I went off on a little tangent there, yesterday, didn't I? That came from way out in left field.
I would like to add, though, one other thing Becca is tripping over....she keeps asking, "Do you think I can get a 60 percent, Mommy? I HAVE to have a 60 percent for I'll flunk the third grade!"
What they DON'T tell the kids is that a 60 percent is a D AVERAGE! Rather than saying, "Most of you will get a 60 percent even if you SLEEP through part of the test, so it's okay, don't be scared" they instead TERRIFY them with it because to an 8-year-old, 60 percent sounds HUGE. Most of them think that means they have to perform A-average, or they will fail the ENTIRE third grade. Which is crap, too, by the way. If they had BEEN TEACHING ALL YEAR RATHER THAN REVEIWING FOR A STANDARDIZED TEST, THE CHILDREN WOULD PROBABLY KNOW BY KNOW WHAT 60 PERCENT MEANS!
How can a child work hard, study, and do good...EVEN THE HONOR ROLL....all year long, then flip out on test day, fail the test, and FLUNK, throwing ALL YEAR'S WORK OUT THE WINDOW???? And how dare they tell these kids that in an effort to make them try harder on the test! If that's not cruel, what is?
I'm glad that Becca has a pretty good teacher and I can forgive her for the Benchmark stuff, because if she had wound up with a crappy one on TOP of Benchmarks, I would most likely have been dragged from the school by men in either blue or white by now.
SO READY FOR SUMMER BREAK!!!!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
I hate third grade.
It’s been said that one learns something new every day. Lately, I’ve been learning something new every hour, it seems.
A friend of mine said a few days ago ‘If stress is supposed to make you thinner, I’d be invisible.’ ‘Amen,’ I thought, glancing down at my not-so-skinny self. Many of you know the recent events with my baby cousin’s case, and it has taken a huge toll on me. I can finally TRY to function again, but it still eats at my heart daily. We can’t do anything but hurry up and wait, and I ask for everyone’s prayers to continue on so many different levels.
Becca is tired of the third grade, and I am, too. The Benchmark crap infuriates me. It stemmed from one of Bush’s mistakes, so why is my baby still having to stay until dinner-time two nights a week (she is honor roll so it’s not like she needs extra help…..they pressure ALL third-graders to go on Mondays and Tuesdays after school ) for Benchmark prep, in addition to the HOURS a day they make them hunker over the same boring practice tests, redundant classwork with sample problems, rather than her actively LEARNING. I’m so tired of the kids being DRILLED CONSTANTLY BY THE ENTIRE SCHOOL STAFF. Benchmarks are a CONSTANT DAILY REMINDER to these kids. They are ready to vomit by the time it comes around (next week).
The deal with Benchmarks above other standardized tests is that the schools, ESCPECIALLY the ones who have sucked in the past, HAVE to have good marks to prove they are doing their job, or else they start losing authority of their schools, and possibly funding (if I remember correctly). So it ALL comes down to people trying to keep their jobs and the bottom dollar on the yearly budget.
Basically, if the kids do bad, the teachers look like they aren’t doing their job. THEREFORE, to prove they did better than the year previous, they NEGLECT MY CHILD’S EDUCATION TO STUFF MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS DOWN HER THROAT, PAGES AT A TIME. I wish I had saved the social studies work Becca has been given this year. And don‘t be mistaken that it‘s a lot. They spend about 30 minutes one afternoon and give them a test the next day, or something to that effect.
It’s horrendous and some of the crap has NOTHING to do with civics. It‘s questions like, “If a friend asked you to do something bad or break the law, would you?” wtcrap? Isn‘t that what they should be learning in Sunday School? I suspect it’s more benchmark crap they squeezed into a social studies lesson by throwing the word ‘law’ into it. And then the next question would be ‘Who’s the first President?’ (which my daughter has known for at LEAST three years), then ‘Who built the first car?’ ?????????????? Actually, I’ve just this moment had a revelation….the reason they stick random crap like that together is because they are combining lessons in that subject so they can SAY they covered the material, but actually use the extra time for….what? More Benchmark crap, I’m sure.
I’m highly offended by this because I have gone to college to study American history. My child has learned more about America from The History Channel and Johnny Horton songs than she’s EVER learned in her years of school COMBINED. Why? Because the school administration is apparently TERRIFIED of looking bad so they are obsessed with getting good scores. “It’s not their fault,” one may say. I said that, too, until this year, when I’ve watched my little girl collapse and sleep as soon as she gets in from school.
