academic environment critical to
top-notch learning. You cannot afford to tolerate serial misbehavior.
Publish high expectations for student behavior and ENFORCE it with vigor.

Principals: please walk your hallways. Schools with "wandering groups
of thugs" problems can be vastly improved by having principals walk the
hallways and deal with wandering/roving kids. Berkner: if you need
help with this talk to LHHS. The new P there is kicking butt and taking
names. Wandering and hallway disruption is greatly reduced.

-= to the teachers =-
Thank you for your kindness and professionalism toward me. I appreciate
the opportunity to work with your kids on days you were away. Thank you
for your words of encouragement.

-= to support staff =-
Custodial staffs: you rock. Keep up the good work. Especially you,
Carlton. If everyone was like you the world would be a friendlier,
gentler, and better-run place.

Inclusion assistants: please stay in the classroom when you see there
is a sub. I can count on ONE HAND the number of times an inclusion asst
stayed with the kids instead fading away with of "oh.... you're a sub.
I have... uhhh... a meeting. Yeah, a meeting" or similar. You are
needed most when sub is there. Please stay and help. To those that
stayed: thank you.

-= to the entire staff at Christa McAuliffe LC =-
I don't know how you do it day after day. If I were a praying man I
would include you in my prayers every day. It is a shame the rest of
the community is unaware of the work that goes on there, the constant
and compassionate effort to provide structure for at least one aspect of
troubled young lives.

-= to the students =-
Thank you for being creative, funny, and brave. Thank you for asking
insightful questions for disassembling the answers.

Worth singling out: The Pre-AP class English class (at Westwood?)
parsing A Christmas Carol was one of the most fearless and thoughtful
student discussions I have ever witnessed. You rock.
Runner-up: Law club students at RHS. I look forward to your running
the world.
Classes like this restore my faith in humanity.

To AP students: thank you for your work ethic and civility. Having an
AP class somewhere in the day's schedule was like being handed a
delicious blue raspberry Slurpee on a hot summer afternoon. How does it
feel to the best part of another person's day? :-)

-= to the parents and community =-
Remember to talk to your kiddo about how school is going: fears,
successes, failures, joys. Friends. Crushes. Talk to the teacher. If
your kid's educational success is being hindered in any way then do
whatever it takes to remove the obstacle. There's nothing more important.

written offline and synced later

quick and dirty

I am aware that my recent posts are rougher than usual: typos,
fragments, etc. This email-to-blog mechanism and the time of day I'm
doing it means I'm trading off quality for timeliness. Hopefully some
of it's worth reading.

Also the timestamp on the emailed blog entries is wrong, some
combination of the timeshifted nature of my offline email and timezone
on my laptop. Or something.

submitted by email

RISD: how to get good results from a sub

This quick/dirty post is intended to be a tickler rather than a specific
set of requests. I'm shooting for "Oh, that's a good idea. I hadn't
thought of that."

I think of subbing like a relay race: teacher hands the baton off to
the sub. Sub runs around the track and hands the baton back to the
teacher. No drops, no drama, just the best possible education for the
students no matter who's in the classroom that day.

Here we go. I'd polish/extend/rewrite this and make and actual
checklist or template if I were still in the subbing game. I'm not so
perhaps someone else can take it as a jumping-off point.

-= checklist for the particular assignment =-

Ask before placing an assignment; some subs work in more than one district.

Put in the job if you say you want that date. Your sub has no way to
hold that date open for you, and Subfinder will keep calling to fill
that date with "you WILL substitute ... ". This can go wrong in many
ways. Defuse all the disastrous scenarios by posting the assignment as
soon as you can practically do so.

Please make any copies necessary beforehand. If the copies were handed
out previously, assume a certain percentage of absences then or losses
since then. If the sub does need to make copies please provide the
copier code.

Reschedule any parent/teacher or contractor meetings.

Accurate, recent attendance sheet visible somewhere. If kids go by
names other than that on the role, please indicate.

If you have a seating chart, please look over it to check that it is
passably accurate.

-= general checklist for all assignments =-
Most of these can be done in advance by making a sub lesson template
that includes stuff that doesn't change.

INFORMATION
Important phone, numbers, schedules, duties, room numbers. When
mentioning other teachers please include first and last name (room /
telephone number would be gravy). "See John if you need help" can be
cryptic if first names are not given on door placards.

Let the sub know where things are: pencil sharpener, loaner
pens/pencils, nearest bathrooms, copy room, lounge.

LESSON
I encourage teachers to provide a lesson that is likely to take the
entire class period. A test is perfect because all students are
engaged on a graded, solo activity with generally-understood rules.

Consider making any assignments due at the end of class. "Turn it in in
tomorrow" (or, worse, when the teacher gets back) is immediately
translated by problem students as "nothing to do; goof off".

If there are special needs students please give the sub a heads up:
Billy is allowed to use the bathroom at any time and for any reason.
Todd goes to reading pullout on Tuesdays. Julie takes her tests in
another room. Freddy has Tourette's which manifests thusly...

If your students are allowed some exception to school policy please tell
your sub. "Kids are allowed to listen to iPods after they turn in their
test, " or similar.

If kids are allowed to eat lunch in your room (particularly kids who are
not your students) please let the sub know. Otherwise the sub may leave
the room during lunchtime and kids will be unsupervised, or may lock the
door leaving students in a lurch and wasting their lunch time. Advise
where they are to throw away their lunch garbage (preferably not in the
class trashcan, for the sake of kids in later classes).

"teacher lets us" . If there are things you allow the students to do
(get things out of your desk, use the classroom phone, go to the
bathroom without a pass) please say so.

Duty: please indicate what is to be done on any assigned duty periods
and where it is to be performed. If there is no duty in an off
periods but the sub must vacate for a traveling teacher, please give
warning.

ROOM PREP
Classroom phone charged, functional, and available to the sub.

If you lock your desk (which is fine) please make sure the sub will not
need anything that is inside the desk: paperclips, staples for the
[empty] stapler, classroom phone (!), remote controls (!), audio
controls (!). I have seen this go wrong in many ways.

Ensure emergency materials are in place: green/red placards with room
number, etc. I have been in three lockdowns; in 2/3rds of the rooms
the emergency information was not visible. I ended up making green
placards out of materials found in the room.

Testdrive any A/V equipment before you leave, particularly if 1st period
is expected to use it. There will be no room for error.

written offline and synced later