Okay, I admit it. I’m being a little lazy.
First off, the whole plagiarism thing has left me exhausted.
Second, I fell down an entire flight of cement stairs, hit my head really hard, and I think I actually suffered a slight concussion. I’m okay now, but I don’t want to do that again. Picture me in my sassy, short skirt and tall boots with black stockings. I’m looking very professional and confident and competent when, suddenly, I miss a step and am rolling head over heels down down down about 12 steps where I proceed to slam into the wall (somehow) face-first.
Amazingly, I never let go of my unattractive wheelie bag that holds all my papers and my grade book. I hit my head really hard, and I think I actually suffered a slight concussion. I’m okay now. (What do you mean I am repeating myself?) Plus the plagiarism stuff has left me exhausted. (Did I say that already? I think I might have said that.)
Third, this brilliant blog entry was written by a former student of mine, Zach Sparer. His content is made to be inserted in a place where education and parenting collide, so I can’t not post it. (Was that a double negative? It was. It was a double negative. I’m really sorry. I hit my head earlier this week.) I mean, I have to post-it. Wait, not like Post-It, the company. I have to post it, without the hyphen.
Wow, so this is what happens when I hit a wall.
What I mean to say is that Zach’s stuff is good. Like I-wish-I-had-written-it-good. And this is the place where education and parenthood collide, right? (At least, that’s what is says up there at the top of the page.)
California and New Jersey are currently considering putting ads on school buses. So now I’m wondering: what is this Minneapolis school district thinking? You should click on this link and read the article now. (I know I usually summarize things more clearly, but I hit my head earlier this week, and I think I have a slight concussion, so I just feel like you should read the source material yourselves because there are a lot of big numbers in it.)
We all know times are tough, and schools are having to get creative about how they generate revenue to support certain programs. If they don’t get the dollars, they may have to cut valuable programs. But do we really want to turn locker space into advertising space? Will savvy advertisers start using students’ Facebook information to target individual locker users? You know personalized ads bombarding kids with images from their favorite stores, their favorite eateries, and coffee shops? Oh, and when the students start drawing all over the walls, that Minneapolis superintendent better not whine about it because nothing says, “Go ahead and write on the lockers, kids!” quite like these graffiti-ed up lockers. (Graffiti-ed?I just turned a noun into a verb. Yikes.)
Did I mention that I hit my head?
Am so sorry to hear your accident and I hope you will be better soon. Reminded me of a similar thing that happened to a colleague:
http://www.lifesomundane.net/2010/07/one-tough-litel-gel.html
Get really well soon!
Rex Raymond
http://www.lifesomundane.net/
I’m sorry. And you were… 😉
Bummer…..I feel your pain. On our recent trip to Italy I took a fall the very first morning of our vacation (down steps of course) and sprained my left ankle. Basically I had to hobble around Italy with a bright white Italian compression bandage for the entire trip. I hope you feel better soon! p.s. the worst is that humiliating moment just after the fall when you are lying there wondering what just happened here???
For me the fall felt long and in slow motion. When I landed, my skirt was bunched up around my waist, and I was blubbering like a baby. As blood dripped from my nose, I was grateful there was only one student in the hall. And, as luck would have it, she was a nursing student with a few tissues. It was humiliating, to say the least.
I’m much better. This actually happened on Monday. But I couldn’t do anything for a few days. Did I mention I hit my head? 😉
Ouch! Hope you are feeling better. At least you didn’t go tumbling down in that St Paulie Girl outfit…now that would have been something!
My skirt was pretty short. (See above comment!) And trust me, it was something. I was like a big old wrecking ball with limbs.
See what happens when I don’t focus on the content, no one else does either.
So what do you think of those lockers? Look at the pictures? Would you want that in your kids’ school lockers? (*she said adjusting her skirt and trying to attempt to appear scholarly*)
Hope you’re OK!! (Yes, I’m still reading your blog)
Of course you are. Because you are a good friend. Did you hear that I hit my head? 😉
Am I the only one who predicts rampant graffiti of such billboards occurring on regular basis? The temptation of a kid to goof on an ad that covers his own locker will be too great for many. I hope they factor in the extra costs for janitors to be regularly cleaning these things in relation to their profit margin.
