seriously... just make it

'Tis the season for pranks (Coupeville's was artless and stupid), rising tempers (without the usual commensurate rising temperatures), and fraying nerves (hire a hit man? seriously? rip out his eyeballs? really?).

Now's not the time to boil over, blow up, or burn out.

You can make it. It's only a week or two more. You can make it.

pissed pedagogue won't WASL

Seattle teacher Carl Chew refused to administer the sixth-grade WASL to his students, taking a two week unpaid vacation as a consequence.

Carl Chew, 60, who teaches science, wanted to take a stand against a test he considers harmful to students, teachers, schools and families.

"I did it because I think it's bad for kids," he said.

He said he knew he would face consequences, and might even be fired.

"When you do an act of civil disobedience, you gracefully accept what happens to you," he said.

Before the WASL started at Eckstein last week, Chew said he told Eckstein administrators that he would not give the exam. He said they tried to talk him out of it.

Or into it, really.

I'm surprised he wasn't fired straight up for insubordination. He must have a pretty good record--or a pretty forgiving administration. At the very least, he's sincere, knowing full well what his mini-rebellion would entail.

Click through and read the whole thing.

a logical consequence of poor management skills

A recipe chock-full of stupid:

Brian Havel, 22, was teaching English at the school March 14 when the boy arrived after class started.

"In his class, the disciplinary process was X amount of sit-ups or push-ups in a certain amount of time. He either wouldn't or couldn't complete them," Delta interim Police Chief Roger Christian said of the punished student.

The boy's classmates volunteered to administer an alternate punishment.

"The class made a suggestion that if he couldn't finish, we ought to be able to punch him, and (Havel) agreed. So 10 to 15 students got to hit him," Christian said.

Let's count the errors:

1. Normally assigning an illogical consequence for misbehavior.
2. Letting the class in on the punitive negotiation.
3. Taking the class's suggestion seriously.
4. I mean, come on.

Mr. Havel's one correct choice: resigning immediately.

Big Parent is watching you

I guess it's not enough that parents can access their students' grades online. Now, in Florida, the folks at home will be able to scour their teachers' discipline records at one handy online database. To self-policing, add parent policing.

Yakima teacher could lose license for copying WASL sections

Using the OSPI's freely available study guides to help students prep for the WASL: fine and dandy.

Photocopying last year's test to help students prep for the WASL: big trouble.

Students at Highland Junior High, in Cowiche northwest of Yakima, told a teacher that they recognized some of the questions on the science portion of this year's WASL as examples in a study guide given to them earlier this year by teacher Darryl Hartung.

Highland School District officials investigated and discovered that Hartung photocopied portions of the 2006 science WASL and modeled his study guide after those questions, which state laws forbids....

The tests have been sent for scoring, but they'll be flagged and will go unreported to the students and the district.

Hartung, a 17-year teacher with the district, was placed on administrative leave in April and has since been reassigned to teach sixth grade at Tieton Intermediate School....

If [OSPI] finds that Hartung acted in flagrant disregard of professional standards, he could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and have his teaching license revoked.

It will depend on whether the state wants to make an example of Hartung, who really has no excuse, since the test instructions specifically forbid copying (or even discussing) any portion.

However, I'd say that by having his name all over the media, he's probably paid penance enough.

oh, s---: student swears at concert, claims to imitate teacher

Why you might want to reconsider lacing your lectures with profanities, because, you know, it gets attention: it really gets attention.

After singing solo in a school concert in Longview, a 13-year-old girl said she wanted to thank her choir teacher by imitating her.

Savannah Larson then let loose with a string of expletives and obscenities that stunned the audience of about 700 students, teachers and family members in the gym at Monticello Middle School.

The choir teacher can take solace in the fact that at least Larson was listening.

Update: The Times has more details. Larson had just finished singing "Where or When" by Rodgers and Hart. Those kids and their "popular music."

Update 6/18: Larson explains herself here. I thought kids these days were supposed to be all tech-savvy, recording their evidence on iPods and such.