GWHS Grad, Mind F*** Summer Classes and the State of Guam Education

I've decided to start a blog to record my ramblings and post them on the intarweb for the whole world to peruse. Although, by "whole world," I really just mean whatever poor schmuck manages to accidentally stumble upon this in a blind stupor.

Hey! Kind of like Magellan, that "great" navigator.

Yesterday was the George Washington High School 2008 Graduation, which went the usual way of graduations here on Guam--in other words, excruciatingly long speeches, threats to stop the proceedings if anything untoward occurs like the blowing of foghorns (threats that never come to fruition, of course), piles of leis reaching to your ears, etc. Some random thoughts that occurred to me yesterday.

• Me and Kimmeh yak WAY too much.

• Texting is fun when you're bored to death and you're only twenty or so feet away from the recipients.

• Adults can be just as stupid as kids (I love how our Discipline VP was glaring around for whoever was blowing the foghorn--and it was a damn parent)

• Obese crack whores should not go out in public in knee high F-me boots--with their babies in tow.

• Top Ten students should NEVER be surprised to be in the top ten--they claw and scrape and bite their way to the top quite consciously, thank you. False modesty is really unneeded.

• I'm really going to miss my Seniors, awwww.

BEFORE that lovely graduation, however, I was in my FAVORITE class ever (read: extreme and bitter sarcasm)--ED 319: Children's Literature. Yesterday I was in the third day of that damn class and I still can't believe the stupidity I have to take part in. I have taken enough upper division and grad classes to know that this class is so below par that it goes straight to hell, which is what this class feels like all the time. In fact, I started this blog to find some way to maintain my sanity while listening to such words of wisdom as "free verse poetry was started around the [19]60s, you know, with free love and everything."

For the love of all that is holy, please save me.

I'm biting my tongue, though. As much as I am a proponent of having a good and worthwhile education, I am also a practical soul. I know this class is an easy A and I'm only taking it so that I can have full-time status this summer to fulfill my scholarship requirements. As much of a betrayal as that is to the pureness of academia--well, if you can get tenure at this school just because of your skin color, the fact that your students "think you're fun," and totally ignoring the fact that you've published absolutely nothing in the six years you've been here, then I can endure a class where I have to make picture books and pretend my professor knows what the hell she is talking about just to get my credit.

I feel like I'm soiling my academic record with this rotten splooge, but this seems to be the norm with a lot of these "education" classes. I understand now why there are so many education graduates with high GPAs. I don't knock those who actually deserve those grades because they do university level work, but I've witnessed so many who graduate from these hallow halls barely able to write a basic essay, much less teach students how to write one.

This brings me to my last point. As my second year as a teacher comes to a close, I learned a lot about myself as well as the state of education on this island. Here are some more random thoughts...

• As much as the Pacific Daily News, our island's daily gossip rag masquerading as legitimate journalism, loves to indiscriminately rag on our island's schools, they miss out on the positive things--and usually on purpose. I've had kids tell me that they would deliberately invite the PDN to school events showcasing the positive side of the school and have them not show up. I usually tell them to just include the words "rat" and "broken aircons." Those journalistic versions of ambulance chasers will come right over.

• Just because you're a certified teacher doesn't mean you're a worthy one. As a limited term teacher trying to prove her mettle, the laziness, stupidity and general unworthiness of some of the certified teachers I see around me incenses the crap out of me. As much as the new certification requirements are a pain in the ass, I hope that it manages to get rid of the teachers who really need to get out of the profession.

• I love my students. Even with all the irritating actions and general tomfoolery (always wanted to use that) they engage in, I still feel emotional at the end of the year...aww...damn you sentimentality!

As I close, I would like to mention that we are now doing more bumblef*** waste of time crap in this class. Here is the poetry pattern we are studiously (except for me of course) working on.

Line 1: one word, title, usually a noun
Line 2: two words describing a title
Line 3: three words that show action
Line 4: four words that show feeling or emotion
Line 5: one word, a synonym for the title

And only 27 minutes till the end of class!

*sobs*