Hello on Wednesday Morning

Dear Friends,

Tuesday was another which went as planned. Linda won the most games at her Mah Jongg session while I was holding a sign for the incumbent Mayor. I had no relief after two hours of holding a sign at one of the polling stations. After three hours, someone did arrive to take over my spot.

At 7:30 PM, we headed off to the Italian American Club for a party / reception for our candidate. There was much food, fun, and merriment before we left at 9:30 PM.
The incumbent Mayor is now the underdog. According to the results of the primary, he is 500 votes behind the city counselor who would like to become the next Mayor in the city of Pittsfield.

Sports -- The Red Sox lost another one as the Yankees clinched a playoff spot.

Politics -- President Obama is trying to gain world wide respect and support at the various summits, and meetings with leaders in areas where conflict is the norm.

Observation -- We met a teacher at the political reception last evening. Linda and I asked how things are going after three weeks of school. It turned out that my question about how things are going in school was like asking my friends if all of their body parts are in good working order. Our friend and former colleague said that things were going okay, but!!! She described her final class of the day as one of what I would classify as the "Class from hell." Her science class is made up of four kinds of students:

1. We have the student who are there to learn.
2. We have several students on what the call IEP plans. IEP means Individual Educational Plans because they have some kind of learning disability.
3. Since they closed the alternative school, they now have integrated these students into the regular classrooms too. These students are called EOS. EOS stands for Educational Opportunity for Success. These are the same bunch of students who couldn't function in a normal classroom so that the school system created their own school manned by certified special education teachers. One of the teachers at the alternate school had his truck torched just to give you an idea of the type of student who is classified as EOS.
4. The final group of students in the class are what this teacher described as PIA. PIA stands for "Pain in the Ass." They just do annoying things in class to try and set the teacher off.

My final question to the teacher was to ask if any learning took place with such a mix of students in her classroom especially since our friend is not certified as a special education teacher? Her response was "Not much!"

In June of 2004, I saw "the handwriting on the wall", and walked out those school doors into retirement. The description of the one class mentioned above is just a reminder that I have no desire to return to the educational field again in my lifetime. I will help family and friends using my mathematical skills, but I will not return to the classroom.

Well, I have to do some quiet chores, and select my wardrobe for golf. The most stressful thing that I will do today is try to stroke that little white ball using fewer strokes than the last time that I played golf. A "not so good" round of golf is still better than being in the classroom at the current time in my life.
I think that Linda has a totally free day. Four or five hours without me being around will make her day even better. I think Linda might even use the word "Love" with respect to me not bugging her.

Have a great day at work or play.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad