Thanksgiving dinner with the family went exceptionally well. Everyone had a great time, the food was outstanding, and the conversation was satisfying. Thanksgiving break is winding down and I am spending Sunday afternoon finishing up my semester exam for AP Chemistry. After I finish posting, I plan to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things we need. My wife worked last night and has to go in again tonight. I promised to make dinner for her to take. Pasta and meat balls is on my list; being already sick of turkey leftovers.
Normally, on a Sunday afternoon in November, any red-blooded American male is in front of the TV watching football. Unfortunately I am a Bears fan and I would rather beat myself over the head with a hammer than waste my afternoon watching them suck again. I guess I am not really that much a fan of football, just a fan of the Bears. Other games don’t interest me—and now, neither do the Bears. I have become one of the growing segment of fans who wish they would lose every game they have left this year. After that, if the ownership still doesn’t fire everyone in management, we hope they lose every game next year as well.
My rejection of football is caused by my general disillusionment with professional sports. As I have written before, the Cubs have ruined enough summers for me that I no longer watch—even when they make the playoffs. The Bulls give me no compelling reason to watch them either, and I have never been a hockey fan to speak of. I guess you could say that, unless my team is reasonable good, I find them uninteresting to watch. Being from Chicago, and not being a Sox fan, I have little to look forward to.
The local paper today had another article about the Rich Township High School District. I wrote about the shocking news that they were playing fast and loose with the rules for mandatory testing of Juniors; making it appear their standardized test scores were improving. The article told of how the scandal has caused significant problems within the communities served—to the point that one feeder K-8 district wants to open its own high school. At a faculty lunch recently I asked a colleague who used to teach in that district what he thought about the testing revelations; he indicated that he agreed with what the district had done. Probing further, I found that he was unaware that most of the students “exempted” from the mandatory testing were never tested, skipping form sophomore directly into senior year. He didn’t agree with that.
Tomorrow school resumes with fifteen class days till Christmas break; four of those semester exam days. I will not be going in tomorrow; having scheduled a technology conference to attend that day. My Honors Chemistry students will get their Semester Exam Review, while my AP Chemistry students will get Assignment #10 to work on. With both semester exams finished, I am not as rushed as many of my colleagues.
My wife and I have planned to have my department over for a Christmas party on the 11th. I emailed everyone yesterday to let them know of the date. Already someone has replied back that he can’t come. I asked that everyone be able to let me know by our next department meeting on the 7th.
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