newsflash

i sent an email to the teacher and he informed me that the student is 'deeply disturbed.' i told him that i hoped he'd show the paper to the administration because my gut initial reaction was that this kid might bring a gun to school...

and yes, had the student's paper been well argued i certainly would've given him a grade reflective of that. there are always papers i disagree with, but as long as they're logically argued i don't mark down. particularly on papers like this that look at ethical questions. everything has two sides. that said, this paper was illogical and felt like it had undertones of violence, not sarcasm. really sad.

if i didn't think i'd get fired

i'd scan and post the entire 10 page senior research paper on why equal rights for women have spelled disaster for the world. i'd tell you why this kid thinks that there are 'strong correlations' between the rising numbers of women in congress and the 'collapse of our financial sector, increase in CO2 gasses, and the skyrocketing of crime rates.' oh YES HE DID. i had to stop grading four pages in because i thought i might rip this piece of shit the hell up. SOSOSOSO bad. seriously, over the top and i'm not a radical feminist that believes the entire structure of the US needs to be torn down. WORST PAPER EVAH!

six days a week and compelling ethical issues

okay, so i've gotten super lax about writing and my muscles are getting weak. i'm going write six days a week (prolly skip saturdays), rain or shine. that said, i have to push through this looooong week and finish up 300 more pages of grading. in that spirit... the aim of these (mostly okay) papers is to explore an ethical question in a 10 page research paper. these are seniors, though not honors. you can help me write this post by weighing in on some of the topics the students brought up. answer one or all...yes or no, or loooong ass answers. i'll be answering each question in detail this weekend/next week. thrilling? i thought so. well, this crap always brings out the trolls and spices things up. (i'll also let you know how students are responding as i grade the papers. these are actually really really solid and interesting. and no, i'm not letting my personal feelings about the issues play into the grade i give them. well argued papers get good grades. poorly argued papers don't.)

euthanasia: is it ethical for one to choose to end their life? should individuals have the legal right to do so? one student says yes on all kinds of euthanasia. another says yes only on passive and self-administered euthanasia, but NOT active euthanasia.

sex ed in public schools: abstinence only or comprehensive sex education?

prostitution: should it be legal? GAH! two poorly argued papers, both in favor of legalization (which i happen to agree with). one argument FOR legalizations says that 'you don't have to be that good looking.' hehe

glbt adoption: should gays and lesbians be permitted to adopt? one very compellingly written paper: YES on glbt adoption.

ethnic relations: should the US get involved in civil wars, genocides, or international conflicts with foreign nations?

human embryonic stem cell research: should aborted fetuses/failed in vitro embryos be used in stem cell research? two students say yes, human embryonic stem cell research should be allowed.

death penalty and the mentally ill: is it ethical to kill mentally ill people for their crimes?

torture: is it ever ethical?

taxes: are they ethical?

2nd trimester d&c abortions: ethical?

gun control: more? less?

saturday? almost march? really?

wow, where has the time gone? i can't believe how busy we've been lately, how full my life has felt.

• i've gotten so much grading in the last four weeks (and for several weeks to come) that i've had to start turning some of the teachers down. i'm also considering doing a little private tutoring to bring in some extra cash. good god, some of the kids need help - though i'm told they're mostly lazy, in addition to stupid. have you noticed a general dumbing down of the teen set or is it just in this neck of the woods?
  
• ben and dad and i have been having s&b meetings weekly, plugging away on future goals. we are SO excited at the prospect of being at the farmer's market soon and getting ready for easter. which reminds me: i found a fantastic (local) marshmallow woman who somehow hasn't already been swooped up by anyone else. and get this: she's doing corn syrup free marshmallows! have i mentioned that we believe that corn syrup is the work of the devil? no? well, it's true. and she's using our old favorite agave instead! so we're going to do some kid friendly stuff for the spring holidays. alternative peeps anyone? w00t. (email will be sent within a week.)


• my cousin rico (and one of my best friends evah) called me yesterday to tell me that he's coming to visit before he leaves for uganda for the next several months. and in a totally awesome and impromptu and newish way he swooped me up and we're going to see our other cousin bo in san diego next week. just for one night. i managed to backwards engineer babysitting (even r is helping!) and im SO excited. i never do stuff like this.


• kids sound like they're flooding the bathroom. bbl!

and this is what we look like when we're working hard: worth enlarging if you want the whole truth

a brief trip to costco for 'supplies.' thankfully renzo came and kept us in line...and made sure that the sample-givers had someone to give samples to. note how suspicious the kid next to ben looks- and who can blame him really? not pictured: dad actually making chocolate. also not pictured: my child support due and payable on the 15th. hmm.

our official taster acting in his official capacity, tasting. yes folks, d gives the chocolate dipped dried red chilis (whole, spicy seeds and all) a thumbs up. that's snake & butterfly for 'yum, now stop making me taste chocolate. i've already eaten three pounds. tonight.'

and here i am in my 'official hurry and chug the trader joe's wine before my three kid-free hours per week are over' capacity. yes folks i am the proud face of single motherhood and small business ownership. *golf claps* and also representin' state on my mom's behalf.

case in point: idiocracy OR juniors on jon krakauer's non-fiction _into the wild_

these are from a prompt that instructed the students write an additional (creative/fictional) chapter for krakauer's book, revealing new info about chris mccandless aka alex supertramp, in the style of the author.

Chris was dropped off towards the end of the river where it meats up with highway 80. The river is the most peaceful chaos that any one can find. [...] Lake Tahoe is the most spectacular lake any human can look at.

Many of the people compared to McCandless were nutcases while some were indeed brilliant or well educated, but none of them seemed to be in particular that similar at al to McCandless in a special way.

It was a lush green forest with indiginous creatures, ivy bush with water drops coming down the green vines like leaves. Skyscraper-like trees reach to the sky covering the light from the vivid sun which on the ground looks kind of like a dance floor with the lights gleaming down through giant trees as high as a fifty story building.

It got Alex angry that Kate had to stop constantly stops and demands a drink of water and to rest. Finally, in a rage Alex tries to get her to get up and she slaps him, She pulls a knife on him. Alex knocks Kate over, takes his knife, and leaves her. Later, as they were walking, they run dog that strangely wondered around them like it was hungry.

NO JOKE, this next one came after the student plagarized the first page from thoreau and tuchman... THIS IS NOT A TEXT MESSAGE! YOU CAN'T USE 'u' IN A FORMAL PAPER!

''Are u a student here." "No im just passing through, hard to find a place to stay around here though." [...] "That's ok, U look like u need some sleep."

'renzo gave me a shiner and other things that happend today (<-- for one thing, i unlearned spelling)

grading grading grading, keep them doggies grading... yeah. all day. almost done. so so so bored. (hey, jackasses: there is a difference between woMAN and woMEN. learn it.) (and what, btw, did i do before i could look up a word online that seemed to be spelled vaguely...wrong? a dictionary? can you imagine how long that would take? ;)) so so so much else to be done.

d is in vegas installing a system in a client's condo. the guy (who lives around here) flew him and his partner out there. d gets to stay with his dad who is working on fireproofing the city center. crazy. seriously, check out the link. you don't even want to know how many people have died working on this monstrosity.

finally remembered the name of one of my favorite songs that is almost impossible to find based on lyrics because the lyrics are almost impossible to understand. i present to you pearl jam's, yellow ledbetter and i'll have you note that the lyrics (the real ones) canNOT be found on the pj website. mysterious? yes.