We'll be on CMT on Saturday from 8pm-9pm!!

So here's the deal. Alan Jackson performed some great songs at a concert a few weeks ago in Franklin, TN. Tara and I were invited to attend the show, and the producers asked us to submit questions. 600 people responded to the invitation, and only 100 were selected. Out of those 100, only 10 were picked to ask Alan questions. Tara and I were BOTH picked! Those are incredible odds, but it gets better. As they were seating the people who were asking questions, they put some in the back right, one couple in the middle, an older couple in the front left, and all the other seats in this small venue were still open. We were the last people to be seated in the group of question askers. The production manager then asked US to sit in the FRONT CENTER of the whole set! There were two recliners, tilted inward, and they were RIGHT in front of the stage! We couldn't believe our luck! We tried not to look stunned as we sat down, and we thought for sure they were going to move us. The whole time leading up to the show, they were filling in the crowd, moving people around to make it look right. We just KNEW they would move us. Sure enough, the lights dimmed, and the show was about to start - but we still hadn't moved!



There were about 100 fans in attendance, and probably 40-50 crew members running lights, audio, cameras, and overseeing the production. There were cameras on tracks and tons of cameramen walking around the place. After the show, the production manager came and thanked us for coming (it was free!) we were like, NO, thank YOU! It was truly a night we would never forget. And now, it will be on CMT at 8pm central time. The show is called "Alan Jackson: Invitation Only" and it is supposed to be like VH1 storytellers, and MTV unplugged. He played all of his best songs and several off of the new album.



A couple of funny things happened during the filming. They wanted us to sing along with all the songs, but some of the songs no one had heard before (on the new CD), so I was just lip- syncing... I hope they don't put any close-up shots of me fake singing in the final edit! Also, right before he started "Five O'Clock Somewhere", he said "Well, I don't have my watch on, does anyone know what time it is?" I took the bait and said "9:30" and some people said "5:30" and I was like oops... that was stupid. Then at the end of the concert they said they might need to re-shoot one of the songs because of the audio track. Then they decided that it would be OK. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been because of my gullibility. Later, during that same song, he said the line "And SHE don't care, it's Five O'Clock Somewhere" and he pointed directly at TARA as he said that! It was really exciting. I also caught a guitar pick and got a set-list from the show.



So we're not sure what the final edit will look like, but we're right up front so odds are that we will be visible in both long-range and close-up shots- so there's our 15 minutes of fame! In fact, people who want to become famous have their "agents" put them on the list in order to get good camera time and get "discovered" by people looking for actors for commercials and TV shows... sooo, if we end up on some crappy sitcom, you'll know where we got our start!

Smart move...

Today I am in the same class ive been in since Wednesday. Its been
tough, the kids dont want to learn, they don't have any incentive to
learn, and they don't have a teacher to hold them accountable. Its a
bad combination. So I have been trying to show them that I care for
them, teach them something, and enjoy my time in the class. As a
reward (since it's Friday) and I don't have any lesson plans, I
decided for my sanity and the kids' learning, it would be most
beneficial to watch a documentary in class. I rented Planet Earth and
we watched the first episode. They thought it was boring, but when
sharks started attacking seals and the wolves attacked the caribou,
they started enjoying it and asking questions about the scenes we were
watching. I asked them to write a response paper about the movie, but
only about half the class would cooperate- its better than none!
Luckily, they have a new teacher coming in on Monday, and this is
supposed to be their full time teacher for the rest of the semester.

I just have to
start strict with them and have high expectations. I have to do that
with all of my classes- otherwise I wouldn't be able to teach
anything- they would eat me alive. How else could I control a group of
wild kids that look about the same age as me? Heck, several even look
older than me.

Its been a great experience so far, and I'm sure it will help me out
in the future. It will at least help me relate more to the issues of
education, inner-city kids, and poverty stricken neighborhoods. There
are no easy solutions. If we are going to try to fix education in
this country, it will have to come with a total paradigm shift in the
systems that affect these kids, and focus on parental involvement.
More money would help too, but it has to be allocated appropriately.

Anyway, it was a smart move to show them the film, and I'm pretty sure
they learned more from the film than from me trying to talk to them.

