J. G. Fabiano I would have fired me my first year
I enjoy watching a new teacher's second year because they realize what the profession is and get better at it as the years pass. I also feel bad watching a first year teacher lose their job because I wonder how good they could be
Feb 15, 2010 - 12:10:30 AM
J. G. Fabiano Those who can do. Those who can't teach
The new year is upon us. This is a time to view our faults and make resolutions to be better and healthier people. This is also a time of stress for many teachers who worry about their town's budget and whether they will become a part of what has to be cut.
Dec 30, 2009 - 12:10:00 AM
J. G. Fabiano Why do teachers have to be the scapegoats of public education
As teachers we understand the economic pressures on all communities. Being part of a community I know what it feels like. But, why do people attack and blame the teachers and their unions for an economy we have no control of.
Dec 20, 2009 - 12:25:19 AM
J. G. Fabiano Certain people shouldn't be allowed to go shopping
As I was walking through the mall I noticed that few people would walk near me or even pass me. I even noticed Santa give me a disdainful look as I passed his perch in front of lines of children waiting to talk to him. I think the children even stopped their conversations in order to stare at the man who blew all of the alarms.
Dec 13, 2009 - 12:17:23 AM
J. G. Fabiano A quick look at the history of our schools "To my mind this irregular method of attending is the greatest evil with which our school system has to contend. Children on the slightest pretext, or without any excuse whatever are allowed to absent themselves from school at their own sweet-will."
Dec 6, 2009 - 12:28:13 AM
J. G. Fabiano The bureaucrats are coming ! The bureaucrats are coming!
They question why I just don't go with the flow especially since I don't have too many years of teaching left in me. I tell them... If we just sit and watch our school system being accountable to tests instead of our students; our children will be the ones who will suffer. They will not be able to compete in this competitive world
Nov 9, 2009 - 12:15:26 AM
J. G. Fabiano Why we've become a society based on hysteria
I hope there are many people in our nation who are sick and tired of being afraid, being told to be afraid, and told the only way we can keep our nation safe is to take our freedoms away.
Oct 31, 2009 - 1:12:30 PM
J. G. Fabiano At this point in our history we need a definition of peace
With war becoming a perpetual reality and rumbles of peace starting to be heard across our nation a definition of peace becomes very important. Webster defines peace as being, "a state of calm and quiet. A freedom from disturbing thoughts or emotions and a state of concord between persons or governments." Webster continues his definition by stating that, "peace is public security under law and an agreement to end hostilities."
Oct 18, 2009 - 1:35:21 AM
J. G. Fabiano Another wasted week in public education
But, this flow is now being interrupted by the necessity to take a generalized state test that means absolutely nothing to the students or their futures. So, here I sit, proctoring the NECAP tests attempting to voice its importance even though I clearly understand it has none.
Oct 14, 2009 - 1:02:49 AM
J. G. Fabiano Learning some lessons from a laundromat
One day I was sitting comfortably in front of my 60 inch plasma television enjoying a blue ray DVD that literally made me feel I was in another dimension of sight and sound. Today I am staring into a stainless steel machine that has one large eye staring back at me.
Sep 27, 2009 - 7:22:58 AM
J. G. Fabiano Controlled by the idiosyncrasies of our minds
These idiosyncrasies of our minds are represented by how we handle our days. The older one gets the more regimented they are to how we live our lives.
Sep 19, 2009 - 8:00:44 AM
J. G. Fabiano Learning life's lessons from a robin in the sun
I had just finished what I considered a lousy day. Hell, I had just finished up a lousy month. Every time I attempted to get ahead financially some necessity in my life increased in price. The more I attempted to relax the more I was forced to speed my life up.
Sep 13, 2009 - 8:36:41 AM
J. G. Fabiano When Did Teachers Start to Fear Technology?
Since I've been teaching for over three decades I remember a time when technology was accepted by all teachers. In fact, I remember a time when my administration gave me my first Apple computer to use in my room. My students were all huddled around me as I investigated new learning tools. The graphics were terrible but it was like magic to my students.
Sep 12, 2009 - 7:38:14 PM
J. G. Fabiano The Art of Becoming a 59 Year Old Dorm Rat
For those of us who were fortunate enough to not only go to college but also stay in a dorm; many thoughts of good times and not so good times crowd our memories. Who can't remember their first time climbing an old set of steps to a hall one is going to call their neighborhood for the next four years of their lives. Meeting one's roommate for the first time was another experience one could only compare to the first day of a marriage. I remember everyone being fresh, motivated, and excited because the life television portrayed would now become our own.
