Mr. Satch:
This post will hopefully give some insight into who I am, and dispel some inaccuracies.
First of all, I have never taught at an elementary school (your post of 3/5/13). In that same post you state that I brought my pet alligator to that 6th grade class. Never had an alligator, nor would I ever want one. I’ve always had large dogs- 2 German Sheperds, 1 Black Lab, and 1 American Domestic (a mutt). And yet you yourself start a rumor about me that is wrong. So let me repeat that- YOU WERE WRONG!! So why were you pretty sure about your information? Where did you find it? You don’t cite your source- you just state it. Are you ready to apologize to me for…BEING SO WRONG?? Now do you understand why a person can become so defensive and pissed off when such crap is being spread over the internet? So no, I’m not going to be polite and ask the posters to be more thoughtful about what they say, because they’ve hurt my feelings and that makes me feel sad (insert one of those frowny faces here). And yet, many responded that I was being so arrogant. I wasn’t being arrogant, I was being factual. When somebody says something that doesn’t make sense- i.e. that a 6’ person could have their skeleton shrink down to 5’6”- that’s stupid. Sorry, no other way to say it. Yet nobody bothered to call that person out for saying something so idiotic. But some responded- “I hope there were DNA tests done to determine if it was Roger?” Really? Is this a joke? Look up the concept of groupthink. And the last thing any of you should do is judge how a person may be allowed to respond to accusations made against them. When you have been disparaged on the internet for a heinous crime, and it’s being done by anonymous posters who don’t have the “huevos rancheros” to post with their true names, and just throw out rumor and innuendo without regard for anything factual, you let me know how it feels. And how many times do you read posts that get earlier posts incorrect; not only do they not realize it, those who read these incorrect posts then continue the inaccuracy. But actually Satchmo, you don’t have to apologize. I used the caps just to mess with you. I have found your posts to be some of the more thoughtful and analytical ones that have been written. I appreciate that. But for the majority of the posters- the old adage should be applied- just keep the monkeys in the cage. And from this point on, when I use the term ‘you’ in this post, I’m not referring to you Satch, I’m using the collective ‘you’ in regards to the other posters.
Many of the posters say I’m arrogant with a sense of intellectual superiority. Sorry, but I’ll use another old adage- no brag, just fact. So, a little about myself-
I fell in love with history in the 4th grade. By 10th grade, I knew I wanted to teach history. I was so consumed with the subject, I tried to learn as much as I could. When I graduated from high school, I took the ACT instead of the SAT, because the ACT had a history section at the time. I scored a 26/30 on the history section. Not the highest score level, but close. Got my BA in history, then took another year to become a credentialed teacher. Decided to continue on for an MA degree; I took the Graduate Record Exam for US History. This time I scored in the top 10% of the nation. Got my MA in 1 year and was selected the Outstanding Graduate Student in the History Dept. So, do I know my field? Yes, very well. Was I trained how to investigate and use analytical techniques to reach logical conclusions. Yes, very well. I realized I didn’t want to be a one-trick pony and just be focused on history and political science (my minor field) as most social science teachers are. I knew I could offer more as a complete Social Science teacher, so I continued with post-graduate studies, taking courses in sociology, geography, and anthropology. One of my sociology professors offered to sponsor me for a doctoral candidacy. I almost accepted, but was offered my first teaching job at the same time, and that was always my goal- so I gave up the possibility of getting a doctorate, and became a teacher. While in college, I would occasionally participate in psychology experiments, because you would get paid anywhere from $5-$10. At a time when the minimum wage was $1.60/hr, this was easy money. One of the things I participated in was taking an IQ test so the grad psychology students could practice on giving and scoring it. It was supervised by their professor to ensure its validity. The participants were later told their score, I’ll just say I did very well. So am I arrogant? No, but I know my abilities. If I wanted to be arrogant and engage in braggadocio, I would run as a presidential candidate in the Republican Party- it’s a joke people- get a sense of humor.. Oh, just so you know, I first registered to vote in 1972, and I registered as an independent when very few people made that choice. I have never registered as a member/supporter of any political party, and over the years I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, or Libertarians, no other parties. My vote depended on who those parties nominated.
One sleuthie stated that I had an uneventful career. Now where did that analysis come from? I was the main social science teacher in Cedaredge. The other 2 social science teachers were also 2 of the administrators. One taught 1 class, the other taught 4 classes; I taught 6 classes from 9th-12th. At the end of the year, the students had to take the State’s year-end tests. Our department’s results for each year exceeded the previous year’s test scores- for the 5 years I was there, our scores always improved. Couldn’t say that about the other 3 departments- English, Math, and Science, their scores resembled a roller coaster- up one year, down the next. Do I think I may have had something to do with the department’s success. Yes. Here in California, I eventually became the AP US History teacher, and taught it for 15 years. US History was the hardest AP test at the time in the nation, with only 50-55% of the students taking it passing it nationally. My first year, 47% of my students passed, and that was the best result ever scored at the high school up to that point. When I eventually stepped down, for the last 2 years my students’ pass rate was 90%. Oh, and I also taught for 10 years at a local community college as a part-time instructor. I was selected as their very first instructor of the year. Now am I bragging? No, I’m just stating fact. Bragging is when you have a need to keep telling people over and over again about your supposed/actual accomplishments so you can feel better about yourself and have others be impressed with you. I really don’t care if I impress you or not, that’s not my intent, nor my concern. I know my achievements, as do the students who benefitted from having me as their teacher at both the high school and college levels. I don’t need your approval. But if you are going to make statements about me, or my career, that are wrong and/or possibly disparaging, I’ll call you on it- and I have no compunction for not being polite about it, or politically correct. Just get the facts correct. And if you don’t have any information that’s verifiable, don’t spread falsehoods because you “think” you know, or “well, I heard/read this, so it must be true”.