Oh and sorry about your head.
Okay, did you not read my comment in my post? Probably not because most people scan, and you are very busy. Or maybe you hit your head, too.
But I agree with you completely. This idea provides free reign for all students to draw on their lockers. I wonder if they would put condom ads on high school lockers. That would probably be frowned upon. More likely, they will allow advertisers of colas and energy drinks. Because our nation’s kids need more caffeine. 😉
Sorry to hear about your fall. How do you think Adam felt about HIS fall? Gave entire human race a concussion! (my original words and thoughts based on Book of Genesis and writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, so not foot noted but see bibliography at end w/annotation). This boy ain’t gettin’ no “F” for that stuff re: earlier post.
You are a good boy, Carl, but your Bibliography seems to be missing. Please turn in at next blog entry.
Why do falls like that always happen when we’re wearing short skirts? I’ve been there and I hope your head (and pride) heal quickly.
Our kids are over-saturated with advertisements. I agree with you — it would junk up the school and provide an incentive for vandalism. Also, I can imagine a kid getting picked on for the particular ad on their locker. It doesn’t take much!
Thanks again and avoid the stairs,
Amy
Next time, I will walk a mile to the nearest working elevator. 😉
If I had a dollar for every time that I’ve fallen while wearing a short skirt…
Fall 🙁
Advertising on lockers :(:(:(. This would cause more teachers to take deliberate falls just to avoid the insanity that is yet to flourish.
Hope you are feeling better.
Exactly. That is what it was: a political statement. I was not just clumsy. I was trying to avoid the insanity. 😉
I read your blog. Sorry it took a fall down a flight of stairs to get my attention. Sorry for your injuries. Be well.
This is our culture. Advertising, and particularly targeted advertising, is the world our kids have grown up in. That being said, I’d like to think that schools would be a bastion of consumer neutrality, but that isn’t the case anyway. At the school where I teach, one cola company gets exclusive rights to have its beverage machines on the grounds. How? By purchasing new scoreboards for the gymnasium, water coolers for the athletic teams, free cases of drinks for hospitality rooms, etc. Schools have been selling their students’ subliminal selves for a while. But I think it sucks.
Renee, sorry about your fall, and I hope that your concussion, however slight, heals quickly. Maybe you can request a stunt double in your next contract.
Good stuff, per usual, and clever to boot.
Chase
You know, now that you mention it, I think it was my boots. They don’t have any tread. 😉
Seriously though, I do wonder about how something like this would go over in low-income school districts. I mean, say there is a big ole ad for the local theme park ($50 bucks a ticket), how is that helpful? Wouldn’t that make students resentful? Or would they research the student population and determine certain kids eat at KFC, so they’d have KFC ads on the lockers. That’s REALLY problematic for me. Different ads in different schools. Healthy ads in upscale schools? Junk food ads in other schools? I don’t like it one bit. I know we have a separation of church and state which keeps prayer out of school, but I think we need to start praying to keep big business out of schools, too.
Oh my goodness – poor you. I hope your head is feeling better, as well as all the other parts that got bruised on your way down (including pride).
When you’re feeling better, and if you feel it’s all right to do so, would you tell us how you resolved the plagiarism issue?
Thanks for the link to Zach. Heading over now!
That’s terrible! I mean you falling. The advertising isn’t so hot either. For as bad as 12 steps is, I guess you were almost fortunate the injuries weren’t worse. And the skirt to boot? (*commenter looks concerned, stares out window in autumn like he’s in an anti-depressant commercial*) I’m gonna be envisioning a fall now when I plug up and down the stairwells at work. Did you check the spot you fell for evidence a certain recently caught student may have thrown a trip wire? Blasted plagiarizers.
I love reading your blogs. I’m sorry about your fall, but at least it gives you a good excuse to use when one is needed. (I use ‘aging’ as my pat excuse). I am sick of advertising. Students are too impressionable, and they certainly don’t need to be impressed with commercialism that leads them away from contentment. It took me a long time as an adult to figure out if I avoided the ads, I didn’t “want” so much!
Very sorry to hear about your fall.
Good post re: the advertising on or in school lockers – and thanks for the pointer to your former student’s blog.
Bad idea though – the advertising on them.