When I’ve seen things my daughter SHOULD be learning and she’s not because they are ‘practicing for Benchmark.’ Okay, guys, you know Varsity Blues and how freaking obsessed they were over football? That’s the way they are over Benchmarks. I’m angry because if the teachers REALLY gave half a damn, instead of using all this energy having special pep assemblies (am I fooling you? NO. They actually have damned pep assemblies for the freaking test) and figuring out sneaky ways to steal from my daughter‘s VALUABLE (in her ONLY SHOT AT AN EDUCATION) time to shove more Benchmark at her to make THEMSELVES look good, they would INSTEAD use that time to go to CONGRESS and REFUSE TO DO IT FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN, then that would be a lot easier and quicker, and better for our KIDS.
It’s laziness. All of the time all the teachers in the nation spend on all the kids in the nation to answer all the right questions in the nation….think of the time and energy WASTED. THAT’S why I said it would be easier for all of them as a whole to go to Congress rather than continue like ZOMBIES, and in the process making our kids HATE school. Kids who used to LOVE learning….Paperwork is easier to many teachers than actually interacting all day every day, so many of them have gotten lazy. As long as they get good scores, who cares. They don’t get paid enough anyways. If they ARE great teachers and the kids do bad on the test, they could lose their jobs, so screw it. They hand out the papers.
My daughter this week is told to PRACTICE GOING TO BED 30 MINUTES EARLY, waking up 15 minutes early, PRACTICE WEARING COMFORTABLE SHOES….a WEEK before the test, mind you, being told what kind of breakfasts and snacks to eat, advised not to wear jewelry. She is so freaking stressed about this test. She mentions it at least a few times a day. And they’ll probably kick it into high gear the rest of the week b/c there’s only a few days left. Is it because they care about her performance this year and how much she’s ACTUALLY learned and gained from her experience, or are they just tripping because they want THEMSELVES to look good? Hmmm, I think we all know the answer to that.
Okay, this turned into I hate third grade, and I was really going to talk about dirt track racing. Perhaps next time….
A friend of mine said a few days ago ‘If stress is supposed to make you thinner, I’d be invisible.’ ‘Amen,’ I thought, glancing down at my not-so-skinny self. Many of you know the recent events with my baby cousin’s case, and it has taken a huge toll on me. I can finally TRY to function again, but it still eats at my heart daily. We can’t do anything but hurry up and wait, and I ask for everyone’s prayers to continue on so many different levels.
Becca is tired of the third grade, and I am, too. The Benchmark crap infuriates me. It stemmed from one of Bush’s mistakes, so why is my baby still having to stay until dinner-time two nights a week (she is honor roll so it’s not like she needs extra help…..they pressure ALL third-graders to go on Mondays and Tuesdays after school ) for Benchmark prep, in addition to the HOURS a day they make them hunker over the same boring practice tests, redundant classwork with sample problems, rather than her actively LEARNING. I’m so tired of the kids being DRILLED CONSTANTLY BY THE ENTIRE SCHOOL STAFF. Benchmarks are a CONSTANT DAILY REMINDER to these kids. They are ready to vomit by the time it comes around (next week).
The deal with Benchmarks above other standardized tests is that the schools, ESCPECIALLY the ones who have sucked in the past, HAVE to have good marks to prove they are doing their job, or else they start losing authority of their schools, and possibly funding (if I remember correctly). So it ALL comes down to people trying to keep their jobs and the bottom dollar on the yearly budget.
Basically, if the kids do bad, the teachers look like they aren’t doing their job. THEREFORE, to prove they did better than the year previous, they NEGLECT MY CHILD’S EDUCATION TO STUFF MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS DOWN HER THROAT, PAGES AT A TIME. I wish I had saved the social studies work Becca has been given this year. And don‘t be mistaken that it‘s a lot. They spend about 30 minutes one afternoon and give them a test the next day, or something to that effect.
It’s horrendous and some of the crap has NOTHING to do with civics. It‘s questions like, “If a friend asked you to do something bad or break the law, would you?” wtcrap? Isn‘t that what they should be learning in Sunday School? I suspect it’s more benchmark crap they squeezed into a social studies lesson by throwing the word ‘law’ into it. And then the next question would be ‘Who’s the first President?’ (which my daughter has known for at LEAST three years), then ‘Who built the first car?’ ?????????????? Actually, I’ve just this moment had a revelation….the reason they stick random crap like that together is because they are combining lessons in that subject so they can SAY they covered the material, but actually use the extra time for….what? More Benchmark crap, I’m sure.
