Mom Is Teaching

See, all this stuff is new to me, kinesthetic learner.  No I know what kinesthetic means.  I have a degree in physical education remember.  So, I know that moving is essential to a child’s learning.  This was the very thing that sparked my argument with the Alabama Department of Human Resources as well as the Department of Education in Alabama.

Why would I argue with them you ask?  Well, I was in the process of trying to get my license to own/operate/direct a daycare.  The state DHR ruled that the person could do this if he/she had a degree in early childhood.  Ok, so my teaching certificate says N-12.  They argued with me that the State of Alabama does not issue any degrees of the such, N-12.

So, I faxed them a copy of that $30K teaching certificate that read:  Physical Education N-12.  Ok, they say, but that still won’t work.  So, I ask them this,

“If a physical education teacher who is certified N-12 is not qualified to own/operate/direct/teach in a daycare, who in the hell is?”

They didn’t respond in my favor. 

Fast forward to the time when I was attempting to  obtain a grant to operate a pre-K program.  And, with that, the State Department of Education that controls WHO can teach in this class requires that the person who is in control of this class, or the teacher, “have a degree in early childhood”. 

And, once again, I asked them,

“If a physical education teacher who is certified N-12 is not qualified to own/operate/direct/teach in a daycare, who in the hell is?”

They did not respond in my favor either.

So, now I give you….the Kinesthetic Learner 3. 

But first, more of my goofy newly branded 6-year-old.

I’m almost there folks.  I’m almost caught up to the point where I can give you some real stuff from my brain instead of continuing to feed off of everyone else.  But, I am hopelessly hooked to the homeschool site on Blissfully Domestic and I just can’t seem to tear myself away from there. 

So, today, Sandy Fleming is an education consultant in Michigan who allows her kids to watch TV without working at it from time to time.  For more ideas about how to get educational mileage out of videos.  You can see more of her on Using Movies and Videos at All Info About Reading.

So, the article that caught my eye is regarding using video’s and DVD’s in a “can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude.  I’m sure you can all remember that my children aren’t really big on TV.  They will watch more and more with passing time but they really are stuck with about 10 minutes at a time still and then they are off to get into something else. 

But, if you have a TV kid, go give this article a read, it can give you all kinds of ideas.

Today, one kid turns 6 today.  We went to school for the big “kindergarten birthday school party” today and when the assistant principal asked me how I was doing, I answered, “better than I was 6 years ago at this time of day”.  So, with today’s little note about video’s, I”m gonna give you…the goofy, the plain un-schooled goofy…

Plain goofy!

Do you read to your children?  Sure you do.  We don’t read to our children as much as we should I don’t think but, Walker is now reading to us so we have slacked off more than we should.  I was fortunate enough to be able to read and review LetsBeCreative and their CD and book of The Monster on Top of the Bed.

Yea, you read that right, the monster ON TOP of the bed.  Sometime I think my child is a monster and he scares me too…and I don’t live under his bed.  We first let the boys enjoy the book/CD combo on Saturday morning before his basketball game.  I knew he would be up at like 7 AM and he didn’t play until 10.  But, it was his first game, and well…you know…excitement…it gets the best of you. 

So, I baited them with “another surprise before the game that’s even better”.  It worked.  So, instead of asking every 5 minutes if it was time to go, I set them up with a copy of the book and the CD.  I let the CD do the reading and Walker held the book so that he and Jace could both see.

We didn’t hear from them again until it was time to get ready to go to the game.  After the game, we (and 900 other people) went to a restaurant with a play area for the kids to play while we used their wi-fi.  It was horribly crowded and the boys were begging to leave.

We managed to eat and stay an hour or so and then they started having birthday parties and it just got to be too much.  Finally, Walker had a grand idea, “let’s go and we can listen to our CD on the way home”. 

Ok, you got me kid.  Let’s go.  You can go to their website, LetsBeCreative and get the CD and the book for $20.  You can even order extra book for $3 each that way, you won’t have kiddo’s arguing over who is going to hold the book.  Which…my kids did argue, but Jace is pretty good with his big brother being the one who “knows how to read”. 

Believe it or not, Walker has listened to the CD with the book several times and I’ve heard him trying really hard to read the book to his brother without the CD already.  Can’t get much better than that!