No Dentist Left Behind

Here's an interesting email I got today. I agree with it, and as both a future dentist and a current teacher, I know how important both education and dentistry is to the low-income and impoverished families in America. I don't know how to fix NCLB, but we need something new.

No Dentist Left Behind

This is an interesting take on "No Child Left Behind." Teachers will
enjoy it, parents will be informed and politicians should consider it.

My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget
checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He
never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth.

When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard
about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness
of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"
"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities
each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a

dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average,
below average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which

are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective

dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could

lose their licenses to practice."

"That's terrible," he said.

"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we
should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"

"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is
practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't
all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we

can't control? For example, I work in a rural area with a high
percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my
colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the
parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there
is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work.
Also, many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much
candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who
understand the relationship between sugar and decay. To top it all
off, so many of my clients have well water which is untreated and
has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference
early use of fluoride can make?"

"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that
you, my dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job,
and you needn't fear a little accountability."

"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as
anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count

is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to

work where I am needed most."

"Don't' get touchy," I said.

"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he
was clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to

damage his teeth. "Try furious! In a system like this, I will end up
being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated
patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called
rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist.
They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients.
And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that,
how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists
to my practice if it is labeled below average?"

"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making
and stonewalling won't improve dental health'... I am quoting from a
leading member of the DOC," I noted.

"What's the DOC?" he asked.

"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of
mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved"
"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't
buy it," he said hopefully.

The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would
you measure good dentistry?"

"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."

"That's too complicated, expensive and time- consuming," I said.

"Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom
line. It's an absolute measure."

"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will
think . This can't be happening," he said despairingly.

"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."

"How?" he asked.

"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated
excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.

"You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele
to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with

which I have probably had much more experience? BIG HELP!"

"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools
and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress

with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community

served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to

dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."

I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to
write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school
analogy. Surely they will see the point."

He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed

anger that I, a teacher, see in the mirror so often lately.

If you don't understand why educators resent the recent federal
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT, this may help. If you do understand,
you'll enjoy this analogy, which was forwarded by John S. Taylor,
Superintendent of Schools for the Lancaster County, PA, School
District. Be a friend to a teacher and pass this on.

Oh boy!

Oh boy!

What a day! The class I'm in has not had a teacher for 6 weeks and has
had subs come in and out the whole time. Now its my turn to teach them
something. I don't have any lesson plans, nor do I have a class roll.
I have a stack of worksheets that a teacher just brought in, and my
Barack Obama book "the audacity of hope" about politics in America. So
let's make a fun class day that would teach them something, shall we?
Ok, first let's get a warm-up activity and get them calmed down. I
wrote on the board- " Writing Assignment: How can we improve this
school?" they didn't like that one... Strike 1. How about "write about
your favorite musical artist" that one got them going. After they
wrote about young jeezy or Lil' Boosie, Lil Wayne or Alicia Keyes, I
took the papers up and read each person's favorite artist (not the
whole paper). Then the class tried to guess whose paper it was. After
that we worked on the adverb worksheets. Pretty boring, but they hung
in there. Then I read some of Obama's book and taught them about
government, bills, laws, the senate, etc. Then I was saved by the
bell. Its funny, teachers (especially subs) look forward to getting
out of class just as much (if not more) than the students- shhh its a
secret ;-)

My second class tried to get to me but I wouldn't let them. Besides
the relentless cussing and yelling, here are some good one-liners I
got: "your wife is going to leave you for a black man" "you look like
the 26 year old virgin" "are you from Germany? You talk funny and
proper " "you look like Mr. Rogers" I also got justin timberlake. One
kid really wanted me to hit him so he could pop me in the jaw.
Needless to say I knocked him to the floor for being so stupid ( yeah,
right).

Here's another surprising trend, the students don't pass notes
anymore- that's old school. These kids simply text each other during
class- and if you tell them to put the phones up- "Ooo you just made
me mad. I'm not gonna cooperate wit you no more" Oh boy! Gotta love em.

PS- they put another sub in here to help me, but he just sat at the
desk the whole time. I had him to over the adverb sheet 2nd period and
the class was so disrespectful he quit. He started getting visibly
agitated and they saw that and tried to make him mad. They can smell
fear. And anger. I felt sorry for him- the other students probably
give him a hard time because of that.

