I'm chilling at the VA hospital in Cleveland right now, waiting for Erin D to come out from visiting my father-in-law. He had surgery to repair an aneurysm in his abdomen--then in about three weeks, they're going to do his heart. These are big surgeries, but he'll be a new man at 70, if all goes according to plan. He built our home from the ground up with his bare hands. He fought in Vietnam. He did a damn fine job of raising a daughter who I would come to love at an indescribable level. So, I want him to be okay again. He's a second father to me, quite literally.
But I'm fighting a cold. I don't think going in to visit him would be kosher, because the last thing he needs is illness. So, I'm blogging and writing song lyrics in a dark waiting area. It's quite serene.
I posted the lyrics on FB. It's a song I wrote in my head as I was driving up to Cleveland Thursday to pick up D. I can't wait to record it this week.
On the working front, I'm scared. There are a lot of changes coming down the pike. The new assessments our government is implementing in 2014--they're game changers. They're practically ACT level in difficulty. A lot of schools which are currently ranked "excellent" are going to be dropping below proficient very soon. Get ready, Merica. People are making decisions who went to high school and college before the Internet existed--and they're making moves that will directly impact your children. I wish others were as concerned as those who are trained in education. But, they're not. Because they're not telling you. But I am. It's coming.
So, I've been thinking about other options. I've looked into a few doctoral programs. However, this would lead me down the path of college professorship--which I always considered. Higher education will be equally impacted by these changes in 2016. So, that's not really a sensible solution.
Retail wasn't fun, but I was pretty good at it. Once again, the Inturnetzz had shifted the paradigm of retail as well. I think, within 10-15 years, many of our shopping centers might be disappearing. We'll be forced back into the era of skilled craftsmen--because most commerce will occur in the invisible world.
So, I'm miffed. I planned on teaching HS for 15 years, then moving on to teaching at the college level. Well, it's been 13 years. The men with the pens are changing everything, without regard to the endgame. Are these tests really going to make us compete with India--who has more honor students than we have TOTAL students, period? No. But they feel like they have to try something, and the blame must go somewhere.
It's going to go on my profession. I just know it. The waves are getting larger.
