I was blessed to talk with an Italian girl going to school at our high school. She was very verbal about her belief that Americans have no culture. "I knew before I came here Americans had no culture, but I had no idea it was this bad!" As someone who takes education VERY seriously and varies the nonfiction books I read into a wide range of subjects, I was a little curious about this remark. Not that long ago was I in college; there are plenty of cultured people there. I participate in co...

"BICS are cool, but CALPS rule." I wish I could properly give credit to the much-wiser-than-me lady who said this regarding ESL, but I cannot remember her name off the top of my head. My apologies. I believe her name was Lilly. Teaching English as a second language in a mainstream English class is a challenge. I'm trying to make sure my Spanish speakers are learning the CONTENT so I try to translate everything I can teach into broken (intermediate level) Spanish. Lectures, tests, notes, t...

I took my exam to be certified to teach English as a Second Language this weekend. Before this test, I took the two-day prep course for the exam. The class was filled, of course. With the majority in Texas being Hispanic, the ESL courses are like meat and potatoes to school districts. Literally (and legally) you can't function without them. When discussing demographics, a woman raised her hand and asked the teacher if she thought we ought to close our borders. The teacher asked, "what do...

I had my freshmen rank a list of 33 values in order of importance. I noticed a very interesting occurance: my hispanic kids always marked "family" as first. My black kids usually marked it first. My white-non-hispanic kids almost never marked family first. They usually put success, money, friends, or other such things as first.

I'm starting a new company this year. I'll be distributing aborted fetuses to fine restaurants as part of their new menu. All proceeds will go to support Abortion funding, thereby relieving tax payers of the cost. I'm hiring Grim X as my official advertising vice president. I'm taking openings in other staff positions as the need arises. Also, I'll need some recipes to get this started off. I've suggested FLT -- Fetus, Letuce, Tomato sandwiches. Any others?

So you want to change your ethnicity? Tired of not being able to take pride in your cultural heritage? Maybe you just want something a little different for governmental paperwork. Don’t worry any longer! Now, for only $19.95 you can own the “Change Your Ethnicity How-To Kit!” So I noticed that some ethnicities are favored for certain things. Let’s face it: a white male is going to have a much harder time getting anything from the government than a female or a person of another ethnicity in...

When I was in college I learned that I had to spend a great deal on a course that I didn’t need. The course was a test preparation course. I was a little bitter because the college required it and I didn’t need it. I felt duly prepared for the test. I found out that the college was in trouble for one ethnicity on campus not having a 95% pass rate on the test or higher. Rather than discriminate and make only those of that ethnicity take the course, EVERYONE had to pay a hunk of cash, do the ti...

I think I've got it. Here is a solution that ought to make everyone happy. If I'm understanding this correctly, the fetus is REALLY just a blob of meaningless tissue. And as long as it's not wanted, then it's not a person. Liberals believe the government should help provide abortions for those who cannot afford them through use of public taxes. Conservatives vehemently disagree. Why don't we just recycle that tissue? I mean really? The tissue could be used to make a fine delicacy and ...

I think thousands of irreverent and crude comedians have made the observation that everyone is encouraged to embrace and be proud of their ethnicity – except white people. I once had a college professor say that white people have no ethnicity. I still don’t know how she could have arrived at this erroneous conclusion. She said we have no culture. To her credit, when someone says “ethnic” as an adjective, you can almost be certain they are not talking about anything culturally or ethnicall...

This article and few others on the topic have been in my head for weeks; I just haven't put them down yet. But Tas T's article made me write it. (By the way, Kudos. Great delineation there.) As a collegiate debater, we competed using the definition for ethnicity as "the culture with which one identifies." If one simply scans this, the response is something like, "Sure sounds logical." The definition was in our interpersonal communication course so it had validity. But what does it mean? ...

I understand the need to express individuality. I understand the urge to put decals on cars expressing opinions, accomplishments, our children's accomplishments, and God knows what all else. I have a rather nice one on my car that does none of the above, but it is nice. There is one exeption. "In Loving Memory of ______." Those are the absolute worse decals. I have so many questions. Where do I begin... First, let me say, if you have one on your car, stop reading right now. I'm ...

"Miss, Why'd you wear that?" "That outfit's clean Miss!" "Did you put that outfit together Miss?" The above statements are all statements taken from my students over the past three years. I've got myriad more. They all have one very peculiar thing in common: they're all statements made by 14 year-old boys. Granted, some may be 15 (And let's be honest, some may even be 16) but these are all statements made by the younger males. I've noticed when Junior and Senior boys complement me,...

Wow! Everything's been crazy lately! I'm loving my new job. My daughter is loving kindergarten. She's so amazing and precious. I'm teaching on regular 50-minute periods now instead of the 90-minute blocks I did last year. Wow has that screwed up my time-frame within my mind. It's a lot like jet lag. I know my kids think I'm hyper. I think we're never getting enough done. I plan waaaaay too much. I'm like, "yeah, sure we can read the Odyssey in a week, do our weekly vocabulary words, and...

Bloggers have written articles bemoaning legalism within the church. I have to say I agree. Despite the fact I belong to a very conservative denomination, I less represent my denomination than I do my Jesus when discussing faith, religion, and the like. My brother and I have separately come to the same conclusion though both raised in the same denomination. And as stated on other articles of mine, I reach my conclusions about my chosen denomination only after I've fully explored my faith ...

"God is my co-pilot" reads the bumpersticker. This implies God is in control with you. He's in the passenger seat next to you, holding the map, making suggestions. Rather ludicrous, don't you think? Our society has seen God "tamed." We want all of the God-niceties, none of the bad. A saccharine God-substitue. Santa Claus, not King; Protector, not Judge. I think this goes a long way to explain our society's fascination with angels -- they're a sort of tame god in a way, right? All fluffy a...