And, here’s one really cool addition, you can download the audio online, put it on your mp3 and then use a wireless transmitter to play it in your car for the kids.  Oh, yea, friends, there’s all kinds of way to make this one work.

I don’t know if I have ever mentioned here but anyone who has emailed with me probably already knows it, but I have 10 blogs.  Two are sitting idle doing nothing, 2 are for advertising and celebrity gossip and get very little attention and the other 6, I am actively pursing.  And, if you get email from me, you see all the links in my signature. 

Last night I joined some women (and a few men) for what was known as "girls night out" (and some gents night out) on twitter for a big party.  Now, let me say that there was very few women or men in this big party that I had ever chatted with before.  But, I made some great contacts and some excellent information was put in my little pea brain.

Now, have I ever mentioned that I have about 200 blogs in my feed reader.  Have I ever mentioned that I rarely stay caught up.  On New Year’s Eve I about 7:30 or 8:00, I opened Bloglines and saw that I had 938 feeds in my reader.  So, I set a lofty goal of reading all of them by midnight and commenting on at least one third of them.

Let’s just say…I might would have been able to have read them all but I was tweeting and commenting and thus that little goal was not obtained.  I did finish up some time New Years Night and I did comment on almost 1/3 of them. 

So, I told you all that to say this, of all the blogs I read, I often run up on great websites that I want to share with you all but I don’t want you to think I found them on my own.  I mean, that would be real noble of me to make you think I’ve been sitting around all day researching this for you, uh?

Well, anyway, I opened my Bloglines earlier today and it was back up in the 300’s.  So, I started reading with my goal to comment on 1/3.  But, again, I got side tracked and I’m still working on that.  But I did find an awesome website courtesy of a blog I read by a woman name Yvonne.  She just goes by Y and her blog is Joy Unexpected.  She also has a weight loss blog but I can’t find the name of it or find it right now (I will though).  Anyway, she had this website featured on her blog and I’m merely passing along information, I’m certainly not going to take credit for find it.  Although, it is wonderful and you would all think I was great if I had found it myself.  Oh well, sorry.

The name of the website is Born Learning and you have to go check it out.  It is chalked full of information and I really spent way too much time over there.  Remember my goal was to read 300 posts and comment on 100 but..no, I’ve been on that site perusing the stuff.

I’m trying to be informative even if I find that I’m not telling you anything that you couldn’t find somewhere yourself.  But, hey, if you find it here, then it’s just that much easier, uh?

So, what is it that I want to steal and share today…….Well, Angie from Many Little Blessings also writes for Blissfully Domestic and she has some great tips for "teachers/parents/coaches/facilitators" on how to handle the kiddo’s as they start to learn to read.  And, I was quite pleased with myself to find that I pretty much already knew what she put out and I basically followed those guidelines.  So, that should make me like……teacher/parent/coach/facilitator of the year, right?  Wait, I was trained a little….heck never mind, that makes me nothing then doesn’t it. 

Never mind all that self-bashing.  Let’s get straight to it.  Here’s her thoughts on working with early readers…

1. If the mistake still makes sense, don’t worry about it. For example, if your child says, "house" and the word was "home," just let them continue reading.

2. If the mistake doesn’t make sense, don’t immediately correct them. Wait to see if they notice that it doesn’t make sense. They might try to go back and fix it without you saying anything.

If your child doesn’t correct the error, you can say…

3. "Can you try that again?"

4. "Did that make sense?"

5. "Did what you read look right and sound right?"

If they still can’t get it…

6. Tell them the word.

Angie can be found writing about faith, family, cooking, cleaning, and trying to live a more content life at Many Little Blessings.

And, at the same time, since we are talking about reading, Kris from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers has some reading tips for you.  What she means is, you do the reading, you do the learning…and she has some books to recommend as well.

As you know, or if you  have forgot, I haven’t done much reading over the last several years except for when it was online.  But, once I started writing this blog, I found some of the greatest book suggestions on-line and now I find myself with a book in my hand often.  I even read in the car on the way home from our trip today. 