I’m highly offended by this because I have gone to college to study American history. My child has learned more about America from The History Channel and Johnny Horton songs than she’s EVER learned in her years of school COMBINED. Why? Because the school administration is apparently TERRIFIED of looking bad so they are obsessed with getting good scores. “It’s not their fault,” one may say. I said that, too, until this year, when I’ve watched my little girl collapse and sleep as soon as she gets in from school.
When I’ve seen things my daughter SHOULD be learning and she’s not because they are ‘practicing for Benchmark.’ Okay, guys, you know Varsity Blues and how freaking obsessed they were over football? That’s the way they are over Benchmarks. I’m angry because if the teachers REALLY gave half a damn, instead of using all this energy having special pep assemblies (am I fooling you? NO. They actually have damned pep assemblies for the freaking test) and figuring out sneaky ways to steal from my daughter‘s VALUABLE (in her ONLY SHOT AT AN EDUCATION) time to shove more Benchmark at her to make THEMSELVES look good, they would INSTEAD use that time to go to CONGRESS and REFUSE TO DO IT FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN, then that would be a lot easier and quicker, and better for our KIDS.
It’s laziness. All of the time all the teachers in the nation spend on all the kids in the nation to answer all the right questions in the nation….think of the time and energy WASTED. THAT’S why I said it would be easier for all of them as a whole to go to Congress rather than continue like ZOMBIES, and in the process making our kids HATE school. Kids who used to LOVE learning….Paperwork is easier to many teachers than actually interacting all day every day, so many of them have gotten lazy. As long as they get good scores, who cares. They don’t get paid enough anyways. If they ARE great teachers and the kids do bad on the test, they could lose their jobs, so screw it. They hand out the papers.
My daughter this week is told to PRACTICE GOING TO BED 30 MINUTES EARLY, waking up 15 minutes early, PRACTICE WEARING COMFORTABLE SHOES….a WEEK before the test, mind you, being told what kind of breakfasts and snacks to eat, advised not to wear jewelry. She is so freaking stressed about this test. She mentions it at least a few times a day. And they’ll probably kick it into high gear the rest of the week b/c there’s only a few days left. Is it because they care about her performance this year and how much she’s ACTUALLY learned and gained from her experience, or are they just tripping because they want THEMSELVES to look good? Hmmm, I think we all know the answer to that.
Okay, this turned into I hate third grade, and I was really going to talk about dirt track racing. Perhaps next time….
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I miss being me!!!
Hey, guys....we are supposed to find out in 24 hours or so, so keep praying for the entire family, Tiffany, and us because alot of stuff has been going on within this past day or so and has left us all completely stressed.
I PROMISE to catch up with everyone in just a few days. I'm SOOO ready to get back to being me again!
Luv ya'll bunches!
I PROMISE to catch up with everyone in just a few days. I'm SOOO ready to get back to being me again!
Luv ya'll bunches!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Jury finds Hamburg man guilty in less than 30 minutes
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Steven Wayne McDougald, 45, was convicted last month by an Ashley County jury of kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault against a 2-year-old Ashley County resident.
Circuit Judge Sam Pope upheld the jury’s recommendation of two consecutive 20-year sentences in the Arkansas Department of Correction. The jury deliberated for 30 minutes on Jan. 15 before returning with the guilty verdict.
An habitual offender with four prior convictions, McDougald, of Hamburg, was arrested March 30 after he left with the toddler on a four-wheeler during a cookout and did not return in a timely manner.
The mother of the toddler reported that McDougald had asked her husband if he could take the child for a ride around the premises on the four-wheeler but left the immediate area without parental consent. A phone call to McDougald was made when the parents realized he had left the area, approximately 30 minutes later.
McDougald reportedly told them he was on his way back with the child.
When he did not return, the father of the toddler and the host of the cookout searched the area on atvs and found McDougald and the toddler approximately an hour and a half after they first went missing near a creek in the Fountain Hill area.
Police were notified after the child told her parents McDougald had inappropriately touched her.
Forensic experts presented dna evidence that indicated the child had been touched inappropriately.
