Yes it was. And we had such inspirational teachers.

Not that there aren't great teachers today, but they are so overworked and regimented that creativity takes a back seat to testing, testing, and more testing.

His ignorance about special education should be grounds for dismissal.

He should have never been inflicted upon the nation's schools.

Reality.

It "starts" in 4th or 5th grade, actually.

I taught middle school (5-8) for almost 20 years. I loved 5th, 6th, and 8th graders, but could not stand 7th graders. Seventh graders are very mouthy and whine and back-talk a lot more than the others, for some crazy reason. Maybe it's "middle child" syndrome!

Middle school is a blast though. The kids are so much fun, even if they do get rowdy at times. Those bathroom rules are ridiculous. I always let my students go as needed (they just had to sign out) and very few abused the privilege. They need to be treated with respect and not as little kids at that age.

A much bigger problem than "hormones" is bullying. It is so rampant at that age as they sort out their places in the middle school pecking order.

They were putting up Back-to-School displays last week.

I was there looking for some cheap pool toys for the kids -- but they were NOT even marked down yet! LOL

Halloween candy will probably be out by Labor Day!

This was very well-intentioned, IMO.

However, the schools did not do much to implement the changes. I saw very little change in the menus except that they took away the salt shakers. The meals were still overloaded with sugar, salt, and fat. I considered them inedible and felt sorry for the kids who had a steady diet of pizza, chicken nuggets, and French fries.

I hope she is successful in pushing for even more healthy changes.

LBJ got Authur Goldberg to leave the Court in 1965.

You are right.

We do have it damn good compared to most of the world. Thank you grandparents (as scared teenagers) for getting on those boats and settling here a hundred years ago. If they had not done that, I would have spent most of my life under the thumb of the USSR. (Well, I probably would have been someone else, but you know what I mean.)

Happy Fourth, question everything!

Mmmm.... American Pie!

Time for reflection....

I just retired last month. Here I am.... without a clue as to where I want to go from here. I just know I couldn't stand working anymore.

I never invested much in "other people" so I don't have the same experiences as you with friendships. I had a lot of good acquaintances but not many life-long friends.
Doesn't matter. I always spent more time with family and they have been the center of my life.

I'm a "count your blessings" person and don't dwell much on what could have or should have been.

This has been mentioned before, but I believe in "Thou shalt not kill."

I do not want my tax money to go toward war, execution, or even promoting hunting. Please don't jump on me, hunters. You are free to believe what you want, as am I.


My sincerely held beliefs are rooted in my faith. I don't expect my beliefs to interfere with others' beliefs, though.