Sunday, June 27, 2010

You Want My Business? Don't Be a Jerk.



I've been holding on to this for a while, but I feel like I need to say something.

At heart, I'm a boycotter. When something about a business ticks me off, I take personal action. About ten years ago or so, someone gave me a gift card to Wal-Mart. I already didn't like their business model and the way they treat their employees, so my plan was to go in, buy some socks, and recover the cash. Well, of course they don't do things that way (to be fair, neither do most businesses, which is why I hate gift cards) and they wouldn't give me cash back on my socks. So since that time I've boycotted them.

The power of the purse is important, but I really doubt any of the businesses or establishments I've boycotted feel the direct impact of my withholding business. But it makes me feel better about not supporting something that troubles me on a deeper level.

And sometimes my boycotts lead to some personal level of sacrifice, which makes me feel better, too. There is a place in town that serves pretty good coffee, and a mean reuben. And they no longer receive my business. It bums me out because I enjoyed their service very much until I could no longer support them on a moral level.

During the school year this year, my wife and her Sunshines were out for a walk. I'll spare the details of where the walk took them, but they were on the property of a local store, headed to where they were going. No one was loitering, no one was stealing, no one was vandalizing. The owner of the store physically accosted one of the students when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Now mind you, sometimes these kids do something wrong. Sometimes they are not the best-behaved kids. But this time they were minding their own business, getting from point A to point B. And one was physically assaulted by a grown up who should be able to control himself.

Unfortunately no charges were pressed, so it's not really a matter of public record, and being too specific might be viewed as slander. I'd love to make it a public crusade, because grown-ups should act like grown-ups, and bullies should be put in their places. But it does make me feel better to put this out there, as a cautionary tale: you do things I don't like, you lose my business.

Friday, June 25, 2010

My Personal Learning Network


(Note: this is a cross-post from my other blog, "Mr. Buck's Room".)


Over the past couple of weeks I've been motivated by my master's program to develop a "personal learning network". What was once just "messing around on the internet" now has a real name and a real purpose...sometimes. My personal learning network has, to date, consisted of two things: blogging, and then there's everything else.

I've blogged for a while, intermittently, about whatever struck my fancy. I've blogged about my life, things I like, things I don't like, things of beauty, things of ugliness. If you care to check in, here's the link to "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You" (rarely scientific in nature, so it's not very relevant but this is the internet, and it is all about personal choices). I've learned by periodically writing in that blog, but it's been a sporadic pursuit. Fits and starts, but it's been around for a couple of years, so it's kind of a habit.

Then there's "everything else". I've tried numerous tools that have seemed promising, but for whatever reason, I've quickly abandoned. I have numerous podcast subscriptions clogging my iTunes, but I rarely listen to them. I've participated on a couple of Ning networks, a few wikis, I'm a member of a couple of message boards, and I've recently begun an Edmodo account and a Twitter account. So far the Edmodo account seems promising as a way to disseminate and share information and thoughts between students, teachers and classes. I invited some of my colleagues to check in on the Edmodo site, and I'm grateful to those who did: as a result I've been able to better understand how the tool might be utilized in my class, and how I might administer it among the students in my school.

But Ning is a pay site now, and I am not willing to pay. And Wikis seem unwieldy and difficult to keep up with--I may mess around with PBWorks a little to find out for myself, but I don't really foresee them meshing with my world view.

Meanwhile, I am a member of a group called "Sons of Sam Horn", a Red Sox fans online community. Most of the time, the analysis and discussion surrounding the topics is far better thought-out and presented than that on official sites or through traditional news sources. This has, in an indirect way, suggested to me the power of Web2.0 and a group of people who share a passion.

Finally, I'll comment on Twitter, but I'll limit it to 140 characters or fewer: It's good for getting news, but I don't see myself contributing much.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Mr. Buck's Room

I'm doing a little cross-pollinating here. As a result of taking a web-tools course for my master's program, I've started a new blog: Mr. Buck's Room. I've posted a new diatribe on why I (and, by extension, the entire American educational system) should teach more 21st century skills and Web 2.0 skills. I'm enjoying a course that encourages me to be a little provocative; I'm hoping to draw a distinction between my online voice and my serious researcher voice. Anyway, jump over and check it out, if you're so inclined.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Fin

There are seven and a half days remaining in the school year, and the usual problems of the last week apply: how do we keep the kids engaged in such a way that they don't break stuff, that they don't hurt each other, and that we can still feel as though we are providing some sort of benefit to their overall educations. Grades closed yesterday, a full four days before they are due in the office. They have to be in early, of course, so the certificates can be printed for honor roll and such. Funny thing, though, we're having our third quarter honor roll assembly this afternoon...

Tomorrow I'm out, with the rescheduled State Class C track meet going on at 2, I'd be able to teach one uninterrupted class before having to leave. This seemed silly, so I'm taking the whole day.

Last night was the high school spring sports banquet, and tonight is the middle school athletic banquet for the entire year. At these times I become quite disgusted, and think to myself: "Isn't the celebration actually being able to participate in these sports? Isn't sports the celebration itself?" Apparently not.

Competing at the track meet tomorrow will be a number of our seniors who have made the choice not to attend the candlelight service (whatever that signifies) at the high school. This past Sunday night was the senior banquet, and Thursday night is class night. Friday, mercifully, is graduation, and we'll have all the high school nonsense out of the way, just in time for more middle school nonsense.

Next Tuesday is our barbecue/Flag Day/model rocket day, Wednesday is the 6th & 7th grade final assembly, and Thursday, the final day of the school year, is the 8th grade final assembly. We 7th grade-types will be playing kickball.

So here's the thing: why do we do this to ourselves? Couldn't we celebrate the end of the year with a little more sanity, and a little less chaos? Do we need to have events on EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE FINAL TWO WEEKS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR? It seems to me we've become far too extrinsic in our rewards system.

All of a sudden I have the attitude of Ebenezer Scrooge and the attention span of Andy Rooney. This is what the end of the year does to me. But have no fear, when the year is done I'll have a whole 68 days to get over it.