Alan Sitomer's Blog (168)

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No More Cookie Magazine leads to No More Orwell

I never read Cookie Magazine. Nor Modern Bride or Elegant Bride. I did flip through Gourmet magazing once. Matter of fact, I think I even bought a subscription of it for a holiday gift one year for a friend.



Yet now they will be no more. News just announced by Conde Nast is that the plug is officially being… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 8, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

The shadows of fathers.

Today would have been my father's 67th birthday. He passed in 1994.



Never met my wife.

Never met my daughter.

Never saw me win Teacher of the Year for the state of California or publish a book... much less 9 of them (to date).



Died at the age of 51 from diabetes. (He was a juvenile diabetic.)



In many ways the life of my father was an absolute train wreck. And the shadow he cast over my life still colors vast amounts of psychological real… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 7, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

The Napsterization of Books Freaks Me Out!!

Jim Burke turned me onto this NY Times article about the "Napsterization of Books" and I gotta say, it kinda sends a chill up my spine. Why? Well, because first and foremost, I am an author. I feed my family, pay my house bills and supplement my teaching income working in a high school (because who, in California, can afford to… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 5, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

When losing 7 billion isn't that big a deal.

Turns out that Bill Gates lost 7 billion dollars last year. That's billion with a B. I gotta say, he's a better man than I cause if I had lost even a mere 7 million last year -- that's million with an M -- I'd certainly be doing some very vocal complaining to whomever would listen right now.



Funny thing is though that I don't really get a sense that this loss affected his life all that much. I mean did he suddenly start carefully selecting where it makes fiscal sense to eat… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 3, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

You mean Hot Cheetos Aren't a Vegetable?

According to a new report by the Center for Disease Control, 9 out of every 10 teens are not eating enough of their recommended fruits and veggies.



You mean Hot Cheetos aren't a vegetable?



Am I the only one that has kids walk in at 7 a.m. in the morning gulping down processed sugar? I mean we are talking about a breakfast that consists of a frosted Pop Tart,… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 2, 2009 at 6:00am — 1 Comment

Polanski, qualudes, champage, lewd sex acts and a defense by some in Hollywood.

So Roman Polanski was snagged in Swiss territory and now there's a whole lotta hullabaloo over the nerve to extradite him to face charges.



And why, because he is an "artist"? As an artist myself -- a term that I never, ever apply, btw, but hey, if he can hide under the umbrella, then I can take some shelter as well -- I call HOGWASH!



I mean would we see international film superstars lobbying for… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on October 1, 2009 at 6:00am — 1 Comment

The Custodian and the Ditcher

Here's a little true tale I'll call The custodian and the ditcher.



Walking back to class during my planning period I just spied a student being read the riot act... by the school's custodian. It was an African American man speaking to an African American teen telling him about how "he needed to get to class, grab onto this chance for school" while giving him a heads up as to how there are just a whole "mess of people that want to simply turn kids like him into little… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 30, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Is it okay to feel GOOD?

Is it okay to feel good? Is it okay to be FIRED UP? Do we spend enough time genuinely recognizing the joy that is the teaching profession?



I mean I just got done with an IMMENSE amount of work. Papers, lesson plans, a trip to Jacksonville, Florida where I did a student assembly for a few hundred at-risk middle school kids about the value of school, education and making good choices (a total HOME-RUN, btw... I mean kids are kids are kids and anyone who doesn't think so,… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 29, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Living in a land where incarceration is a bigger need than schooling.

Turns out the jails in Los Angeles will not have to endure financial cuts. And to the average citizen, I am sure that brings a sigh of relief.



But our schools of course, aren't so lucky.



To read this article is to see that in the prisons,"the department has managed to find $25 million in additional savings and… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 28, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Look Before You Merit Pay Leap

Here's a quote from a major new study about merit pay:



Overall, our results consistently indicate that the increased focus on individual teacher performance caused a sizable and statistically significant decline in student achievement.



Read it again. It's a bold accusation. "...increased focus on individual teacher performance caused a sizable and statistically significant decline in student achievement."