Prosecutor David Cason told the jury there was only one set of tire tracks found in the woods, which disputed McDougald’s claims of being lost.
“If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” Cason said.
Steven Wayne McDougald, 45, was convicted last month by an Ashley County jury of kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault against a 2-year-old Ashley County resident.
Circuit Judge Sam Pope upheld the jury’s recommendation of two consecutive 20-year sentences in the Arkansas Department of Correction. The jury deliberated for 30 minutes on Jan. 15 before returning with the guilty verdict.
An habitual offender with four prior convictions, McDougald, of Hamburg, was arrested March 30 after he left with the toddler on a four-wheeler during a cookout and did not return in a timely manner.
The mother of the toddler reported that McDougald had asked her husband if he could take the child for a ride around the premises on the four-wheeler but left the immediate area without parental consent. A phone call to McDougald was made when the parents realized he had left the area, approximately 30 minutes later.
McDougald reportedly told them he was on his way back with the child.
When he did not return, the father of the toddler and the host of the cookout searched the area on atvs and found McDougald and the toddler approximately an hour and a half after they first went missing near a creek in the Fountain Hill area.
Police were notified after the child told her parents McDougald had inappropriately touched her.
Forensic experts presented dna evidence that indicated the child had been touched inappropriately.
Prosecutor David Cason told the jury there was only one set of tire tracks found in the woods, which disputed McDougald’s claims of being lost.
“If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” Cason said.
Jury rules not guilty in rape trial
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By Jayme Lawson/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 10:08 AM CST
Rodney Daniels, 30, of Warren, one of two men facing rape charges, has been found not guilty in Bradley County Circuit Court.
A second suspect in the case, Keatron Ridgell, 24, also of Warren, is awaiting trial.
Daniels was acquitted following at two-day trial, which ended Jan. 23.
According to testimony, an 18-year-old woman reported that she was raped by Ridgell last year at a friend’s apartment while four other people were upstairs.
After being raped by Ridgell, she said, he left with her cell phone, and his phone was left behind. The victim testified she called Ridgell by dialing her number on his phone. He returned and “grabbed hold of her and made her leave with him,” according to Prosecutor Frank Spain.
She alleged that Ridgell took her to another apartment, where she was taken upstairs against her will, held down by Ridgell and Daniels. With other unidentified men also in the room, she was forced to engage repeatedly in sex.
The victim’s friends who were at the apartment where the first rape allegedly occurred testified that they heard the victim call out, but when they couldn’t find her downstairs, they called her phone. The person who answered her phone led the woman’s friends to the apartment where they ran upstairs and “saw their friend being forced to have sex with people,” Spain said.
The friends left the apartment and called 911. Ridgell reportedly left the apartment before police arrived, and authorities found Daniels leaving the residence. He was questioned whether anyone else was in the apartment to which Daniels replied, “No.” When the alleged victim was located upstairs, Daniels maintained that he did not know she was upstairs and that he did not engage in sex with her.
When forensic results from a rape kit and bodily fluids located during the investigation indicated that both men had engaged in intercourse with the alleged victim, Daniels admitted that he did have sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual.
By Jayme Lawson/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 10:08 AM CST
Rodney Daniels, 30, of Warren, one of two men facing rape charges, has been found not guilty in Bradley County Circuit Court.
A second suspect in the case, Keatron Ridgell, 24, also of Warren, is awaiting trial.
Daniels was acquitted following at two-day trial, which ended Jan. 23.
According to testimony, an 18-year-old woman reported that she was raped by Ridgell last year at a friend’s apartment while four other people were upstairs.
After being raped by Ridgell, she said, he left with her cell phone, and his phone was left behind. The victim testified she called Ridgell by dialing her number on his phone. He returned and “grabbed hold of her and made her leave with him,” according to Prosecutor Frank Spain.
She alleged that Ridgell took her to another apartment, where she was taken upstairs against her will, held down by Ridgell and Daniels. With other unidentified men also in the room, she was forced to engage repeatedly in sex.
The victim’s friends who were at the apartment where the first rape allegedly occurred testified that they heard the victim call out, but when they couldn’t find her downstairs, they called her phone. The person who answered her phone led the woman’s friends to the apartment where they ran upstairs and “saw their friend being forced to have sex with people,” Spain said.
The friends left the apartment and called 911. Ridgell reportedly left the apartment before police arrived, and authorities found Daniels leaving the residence. He was questioned whether anyone else was in the apartment to which Daniels replied, “No.” When the alleged victim was located upstairs, Daniels maintained that he did not know she was upstairs and that he did not engage in sex with her.
