One of my personal battles is dealing with teachers that are bad. I’ve said it from time to time, my wife is a teacher.

My kids went to the same school system my wife taught in. Each year my wife would evaluate which teacher was the right teacher for each of our children. And every year she would say something like “Such and Such is a bad teacher. We don’t want our kids in her class. They won’t learn anything.”

The fact is that every teacher knows who is a good teacher in their school and who is not. Teachers that can get their kids into the class rooms of the good teachers. Yet whenever I talk about evaluating teachers I get so much push back. The statement is almost always “we don’t want to judge a teacher by how their students do. That means that a good teacher can have a bad group of students and then they are judged as bad.”

I’ve been told that teaching is the only profession where there can be no objective measurements so the only way is to reward teachers by time in grade and what credentials they hold. A teacher with a Masters in Underwater Basket Weaving will be paid more than a teacher with a Bachelors in Math minoring in Education.

The best way I’ve found so far is to evaluate students based on their progression over the time in a teachers class. Thus a student that has a 25 point improvement over the course of the year tells you something about that student. If that student had a 30 point improvement last year and a 35 point improvement next year, that might indicate that this teacher isn’t as good as the other two.

The thing is, that you can track this. If there is a teacher that consistently gets 35 point improvement for every student in their class but other teachers are only getting 25 points per student, this is a strong indication that this teacher is the better teacher.

It turns out that this does work. And it works regardless of the quality of the student. This is because we know the student. A student that normally does 15 points but for this one teacher they get 25 points and then back to 15 points, there is a reason for it. And it it turns out the one teacher consistently gets more points per student, reward her. If instead there is that teacher that consistently gets less out of their students, then it is time to let that student go.

Standards-based grading is a way of determining how a student is progressing. It helps grade teachers as well as the student.

Standards-based grading (SBG) is an intentional way for teachers to track their students’ progress and achievements while focusing on helping students learn and reach their highest potential. It is based on students showing signs of mastery or understanding various lessons and skills. In fact, many districts across the country have embraced the idea for decades. Standards-based grading is a way to view student progress based on proficiency levels for identified standards rather than relying on a holistic representation as the sole measure of achievement—or what Marzano and Heflebower called an “omnibus grade.”
—Standards-Based Grading: What To Know for the 2021-2022 School Year

Our kids are on standards-based grading. They have to reach “competency” on every assignment before it counts. If they don’t achieve competency then they have to re-learn the lesson and do more assignments, often with instructor help, until they do reach competency.

This means that a student doesn’t move forward in their lessons until such time as they have the foundation for future lessons.

A few years ago the daughter of a family friend was over and they talked about how much trouble she was having in math at school. She was doing all sorts of things, extra credit, extra instructions with the teacher, making sure she participated in classroom discussions. A huge effort on her part. And she was just squeaking by. She wasn’t actually learning anything, but the teacher saw the effort she was putting in and was giving her a passing grade.

In given my friend’s daughter daughter a passing grade the teacher was making next years class that much more difficult.

I like math, I didn’t understand why she was having such issues so I connected her with MobyMath which became MobyMax. This program did the standards-based assessments and discovered why she was having problems with math. She didn’t know how to do division. She could do simple division but she never mastered, gained competency in division which meant no working knowledge of long division that meant…

Her single gap in knowledge from elementary school doomed her in high school math classes.

The board also discussed the practice of standards-based grading in the district. According to the district’s website, standards-based grading is different from traditional grading because instead of averaging a student’s scores across the term, a standards-based grading system “measures a student’s mastery of content standards by assessing their most recent and consistent level of performance.”

…

Trustee Tracey Pearson said there have been instances where students who have put in consistent effort throughout the term are earning the same “number” as “students who are not putting in as much effort.” This affects student morale and motivation, and causes stress for parents, she said.

—Idaho Press: Standards-based grading, challenge books discussed at Nampa School Board meeting

And there it is. Standards-based grades are unacceptable because some kids have to put in more effort. It hurts morale. So let’s go back to the old system, where a student can get a passing grade for showing up and “putting in an effort.”

In education “putting in the effort” isn’t the goal, the goal is, or should be, learning the material.

So many parents today are more concerned about how hard something is rather than what is accomplished. They want their child to get the “participation award” grade.

Poor little Billy is working on homework 4 hours every night after he comes home, there is too much homework and it isn’t fair. Billy needs time to relax and have fun!

If your school system uses standards-based grading, support them. Don’t let grades become participation awards. If you are a parent, try and attend at least a couple of school board meetings every school year. It makes a difference. Don’t be afraid to step up and ask questions or make a statement.