That's right, a… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 22, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Pimp Me Out!!

Being that I work in a place that the ad world absolutely covets -- I mean my campus is Madison Avenue's dream turf, right? -- and I am in a place that most definitely needs an influx of cash, well, why not take advantage of my own unique ability to reach young consumers.



That's right... PIMP ME OUT!!!



I am talking about full frontal teacher marketing here. Really, why not turn me into an English teacher that looks like a NASCAR driver?



I could sport… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 21, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Tragedy in Philadelphia: No Love for the Libraries (a.k.a. Saving short term cash by expanding long-term ignorance)

The City of Philadelphia is closing all -- that's right ALL -- of its public libraries. Click here and GULP!



Actually, it seems the city got a stay of execution... click here to read about the reprieve.



Either way...

--Is this not a metaphor for what plagues our… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 19, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

The "Uhm, Hey... Dude" Name Game

Let's face it, I am at a HUGE disadvantage when it comes to names.



First off, there are about a ba-zillion new ones I need to learn. This always takes a lot of effort and a few weeks. Kids, they have about 6-10 new names they must learn at school at the start of a new year -- the names of their new teachers. Me, I have scores and scores and scores of them I must learn.



It's a challenge every year... learn all the names as fast as you can. However,… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 16, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

New Car Used Car Salespeople

I just scored a new car this past weekend -- had to do it. (Hey, I live in L.A., the land of cars and when it's time, it's time). But what is so remarkable, is that the salesperson lied to me and I still bought the car from him.



And not just one salesperson lied to me -- at ever dealership I visited, I was lied to. No matter make, type, design or whatever, I've just experienced firsthand how it's an industry filled with people who believe that they are allowed to tell their… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 15, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Is it just me or...

Is it just me, or does everyone else, when getting ready to attend a faculty or department meeting, prepare themselves for these stellar events by figuring out what they are going to read just in case the meeting devolves into a complete waste of time?



Is it just me, or does everyone else think that all these face piercings that kids today wear look like they really hurt when initially installed?



Is it just me, or does everyone else think that student desks… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 14, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

It's harder to have a bad attitude...

I think it's hard to be a teacher with a bad attitude... at least I think it's harder to be a teacher with a bad attitude than it is to be a teacher with a good attitude. And yet, why does it seem as though a whole buncha folks in our profession choose to have such a cynical outlook on their school/job/profession/kids/lives? (And yes, I do believe attitude is a choice. Read some Viktor… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 12, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

September 11

I was in my classroom when the second plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001. I heard about the first plane as I drove into work, turned on the tv in my room and then watched the second plane hit.



And that day, all we did in my class was watch the news and talk. I remember telling my kids, "You just saw the world change." I didn't know how, I didn't know in which way, shape or manner, but I did know that right then, our world had changed.



And it… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 11, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

We don't have enough______________________!

So the school year is a few weeks in now and we just had one of those big, long English department meetings. You know the kind, where people gripe, complain, moan, go off topic and stray into conversations about how they are the best educational practitioners ever and back in 1981 I was doing this and blah, blah, blah.



Put it this way, if you do not know what type of meeting I am talking about, consider yourself blessed. We have good peeps on our staff and we are all… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 10, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

You have the right to refuse to apply your rights because it is your right to do so! (Right?)

So the Marxists didn't take over, the commies didn't infiltrate, the youth of this nation weren't indoctrinated unwittingly into an irreversible cult of personality and North Korea's heinous government regime didn't supplant our own now that Obama has addressed the kids of this nation with a "you should to do well in school" speech.



But ooh, we were so close to imperialistic calamity, were we not?



Obama talked about hard work. Obama talked about personal… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 9, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

As we all know, gerunds save lives.

A few weeks ago I talked about H.R. 1895 and The Stand Up Act in regards to providing more strict guidleines for teen drivers.



It just smacked of complete common sense. Well, banning txting and driving is next up. This seems, to me, to be another one that just elevates itself to the level of NO-BRAINER.



See, when I click on this article and see a picture… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 8, 2009 at 3:03pm — No Comments

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