The Countdown Continues

5 Americans I would like to meet/would like to have met (One set of males and one set of females)
1. Historical:
Theodore Roosevelt: tremendous exemplar of the American spirit. A bit vain and egotistical, but incredibly well-educated, well-traveled and well-read.
Margaret Knight: 19th century inventor. Imagine inventing at the same time as Thomas Edison. Imagine doing so as a woman. She worked in the shadows but persevered.

2. Literary:
Nelson DeMille: If I wrote, my characters would be very similar to his. His novels are amusing, topically interesting and good yarns.
Jodi Picoult: I have to hand it to her for being able to keep up the pace she is writing at these days and maintain the level of interest she has. Interesting topics and decent reads.

3. Political:
Bill Richardson: Is he for real? If so, he has enormous potential as a candidate going forward. He can make a difference.
Condaleeza Rice: I think she is very bright, and she seems to have great ideas of her own. However, she has tied her wagon to George W Bush, and because of marching lock-step under him, she may not be able to muster much going forward.

4. Sports:
Tiger Woods: What does he do in order to keep his focus with the circus that goes on around him in tournaments? How does he assert his will over the game so much?
Pat Summit: She is the best basketball coach in America today, and lots of people do not even know who she is.

5. Pop Culture:
Robert Downey, Jr: Incredible actor who has done his very best to sabotage his own career and then rise up like a phoenix. Quite a story.
Miley Cyrus: Incredible rise to prominence. What was she thinking with the Vogue pictorial?

4 Places I Would Retire to:

1. Quito, Ecuador: It has everything within a few hours drive, mountains, jungle, cloud forest, beaches. The view from the city out over the valleys to the mountains is spectacular in every direction. Great pace.

2. Sydney, Australia: Beautiful harbor. Clean city. Great people. I don't like the flies, but I could get used to them too.

3. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Beautiful city in northern Thailand. Clean air. Fantastic food. Very welcoming people. Great shopping.

4. Flagstaff, Arizona: Mountain air. Proximity to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. Clean streets. Not overcrowded. Temperate (still has seasons).

3 Really Bad Ideas in Education:

1. Schools with floor plans for open classrooms. What were they thinking? The first thing done in each of these buildings was the erection of some physical barriers to establish space and privacy.

2. Holistic Scoring of Writing: Basically, this allows students to write almost any way they want, with no regard to punctuation, grammar or spelling, with the paper being grades as a whole and the main point being the message. It fosters laziness and a lack of attention to detail.

3. Standardized Tests: Yes, it is important to establish what an educated graduate should look like and be able to do. However, when standardized tests become that criteria, two things happen: People teach to the test, and the tests actually test to the middle rather than to excellence. And, application of knowledge and skills becomes secondary even though such application is really the goal.

2 Teachers Who Helped Me Bring out the Best of Myself:

1. Jan Sewall, Walsh Middle School, Chorus.

2. Fr. Anthony Kuzniewski, SJ, College of the Holy Cross, History Department.

Thanks to both of them for helping me believe in myself and go beyond what I would have.

The 1 Person Who Makes School Work

The classroom teacher.