So here's a joke for non-Vikings fans. I got it, oddly enough, from a Vikings fan who said, "Oh, I sadly agree with this...and it's quite funny." Enjoy.
Vikings Anthrax Threat a hoax
Minnesota Vikings football practice was delayed nearly two hours this morning after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach, Mike Tice, immediately suspended practice while police and federal agents were called to investigate. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to the players was the goal line. Practice was resumed today after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.
Oh, and one more note (or rambling):
I got a letter in the mail today from St. Thomas. They have asked me to be a speaker when the NCATE (National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education) to the school. Basically, I'm supposed to go and talk about how great the program is and why they should be allowed to keep their accreditation. Awesome. I think it's absolutely great they asked me...it means they forgot about the eight page letter I turned in on the day I finished my student teaching.
In every program I've ever been a part of, people complain to high heaven about what they don't like. These people make big statements like, "One day, I'm going to tell it like it is and tell off the head of the department." Then, when the time comes to talk about it, they chicken out and nothing happens. That's always pissed me off. I can remember one time while I was in college, I had a really bad experience on a show I was working on. The director, under a great deal of stress, started ripping into my crew when I was out of the room. He made two of my crew members cry (they were freshman and new to the game). That pissed me off. Now, at the end of every production is a post-mortem where you talk about issues and such. I had the verbal backing of the designers, some of the crew, and a few actors to back up my complaints about his (the director's) behavior. I go in, bring it up, and the room goes dead silent. Those bastardos and beeyotches left me high and dry. Why? They were afraid that complaining would mean they wouldn't get cast/hired/picked again. I stuck to my guns. It meant that I was banished to what was considered the worst productions, but I made those productions much better. In the end, my last show was with that same director. Wasn't a great experience the second time around either.
The point? Well, I complained during my tenure at St. Thomas about communication issues and more. To prove my point that I would complain, I wrote a manifesto as it were. Everything that went wrong while I was there was in paper form to be read by anyone. I talked about the communication issues, the fact that some faculty have taught before and others were brought in because of, "background knowledge." I hit every little issue from day 1 until my last day. During my exit interview, I made the woman talking to me cry. Then, they made me wait until the head of the department was available, and he and I talked for almost an hour. Suffice to say, he was not happy with my observations.
Yet, here I am being asked to tell a group of people why the school is so great. This may, in fact, reinforce my theory that no one in that program talks to each other. Don't get me wrong, I agreed to do it, because it looks good on the record. This a national council, and they have good connections.
Then again, what do I know? I get told by students that I don't communicate my feelings very well. I could be wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment