39 posts from December 2006 (page 2)

The Mississippi Teacher Corps application deadline is today, December 22nd. Apply online.

Photo of the Week will be Peace Corps centric for the next month or so. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1998 and 1999 as a secondary school teacher in rural Namibia. This is a photo of the sunset, taken from my doorstep, in the village of Tses (or, as the kids called it, T-Six). Every evening this was the view. The mountain in the distance is a dormant volcano...

The Mississippi Teacher Corps application deadline is December 22nd. Apply online.

Here is second-year Brian Hawkins on the Mississippi Teacher Corps. Don't forget, the next application deadline is December 22nd. Apply online.

Here is first-year Deb Raji on the Mississippi Teacher Corps. Don't forget, the next application deadline is December 22nd. Apply online.

"Last of the Mohicans." Like the other films on this list, the cinematography and music are outstanding. Every performance is well-done. Authentic all around. Great action and love story. There are several classic scenes, the best of which the run and escape. I couldn't find a clip of that on YouTube so here is another great scene:

Number two on the list is "Miami Vice." Came out this summer. I think a lot of people were expecting/wanted a "Charlie's Angels" type movie. Nope. Realistic as can be. No one even utters the words "Miami Vice," as no such department exists. The film is beautifully shot on digital, with a fantastic soundtrack. My favorite song from the movie is "One of These Mornings," by Moby.

The best scene from the movie is the trailer-park shootout:

List this week is of the three best Michael Mann films. Mann is one of my favorite directors.

Number three on the list is "Heat." "Heat" could have been a classic. Instead it is a near-miss. Pacino, who is my favorite actor, blows it. His performance is a little too hyper, a little too much "Scent of a Woman." Interesting note, they deleted a few scenes from the film of Pacino's character, Vincent Hanna, getting high on coke. Pacino crafted the performance around this, which, of course, explains why he is so hyper in some scenes. I don't know why they deleted the scenes, although my best guess is that the studios didn't want the "hero" of the film to be a cokehead. Anway, without that context the character of Hanna comes off as a little goofy in some scenes.

The second mistake is that DeNiro and Pacino are only in the film, together, for two minutes. Here is a three hour film, with the two best actors of their generation, and you only put them in one scene.

But the good far outweighs the bad. Music, cinematography, atmosphere are all outstanding. These are really the staples of any Michael Mann film. Performances, especially by Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, and DeNiro are great.

And, of course, the legendary bank robbery/shootout:

20 years ago, a group of lions and cape buffalo were stranded on a 200 KM island in the Okavango Delta. The result: Super-Lions.

From the TED Talk series... Fascinating talk by Sir Ken Robinson on education. The video is about 20 minutes, but Robinson is both incredibly intelligent and very funny...

Drop out of high school, lose your driver's license.

Mississippians killed in Iraq.

David Pogue on Net Etiquette.

Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America, on recruiting.

The Mississippi Teacher Corps deadline is December 22nd. Apply online here.

Meet one of our first acceptees for next year's class: Chimaobi Amutah.

The N word...

The N Word Part Two...

Chaos Theory, a simple, yet completely addicting game. My high score is 123.

Best World Music of 2006. Toure's album is outstanding.

A Bi-Partisan commission has released a report on education with some fairly radical (for the U.S.) suggestions. Here's a quote from the NYT: Among other things, the report proposes starting school for most children at age 3, and requiring all students to pass board exams to graduate from high school, which for many would end after 10th grade. Students could then go to a community or technical college, or spend two years preparing for selective colleges and universities.

For you education policy wonks, here is a paper on certification. The study includes TFA. I hope to do a similar study about MTC at some point. Thanks to alum Chris Wilkens for the paper. First sentence: We use six years of data on student test performance to evaluate the effectiveness of certified, uncertified, and alternatively certified teachers in the New York City public schools.

Mississippi's prison population keeps growing, most of it drug related. We've had a thirty year "War on Drugs" and what do we have to show for it?

Here's an email from one of our alumni, Lauren (Glas) Zarandona, who still teaches in Hollandale, about Kermit Evans, the young man who died in Iraq.

I tried calling you last Saturday after Kermit's memorial service. It was incredibly emotional. His parents and wife accepted bronze stars in his memory. It was a beautiful addition to a service honoring an honest-to-goodness hero. After reading your most recent blog I wanted to let you know about my connection with him, a connection that started at the Simmons High career fair in 2004.

It was my first year teaching. As I wandered around the career fair, I met Kervin Evans, Mr. Evans' oldest son and an agricultural researcher. I invited him to speak to my 7th grade math classes that afternoon. He was honored and did an awesome job. My students finally realized that math is used beyond the classroom, even by people from Holandale. In his excitement, Kervin asked his wife to take a picture of us together. A few months later, Kermit returned home from his first tour in Iraq. He saw the picture and teased his brother about the "cute young woman in the picture." Shortly after that, Kermit came to a banquet for Ms. Young and presented her with a flag that was flown in Iraq. While everyone mingled, he approached me and teased me about the photo. He also shared his wedding photos with me.

Meeting both men was like meeting up with long-lost relatives. Maybe a connection to the Delta is all that it takes to make you family with those who owe it for who they are. They make their home your home.

But even while "at home," I often feel frustrated. I wish that I better understood what my students need and when; sometimes all that I can do is teach them math (just a small part of my job). Other times (very rarely), I can do more. I, like the Evans' men, can make them family. Those are the best moments, the moments that inspire me to keep teaching.