Why I Teach

Sometimes I forget why I chose to teach in the first place. The pay is nowhere near what the job is worth, the discipline problems with students and their parents grow worse every day, and the unrealistic expectations put on teachers by the state are driving more and more teachers away every year.

Just when you think all is lost, God sends me reminder why I teach. Even though I no longer teach in the public schools, it was from one of my former students that God spoke to me.

Today (Friday, May 3, 2008) I received an envelope from the current principal of Gilmer High School. In the envelope was a "Thank You" note with the following: "Mr. English, Our students wrote essays about teachers who have had a positive impact on their lives. Name of student withheld...wrote about you. I though you might like to have a copy of what she wrote."

Folded up inside the note was the following letter...

"History was not my subject. I couldn't have cared less about the distant past of the aging world. The teachers just neglected to provide the drive to listen. Which soon changed when I walked into my eighth-grade American History classroom. There was Mr. English with his awesome smile and the desire to spread his knowledge. The bell rang and we sat.

'"Does anyone in here know anything about America?" Mr. English questioned. "I hope you don't. I wouldn't want to spoil the intelligence any of your past teachers might have handed out to you on a sheet of paper." He said this with a kind of humorous tone. I'd imagine he said that to every class that walked through that old, rusted door.

After his speech on the student body's lack of knowledge on the subject, he sat down and told us to introduce ourselves to the class. One by one, my classmates and I stood up and shared our story. Then Mr. English sat silently for a horribly quite five minutes and then he quoted something from the Constitution. Then he remarked, "That was history in the making right in front of you. Do you understand? You ARE history!"

Wow! I'd never thought of that. It was like the class was enlightened with the desire to know what he knows. We wanted to listen to his teachings. That's exactly what he wanted.

Since that day, I have enjoyed the subject. No one has taught history with more interest and determination than Mr. English. I would absolutely hate to find him teaching any other subject. I thank him for providing that drive I so longed for; for inspiring me to listen and understand the wonders of the past."

Thank you, Name of student withheld...for reminding me why I chose to teach in the first place. I hope you reach your dream of becoming the "First Woman President of the United States." Well, maybe the 2nd if Hillary Clinton somehow manages to beat you to it.

My Favorite 100 Movies of All Time (As of May 5, 2008)

Here is a list of my Favorite 100 Movies of All Time... (Ok, so I couldn't think of anything else to blog about)

# 1. To Kill A Mockingbird
# 2. The Passion of the Christ
# 3. End of the Spear
# 4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
# 5. Saving Private Ryan
# 6. Star Wars (All Star Wars Movies)
# 7. The Story of Us
# 8. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Trilogy)
# 9. It’s a Wonderful Life
# 10. Regarding Henry
# 11. When a Man Loves a Woman
# 12. Les Miserables
# 13. Mr. Holland’s Opus
# 14. The Shawshank Redemption
# 15. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
# 16. Facing the Giants
# 17. Time Changer
# 18. 12 Angry Men
# 19. A Walk to Remember
# 20. Arsenic and Old Lace
# 21. I Robot
# 22. Remember the Titans
# 23. The Godfather (Trilogy)
# 24. Night at the Museum
# 25. Secondhand Lions
# 26. Amistad
# 27. Primal Fear
# 28. A Few Good Men
# 29. Schindler’s List
# 30. The Hunt for Red October
# 31. Rudy
# 32. The Man From Snowy River
# 33. Hotel Rwanda
# 34. Amazing Grace
# 35. Titanic
# 36. Jaws
# 37. Dances With Wolves
# 38. Mississippi Burning
# 39. The Incredibles (animated)
# 40. Dave
# 41. Freedom Writers
# 42. Apollo 13
# 43. A League of Their Own
# 44. Flywheel
# 45. Jurassic Park
# 46. The Nativity Story
# 47. Doc Hollywood
# 48. October Sky
# 49. Chicago
# 50. Finding Nemo (animated)
# 51. Transformers
# 52. The Last of the Mohicans
# 53. The Silence of the Lambs
# 54. My Cousin Vinny
# 55. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
# 56. Glory
# 57. The Right Stuff
# 58. L.A. Confidential
# 59. Casino Royal (All James Bond Films)
# 60. March of the Penguins
# 61. The Prince of Egypt (animated)
# 62. Field of Dreams
# 63. Life is Beautiful (La Vita e bella)
# 64. Monsters, Inc. (animated)
# 65. Gone With the Wind
# 66. Big Fish
# 67. Halloween
# 68. Charade
# 69. Runaway Bride
# 70. Shall We Dance?
# 71. The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
# 72. Ghost Busters
# 73. The Alamo (2004)
# 74. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (All Harry Potter Movies)
# 75. Enemy at the Gates
# 76. The Last Emperor
# 77. Parenthood
# 78. The Princess Bride
# 79. Chicken Little (animated)
# 80. Harvey
# 81. Philadelphia
# 82. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
# 83. Cars (animated)
# 84. Stand and Deliver
# 85. Spider-Man (All Spider-Man Movies)
# 86. 50 First Dates
# 87. Napoleon Dynamite
# 88. X-Men (Trilogy)
# 89. The Rookie
# 90. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
# 91. Dead Poets Society
# 92. Eight Men Out
# 93. Gladiator
# 94. Mission: Impossible III
# 95. Shooter
# 96. Noises Off
# 97. The Greatest Game Ever Played
# 98. Stranger Than Fiction
# 99. A Goofy Movie (animated)
#100. Outland

