http://davekemper.net Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:19:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en here's all I knew: you were a no-nonsense father and fundamentalist preacher by trade but that was enough to put me on alert for our parent-teacher conference since your son was a little scamp I remember hearing your cleated shoes deliberately snapping down the hallway long before I saw you even with that, I wasn't prepared for your greeting as you ... http://davekemper.net/?p=38 I have read all the short stories that were in the anthology and which you probably assigned with good intentions Forgive me for saying there were mostly uninspiring so superficial and so out of date http://davekemper.net/?p=37 school was pretty much senseless for someone like you who was so much a part of the world already by the age of 13 or 14 as a member of a farming family you were knee-deep in  life learning about cropping and coupling everyday  doing work that really mattered everyday the same certainly can't be said for the assignments in my classroom I'm ... http://davekemper.net/?p=36 you thought of me as a crack up   didn't you talking out of turn   joking around in class all play   no work "Hey, Mr. Kemper, why do you wear that cookie duster?" remember the times you sent me out of class or the time you made me stand in the corner with gum on my nose oh ... http://davekemper.net/?p=35 you seemed so distant and dusty like one of those sullen, unkempt boys in tarnished photographs of prairie schoolchildren true to form, I kept my distance having no idea what to make of you I don't think anyone did I can't remember any of your classmates purposefully acknowledging your presence it was as if you weren't really there-- a phantom, ... http://davekemper.net/?p=34 you dressed like  Fred MacMurray complete with cardigan sweaters and pressed pants in a school in which T-shirts and blue jeans were haute couture the piano solo you performed at an all-school assembly demonstrated an expertise that went way beyond what the other kids were doing it's too bad home schooling or Christian schooling weren't options for you considering your religious upbringing and all our school obviously lacked the faith-based ... http://davekemper.net/?p=32 what if I had said to celebrate romance will be our next unit of study to luxuriate in love stories and love poems "love in a stronger season than reason, my sweet one, and April is where we are" to learn about courtship, share crushes to sing about perfect partners, write romances let passion drip over everything that would have ... http://davekemper.net/?p=33 you were old school simply because you had been around for so long and a teacher of social studies an appropriately amorphous subject      was it history, the study of cultures,      a geography class, civics,      or some new-age mishmash?      in all probability you didn't know      or care the students called you MGM because you showed so many ... http://davekemper.net/?p=31 "Oh Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done." that you were a principal and not a classroom teacher was a good thing you in the classroom would have been like Mother Theresa in a brokerage firm truly out of your element good teaching requires vision, initiative, wisdom, and passion--all of which you were in short supply as far as leadership ... http://davekemper.net/?p=30 Exceptional ed teacher puts on her smile As she bustles along another day. Methods-class honed, she's become versatile. The faculty meeting takes quite awhile. A tidy hall pass will start right away. Exceptional ed teacher puts on her smile. A sprint to her classroom, thinking what guile Can get the kids to color maps her way. Methods-class honed, ... http://davekemper.net/?p=29