Who I want to be when I grow up:

Also, La Roux.

Helloo, people of the internet

You may be wondering things like: who the hell are you? Why are you SO BAD AT BLOGGING?

No seriously, WHY.

I have answers, guys. Why am I so bad at blogging? Here's the breakdown.

So, I got into college a month or two ago (go me-- drink blood, smoke crack, worship Satan, go Mac, etc etc), and the whole point of this blog, ostensibly, was kind of to get me into college. I mean, did college admissions officers actually go to the blog link I provided at the end of my resume? No, I think that is a hilarious joke. But it made me feel like I had Another Accomplishment which is kind of important is those unschooled moments when you're like "I am doing nothing useful with my life who am I what is this why am I reading Jezebel.com for the fifth time today". Or maybe that was just me...

But anyway, now that I'm into college, I kind of felt/feel like blogging makes me an asshole. Because seriously, what is blogging beyond indulging your own self-obsession?

Yeah.

So I was just gonna close down the blog, say goodnight and good luck, but I keep biking along, thinking (having my iPod break has caused me to... think a lot more. Which, when you consider it, is really just kind of horrifying.), and I keep being like "that'd be a sweet blog post!"

And honestly, if there's one thing that's more lame than having a blog, it's wishing you were writing blog entries. Like, dream big, right?

Also, all of my classes are over, but I still have to go to track practice, so my days still have this kind of awkward shell of structure, and I get bored. Soo, lucky you. Posts to come will probably involve lying on roommate forms, my Bust subscription, Raphael Saadiq, my new obsession with that web TV series stuff, Elena Kagan, ETC ETC.

Do You Get the NYT Mag?

We do, but it's also available online. A couple weeks ago, there was an article on how to make a better teacher that I thought was interesting. If you didn't read it, check it out here.

The article basically lays out two different possible ways to improve teachers nationwide. It argues that teaching well is not an innate ability, but a learnable skill that should be taught in schools of education in colleges across the country.

As I read the article, I tired to decide whether I agreed with that idea. Most of the great teachers that I've had seemed to simply have been born that way-- but it's not that they were doing things that normal humans would find impossible. They had simply honed their skills through years of experience-- and had been interested enough in teaching to want to hone their skills in the first place.

Something that the article failed to touch on (and that maybe isn't as true in elementary schools as it seems to be in high schools) is that many bad teachers don't seem to be bad because they don't know how to manage their classes or how to lead or explain activities in a sensible way. A lot of bad teachers are bad teachers because they don't know how to do that, and they don't care. They're burnt out, bored, hopeless, underpaid, overworked, and maybe chose the wrong profession to begin with.

I agree that many teachers can surely be trained to be better, and Lemov's 49 points, and the MKT test seem to be good beginning. But before teachers can get better, the ones who don't want to get better should leave.

Spring Has Sprung Sprang Spurng...

You get the idea.

Grass!

Skies!

Bikes! Except I've been biking all winter, and I actually bike less now because I have my license! But whatever!

Emerging from the dark, hideous cocoon of winter in Minnesota as a beautiful spring time Baywatch butterfly is a glorious time.

So happy spring-- I think the first official day of it is this Saturday. Celebrate by frolicking on the beach or something. I'll be jamming in my car to KFAI and KDWB with the (automatic! We got a new used car.) windows rolled down.

Look What Happens When You Don't Blog for Two Weeks

I've cracked 1,000 page views!

Internet confetti!

That means that many, many people have looked at this blog to see if there is any new content and been sorely disappointed! Just kidding (I hope).

Thanks for reading, people who read this.

Sexist Song of the Week

(Ha ha that makes it seem almost like I post more than once a week. But I am really am going to try now! I've fallen off the boat, again-- thank god I'm not addicted to crack-- but two to three posts a week for the next next weeks. I promise.)

So I got my driver's license a couple weeks ago. It only took me three tries, but I did eventually get it. What this has meant most significantly for me is that I listen to the radio. A lot. Every time I drive, I put it on, and it's usually KDWB (top 40) Now 96 (also top 40) or the Current (hipster top 40).

Listening to KDWB and Now 96 for half an hour a day or so means that I hear the same five songs over and over. And there's one that's really starting to piss me off.

Why do I hate this song so much? There are chicks with guitars! Rock 'n' roll! And according to some other dude, she's great!

Oh wait, yeah, it's that part. Your emotionally abusive boyfriend is telling you that you suck, and the rock 'n' roll response is to say that some OTHER guy thinks you don't? No! The response you're looking for, Orianthi, is "According to me, you are a dumb loser and I am awesome." Listening to verse after verse of self-esteem pumped from outside sources doesn't make me, the listener, feel empowered. It makes me feel concerned that you get your ideas about yourself from the guys you like. That sucks.

Also, that music video makes me feel like I'm playing Guitar Hero at someone's concert, which is just weird.

Homework of the Future

In the futureee, this blog post will be transmitted to your brain via cyborg...

Does that even make sci-fi sense? Probably not.

But for now, I am doing my math homework in the WAY OF THE FUTURE (and listening to Heads Will Roll, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is kind of Music of the Future-y). So let futuristic me tell prehistoric you that math homework of the future has some serious disadvantages.

All of my math homework for Mathematical Ideas in Contemporary Society is to be completed through an online program called CourseCompass. It basically turns math homework into a computer game, which is kind of cool. You can try any problem as many times as you want, it has a calculator built into the page, you can click a button and the relevant textbook pages pop out into a new window, etc.

However, the drawback to all of this computer-y business is that the math prof has a Patriot Act level of access to everyone's homework records, including time started, time completed, time spent, attempts made, etc.

As a committed procrastinator with skills fine-tuned through years of junior high and high school practice, having my professor know when I start assignments is NOT GOOD. Especially when she is Extremely Concerned about procrastination in her class.

"Look lady!" I want to tell her, "I will complete those stupid problems about dividing chocolate cake. But it's Sunday! I have until Wednesday! Check back in at 11:45pm Wednesday night, and there I'll be, furiously punching calculator buttons. But until then, pleease stop checking when everyone has started their homework and sending out Extremely Concerned e-mails!"

I have seen the future. And it's not pretty.