old mcdonald had a farm...

I've been wanting to write this blog for awhile now, just now getting around to it. Just basically wanting to rant. Not long ago, Mike and I watched this thing on tv about an environmental rights guy going out to this pig farm in Iowa. He was under cover, hoping to get enough on them to get them for animal cruelty. In this case, the people most definitely deserved it. They literally hung the hogs to kill them and were laughing as it happened. Plus a whole bunch of other unneccesary stuff. However, the whole thing kinda made me mad. Anyone who knows me knows I am huge on animals. I really do love animals and I believe cruelty should be punished. However, there are so many people who go off about things that they know nothing about. I've heard so many people say they think cows are happier grazing in fields. Hmm well that's interesting, because many of those cows go hungry, have to walk miles for water, get sick and aren't treated, and die. Our cows have a constant pile of feed in front of them, water at all times, are treated immediately when they're sick, and even have misters going off in the summer when it's hot. Many humans aren't treated so well. I'd like to have a camara man there when Mike is getting up at 3am because there's a down cow in the barn. Another thing people don't seem to understand is that cows LIKE being milked. I watched one video in college that showed cows with bloody utters... Occasionally cows have an infection (not resulting in blood)... and it is treated, they are not milked at this time, and within a day or so they're fine. That's about as far as it goes. Think of it this way... the owners of the dairy ultimately want to make money. Healthy cows produce the most milk, which makes the most money for the dairyman. So unless the guy's an idiot, he's gonna make sure his cows are happy and healthy. DUH. This is not to say that there is NO cruelty going on, I'm sure there is. I'm just saying it's not as mainstream as people would have you believe. I once voiced this to a professor my freshman year of college after a student showed an animal cruelty video, and he said, "Just because your boyfriend has a dairy doesn't mean you know how every cow in America is treated." I'll never forget my fury. Maybe not every single cow, dummy... but I can account for thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of cows. Anyone with a good size dairy in Cali, we know. Or at least Mike does, haha. The prof was not impressed. Because he knew NOTHING about the dairy business. Let me just say... if you're a vegetarian... totally fine with me. I have no problem with people making their own personal choices about eating meat. But you can't get on other people for making the completely legal choice to eat it. And that's all have to say about that.

A Substitutes Rant

Not long ago I subbed for a first grade class and had an annoying conversation with the teacher I subbed for. Now, so far I've really liked all the teachers and especially the principal there, but this one I wanted to smack. Maybe I'm overreacting. You be the judge. I get there in the morning and she had quite detailed notes. I like this. I hate going in with vague weird notes that you have to basically guess what they want done, and you end up asking the kids "well is this how you normally do it?" which is always a mistake because it results in 28 kids yelling different things. Which results in me snapping "well I'm not Mrs Manes so we're gonna do it this way today!" This probably has them (and me) wondering why I asked in the first place. I like notes that explain exactly what they want you to do, including helpful hints, things she does to get them to behave better, warnings of things they'll probably try to say, etc. This way I'm more prepared and can better instruct a class full of kids who are pushing me as far as they can push. Anyway, this teacher has detailed notes, and I'm happy. All morning, everything went well. Kids did what they were supposed to do, little to no problems, getting things done. They come back after lunch, and they're crazy. Really crazy. Like the teachers, "you better be good for the sub or else" warning had officially worn off. They were loud, disrespectful, and rude. Now, before you give me the whole "well that's just how kids are for subs" speech, let me say, it isn't. They will do what you let them get away with. I don't let them get away with much, and I rarely have big problems. By the end of the afternoon I was tired, frazzled, and annoyed. I always write a little note about how they did for the teacher. I explain any problems, tell her who was absent or late, and let her know if she should be proud of them. Most teachers offer their kids a little treat if they get a good note back. This teacher, Mrs Manes, had informed me that they were to get popcorn during their movie if they got a good note, but only if they deserved it. They did not deserve the popcorn. I let the teacher know this. I told her that while her students were lively and intelligent, I could tell they did not behave as well as they normally did. The next day, I come back to the same school (and had a wonder class) and I run into Mrs Manes in the hall after dropping my kids off for lunch. We say hello. I tell her I was her sub yesterday. She doesn't say anything and I notice she is giving me a bit of an attitude. Nothing major.. a clipped smile, not that into small talk, etc. I figure she's probably just having a bad day. I decide to say, "I just wanted to let you know, you really have a great group of kids. Very bright. But I just had the hardest time getting them to pay attention to the lessons!"
She gives me a look of ice. I kid you not, a look of ice. Then, in a clipped tone, she says, "Well, I'm one of the loudest teachers at the school, so yeah, they probably learned that from me."
Um, NO. I'm immediately annoyed. As if I cannot tell the difference between enthusiasm/loudness and being rude/distracting. I wait a minute, thinking she might go on and say that she had a talk with them, or that she understood, or anything that would ease the tension that had built up as a result of her snappy line. I could just tell it would do no good to argue that, no, they weren't just being loud and enthusiastic, they were being brats. So I just sort of changed the subject, asking her about the lunch pick up process. When I am a regular teacher, if I have a sub that even bothers to write a lengthy, thoughtful note back to me, I will be grateful. Most subs do the minimum of what's required, snap at the kids all day, and leave without so much as a "your kids suck". I, on the other hand, follow notes exactly, try to get the kids to have a good time, and write a long note back explaining how they did, what I had trouble with, and often include a funny little story about something a kid said. Hello? I'm obviously a wonder sub, and the idea that this annoying lady thought I was being too harsh was enough to make me want to give her a good smack on her pointed face. So how's that?