OK, in my next post we’ll turn to looking at and analyzing Roger’s case. Bring a notepad
This post will hopefully give some insight into who I am, and dispel some inaccuracies.
First of all, I have never taught at an elementary school (your post of 3/5/13). In that same post you state that I brought my pet alligator to that 6th grade class. Never had an alligator, nor would I ever want one. I’ve always had large dogs- 2 German Sheperds, 1 Black Lab, and 1 American Domestic (a mutt). And yet you yourself start a rumor about me that is wrong. So let me repeat that- YOU WERE WRONG!! So why were you pretty sure about your information? Where did you find it? You don’t cite your source- you just state it. Are you ready to apologize to me for…BEING SO WRONG?? Now do you understand why a person can become so defensive and pissed off when such crap is being spread over the internet? So no, I’m not going to be polite and ask the posters to be more thoughtful about what they say, because they’ve hurt my feelings and that makes me feel sad (insert one of those frowny faces here). And yet, many responded that I was being so arrogant. I wasn’t being arrogant, I was being factual. When somebody says something that doesn’t make sense- i.e. that a 6’ person could have their skeleton shrink down to 5’6”- that’s stupid. Sorry, no other way to say it. Yet nobody bothered to call that person out for saying something so idiotic. But some responded- “I hope there were DNA tests done to determine if it was Roger?” Really? Is this a joke? Look up the concept of groupthink. And the last thing any of you should do is judge how a person may be allowed to respond to accusations made against them. When you have been disparaged on the internet for a heinous crime, and it’s being done by anonymous posters who don’t have the “huevos rancheros” to post with their true names, and just throw out rumor and innuendo without regard for anything factual, you let me know how it feels. And how many times do you read posts that get earlier posts incorrect; not only do they not realize it, those who read these incorrect posts then continue the inaccuracy. But actually Satchmo, you don’t have to apologize. I used the caps just to mess with you. I have found your posts to be some of the more thoughtful and analytical ones that have been written. I appreciate that. But for the majority of the posters- the old adage should be applied- just keep the monkeys in the cage. And from this point on, when I use the term ‘you’ in this post, I’m not referring to you Satch, I’m using the collective ‘you’ in regards to the other posters.
Many of the posters say I’m arrogant with a sense of intellectual superiority. Sorry, but I’ll use another old adage- no brag, just fact. So, a little about myself-
I fell in love with history in the 4th grade. By 10th grade, I knew I wanted to teach history. I was so consumed with the subject, I tried to learn as much as I could. When I graduated from high school, I took the ACT instead of the SAT, because the ACT had a history section at the time. I scored a 26/30 on the history section. Not the highest score level, but close. Got my BA in history, then took another year to become a credentialed teacher. Decided to continue on for an MA degree; I took the Graduate Record Exam for US History. This time I scored in the top 10% of the nation. Got my MA in 1 year and was selected the Outstanding Graduate Student in the History Dept. So, do I know my field? Yes, very well. Was I trained how to investigate and use analytical techniques to reach logical conclusions. Yes, very well. I realized I didn’t want to be a one-trick pony and just be focused on history and political science (my minor field) as most social science teachers are. I knew I could offer more as a complete Social Science teacher, so I continued with post-graduate studies, taking courses in sociology, geography, and anthropology. One of my sociology professors offered to sponsor me for a doctoral candidacy. I almost accepted, but was offered my first teaching job at the same time, and that was always my goal- so I gave up the possibility of getting a doctorate, and became a teacher. While in college, I would occasionally participate in psychology experiments, because you would get paid anywhere from $5-$10. At a time when the minimum wage was $1.60/hr, this was easy money. One of the things I participated in was taking an IQ test so the grad psychology students could practice on giving and scoring it. It was supervised by their professor to ensure its validity. The participants were later told their score, I’ll just say I did very well. So am I arrogant? No, but I know my abilities. If I wanted to be arrogant and engage in braggadocio, I would run as a presidential candidate in the Republican Party- it’s a joke people- get a sense of humor.. Oh, just so you know, I first registered to vote in 1972, and I registered as an independent when very few people made that choice. I have never registered as a member/supporter of any political party, and over the years I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, or Libertarians, no other parties. My vote depended on who those parties nominated.