TIME Article on Teaching

I just read this article on "How to Make Great Teachers" in TIME Magazine. It's got some pretty interesting ideas, and discusses the controversy of giving bonuses based on test-scores and other ways of determining the quality of the teacher.

Here's the end of the article:

" It's a good goal for an entire nation in need of better-quality teaching. As U.S. school districts embark on hundreds of separate experiments involving merit pay, some lessons seem clear. If the country wants to pay teachers like professionals—according to their performance, rather than like factory workers logging time on the job—it has to provide them with other professional opportunities, like the chance to grow in the job, learn from the best of their peers, show leadership and have a voice in decision-making, including how their work is judged. Making such changes would require a serious investment by school districts and their taxpayers. But it would reinvigorate a noble profession. "

Here's the link to the article

Sweet rock climbing wall at the elementary school

Here's a picture of the sweet rock climbing wall at the school I
subbed at this week. We never had anything like this!

Parthenon in Nashville

James and I went walking around Centennial Park tonight and watched
the geese swim by and the sun set. It was great. Then these two girls
came up and offered us free Red Bull. I didn't sleep much last night,
so the red bull was a great help!

It's Friday!

Before I started subbing, I was simply hanging out doing nothing
(since mid-December when I graduated) and I didn't appreciate the
weekend- all the days felt the same- Saturday, Monday- it didn't
matter. But now, I appreciate the weekend. It's a great time to pause
and take stock of the week and gear up for the next week if waking up
at 6am. Next week, I will begin working as a full-time sub for
highschool students in north Nashville. It will be worth it, but
draining at the same time. Waking up early, encouraging kids who don't
want to be there or learn the material, and the 20min drive will all
add up to one tough semester.

Today however, I'm teaching PE still and the kids are wonderful.
Yesterday was valentines day, and many kids were bringing valentines
for the teacher I am subbing for this week. I would tell them thank
you and I would make sure she got it. Then, one kid brought ME a
valentine! I was pretty excited because it was shiny and had a sucker
inside of it. Later in the day, I opened it up, and I saw that the kid
had actually written To: Mr. Baxter in the card- wow! I was pretty
stoked. Small acts of kindness go a long way-especially when the
receiver has had a long day. So go perform a random act of kindness
today!

Tonight is Brad Paisley at the Sommet Center. Tara, James and I will
be going; it should be a lot of fun!

Further, Ishmael Beah is speaking st Vanderbilt on Monday at 5:30pm st
Ingram Hall at Blair. You should go see him and listen to his
incredible story. He wrote a book called "A Long Way Gone" that
detailed his family's capture by the rebels in Sierra Leon and his
transformation into a Boy Soldier in the civil war that broke out
there in the 90s. Its a chilling novel that will make you ask yourself
" if we didn't have any authority, would we all turn to savage living
and go crazy like these boys did?" Think Lord of the Flies bad. On
steriods. Or "brown-brown" ( a mix of gunpowder and cocaine that the
boys would snort during the war). Luckily, Beah was rescued by UNICEF
and they started the long rehab process that eventually brought him to
New York for college and gave him the chance to write his memoir.

Have a great day!

Just call me Coach Baxter...

So I'm subbing at an elementary school for a PE teacher the rest of
the week. Its a lot of fun! The kids have been great and it's been fun
to run around and shoot hoops and jump rope with the kids. We're doing
stations, so some kids Jump Rope for Heart, some play basketball, some
play hockey, and some rock climb. Man, I wish we had a rock climbing
wall in our elementary school!

I like working with the elementary kids- its a lot different from high
school. They're all very respectful and stay out of trouble for the
most part. They're not corrupted by society yet- they don't talk back,
and they do their work.

I got to work with special ed PE- like Erin does- it was fun. We
played with balls, I helped them climb the wall, and we scooted around
the floor on scooters! Then one kid came up and gave me a big hug-
they're really sweet.

I'm worn out! Ive been running around all day!

On another note, its snowing today! It started snowing after we got
here, so we still had classes.

After this week, I'm going to be a full time sub at a high school in
north Nashville. So, I'll be there for the rest of my time subbing. It
should be fun, and I can teach the kids subjects that most subs
probably wouldn't feel comfortable teaching- calculus, physics,
biology, etc. The school is also a school with low test scores, so
these kids need help academically.

Subbing today...

