Paul Prattles On

It is almost moving day!  And there is still so much to do!  And I am still recovering from hand surgery, which is why it's been a while since my last blog! Ok...enough with the exclamation points! (Sorry!) We have finally found a place for my son and his friend to move to that they can afford, and that accept their pets.  However, they can't move until July 28, which is a week after we move into the Dahlonega house, which is where they are currently living.  So we get to share space for a week!  I'm sure they are really looking forward to that! (More exclamation points!) I spent this morning setting up their electric, water, and renters insurance.  Eric will need to set up the internet service.  I still need to transfer the electric and water to my name, and also set up the TV service.  We are also still getting Miller registered at school (have his records arrived yet?), and getting my application finished so I can substitute for his band director for the first 3 week

In my 31 years of teaching, I have seen teacher evaluation programs come and go.  In my opinion, none have been effective.  The problem is, how do you evaluate teacher effectiveness without reducing the evaluation to a series of check boxes? My first year of teaching, 1986, the state of Georgia was just starting to use the TPAI, the Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument.  As a new teacher, I had to pass the TPAI before I got full pay.  I think I got something like 75-80% pay until I passed it.  I could attempt it up to 6 times, but had to wait 6 months between tries, which means I had 3 years to pass, or else my teaching license would be revoked.  I remember doing a practice one during my student teaching, but didn't fully understand the process.  Evidently, this was only for new teachers. In my opinion, it was a pretty good measure, but the execution was lacking.  The process was that I had to develop 10 consecutive days of lesson plans, of which three would be observed, o

Someone posted on Facebook the other day that he was glad Mike Bobo was no longer at UGA, because he was a terrible Offensive Coordinator, especially in the realm of calling plays, his contention being that he was too predictable.  The discussion morphed into a criticism of Mark Richt, with calling anyone who backed him a RichBot.  The main point was that Richt was a failure because he only won 2 SEC Championships, and no National Championships. What disturbs me about these "discussions" is that they tend to turn personal.  One person even compared Richt to Joe Paterno, basically accusing him of being a child molester!  Needless to say, I stopped reading at that point.  It's amazing to me that people will claim to know what is in someone else's heart. Richt was often criticized for not having enough "fire" on the sideline, and was thought by many to just be happy with collecting a paycheck and not caring about championships.  This was because he rarely c

I have to apologize for not even getting close to blogging every day.  We've just been super busy getting ready for the move.  We spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in Dahlonega, and started with the replacement of the carpet in the living/dining areas.  This will be completed early next week (the guy doing it couldn't complete it in one day, and had other projects planned).  Wednesday was a day I spent here around the house doing a number of things that needed to get done (I think I blogged that day).  Thursday, I had a nerve conduction study done which- surprise, surprise- shows that I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).  Now I get to go back to the surgeon who will tell me I have CTS, and we will then schedule my surgery.  All for the low co-pay of $45 for a 15 minute visit to tell me something I already know.  Jackie and I did go see Wonder Woman that evening! Friday, Jackie and I went through my wardrobe and decided what to keep and what to donate (or throw away).  I would