But, back to these suggestions by Kris.  She lists some of her favorites as

Homeschooling:  The Early Years by Linda Dobson

The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith (I think someone here as mentioned this book to me as well)

A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levinson (I’ve never heard of this one so I would love to hear from someone who has read it)

The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Baur (again, another one I’ve never heard of but would love to hear from someone who has read it)

The Relaxed Home School by Mary Hood

If you have favorites, I’d love to hear from you too!

my purpose in writing this is to ask for guest posters once again.  I had some great guest posts last time and right now I am running the 12 Days of Christmas Give Away on Mom~E~Centric, Mom is Teaching and Education Uncensored.  So, if I don’t get anything extra besides the contest and the winners up on those blogs it would be ok, but I prefer content along with the opportunities to win.  And, you too can enter the contests and try to win.  There’s 4 chances on 3 blogs and with such a low readership that I have, winning should be fairly easy. 
But, that’s not why I am writing this, I tend to ramble, can you tell? Here’s what’s happened.  My aunt in Florida has cancer and is in the hospital.  My mom is leaving Monday morning going down there.  That means that I have to work AND entertain a 4 year old all next week and the next and probably all the way up til Wayne is off for Christmas.  ALONE!.  Next on the list is the fact that my cousin is getting married on Saturday afternoon.  And, I went to the rehearsal dinner tonight because my husband and I are doing the photography.  Well, while i was there…..like 5 minutes after I walked in the building….I was handed a piece of paper with the words "Director" written at the top.  She smiled that sweet smile and said, "can you do this too?"
And, I mean, it is just wrong to tell a bride-to-be no so…..I’ve got to prepare for shooting my first wedding, directing one of many weddings (but she is doing some funky stuff and I don’t know any of the grooms parents - and step mom doesn’t talk to real dad and brother doesn’t speak to someone) and I’ve agreed to do all that along while keeping up 10 blogs, keep up with a 4 year old and help decorate for this wedding on Friday night.  Did I mention our Christmas tree hasn’t been put up yet?

And, the straw that breaks the camel’s back here…………….I don’t have any clothes that fit me to wear to the wedding.  I am huge right now and I couldn’t get anything to fasten.  So, that means…I must go shopping sometime.  Yea right.  Add to that the fact that since I’m directing and Wayne and I are doing photos…..I’d like to wear pants and I’m going to ask the bride-to-be tomorrow about it, so we shall see.  However, she is not going down the aisle to the wedding march and she and the groom are walking out to "I’m a believer….and I saw her face…." which just totally cracked me up.

Now, since you’ve heard my sob story and you already know about the TMJ crap (which this expensive mouthpiece seems to have helped a lot) and you know that I’ve not had to take care of this particular 4 year old all day and night without any intervention from a grandmother since July…..oh please, just pray that he lives through it. 
Ok, so the topic of the guest post is……………….anything you want.  If you need a place to blast someone and don’t want to do it on your blog, I got room for you.  If you need to tell a sad story but don’t want all of your readers to know….I got room for you.  If you have a passion…homeschoolling, public schooling, pregnancy related, depression, anxiety, marriage…..you want a write about it…I got a place for you.
I"m going to close this email by begging….PLEASE!

If you are looking for some safety “stuff” for your children, I’ve got a deal for you.  You can get 25% off of your first purchase at My Precious Kid with the coupon code # BLACKfriday08.

Go, she has some awesome stuff over there!

I’m all over the internet and stealing ideas right and left.  There is absolutely no way this could have been thought up by me.  But, I’m telling you, it is absolutely the cutest darned thing I’ve ever seen.  I’ve tried playing the “Boo” game in my neighborhood but no one ever seems to get as excited as I do. 

I found this over at i could cry but i don’t have time and she found it somewhere else.  Either way, I’m wondering if any of you will be brave enough to try this craft out just to see if you can get away with it….

They call it…the Ghost of Tampon!  Nuh uh!

I know I’ve waited pretty late in the game to ask this, but does anyone have any awesome Halloween crafts or child-friendly projects that you would like to share? 

They’ve done quite a few things at school, but I was hoping to do something at home with my “3.95 year old who is not potty trained” child and maybe something with the 2 of them on Saturday.

Anyone have any good ideas you are willing to share?

P.S.  All the sanding of sheet rock and saw dust has my sinus’s in a fit..so I’m laying low…really low.  I’d love another guest poster or two and of course some Halloween craft ideas are on my mind as well.

Feingold.org that is?  Do you know them?  Chances are you either already know about the Feingold diet because you have a child that has showed marked improvements with the diet or you are looking for this kind of information.  It very well may not be for a child of your own, a friend, a sibling, yourself?