I'm at high school today teaching pre-cal and algebra 1. Its fun
because I had a really small class and I could really help the
students in that class with their graphing assignment- y=mx+b. One
girl said she never does her work for her normal teacher. I told her I
wasn't her normal teacher and that we could go through if together.
She reluctantly agreed and I started helping her through the problems
by the third one she was really getting it and went on to complete
most of the assignment. Most of the kids need this kind of individual
attention, but can't get it. In my first period, many of the kids
simply refused to work, and because there were so many of them, I
couldn't work with them one-on-one. I only helped those students who
wanted help and asked for it.

There have also been a lot of girls that are pregnant in my classes
today. Its hard to see them so young and know that they have a very
hard road ahead of them and their kids have a hard life ahead too. Who
knows, some of these kids could have had teenage mothers themselves.

A girl in my 3rd period heard I was going to be a dentist and she told
me that was what she wanted to do too. I told her all about the
classes she would have to take and the DAT and encouraged her to work
hard. She thanked me before she left and told me she would try hard
to make it happen. It's moments like those that make me happy to be
doing this job. Its hard to take on a new group of kids every hour,
earn their trust, help them out, and know you will likely never see
them again. I wonder what will happen to the students I teach, and if
my being in their life for an hour will make any difference. For the
girl who wants to be a dentist, it could have made all the difference
in the world.

Next few jobs...

Ok, so after I worked middle school, elementary school and high
school, I worked at a magnet middle school. They actually behaved
worse than my other "regular" middle schoolers. One class of 7th
graders was especially bad and were throwing paper at each other, and
then at me while I tried to help other students with their
assignments. It was a madhouse! That is still the worst class i've
taught. Part of the problem was the fact that I made them sit in their
assigned seats, and I made them be quiet and do their work. I was
harder on them than on my other classes, and they rebelled- hard.

Next, I went back to high school and worked in special ed. Now, there
are two types of students in special ed. There are the ones with real
learning disabilities and there are the ones that are apathetic and
simply don't want to do their work. The autistic, down's, etc kids
are in a different class- this was a resource class, so they only came
for 1 period. But these kids didnt want to work at all. The ones who
did, had a really hard time grasping simple concepts, and I focused my
time with them. Then the clowns in the class would disrupt the whole
time, so I couldn't even help those who wanted it! Its important to
put Discipline before Instruction- otherwise, you won't be able to
teach anything. The class will be gone.

It still amazes me how many students show up unprepared- no pencils,
no paper, no homework... I let it slide in 3rd grade. By 5th grade
they should know better, and in high school I don't get why it's so
hard to bring a pencil or pen. In every period today, i've had at least
3 or 4 students without a writing utensil. I let one kid borrow a
pencil yesterday... I'll never see that one again! One student today came and
took my pencil off the podium without me knowing- that one's gone too!
Oh boy.

During my stay in one of the high schools, they asked me to sub for one
period with the autistic, Down's syndrome kids, etc. and I was looking
around the classroom. On the board, this was written:
" I hope everyone is at the Best Behavior while I am away!!! IF NOT,
KNOW MOVIE ON FRIDAY!"

I couldn't believe it. It was ridiculous- this teacher was teaching
special ed students- who need more help than normal ones. I love the
use of all CAPITAL letters too!

Another time in middle school, I was with the special ed kids, and they
were learning to read. The handout was on Martin
Luther King Jr. And it had so many typos that I had to keep apologizing to the students who could barely read! How were they supposed to learn to read with something so full of
errors? Please, check your handouts before you give them to the whole
class, especially if your kids can hardly read.

First few days...

Well, I have a long lunch period today, so I can write about my first
few experiences substitute teaching.