I’ve fought my weight my entire life. Even when I was healthy I thought I was fat. I look back at pictures of me when I knew I was so fat and cringe. I wish I had that body again.

I am currently fat. It affects me in many ways. I’ve been fat for about 10 years now. I know exactly the moment when I lost my war with my weight.

The day my wife moved in. She had an abusive childhood with many fad diets and many that were for all intents, starvation diets. And when her mother would finally give in and give my wife, as a child, food, it was a sign of love.

For my wife, food is love, love is food. If she isn’t putting food in front of you, she isn’t showing love. Last night she was trying to shovel food on to my teenage son’s plate. He said “no”. She had to show her love and the best way for her to show her love is to put more food on his plate.

A lunch for me would be a sandwich. If my wife fixes us lunch it will be two sandwiches and a side and…

She feels love when she bakes. So she bakes and then I have to fight my sugar cravings all day and for the next few days.

She was the teacher that brought home every left over cake and cupcake. Because she couldn’t let it go to waste. So instead it went to my waist. I’d throw cakes and cookies and all sorts of things out and still more would show up.

I lost my war with food because my opponent was my wife’s love for me.

It was a slow grinding war. I was exercising daily. I was the guy that parked at the far end of the parking lot to get a little extra walking in. I always took the stairs.

When I started my own company working from home, my walk to the office went from 1/2 mile each way to 20 steps. And my weight went up. The gym membership failed when the panic started and when my doctor said I had to stop using the treadmill.

But Miguel’s story and looking at the need to be prepared beyond having skills and tools meant I had to find the discipline.

So I have my exercise bike. I get on that damn thing 5 times a week. And that’s hard. My wife says all the wrong things to motivate. She can’t give me my 30 minutes in the morning without having some demand for attention. I have to tell her to be quiet, which hurts her and I don’t want to hurt her.

I bought “salad” plates and use them for my dinner plates. They are much smaller, closer in size to the size of 50’s dinner plates. It means that my helping sizes have gone down. It means that my wife sees a full plate when there is one sandwich and small side, so she can still be giving me love.

I’m down nearly 20 pounds from my peak of 4 months ago. The discipline of eating less and exercising more.

I’ve got enough stamina that I can actually do other physical things that makes it still easier to lose weight. It is a war won battle by battle.

If you are overweight, no call it what it is, if you are fat there are things you can do to start losing weight. Then have the discipline to keep doing it.

I got tired of telling people who “wanted to lose weight” how I lost all my mine. I am done even sharing the fact I was once a 4XL-wearing, 400 pounds mass of blubbering humanity and I managed to lose almost half that excess because most people do not like the answer.

I usually gave them chapter and verse of all I did, the tricks I used and obviously warned them that it worked for me and they may need to adapt some stuff to their lifestyles. They listened attentively, but once they realized the work required discipline, you could hear and see their brains disconnecting and their minds switching to the Arby’s Half Pound Roast Beef Meal coupons they have in the glove compartment of their vehicles (Cheese not included).

Interestingly enough, there are a couple of friends who are actually doing dieting and progressing nicely: They are both shooters. Why? Not because of the guns but because they are already conditioned on following a discipline knowing that it works. Maybe it is a big jump from Cooper’s Four Rules to Counting Calories, but the principle stands: Discipline is key.

And it not only applies to losing weight but pretty much anything else in life you have to do to succeed. There are no magic Harry Potter waves of the wand to give you lasting success. There is only hard work performed with constant regularity.

That is all.

Army sergeant indicted for murder in 2020 Austin riot shooting pleads self-defense: police investigator agrees

An Army sergeant faces life in prison for a shooting that happened at the height of the 2020 riots, and that he claims was in self-defense. The lead detective in the case ruled his actions were justifiable homicide. That detective has also accused the district attorney of illegal actions in a sworn statement.

Violent protests, riots, and killings, in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement erupted across the country in the summer of 2020. Late one Saturday night over the course of that summer, Army Sergeant Daniel Perry turned a corner in Austin, Texas, and found himself surrounded by an angry mob of protesters sparking an encounter that left one man dead and has Perry facing life in prison.

On the night of July 25, 2020, at about 9:15 p.m., authorities say Perry was driving for Uber to make some extra money in downtown Austin and encountered a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who lacked a permit for their protest. They were illegally clogging the intersection, as protesters had done around the city several times in the weeks prior. Video shows that as he made the turn that night protesters quickly surrounded Perry’s car and began pounding on it and throwing rocks at it.

