TEA’s school rankings from 2008 are in. RRISD is Academically Acceptable.

No word yet on the Texas Education Agency’s ranking for Mr. Osman…

Do you think YOU could do a better job in Congress? Perhaps you have ambition to be a Senator or Congressman?

Take this quiz to see just how electable you are! Do you have what it takes to be elected representative for your district? The Austin American Statesman put this quiz together for you.

Are you electable?

All this week I’ll be at The Academy conference, put on by the State Bar of Texas’ Law Related Education department.

After only one lecture I have SEVERAL blog ideas that I will be posting about soon.

• Changing the Constitution
• “Would you Sign the Constitution? Would you Sign the Constitution in 1789?”
• The Senate is undemocratic
• The Electoral College is outdated
• Why the Governator should be able to run for President
• Judicial Advocacy
• Forced (compulsory) voting
• Stupid Square States
• and many more!

I also have a lot of great lesson plan ideas that I’ll be using this next year. Can’t wait!

C-SPAN’s Election Bus is coming to Austin tomorrow

Altough C-SPAN itself may not be as exciting as a VH1 Behind the Music special, the C-SPAN Election Bus is a great insight into what goes on behind the TV.

The Bus came to RRHS last year and several of Ms. Esler’s AP-Government students were actually on Television and asked live questions to an expert in Washington. It was an amazing experience. Right afterwards, I took a class onto the bus for a guided tour.

If you have the time, it’s worth visiting!

(And if school were in session you’d get extra credit just for going.)

July 16th, 2008: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at the University of Texas Jesse Jones Communications Center

The internet provides a world of information and possibilities in the education realm.  It can be, however, over whelming. Many bloggers spend hours ranting about their cats, their options on random subjects, and all sorts of other things that very few people care about.

What then, is the purpose of an educators blog? Why add one more blog out there to the ‘pipes and tubes’ of the internet?

This blog will (hopefully) be useful, engaging, and slightly entertaining. Specifically, it will:

Provide students and parents with access to static classroom data like PowerPoints, home work assignments, extra credit assignments, YouTube links, Podcasts, a forum for current affairs, parent communication, Senior announcements, and the ability to contact students via RSS and SMS txt messaging.

We’ll see how this experiment works!