Empty chairs and empty tables.

     Alas, the best time of the day at school. I say the students can go, and Ka-Pow, Shazam, and they are gone. They don't even care if leaving in a minute or two will result in their having to repeat some of their work. Nope, they are gone, gone, gone.
     I would love to post pictures with the students in the room, but because of privacy laws, I can not do so. That really is a shame because I do have a diverse group of students from all over the world. I have some really ugly dudes in my class, but the ladies are all quite beautiful. It's okay though, because almost every student is on Facebook. They are so shocked when I tell them I saw their pictures on Facebook. Hey, it's okay. I don't judge people for what they have on Facebook. I try to make the students understand that their insurance company and future employers will look. Wouldn't you love to be a company that insures cars and you see your customers drunk out of their minds and/or texting and driving?
     I really enjoy working with students. Most of my students are new to college, so they still think they are able to come and go as they please without problems. Most think they are paying for school, so it is none of my business if they come to class or do the required work. I tell them from day one not to get behind, but do they listen? No, they are special and will be able to catch up at the last minute, or at least, I will pass them on to the next level class. Sometimes, students find themselves taking their classes a second or third time. They learn they have to grow up or fall behind their friends. Many are simply in school to get the free money. They know just how long to attend before they lose their grants and other monies. I really would like to see students who graduate from high school have to serve our country in some capacity for a year or two. Shucks, many of us fought in wars instead of going to school when we should have.
     Students expect immediate gratification  for everything. My lab course does just that. It reward them when they do wrong, and it goes out of its way to help them learn. The education system is changing, not necessarily for the better. With any luck at all, I will be out of the class rooms before the terrible changes hit the system. The basic problem is that the people who make the rules are rarely people who have had to teach in  the school systems. They take courses that are supposed to have all these brilliant ideas that turn  out to be more destructive than helpful.
     Now, that's off my chest for the night. Time to go read for awhile. Tomorrow, I will  be giving spelling tests. That's always fun.  Of course, our politicians are against spelling tests. For some silly reason, they seem  to think the students already know how to spell. Not so, since their earlier brainstorms was not to correct students' incorrectly spelled words, so as not to stifle the student's creativity.