Perry, an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Hood at the time, says a masked man approached his vehicle with an AK-47 in the “ready” position. When that man, Garrett Foster, 28, raised and pointed the rifle at Perry, the Army sergeant and licensed concealed handgun carry permit holder, grabbed a handgun that he carried for personal protection and fired at Foster, fatally wounded him.

Roughly a year later, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza brought the incident before a grand jury. Perry was indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges. Additionally, an investigation by a respected veteran detective of the Austin police force concluded the shooting was a justifiable homicide. That veteran detective, David Fugitt, was the lead detective on Perry’s case and also signed a sworn affidavit accusing Garza’s office of withholding evidence from the grand jury and of witness tampering.

“Garrett Foster either intentionally or accidentally pointed his rifle at Daniel Perry’s head and Daniel Perry fired in self-defense,” Perry attorney Doug O’Connell told Fox News Digital. “And as a practical matter he had no ability to retreat nor was he required to.”

A trial date has not been set for the case, but Perry’s lawyers have a call scheduled with a judge on December 15th to review concerns with the grand jury process and how Garza’s office has handled the case.

Almost a year ago I posted about Perry getting charged. 

Despite the lead detective calling it a good shoot and evidence that the DA has engaged in criminal activity in regards to his handling of the case, it’s still moving forward.

This is absolutely political.  The slow grind of this case is intended to wear the defendant down and to teach us all the lesson that if we defend ourselves from their paramilitary enforcers, we will never be free of the consequences.

They will lie, cheat, and engaged in criminal malfeasance to secure a conviction or bankrupt us in defending ourselves.

My hope is that the recent pushback we’ve seen against Leftist prosecutors in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Virginia, reaches Texas and this DA is caught and disbarred for malicious prosecution and Perry receives a big fat check for what is being done to him.

AUSTIN, Texas — The 17-year-old who suffered a gunshot wound in an attempted aggravated robbery at the Domain earlier this week is thought to be connected to a string of nine robberies over the course of four days. Police say he was released from custody back on May 27, but cut his ankle monitor off before this week’s arrest.
…
Later that day — 17-year-old Jaylyn Reed is accused of trying to rob a couple at gunpoint in the Neiman Marcus parking lot in the Domain. The victim shot him, but he got in a Chevy Malibu and tried to get away. He didn’t get far. Austin police caught up with him near the Domain and he was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. His accomplices – Paul Rossum and Andre Harris – were arrested, along with a juvenile who was also in the car.

Teen shot near Domain thought to be behind nine armed robberies in four days | KEYE (cbsaustin.com)

And…

Jaylyn Reed, 17, has now been charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Reed was already convicted of a series of robberies in 2021. Police say he was released from juvenile detention on May 27 with an ankle monitor, which he cut it off two days later. Reed then committed a series of nine robberies in five days, police say.
…
“Surveillance video recorded Reed as he exited the vehicle and approached a black male victim and a black female victim,” police wrote. “Reed pulled out a handgun and robbed the male victim of his backpack. At the same time, the other suspects in the car moved forward and waited for Reed. Reed moved toward the getaway car while pointing his handgun at the female victim. The male victim pulled out his firearm and fired several shots at Reed and those in the Chevy Malibu in self-defense.”

Texas gun owner shoots teen during alleged attempted robbery | Fox News

Remember the meme about getting bad before getting even worse? We are there and accelerating. With the justice system now a cauldron cooking whatever loads of legal BS to excuse the release of criminals, not being prepared to defend oneself is just insane.

Hat Tip Gary E

My first thought was: “Why was there a body in the boat to begin with? Disposal of evidence?”

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WSMV) – Divers recovered the body of a Rockvale man who fell out of a boat Sunday near Stewart Creek Boat Ramp, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said.

The man and his wife were boating when he fell, Rutherford County Sheriff Sgt. Nick Coble said. His wife attempted to throw him a life jacket, but he was unable to grab it. His name has not been released until family members are notified.

Body recovered after falling from boat near Smyrna (wsmv.com)

And I am pretty sure the wife already knows the poor man died.

Bristol, England: Today, #Antifa members from the Anarchist Federation & other far-left extremists gathered to try & shut down a women’s rights gathering. The feminists were accused of being transphobic fascists & required police protection.pic.twitter.com/v2Mx6nkBGt

— Andy Ngô ?️‍? (@MrAndyNgo) June 19, 2022

Basically White Supremacists of the Left want women to shut up and get back to the kitchen unless they identify as pregnant males… or some crap like that.