Do higher temperatures make you dumb(er)?

I'm on the countdown to Liquor Day - i.e. the last day of school. I know I'm not the only one who is so sick of these kids. Today, Dumb as a Sack of Hammers Kid broke his red gel pen and smeared the ink all inside the new textbook he was "reading." He then closed the book, got up and put it on another desk, picked up a different book, and went back to "reading." When I confronted him, he said the pen broke when he was writing in the book. He's not even smart enough to be a good liar. No doubt he'll end up as a state senator (R-NV) one day.

Yesterday, a different genius stabbed himself in the hand with his own pencil and had to go to the nurse. Not that it was serious enough to warrant medical attention. I just wanted to get him out of my sight for a few minutes, and I just had to take the opportunity to write on the health office pass that he needed a band-aid and a Darwin Award. And I did. I don't think the nurse got the joke, though.

At least I don't have the particular brand of moron student whose mom does his homework for him, and then forgets to have him rewrite it in his own writing before turning it in. But I guess that would be an improvement over the students I have, who see no point in doing homework, class work, or learning of any sort since either Harold Camping or the Mayans are to be believed and the world will end either on October 21 of this year or on December 21, 2012.

Is it summer yet?

Failure. It's the American Way of Life!

Ever wonder why Nevada ranks lowest in the country in all things academic? A lot of it has to do with the underfunding of education and the willingness of our state government to allow casinos and mining to rake in the cash while not paying their fair share of taxes. However, there is more to the failure than that.

Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the country, has made it ridiculously easy for students to fail high school before they even get to high school. How? By having such low standards that students can go through three years of middle school and get promoted to high school with having only passed a total of eleven core class semesters.

Pupils currently enrolled in sixth grade must complete one semester of mathematics, one semester of English or reading and one semester of science with passing grades for promotion to seventh grade.

Pupils currently enrolled in seventh grade must complete one semester of mathematics, one semester of English or reading, one semester of science, and one semester of social studies with passing grades for promotion to eighth grade.

Pupils currently enrolled in eighth grade must have completed three semesters of Math and three semesters of English or reading with passing grades during the seventh and eighth grade years for promotion to high school.

Students in CCSD middle schools take a total of six classes, with two semesters per year. In 6th and 7th grade, they take English and reading. In 8th grade, they just take English. Out of the 10 semesters of English and reading they take, they only need to pass four semesters to go into high school. And that's just one example.

Until the school district stops pandering to parents and the uneducated, loud masses that make up Clark County and sets the standards higher, we will continue to have students failing and dropping out at an alarming rate. And why shouldn't they? They have already been taught, by the age of 11, that failure is not only acceptable, but rewarded.

Really?

My students were reading out loud today, which is always a train wreck since they mispronounce common words at an alarming rate and really don't care because, after all, "reading is dumb."

I thought I've heard it all and could no longer be amazed. I was wrong. One of my students mispronounced "God." Seriously. Another student had to correct him.

Like Shakespeare says...

The Holocaust. Now with MOAR SAD!

Before we start reading the drama version of Anne Frank's life and diary, I figured I'd give my students some background on history and the Holocaust. I chose the film "I'm Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People who Lived During the Holocaust," and I started showing it in class today.

I really think that quite a few of them missed the point. I make that determination based on the following statements from students.

• The Holocaust is sadder than I thought.
• I almost cried.
• Why do we have to learn about sad stuff?
• Teaching about Nazis makes people be racist.

And the most profound comment award goes to...

• That kind of sucks.

I actually found myself getting madder and more disgusted with my students as the day wore on and I showed the video to all of my classes. Yes, there were kids who showed a great deal of empathy and who were deeply moved by the video, but the loud majority of them see no point in trying to understand why a democratically-elected leader could take control in times of financial crisis and turn other people into scapegoats to the point where they are systematically slaughtered.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

If the wisdom of Whitney Houston is to be believed and children are our future, then God help us all.