One sleuthie stated that I had an uneventful career. Now where did that analysis come from? I was the main social science teacher in Cedaredge. The other 2 social science teachers were also 2 of the administrators. One taught 1 class, the other taught 4 classes; I taught 6 classes from 9th-12th. At the end of the year, the students had to take the State’s year-end tests. Our department’s results for each year exceeded the previous year’s test scores- for the 5 years I was there, our scores always improved. Couldn’t say that about the other 3 departments- English, Math, and Science, their scores resembled a roller coaster- up one year, down the next. Do I think I may have had something to do with the department’s success. Yes. Here in California, I eventually became the AP US History teacher, and taught it for 15 years. US History was the hardest AP test at the time in the nation, with only 50-55% of the students taking it passing it nationally. My first year, 47% of my students passed, and that was the best result ever scored at the high school up to that point. When I eventually stepped down, for the last 2 years my students’ pass rate was 90%. Oh, and I also taught for 10 years at a local community college as a part-time instructor. I was selected as their very first instructor of the year. Now am I bragging? No, I’m just stating fact. Bragging is when you have a need to keep telling people over and over again about your supposed/actual accomplishments so you can feel better about yourself and have others be impressed with you. I really don’t care if I impress you or not, that’s not my intent, nor my concern. I know my achievements, as do the students who benefitted from having me as their teacher at both the high school and college levels. I don’t need your approval. But if you are going to make statements about me, or my career, that are wrong and/or possibly disparaging, I’ll call you on it- and I have no compunction for not being polite about it, or politically correct. Just get the facts correct. And if you don’t have any information that’s verifiable, don’t spread falsehoods because you “think” you know, or “well, I heard/read this, so it must be true”.
OK, in my next post we’ll turn to looking at and analyzing Roger’s case. Bring a notepad
. Over the course of my 5 years there, there were 2 biracial students (1- Black/White, 1 White/Japanese), 4 Hispanics, and 2 Italian-Americans (I include these 2 because of experiences). What concerned me was the attitude of many of the students toward these students. Example- during my first year, in 1 class there were 4 students who thought it would be fun to throw paper at each other. I waited until class ended, and then told those 4 that they could leave once the paper had been picked up. In that class was the biracial (B/W) student. As one student tried to walk out without picking up any of the paper, he looked at me and said- “Let the ’n’ pick it up”. Trust me, I took care of it. But as I lived there, I was astonished at how many of the townspeople used that terminology. And it was done so casually and rolled off their tongues so easily. I had one person who once stood in front of me in the school parking lot, pumped his fist into the air and shouted ‘KKK’ repeatedly. One of the Italian-American students had taken 2 classes from me, and during his senior year he came and asked me to help him- one of his teachers was always referring to him publicly using ethnic slurs for Italians. I told him to ask the teacher to please stop doing it. The teacher told him no. I said next time it happens, complain to an administrator. Some time later the student came into my class in tears- the administrator said- “Well, you are Italian, get over it”. I waited until the school day ended, and then went into the staff lounge and confronted that administrator, literally reading him the riot act. I even think I dropped the ‘f-bomb’ a couple of times. But I wasn’t fired, and the teacher in question was told to stop with the slurs. But my popularity among some on the staff was dropping. But an even worse incident was around the corner. During my 3rd/4th year there, I had a 10th grade student in one of my afternoon classes. Her parents had divorced, the mother moved out of the state, and the father had remarried. She walks into my class one day and I noticed she had a black eye. After I gave the students their classwork I called her up and asked what happened. In a very matter-of-fact way said her father had punched her the previous night- but then quickly added she deserved it because she had back-talked him. I called the office, and an administrator came in and took her to the office. After school ended that day, I filled out an abuse report and submitted it. That was the last time I saw her. About 3 weeks later an administrator came in and told me that a deal had been made with the father- he had high status in the community. If he agreed to let his daughter leave the state to live with her mother, then he would not be prosecuted. In fact, the entire incident would not even be made public. But a more serious question was never asked nor answered- why hadn’t any of the teachers from earlier in the day reported it? I didn’t know who her father was, maybe the other teachers did. By now I’m considered a buttinski reaching beyond the school environment and interfering in people’s home-life. The final incident I will tell you about revolves around bullying. There was a 9th grade boy who was being bullied by some upperclassmen. I stepped in and stopped it. The odd thing was that 3 years later, that same boy (now a senior) and another senior boy were bullying a 9th grader. The problem was that their behavior could actually have a dangerous result. Again I stepped in and stopped it, and pushed an administrator to get the boys suspended from participating in athletic events for a week (they were top athletes). Again, the reaction of some of the staff, the boys’ parents, and some community members was that I was over-reacting, boys will be boys, and it was just normal high school hi-jinxs. Yes, I was fighting against bullying 30 years ago. Still I was considered as someone who stuck his nose into situations where it didn’t belong. I was someone who was shaking up their social structure, taking a stand for those who had less power, less status. 