God, Beth Moore and My Wife

Guess I couldn't find enough to do. (See blog below!)

Just to let you know, I have noticed a big change in my wife, Jamie, recently. She has been "starving" for the Word of God. Recently, one of her largest suppliers has been Beth Moore who has written many books and Bible Study guides based on God's Words in the Bible. She is even has an organization and web-site called Living Proof Ministries, which has a really cool mission statement.

I love the fact that Jamie is striving for and enriching her spiritual relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is something I have always loved about her. She is even attending a weekly Bible study based on one of Beth Moore's lessons. The closer she gets to Jesus, the closer we become in our personal life. I could talk about God with her all day long. (unless of course baseball is on the television)

Another book she is currently reading is called Captured by Grace, which is a very powerful book comparing the life of the Apostle Paul and John Newton, the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace." I have started to read this book as well.

Just thought I would brag a little about my wonderful bride. God has truly blessed me with such a great woman. I love you Jamie!

"Stinkin" Bored at Work

Today has been a very boring day at work. It started off just dandy; I was teaching Math (Volume and Area of Irregular Shaped Objects to be specific), when suddenly The Stench hit! It stopped class entirely and ruined a perfectly good work day. The stench was the smell of hot tar and other chemicals that are being used to repair the roof of the building I work in. The smell is apparently sinking down though our air conditioning vents. Pee-Eww! It is awful. Not only does it stink, it was making some of my students and me a little sick. Our eyes were watering, we had to go outside often to try and get some fresh air, and our stomachs were upset. I am still a little ill as of now.

All of the students have gone home now, my co-teacher is off today at the doctor, my supervisor is out of town on a conference, so here I sit with not much to do. I have caught up on all my work load and am even ahead on few things. As you can tell I have been spending some of my free time blogging. I have spent some spare time looking up a bunch of useless trivia about the next few movies coming to my home from Netflix. Being a person who suffers from OCD, I have also started a "list" in my head about stuff that needs to be done, when I get home or this weekend.

Provided I feel better from the upset stomach, nausea, and headache given to me by the Stink, I do plan on going to church tonight. My Wednesday night class has been looking at verses in the Old Testament that indicate Jesus was actually appearing in human form in the OT itself. Cool Huh! These appearances are called, "theophanies."

If your looking for a good book to read...read John Grisham's "The Innocent Man." Not only is the book a good crime novel. It's just so happens to be true. (That was random!)

I guess I'd better get back to work. I'm sure if I look/try hard enough I could find "something" useful to do. Maybe I could practice some grammar? Then maybe my blog would get above a High School reading level. I guess I could make a few copies I will need for Friday, but that's no fun, when I can do it tomorrow. I just hope the Stink is gone.

One more random thought before I go! When I published my posts, it looks like it says Published by Mr. Eat @ whatever time. I never noticed this until Big Doofus pointed it out to me. Maybe I should change the name of my blog to Thoughts from Mr. Eat!?

It's the Day Before May and the Rangers Suck!

Sorry about my poor choice of words, but it was the only word that I could think of to describe the poor performance of my Texas Rangers. There are some bright spots however. Some of them include Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, David Murphy and Ian Kinsler. Vincinte Padilla, C.J. Wilson and Franklyn German are pitching well, but the rest of the pitching staff has not been pulling their weight. Even the star position players listed above could be doing better, especially with defense. The Rangers are one of the worst teams in fielding this year. You would think that would be a strong point. Manager Ron Washington is known for teaching fundamentals of fielding, but it seems the Rangers are not listening or they are just not doing their jobs well this year.

Many of the Rangers have been hurt, especially pitchers, and so once again the pitching staff is giving up more runs than the offense can overcome. It's amazing to me how we can have players that lead the league in Batting Average, RBI's and Batting Average with Runners in Scoring Position, yet still be in last place in the division. OK, I'm not the General Manager nor am I a coach, but something needs to be done. I will always be a Rangers fan, I just want to be a fan of a winning team. Is that to much to ask?