East Coast Happenings

[Diane Amberg]

I made Al's favorite buckwheat blue berry pancakes this morning.
That was the good thing for the day.His biopsy came back...cancer again. But, tiny,local and right at the surface. Once more caught very early. That means he will have to be scoped every three months indefinitely.Very depressing, but we'll be strong and try to stay as normal as possible.Every time though his stamina doesn't come back quite to normal and getting older and having had Polio doesn't help.
Right now he is finishing up what will be his Chairman's report on a very sticky subject at tomorrow night's Newark Planning Commission meeting. I still need to proof and edit it. He still needs to take a short rest before we go to the fire hall to sell Bingo tonight.
Have a good one.

[Catwoman]

Prayers going up for your hubby, Diane.  I am sorry to hear this.

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks Cat.
I know he'll do OK, but it's a worry that will alway as be lurking around.Others have had cancers that are so much worse, his is hardly worth mentioning.
Al and I have a command performance, so to speak, at our firehouse today. The Governor is coming  to sign a bill and we are to be there,with others, to witness it.
HB 133  has to do with residential sprinklers.It will require builders to make home owners aware of what extra cost would be involved in adding residential sprinklers to the cost of building a new home.
I'm sure some people will take advantage of it and many won't.The actual instillation isn't mandated here, except in new multifamily residential.
The big deal with the signing is all political of course, but I'll go along with anything that raises awareness. Having been a fire safety specialist for so many years, anything that helps folks prevent and survive unexpected serious fires is good.
Off the subject somewhat.... I just read an article about Kansas having a self created teacher shortage. Among other things, the article said they will be hiring "unqualified "people to fill spots, for much lower pay.I find that very interesting. I wonder what the parents think?
Have a beautiful day.
I think I'll go have some breakfast.I suddenly got hungry...

[Diane Amberg]

Last night's National Night Out block party was great fun. Our newarkpostonline.com has a bunch of photos. They had a little course set up for people wearing "impaired goggles" to drive bikes through...it was really funny.They also had K-9 demos and we had fire extinguisher demos and did a wrecked car demo.,as well as available literature, coloring books and fire hats for the kids. I know we saw several hundred people just at my table.
The weather was great ,not too hot and a nice breeze.UD had their creamery truck there so I got some really good ice cream during a break. Newark PD grilled up several hundred hot dogs and burgers for the crowd,who were very appreciative. to say a fun time was had by all would be a big understatement.

[Diane Amberg]

Mosquitos! I'm so sick of them. When I was kid we had only the big evening and night time buggers.
Now we have these dern day time jobbies too.They are tiny but have a nasty bite that itches like nobody's business for days afterward. "Off" and all those do help, but they aways seen to find a spot I missed. I hope you don't have them.
Our Cicadas have really tuned up here. It's so loud they makes ones ears hurt.They don't sound like yours do. Ours just have a pulsing chatter,not that zizzer,zizzer that yours have. The Cicadas always make me think it will soon be time to go open up my classroom. Even after all these years that feeling doesn't go away.
It's almost time to get the "permission to deliver" letter from the school district administration office.We need that to take the Fire Prevention Contest packets to the schools. They screen everything to be sure nothing inappropriate winds up in the teachers mailboxes. Have a great day.

[Diane Amberg]

We had a fun time at our biggest fire station yesterday. The Governor came to sign HB133, which requires builders to inform people who are building new homes what the cost of residential sprinklers would be if they were added to home construction.
It's not really very expensive when the house is under construction and all opened up. It's not a requirement state wide that people include them, but now at least they will have the information.
Newark already has such a requirement. New construction must have sprinkler systems. Real estate agents use that as a selling point too. Gov. Markell was pleased to see how many fire fighters from many fire companies came to witness the signing.
I know him casually and Al and he have have known each other almost all their lives.In such a small state that easy to do. We had lots of photos taken and he had one taken with me...the fat old gray haired lady....HA! I don't always agree with his politics but he is a very nice person.
   Something funny I was going to mention and forgot. At our National Nite Out block party Tuesday evening ,since it was sponsored by Newark PD and Aetna, there were blue uniforms all over the one closed block where we had all the events.It was meant to be a casual fun time for all of us with no sense of emergency or tension. There were lots of cute young police officers, some holding  big "free hugs'' signs from their fun "Hug a Cop "program.
   Anyway, there was one older dude walking around, wearing a side arm on his left hip. He wandered up and down that one block over and over just about sticking his hip out to be sure everyone saw he was carrying. Nobody paid any attention to him...not the police, not us, nobody.
I suspect he was hoping someone would confront him so he could fuss. I'm sure PD quietly checked him out, didn't see any potential problem, so he was left be. I think he was disappointed.

[Catwoman]

   Uhhhhh...Somebody neglected to tell him that it's NOT against the law to conspicuously carry? Poor guy.  All that effort and no scuffle in the mud to show for it! lol  Sounds like you had a really good evening with all of your friends!! :-)

[redcliffsw]

Off the subject somewhat.... I just read an article about Kansas having a self created teacher shortage. Among other things, the article said they will be hiring "unqualified "people to fill spots, for much lower pay.I find that very interesting. I wonder what the parents think?
Have a beautiful day.