Either way, when I started discussing the thoughts and ideas of ADD and ADHD in regards to my son, Jane Faus contacted me immediately.  She then sent me a plethora of information in the form of books and leaflets and had directed me to navigating on the Feingold site.  Here’s a few quotes from some of our emails that I found interesting when I went back to look at them and pass along the information. 

Here’s a few of my comments regarding the big food list entitled “Make the Switch from Fake to Food”.  She is commenting on foods I specifically mention.

Kool-Aid worries me, but not nearly as much as Crystal Light.  The aspartame in it has cause more reports of serious health problems than any additive in history (so that includes the Diet Coke).   If you want to learn more, do a search for Cori Brackett and her film “Sweet Remedy”.  Cori was diagnosed with MS and was confined to a wheelchair.  After she ditched the aspartame she recovered…she was one of the lucky ones.  

Actually, I never buy Crystal Light, so I can’t say for sure if it still has aspartame in it.  If so, then you are swallowing a combination of aspartame and dye.  Research at the University of Liverpool in England found that each of these additives damaged nerve cells, but when they were combined the damage was 7-fold.   The research only looked at aspartame + one dye.  I have no idea of the potential damage if you consume several different dyes, plus artificial flavor. 

Sundrops are similar to M&Ms but are made with all natural ingredients.  There’s a Whole Foods Market in Birmingham….I don’t know how often you travel there, but they have all kinds of yummy, wholesome treats.   Most new, well-stocked supermarkets now carry a good selection of natural foods.

You can also order these things online.

Froot Loops - Fruity Pebbles, I assume it is the same thing

Yes, just as bad.  This is not cereal, it’s candy.  There are some naturally colored cereals that are similar, but they still have a lot of sugar.  We aren’t anti-sugar, but you need more than that to carry you through the morning.

Hawaiin Punch - we don’t this for home, but Wayne gets it frequently for himself

This really should not be thought of as a juice.  It’s the stuff we once used, that caused so many problems for our family.   Minute Maid fruit punch would be good.  I like to mix Welsh’s pure grape juice with either plain or sparkling water and lots of ice.  It’s refreshing and it’s real food.

Jelly Beans - Even Jelly Belly now has a natural option….as do several other companies.  This is another one of Wayne’s favorites.

Hershey Choco Bar - Ghirardelli’s tastes better.  Even sweetened baking chocolate is readily available.  I’m the chocolate-aholic in the family.

Ritz Crackers - and here I thought these things were so innocent

They aren’t nearly as worrisome as the other things (above).

There’s just a few foods to think about and you can check out the site for more helpful information.  There’s so much more to it than just the foods I mentioned above, those just happen to be the foods in our house that are so deadly.

So, in case you got lost in all the mumbo jumbo from waaaay back when I first started reading The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish (which was sometime around…oh September 3rd), the approach I chose was to read the first half of the book Fried Brains and Frayed Tempers, and comment here on different parts of the book that I found interesting or that I had something I thought might add to the thoughts already out there. 

At the time, I was going to get those posts written fairly quickly and then I was going to read the second half of the book, Ending Homework Hell.  And, of course, I will have much to say there as well.  But, I got sidetracked because I was also reading 2 other books and trying to maintain seven or is it eight blogs.

Anyway, as I sit in my living room listening to the sounds around me, one kid snoring in one direction, an adult snoring in the other and crickets going crazy outside along with an occasional hot rod headed in one direction or another, I try to concentrate.  I’m ready to get moving, just so far behind from this week’s lack of work on my part.

The Mono thing coupled with a change in anti-depressant kept me down all week.  I slept approximately 18 to 20 hours a day 3 days about 15 the other days since Sunday.  I am better today but tomorrow brings a lot of work as we try to finish our deck.  We are planning to finish laminating the living area floor (we only did half of it way back when, long story) but we are going to pain the room first.  So, anyway, it won’t be long before I’m ready to read the second half and then….

then….I’m going to be seeking advice on how to make my moves and to make them in the right direction.  Bear with me here, it’s been a long sickly summer and I’m ready to make strides toward somewhere else.

Keep reading, it’s coming…..

I made no bones about it when I first took this blog that I knew very little about homeschooling.  I have tried to take the focus of education and give it several lives, that of the parent educator, the public school teacher as an educator, the parent as a homeschool educator, our ministers, our policeman, our fireman, everyone has a role and I hope to keep moving in that direction.

