The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Cesar R M]

Someone please keep an eye on Dickvandyke!

Lets not forget Patrick Stewart, George Takei and Ian McKellen.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Yea power is back on but we were warned it may not stay on. The boys dinner is heating, so at least dinner should be hot My first guess was right a car going fast on an unplowed road. At least the not so bright person walked away.

I'm glad your power is on. Fingers crossed that it stays that way!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

actually, in this case its a SHE.
I need to find that post.
But it was a female scientist (Vera Rubin) who discovered dark matter.

A friend of mine posted a news story about her on Twitter, it was a very interesting read. It sounds like she was quite the champion for women in Physics.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Lets not forget Patrick Stewart, George Takei and Ian McKellen.

Angela Lansbury, Judi Dench and Sean Connery too!

 

[Figgy1]

actually, in this case its a SHE.
I need to find that post.
But it was a female scientist (Vera Rubin) who discovered dark matter.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not another brilliant mind

 

[Figgy1]

I'm glad your power is on. Fingers crossed that it stays that way!

THNX not exactly holding my breath. The vehicle is upright bear hugging the pole

 

[Gabe1]

Sympathy like stay safe and inside if you can

Thanks. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter?

 

[Figgy1]

I told the boys they either get to watch a Carrie Fisher or Debby Reynolds movie tonight. They chose the actress I chose the movie. I put in When Harry Met Sally. They are now quietly doing chores, my work for today is done

 

[Figgy1]

Thanks. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter?

One can never mention too often how much they hate winter.

 

[FutureCEO]

I missed the fun. It's massive boredom at work. zzzZZZzzz

 

[Figgy1]

I missed the fun. It's massive boredom at work. zzzZZZzzz

You didn't miss anything

 

[Goofyernmost]

We need to be careful and not get to caught up in the recent deaths of people we know or have heard of. It happens all the time and, unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. It is odd about Carrie and Debbie, but, Debbie was right up there in age and that is a lot of stress to deal with, especially the death of a child. I'm not sure how I would react and I don't want to know either. That said, I was watching an infomercial today for "The Golden Years of TV" and these are all stars from my childhood and middle age that are featured on that show. Guess what... at least 95% of them have passed on. Because I am so aware of the recent happenings all I could think of when they came on the screen was... he's dead... she's dead... there's another dead one. We just tend to forget that every year that goes by all of us age another year. They do to and not all are in excellent health. It will happen, no curse, or anything related to what year it is. It's just time creeping up on all of us.

 

[Gabe1]

Testing is often seen as the main measure of what a teacher can do in the classroom with students and now many salary schedules are being based on the test scores of students. How did your teachers respond to that?

Just wondering as I'm a teacher. That is a fear of mine.

You betcha we measure teachers by test scores. Not an individual student, not a single year but yep, you have a teacher that continues to under perform multiple years in a row ya can't ignore that. Especially when you track the students and they do better the year before and after that particular teacher. Usually 3 years gives us some pretty good data and not just a year that the principal assigned too many students with needs or similar out of the ordinary.
It takes us 3 to 4 years to get rid of a teacher that has tenure. I've seen it done 3 times in 15 years one of which was gone though in a matter of hours. It is someone's career so it is a power we don't abuse. Still students have one shot at their education too so there needs to be some balance. Most careers/businesses do not have near the protection from being let go as our staff does anyhow. That is why I am data driven. I'd never want to see someone's career get tanked because of an opinion or personality conflict.

Our teachers salaries are not tied to success that is a recipe for disaster IMO.

 

[Gabe1]

The drive back was terribly windy, and once we got further north it had lightly snowed so that was whipping around. Ick!

Glad you are back. Do you have your Pup yet?

 

[Gabe1]

We need to be careful and not get to caught up in the recent deaths of people we know or have heard of. It happens all the time and, unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. It it odd about Carrie and Debbie, but, Debbie was right up there in age and that is a lot of stress to deal with, especially the death of a child. I'm not sure how I would react and I don't want to know either. That said, I was watching an infomercial today for "The Golden Years of TV" and these are all stars from my childhood and middle age that are featured on that show. Guess what... at least 95% of them have passed on. Because I am so aware of the recent happenings all I could think of when they came on the screen was... he's dead... she's dead... there's another dead one. We just tend to forget that every year that goes by all of us age another year. They do to and not all are in excellent health. It will happen, no curse, or anything related to what year it is. It's just time creeping up on all of us.

It is rare that I have more than a sad awe moment as a beloved famous person passes on. Tragic or senseless gets to me more, like school mass shootings, airplane crashes, 9/11 type events. Those tend to make me more angry.

