I filled up with gas this morning and was happy to only spend $29. My '04 Alero has been getting good mileage lately. I average about 28 miles per gallon. I used to only get 25 or 26. I'm not sure if I'm more conscious of my driving habits and drive a little "calmer" or if my car is just in a "zone" right now. It's got close to 140,000 miles on it and the more I drive it, the better it seems to work. That's a good thing!!
I am planning on buying a new car this spring though. I have my heart set on a Pontiac G8. Yes, I know, it's expensive. And, I know the fuel economy will probably not be as high as 28 mpg...and, I know that when you buy a new car it depreciates right after you drive it out of the lot. But because of my grad school status I can get a pretty good incentive and that will drive the cost down to a "regular" car. Check it out at http://www.pontiac.com/g8/pictures/ They only show the 08 models, but the 09's are virtually the same, except for some different color choices. I guess if you put it into perspective, it's cheaper than an SUV....and it sure rides nice. Go to a dealer and test drive one!! Better yet, give my brother some business at Norseman's in Detroit Lakes and he'll find you the PERFECT car for you. I looked at several different ones last year and when he showed me the G8 it was love at first site. He's a good salesman because he really listens to who you are and what you want in a car. (you're welcome for that cheap plug, albert!!)
I've been waiting and waiting to hear back from the Minnesota State University Moorhead's IRB (institutional review board). I submitted my proposal for my study to them around October 7th and need to hear if they approve it (that is, if there is anything in the study that would impinge on someone's rights or if the proposed study would be viable) before I start. I'm chomping at the bit to start it because I'm incredibly interested in my subject. I don't want to bog you down with a lot of educational jargon, but basically, I'm planning to look at about 5 small rural MN schools who have used the Response to Intervention (RtI) model in their school districts for at least a year. RtI is a systematic process of using data (testing) to guage what kinds of educational interventions a student may benefit from to learn better. It is written into the federal special education law (IDEIA04) as an alternative evaulation tool for determining eligibility for specific learning disabilities. The beauty of RtI is that it can be used for whole school reform, not just for special education evaluation. I'll keep you posted on what I might find in school districts utilizing RtI. Many MN schools are using this or are beginning to use this kind of technique. It's cheap, it's "organic" because it looks at the student's individual progress in their setting utilizing "ordinary" benchmarks, and it is helpful for schools looking to improve their AYP (adequate yearly progress...the brainchild of NCLB). It can also be implemented poorly and not used in a proactive or "right" way that is helpful to anyone -so that must be kept in mind. Not every district uses RtI "appropriately" -and if you and your staff don't believe in it, it will be something to resent rather than something to improve instruction/achievement. I think that anything that improves teaching, especially techniques that require us to consider if what we are doing is actually TEACHING students in the way they learn best, and that gives us a conduit to utilize data (formal testing and informal curriculum based testing) is worth the effort. Our students are very diverse -but I think student's have always been diverse, but we've got to look at reaching everyone, not just that top 20% or the "good students". If you struggled in high school or thought your teachers and subjects were dumb, you know what I'm talking about. Just because a student doesn't learn material from a teacher doesn't mean it's the student's fault or shortcoming....it might be because we aren't teaching them right.
WHEW! I can write a book on this stuff. I'm VERY passionate about individual educational rights. I also think that NCLB effectively destroyed the credibility of the public school system so that people would think that vouchers were the way to go. Very good job, NCLB -you've served your right-wing developers (who are now cashing in on their privately funded schools) well. If you've got a group of high achievers (in a controled environment like a private school), your test scores will always be high -always. You can kick a kid out for not achieving in a private school. If you have a more realistic population of students that is reflective of our society, your district's test scores will not be that good....but does that mean the entire school is "failing"? Hmmmmm.....something to ponder.
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