Trying to be impressed...

Part 1 - I tend to be a teacher who tries to give my students the benefit of not comparing them to other classes of students. I mean, hey, come on! Every group and the dynamics of each group are different. But being the first Honors Science teacher here, I can’t help but keep all the classes that have come before going through my mind as the year goes on. I remember my first class especially... which to most is probably not a surprise (and if you’re reading this Rachel that was YOUR class.... Make me proud with your life choices!).

And so I am in a bit of a bind. I don’t want to compare my students this year with other years (or even class periods to each other) but it inevitably happens... And I am not impressed with the bunch this year. That DOESN’T mean that I don’t like the kids that make up this year’s class; they are a pretty nice bunch. But as for mental acumen and desire combined with curiosity... I’m trying to be impressed. Now remember, there will always be students who as individuals will impress me... But I’m waiting for the group to live up to the title of Honors Students.

Part 2 - I am a technophile. I freely admit loving machines and technology... But sometimes it can drive me nuts. I’ve come to the conclusion that you have to treat the computer(s) you have like the car(s) you own. First incident today was not being able to get my iSight camera which watches the backyard to work. I unplugged and replugged the camera into the computer, restarted the application, restarted the computer.... Nothing. I finally gave up and hope to handle the problem later. Before that I had taken my older PowerBook G4 into the Apple Store and the Mac Geniuses to check the hardware. They tested it and it passed. Why do that? Because the sound had stopped working. So I do the typical trouble-shooting and get it working again... But only temporarily before it does it again. As the Genius said at Apple, “Time to Archive and Reinstall the OS to fix the software issue.” I love technology... But SOMETIMES.........