But yes, in the year of my Dad's passing that is what I tend to reserve more emotion for or like my kids last week saying farewell to a friend of 10 years or more who didn't make it to 30 yet...that split second and she would have had Christmas with her family.

And then there is those happy dances when a nasty ruler or dictator passes on naturally or unnaturally. Same goes for those who would harm a child. My core beliefs say I should not rejoice in such things but boy oh boy some of these humans are just beyond icky and their passing is more a thank you almighty.....

 

[brifraz]

You betcha we measure teachers by test scores. Not an individual student, not a single year but yep, you have a teacher that continues to under perform multiple years in a row ya can't ignore that. Especially when you track the students and they do better the year before and after that particular teacher. Usually 3 years gives us some pretty good data and not just a year that the principal assigned too many students with needs or similar out of the ordinary.
It takes us 3 to 4 years to get rid of a teacher that has tenure. I've seen it done 3 times in 15 years one of which was gone though in a matter of hours. It is someone's career so it is a power we don't abuse. Still students have one shot at their education too so there needs to be some balance. Most careers/businesses do not have near the protection from being let go as our staff does anyhow. That is why I am data driven. I'd never want to see someone's career get tanked because of an opinion or personality conflict.

Our teachers salaries are not tied to success that is a recipe for disaster IMO.

Hey howdy hey! It's time for brifraz's once every 3-4 months driveby posting... hope all is well with everyone.

As a veteran teacher who is married to another veteran teacher, I always need to chime in on these things... Sadly, most districts that are moving into teacher evaluation through student achievement are not doing it nearly as logically as what you have described. 3 year years of data which include student success before and after would definitely be a great way to approach things. And, I would have no problem with that. But most districts/counties around here are looking to tie salary to student achievement and success and you are spot on - that's a recipe for disaster. They are also offering bonuses to teachers willing to move to lower achieving schools in some of the same districts AND not looking at multiple year sample sizes. So, we are getting good teachers moving to struggling schools both altruistically and for $$ who then are in danger of getting fired the next year b/c of outside factors that might be the actual reason a school is struggling with test scores. Ack!

Lucky for us, my wife and I are both got into a good system that treats it's teachers with some degree of respect (on the negative side, we both took almost $10k paycuts to get that respect, but IT WAS WORTH IT). Regardless, it's 8 years until we retire to Celebration, FL.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Glad you are back. Do you have your Pup yet?

Thanks, it is good to be home. We picked up kapono before we stopped at home. She was super happy to see us. We have had a good 2 - 2 1/2 hours of cuddle. She recently moved into the spare bedroom downstairs. I think she needs a little quiet alone time. She didn't get much of that with my sister's new dog around her. That pup has a crush on her, he wants to be by her all the time and howls when she leaves him.

 

[MinnieM123]

Thanks, it is good to be home. We picked up kapono before we stopped at home. She was super happy to see us. We have had a good 2 - 2 1/2 hours of cuddle. She recently moved into the spare bedroom downstairs. I think she needs a little quiet alone time. She didn't get much of that with my sister's new dog around her. That pup has a crush on our, he wants to be by her all the time and howls when she leaves him.

That's so funny about Kapono!! I also sometimes need my "space" from others and think that it's great you gave her, her own room! HA! That's wild about the other pup in love with her!

 

[MinnieM123]

Thanks. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter?

No, I didn't realize that. I always thought you were a snow lover, just like @figmentfan423 .

 

[MinnieM123]

We need to be careful and not get to caught up in the recent deaths of people we know or have heard of. It happens all the time and, unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. It is odd about Carrie and Debbie, but, Debbie was right up there in age and that is a lot of stress to deal with, especially the death of a child. I'm not sure how I would react and I don't want to know either. That said, I was watching an infomercial today for "The Golden Years of TV" and these are all stars from my childhood and middle age that are featured on that show. Guess what... at least 95% of them have passed on. Because I am so aware of the recent happenings all I could think of when they came on the screen was... he's dead... she's dead... there's another dead one. We just tend to forget that every year that goes by all of us age another year. They do to and not all are in excellent health. It will happen, no curse, or anything related to what year it is. It's just time creeping up on all of us.

Sometimes, it's hard not to get caught up in it. Certain famous people tend to make an imprint in our minds (if we're fans of them, to begin with).

Emotions are twisted at best--emotions are not logical. I know I've mourned the deaths of certain public figures down through the years. Even though they're not family or friends of ours, grief can still be real. I know that recently I was really down about the loss of John Glenn. Did I ever meet him or know him? No. But his death affected me for a few days. I always admired him for many reasons.