As of late, I’ve focused a lot strictly on a system that I know the most about and that is the Alabama System of Public Education and even more specifically, the education system where I live.  I’m trying to get back to gearing the site toward all variations of educators and I hope to get some more of the great feedback back in action.

In the meantime, I received an email from Edgar Acosta who is the editor at Opposing Views.  He asked me to take a look at a topic in particular and see if I thought you guys might be interested in reading it as well.  The topic, Are Homeschooled Kids at a Disadvantage?  I think even the people here who are pro public school (like myself - so far I am still pro public school anyway) will find the information to be beneficial.  I also think we’ve been very mature in our comments here by not pointing fingers and trying to one-up each other. 

So, go give the debate a read, see what you think and let me know.  I’d love to see if my perception of the readership here is correct.  I would appreciate it if you would go check it out, chime in with your own comments and keep in touch with me as to what you feel about the debate. 

I’m anxiously waiting…

Many of you know how I feel about homework and if you don’t, you can read about it here.  And, since the subject came up this week with a meltdown from Walker regarding his homework, most of you read the letter I sent to school as well.  I explained what the assistant principal had to say in the matter and now, I want you to know our newly adopted philosophy on homework in our house.  So, here goes…like it, dislike it, whatever, here it is…

*side note*  I want to interrupt here and say this, I am terrified of alienating the teachers at my son’s schools just as much as I am the administrators.  However, I’m not scared enough to let them ruin my son’s childhood.  Respect is a huge issue and as long as they respect my manner of handling “homework”, I will do my best to respect their way of handling “instructional time” during the school day.

So, here’s a copy of an email I sent to someone simply stating how we will approach homework from this point forward.

“At first,  he would come home excited about reviewing his work and showing me what he had learned.  That night and the next night were disasters but then last night he wanted to show me again. 

I don’t mind  homework at all as long as my kid is saying, just because he wants to and not because someone has told me it is “homework”. 

It isn’t really homework in my opinion if he approaches it like that.  So, that’s our general rule from here on out, we talk to him about what the teacher “thinks” he needs to review and then we do the parts that he wants and is excited about. 

Nothing more - if he wants to read, or do sounds or have me read to him, that’s what we are doing.  I just spoke to the Assistant Principal yesterday and she wasn’t thrilled with my approach but …all I can say is …too bad, he is my kid, I think he is way ahead of most and I’m ok with our plan for now. 

If the time comes that we have to change things or make further arrangements with the school, then we will do that when the time comes.  Right now my 3 year old is also very interested in it and he sits and listens too, but no one tells him that he has to and I’m happy about that, they want to learn, they aren’t forced to cram stuff in their head just for memory sake.”

I think that the part in bold “they want to learn’” is absolutely the most important part and I truly believe that all the homework that folks are throwing out there is exactly the reason why our children are turned off in the first place.  So, as long as we are having fun learning, I’m happy with that. 

Discuss please.

If you remember, Dr. Sanford Aranoff left a comment back on my post entitled “Homework and Comments”.  He left a book recommendation that I looked up on Amazon but the description didn’t lend itself to the topic of “homework” in particular so I passed on buying and reading it.  I did contact Dr. Aranoff and explain as much.  I received the following comment on that old post, I’m putting it here because the post is so old it might be missed otherwise.

“There are several parts of Teaching and Helping Students” dealing with homework. Here are some quotes:
Feelings are very important in mathematics and science. When I go to a seminar, I often hear statements like “I do not feel good about this,” or ”I feel good about this.” You too should examine your feelings during class and when doing homework. I am really so confused about what this means, so I’m not commenting otherwise”.

There are entire sections devoted to homework. E.g., classroom management has a section on homework. Here are some quotes: (Whoa, classroom management and homework are not synonyms…classroom management does not equal homework, sorry)

It is important to give homework, because then they have to review the material.  (Review the material does not equal homework, review the material equals study time.)

Homework is practice in applying the math concepts and learning how to think clearly about the math. It must also be exercises in how to do math, namely, to write neatly, to clearly state the assumptions and reasoning, and to check the work. (Math exercise includes writing neatly? (I fully believe that if a child does not know how to do the math, he/she won’t know how to do it after doing 50 math problems at home at night or even 5.  And, if they don’t know how to do it, then it needs to be covered at school.  With that, if the child/person knows how to do the exercise, then they know how and 5 or 50 problems doesn’t make a lot of difference.  Class time is best for exercising so that someone (namely a teacher) is there to assist.)