Aug 22, 2009 - 7:32:23 AM
J. G. Fabiano Thinking Out of the Box From Out of the Box
The new school year is quickly arriving. The rains of June continued into July with new proposals from our school districts as to how we can improve the quality of educating our children. This year many include the concepts of inquiry, heterogeneous classrooms, literacy in all curricula, and increasing the number of school days. Being a teacher who is older than dirt, I have been through many of these concepts even though they were called different names.
Aug 21, 2009 - 7:27:58 PM
J. G. Fabiano What Teachers Do on Their Summer Vacation
As teachers we always attempt to build into our students a yearning for lifelong learning. In order to do this the teacher has to have this same need. This summer I joined an Earth & Space Science Exploratory course entitled, “TESSE”. In reality I have no idea as to what it means. I was asked to write a journal about a trip to Mt. Washington. Being the lab rat type of chemistry teacher I am, I was apprehensive about this type of study. Instead of using simple facts I decided to write the journal as I would write an essay.
Jul 29, 2009 - 8:27:36 PM
J. G. Fabiano Who is This Man From the Other Side of the Wall?
Another new time has come and gone. The last few haven't seemed special because I've lived through many of them. The ones coming up promise to sway away from what I am used to because of uncontrollable events. I remember years ago looking at a shiny lit ball that fell from a giant building in New York City on a television that could only display black and white images. I remember wondering what my life would be like in the next decade; in the 1960's.
Jul 24, 2009 - 12:04:20 PM
J. G. Fabiano It's So Simple Even Our Government Can Figure it Out
President Obama just told the nation that the recession was deeper than he thought and the possibility of a new stimulus plan may be needed. He goes on to explain that Americans are not buying the way they used to because of a concern for their jobs or simply the lack of money to spend. Plus it is obvious many Americans are afraid of their future. If anyone really wanted to alleviate the problem they would only have to look at what our banks are doing to our citizens. You know the banks I mean. I am talking about the ones who took billions of dollars from every one of us and are still crying. Their emphasis is now on credit cards that used to fuel our economy. The problem here is so simple even out government can figure it out.
Jul 21, 2009 - 1:43:21 PM
J. G. Fabiano Who the Heck Invented this Grass Thing
Sitting on my back deck, soaked to the skin with my own sweat and hoping after a few minutes I will be able to stand up I look out at my newly cut lawn wondering why I do this to myself every week throughout the spring, autumn, and fall. Since it takes me about four hours to complete this task I quickly calculate how many hours I spend a year on something that never stops growing. I shake my sweat covered hair looking like a sprinkler knowing I lose 156 hours a year doing something I have no idea as to why I am supposed to do it. This also equates to over 19 full 8-hour days of work. Who the heck started all this loss of valuable time?
Jul 15, 2009 - 11:15:53 AM
J. G. Fabiano Diary of a Perpetual Nail Biter
Yes, I am about to tell all I am a nail biter. In reality this is not necessary because all one has to do is look down at my hands to see the disgusting sight of shriveled up fingers that have little to no nails to make them look like fingers. This has been a problem for most of my life. The earliest part of my life I remember is when my parents desperately begged me to take my hands away from my mouth. This must have started when I was a baby. After I found my feet I discovered my hands that had the most delicious crunchy like substance on the end of them. I can remember biting my nails before a family party, during and after a little league baseball game, and even while I was dating. In fact, I have munched on my fingers for so long, I don't even remember biting them until I feel pain and then blood clearly reminding me there was just so far one should bite.
Jul 14, 2009 - 3:30:56 PM
J. G. Fabiano Emotional Affairs and Why I Hate Oprah Winfrey
A few weeks ago I was accused of having an emotional affair with a female colleague. After the charge I stood in front of the person doing the accusation in perfect silence. The reason I did this was because I had no concept of what an emotional affair was. The only kind of affair I knew of was when two people decided to cheat on their spouses. Since I have never even thought of doing so I was aggravated that anyone would think I did even if it is emotional.
