Saturday coffee.

With about 37 weeks to go I’m definitely hitting my stride. In the zone, teaching-wise.

After 27 years, I knew I’d finally get it right.

Except for yesterday when kids painting with acrylics on large plastic sheets, which would later be turned into a huge inflated bubble 100 feet long, started mixing different colors with abandon. This turned into what became an unimaginable shade of puke. And then it got on the linoleum floor and then got stepped into and dozens of acrylic puke colored footprints started to appear all over the room.

Oh sure. Other classes who are working on this project got paint dots on the floor. But I figured that when it was done a good scrubber sponge would get the dots off.

But now. I knew the custodians would not be pleased.

“Stop,” I shouted in my most authoritative teacher voice. There comes a point in classroom management when your only option is for nobody to move.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said, ‘stop’.”  Two more pairs of footprints appeared before the stopping took hold.

Squeezed out sponges were distributed. What is it with elementary kids that no matter how many times you explain the science of sponges, they insist that the wetter the sponge the better it cleans, when we all know just the opposite is true?

The seductive quality of puddles.

Anyway, Vince, the custodian, shrugged. He said it would wait until Thanksgiving break when they took the machine wax remover to the floor and all would be fine.

I’m in the zone.

Don’t miss Dan Quinn’s post on the madness that is Michigan.

The corporate media has paid scant attention to Wisconsin. But the madness that is going on in Michigan now is totally under the radar. Repost Dan’s letter wherever you can.

It is hard to believe that things in Michigan could get worse than they already were. I know that Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana have taken the brunt of the attack on workers rights, but Michigan might have jumped into the lead with our crazy, wacko, sicko legislature.

Senate Bill 7 had limited union collaboration? Are you kidding me?

Huffington Post reporter, Joy Resmovits, reports on the meetings between Arne Duncan, Scott Walker and Rahmbo. Joy says they didn’t talk much about the attack on teacher unions. Probably because they all agreed.

But Joy describes Senate Bill 7 has having “limited union collaboration.”

Really? Go back and look at the Edelman tape, Joy. Ask IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin. It had full IEA collaboration.

That was the problem.