My first job was with 5th graders in a preetty nice school. The
principal was very nice and offered me a full time job, my first day
there! Kinds strange, but i figured out why later. I told her it was
my first day, and I was going to dental school in July, so I couldnt
work for more than this semester. I also wanted to see if I would sink
or swim with 5 different classes of 5th graders teaching 4 different
subjects. BTW, it was a weeklong job! The kids were a little antsy and
were asking whether I would be their new teacher. Their first teacher
went on maternity leave, they had another for 2-3 months, then she
left. So I was their new teacher. It was a great first assignment, u
learned a lot and met some great kids and faculty. My first day, the
principal told the students it was my first day (doh!) and I had to
explain to them that it wasn't ( I used my VSVS schools as examples of
places I had taught before- partially true, right?) Anyway, my next
class came in and asked me if I was a dentist, why was I subbing?
Again, damage control, had to explain about dental school and
graduating early- but I'm not new, so don't take advantage of me! The
rest of the week was pretty good, one class gave me hell like I'd
never felt before- but thats part of the job. It was kind of sad
having to leave- I thought I might get the full time position, but on
Friday I met their new teacher- she was nice and had 20yrs
experience... To my 5 days experience, so I guess she won in that
category. But, the kids didnt want me to leave and said they'd miss
me, so it was great to be a part of that while it lasted.

My second job was in elementary school. Now I was working with 3rd
graders, a different experience, different rules, and different ways
of going about business. All the chairs had cut tennis balls on the
bottom legs, kind of strange I thought. I guess it was partly for
noise and partly for safety reasons. They were pretty well behaved
too, and it was easier than 5th grade. Not as much backtalk. In middle
and elementary schools, the subs are expected to teach the lessons, so
I was teaching predicates and subjects; long division and social
studies. They really do just throw you in and hope you can swim!
Luckily I was on the swim team in high school, so I have pretty good
skills... Actually, nothing can really prepare you for facing a crowd
of kids and trying to teach them something without too many
disruptors. Not even reading books, I tried.

Third job was in high school, I was teaching ecology, whatever that
meant. I got there, passed out a worksheet and tried to keep em quiet.
That's all! I was amazed at how much less work there was! I could read
the book (Obama's) that I had brought with me! The hardest part was
keeping them from eating and listening to their music.

So that's my first few days as a sub, I'll fill in the rest of the
week soon. Gotta teach 5th period some geometry!

Teaching...and more

Some tips for the newbies...

Learn their names- it lets them know you care about them and it helps
with discipline. They won't act up as much if they know you know who
they are.

Keep your cool, its probably one of the most important things you can
do.

Be prepared, I try to arrive at least 15-20 mins early each day.

Act tough- either you work the crowd, or the crowd works you.

Its not that big of a deal- at the end of the day, you don't have to
go back if you don't want to.

Its easy to piss them off- tell them to do their work, sit in their
assigned seats, take away their drinks and drawings... Pick your
battles.

Today, I'm in high school teaching math. It's nice because they're
working silently and working hard. I taught about multiplying,
dividing, adding and subtracting fractions this morning- but taught
many students in Spanish. Gotta be versatile- too bad I don't speak
Arabic... They spoke English pretty well though.

I'm almost done with Barack Obama's first book: Dreams From My Father-
its really good. Its helped to explain some of the things I see in the
schools.

One excerpt I read yesterday was from a pastor talking with him who
had this to say about the public schools:

"The first thing you have to realize...is that the public school
system is not about educating black children. Never has been. Inner-
city schools are about social control. Period. They're operated as
holding pens- miniature jails, really... Just think about what a real
education would involve. It would start by giving a child an
understnading of himself, his world his culture, his community. That's
the starting point of any educational process. Thats what makes a
child hungry to learn- the promise of being part of something, of
mastering his environment. But for the black child, everything's
turned upside down. He's learning about someone else's history and
culture... Is it any wonder the black child looses interest in
learning?at least the girls have older women to talk to, the example
of motherhood. But the boys have nothing. Half of them don't even know
their own fathers. There's nobody to guide them through the process of
becoming a man. In every society, young men will have violent
tendencies. Either they're directed and disciplined in creative
pursuits or those tendencies destroy the young men, society, or both.
" p. 258

I agree with a lot of what this guy says- there are some big problems
in education- but its not the schools' fault- the absent fathers,
poverty, lack of discipline- all contribute to one big social problem.
I try to help as a positive influence in their lives. I learn their
names- even if I'll never see them again. I encourage them to work
hard. If all of the adults in their lives showed them just a little
love- it would go a long way. It takes a village...

( ps- I'm typing all of these on my phone...)

First Subbing Post

Well, I've started substitute teaching, and its pretty interesting. So
I figures I should share what happens with you. Its pretty crazy in
schools these days, so prepare yourself. Ive been teaching for 3 weeks
now, so I'll start by going back and telling about my previous
experiences.