Jul 13, 2009 - 10:52:43 AM
J. G. Fabiano A New Means of Injecting Caffeine in All of our Lives
A few days ago my wife purchased a new coffee machine. This is normally not exciting news because our old machine was still working. Normally she would wait until the old machine self-destructed but there was something on the market any one who loved coffee had to have. I am talking about the KEURIG single serving machine that used pods instead of coffee and filters.
Feb 14, 2009 - 11:21:56 PM
J. G. Fabiano In Order for Consumerism to Succeed We Need Consumers
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that President-elect Barack Obama's proposed fiscal stimulus package could help the economy, but he added that additional bailouts of financial institutions may also be needed to bring about a sustained economic recovery.
Jan 15, 2009 - 11:58:38 AM
J. G. Fabiano Trapped in the Parking Lot from Hell
I was trapped like a puppy stuck in a drain hole. I literally had no where to go. It looked as though every car in New Hampshire decided to either come or go in the parking lot around the mall. I was starting to believe there were no exits; only entrances.
Jan 10, 2009 - 9:31:09 PM
J. G. Fabiano Public Education's New Year
The New Year means different things to different people. Looking down at my waste-line no longer able to see my belt I like to take this time and ponder where my profession is heading. Now that the eight years of Bush policies are ending, education will be an area of change.
Jan 9, 2009 - 9:21:52 PM
J. G. Fabiano Following the Yellow Bus of Our Futures
The other day I was in a rather fowl mood driving to school. As you know I am a teacher. For the past few weeks I have been pounded by administration's obsession with state test scores, advanced placement test scores, and how they look to the rest of their world. I can't blame them because most media in the state publish these scores in order to give the image of schools in competition to show which one is successful and which one is failing.
Dec 1, 2008 - 5:14:15 PM
J. G. Fabiano Like a 800 lb. Gorilla in the Class Room
For the past few months, in fact for the past few decades I have argued with the establishments of education that the problem with today’s public schools are not with the teachers, students, or the parents. I am not going to be very popular with my next comments but if anyone would take the time to see where our public education system started to degrade they would have to look to the year 1987, when the disability act concerning public education came into existence.
Nov 24, 2008 - 7:52:20 PM
J. G. Fabiano Reflections of a Test Proctor as an Old Teacher
So, here I sit watching over 13 of my students who would be better off in front of me teaching something instead of watching them suffer through a system of questions that mean absolutely nothing to them. If you haven't figured out what I am doing from the title of this essay I will attempt to help. I am in the process of making sure the 13 students in front of me concentrate on the English portion of their NCLB mandated state test.
Oct 8, 2008 - 12:42:43 PM
J. G. Fabiano Back For a Different Form of a New School Year
Most schools across our nation have already begun the new school year. Some are beginning the Tuesday after Labor Day. I happen to be a part of a school that has already been in session. One of the first things I was confronted with was a plan as to what we should teach our students in order for them to succeed on the state test for NCLB.
Sep 2, 2008 - 12:14:24 PM
J. G. Fabiano The Demise in Local Control of Our Schools
The school year is over and as teachers we watch students whom we worked with for over 4 years go off throughout the nation to the post-secondary lives of their choice. Some go to colleges while others opt to go to technical schools. Some decide to join the work force and others choose to join the military. Like I have done for the past 28 years I hope I did the best I could with what I had from a community I adopted.
Jun 26, 2008 - 10:59:54 AM
J. G. Fabiano The Legalization of the Magical Mystery Tour
Ok, I admit it; I am working too hard. But, in today's economy with its high gas and food prices how could one not. Sitting in my doctor’s office I looked down at my fingers that were devoid of any fingernails because over the last too many years of my life they had become a major food source.
May 5, 2008 - 2:09:38 PM
J. G. Fabiano Why Do The Young Always Blame The Old?
It took me a long time to get this old. I've survived many challenges and opportunities to be able to wear the trophies of old age. Some of these include a balding head, bulging waistline, and wisdom that only come after years of practice. But, why do those who have not lived to achieve these awards blame us for all of their problems?
Apr 29, 2008 - 1:16:53 PM
J. G. Fabiano Bowling is Alive, Well, and Living in America
Barak Obama put the game of bowling back on the map. Ever since he threw many consecutive gutter balls in Pennsylvania people are once again talking about the art of bowling. Of course now people are thinking about how bowling became a part of their social structure.
Apr 21, 2008 - 12:11:07 AM