The government schools hire unqualified teachers all the time - that's nothing new.  Most of the unqualified teachers are highly educated having been indoctrinated by and thru the government education system - certified they call it.  Accredited outfits like KU, KSU, ESU, PSU and others are part of the scheme.

[Ross]

Off the subject somewhat.... I just read an article about Kansas having a self created teacher shortage. Among other things, the article said they will be hiring "unqualified "people to fill spots, for much lower pay.I find that very interesting. I wonder what the parents think?
Have a beautiful day.

[/quote

So, you open a can of political worms in here again, in the Coffee Shop !

I'm sure if you checked your own back yard there are plenty of problems right there in Delaware.

About the shortage of teachers that is happening in several states.

There are unhappy teachers everywhere you look and my heart just pumps purple panther piss for them.

The main thing is we don't get paid enough, I call the opposite of the Politically Correct Socialists. It depends on many factors their location, qualifications, experience, ability to adapt to changing atmosphere and educational changes. Some teachers are extremely over paid.

I recently had the opportunity to observe a retired teacher acting as a para helping special education children, two kids. The nab sat there and read the questions the kids were suppose tolook up in their book and then fill in the blanks. Well the retired teacher/para was doing all the reading and not aloud and providing the children  the answers. No reading out loud by anyone and the two children were playing. How's that for teaaching?

Over paid, I don't think so.

You concern yourself about Kansas when you may have more serious trouble in Delaware than we do. But you don't know perhaps because you don't want to know.

The city of Howard thinks they have a dynamite high ranking school, well wake up, The Howard West Welk School has been gone for many a year and stands as a blight on Howard. Where is your friends at Elk Konnected, why haven't they cleaned up that blight. Oh, well never mind.

The real West Elk is rated as only an average school when it comes to educaton. I posted the chart that shows that info in the political section where it belongs. Because a few people make a few "A's" doesn't mean it is a great school. Over spending on sports does not enhance the education of children in reading, writing, arithmatic. The fact that educational standards have fallen considerably makes the average much lower by those prior standards.

An even more serious problem is Common Core, but you haven't shown any awareness of Federal Control and the lies and secreacy behing and about Common Core. Are you even aware of the threats leveled at schools by the Federal Government? But then Delaware has fully adopted Common core haven't they?
Have you taken the time to even look at the Common Core on line testing students have to endure?
Apparently it isn't all about education. I  asked to look at it on the school computers and was denied, it's secret. That brings to the question, Why?

I have seen where a state required teachers to take test to continue teaching and plenty failed and they were permitted to re-do's to boot. I took the same test in the news paper with out looking at  the answers and with the exception of one item which was write a report , and I passed the test. So don't tell me about teachers being so well educated.

I have spoke with so many educated people and that includes teachers, that have no idea what is going on in current events be it in their own field of employeement or world conflicts and much more stuff.

[Diane Amberg]

You are so funny Red. Scheme?  My word, you are so suspicious!
Where do you thing the certified teachers for the private and religious schools get their education and licenses to teach? I have one younger friend who went to UD as an education major and taught at Pike Creek Christian.. Another teaches at Elkton Christian and another at The Alethia School. She retired.  Holy Angels and Christ the Teacher Catholic schools , same teacher education.  One friend went to Newmann Catholic University, but the basics for teaching English and math are pretty much the same everywhere in the US.
Other countries, whose primary language is different with different "letters" might do it differently,I don't know. I doubt Chinese would  lend it's self to phonics.
There is no special  different way to teach reading or math to Conservative Confederates in the US. You want different...do it at home. Here, we do not hire unqualified teachers. We have enough population to not need to do that.
   Now I must address "the other one." You manage to justify whatever you post where ever you post it. So I'll do the same until the administrators tell me not to.
I was here in Delaware when I read the article. My opinions originate from here in Delaware. I wondered how the parents  there feel about having ''unqualified" teachers in the classroom.That, to me, is not politics.
Sure Delaware education has its problems...that isn't one of them ,and no I don't post about everything I know.
Most of the problems here, still, after all these years are connected to  forced deseg., from years ago.  A federal judge upset everything and included districts that were already integrated, as Newark was, long before the mandate. We are still trying to get the kids back to their local schools. It would be boring to you  there to read more about it.
   What makes you so knowledgeable about what the "para'', as you call them there, was supposed to be doing? Did the classroom teacher tell you what she was supposed to be doing so you could make a report? Why didn't you jump in there and show her how to do it "right?"
Aren't paras paid much less than certified teachers? They are here..subs too, a Per Diem rate.
   I won't criticize the para because I don't trust you to tell the truth about what was happening. You also griped one time because VBS kids were "playing" out in the church yard. How awful!
I'm not quite sure how a dissertation on West Elk, EK and Common Core has anything to do with my question about how Kansas parents feel about their school teacher situation, but like certain politicians, you wouldn't want to miss an opportunity. You are jumping to conclusions again and 'way off the subject of my original post.