Homework can be viewed as public work. We like to keep tests private, out of respect for the students, but this is not the case for homework. The goal is the effort, the correct understanding of the mathematics, and the proper approach. The activities of one student, successes and failures, can be shown as examples to enhance the learning of all.  (No, you are not using my child’s failures to teach someone, sorry.)

It is good if students collaborate (as long as they simply do not copy from each other) doing homework. It is good if they teach each other. This should be encouraged. Collaboration is not acceptable on tests, of course, most of the time, although there may be exceptions. (You say, and I quote, “it is good if they (as in students) teach each other”….whoa, it is the teacher’s responsibility to teach…not the students…who is trained to teach here????? Whoa is all I’m gonna say, just WHOA!)

The homework review in the class can be utilized as encouragement for working together, by discussing aloud with the students nearby work that was very good or contained errors.” 

My dissection of this reply is in red and so I am still not convinced that he and I are working on the same page. 

What do you think?

Ok, I’ve been pretty verbal this week, I’m thinking I should close my trap but I can’t wait to read your comments.

Ok, so I’m off of that last horse for a moment, don’t fret, I haven’t lost my mind, I’ll give it a few more whacks before the week’s end.  I was looking through Internet stuff trying to find some information on my dad.  No luck, but I did happen to find this.

I’m going to quote the important parts so you don’t have to go read it all, but I did want to get the reference right.

“Hubbert is the executive secretary of the all-powerful Alabama Education Association. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley hopes he’ll have that much power when he grows up.”

blah blah blah

“The majority of teachers need protection, mostly from the parents who think little Johnny and Johnnie can do no wrong in any manner, shape or form. More times than not, the parents - or more accurately, the parent - is the last to acknowledge what a little monster they bred and birthed in a fog of inebriation and loosed upon the world.

In matters of discipline, the teachers’ lips are often the first to tell “little precious” the word “no” about anything.”

I quoted this because I was hit as a teacher by a student and by a parent.  The child was not punished other than corporal punishment and the parent walked away with nothing but the pride that she had b!tch-slapped her daughter’s teacher.

So, I know that AEA has its place.  What makes me mad is that I know from experience that they aren’t doing what they are needed to do.  I know that had my father been alive, neither of those people would have been back in a public school and not just because I was his daughter.  He stood up for teachers every where.  (Part of the strike in 1979 revolved around lunchroom workers and bus drivers, not just teachers - and when the settlement game down at first, it corrected the wrong against the teachers but not the lunchroom workers and bus drivers and the teachers association rejected it quickly - so I know, my father would have seen to it that a teacher, any teacher, wasn’t abused like I was*)

Now, if you read the article, you can see that it is a slam on Dr. Hubbert.  I wasn’t so interested in that as I was the part about teachers being the first person to ever tell a child “no” and how parents act when they listen to their child and do not give the school a chance to clarify any actions.

More on that …later…

Either way, the educational system in Alabama is not what it should be and it saddens me.  Teachers aren’t always qualified.  Read the statistics in that same article…

“A good 30 percent of the teachers today shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near young people. Forty percent are mediocre, and the other 30 percent are exceptional and make all the difference in many children’s’ lives, including mine.”

I have a big problem with that 70% rate that aren’t exceptional.  I know it is easier to get a teaching certificate in Alabama than it is in many places.  I know lots of teachers who work really hard to get higher educations so that they can be there for their students.  I know, it doesn’t always equal out.  I’m sorry for that. 

And, I take it personally….

*I did contact AEA when both of the above incidents occurred.  They did intervene on my behalf but were unsuccessful at getting anything done.  I was a member of AEA.  I didn’t pull the “do you know who my father was” card, but I probably could have.  I could have made a direct phone call to Dr. Hubbert and had a better ending to my feelings about our system in general, but I didn’t want to be……..

“Hubbert is infinitely powerful with bales of AEA dollars behind him. If he wanted one of his cronies hired for a do-nothing salary in the state’s education system, it would be done, and probably was.”

one of the guys underlines in the last quote…

Does that count for anything?