When forensic results from a rape kit and bodily fluids located during the investigation indicated that both men had engaged in intercourse with the alleged victim, Daniels admitted that he did have sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual.
Former city employee pleads guilty to theft
A former City of Warren sanitation department employee pled guilty to a felony theft of property charge and was sentenced to five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and ordered to pay the city restitution in the amount of $4,679.18.
Mack Henry Collins, 55, of Warren, was fired from his job July 10, 2008, in the midst of an investigation in which he was suspected of charging several hundred dollars worth of fuel to the City of Warren for his personal use.
A week after his termination, he was arrested following a police investigation into the matter, in which additional unauthorized fuel receipts from a local station were discovered.
Jury orders $2,500 to man who remains unresponsive in nursing home...
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A Drew County jury ordered $2,500 to be paid in retribution to a man who remains unresponsive in a nursing home and has incurred more than $11,000 of unpaid medical bills since he was injured by Robert Carr, convicted last week of battery in the second degree.
Carr was also required to pay a $7,000 fine. Because he is an habitual offender with at least four previous felonies, Carr will be required to serve out his prior sentences due to parole violations stemming from the battery conviction , but was sentenced to no time by the jury in relation to the most recent conviction.
A witness at the trial testified that she observed Carr punch Eddie Baines in the face during an apparent argument on June 10, 2008, and that Baines immediately fell backwards to the ground. The witness called 911 at the request of Carr when Baines would not move and blood was seen pouring from his ear.
When police arrived at the scene, Carr was seen standing nearby, “smiling a little,” according to Prosecutor Frank Spain and was questioned. Carr told police that he and Baines had argued, Baines swung at Carr, missed and fell, hitting his head on the ground. Later, Carr recanted his story and said he had thrown his hands up to dodge an attempted blow by Baines and accidentally struck Baines in the head. Monticello Police Lt. Greg Johnson reported swelling around the eye/cheek area of the victim.
Baines was transferred from Drew Memorial Hospital to Jefferson Regional Medical Center where he underwent brain surgery in attempts to reduce swelling. He has since remained in a nursing home, where, according to the testimony of one of his nurses, he doesn’t have the ability to talk and is fed through feeding and water machines. She added that he has remained non-responsive and doesn’t appear to have any awareness of his surroundings. “She said that sometimes he moves his hand or his head, or preps his blanket,” Spain said.
The nurse testified that, based on her experience and education, “without a miracle, he will permanently be in that bed,” saying his it’s not likely his condition will ever improve.
A Drew County jury ordered $2,500 to be paid in retribution to a man who remains unresponsive in a nursing home and has incurred more than $11,000 of unpaid medical bills since he was injured by Robert Carr, convicted last week of battery in the second degree.
Carr was also required to pay a $7,000 fine. Because he is an habitual offender with at least four previous felonies, Carr will be required to serve out his prior sentences due to parole violations stemming from the battery conviction , but was sentenced to no time by the jury in relation to the most recent conviction.
A witness at the trial testified that she observed Carr punch Eddie Baines in the face during an apparent argument on June 10, 2008, and that Baines immediately fell backwards to the ground. The witness called 911 at the request of Carr when Baines would not move and blood was seen pouring from his ear.
When police arrived at the scene, Carr was seen standing nearby, “smiling a little,” according to Prosecutor Frank Spain and was questioned. Carr told police that he and Baines had argued, Baines swung at Carr, missed and fell, hitting his head on the ground. Later, Carr recanted his story and said he had thrown his hands up to dodge an attempted blow by Baines and accidentally struck Baines in the head. Monticello Police Lt. Greg Johnson reported swelling around the eye/cheek area of the victim.
Baines was transferred from Drew Memorial Hospital to Jefferson Regional Medical Center where he underwent brain surgery in attempts to reduce swelling. He has since remained in a nursing home, where, according to the testimony of one of his nurses, he doesn’t have the ability to talk and is fed through feeding and water machines. She added that he has remained non-responsive and doesn’t appear to have any awareness of his surroundings. “She said that sometimes he moves his hand or his head, or preps his blanket,” Spain said.
The nurse testified that, based on her experience and education, “without a miracle, he will permanently be in that bed,” saying his it’s not likely his condition will ever improve.
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