KevinFitton.com

I know...long time since updating...I guess it's a common theme with this journal.  Anyway, enough about that, time for some updates:

1.  Different Job - yup...no longer working at the public school.  I accepted a job with a private school in WI.  Moving up there tomorrow so it should be an interesting change of pace for me, finally getting out of technology and closer to what I actually want to be doing.

2. Summer School 2008 - Returned again to College of DuPage and their summer school program, this time as the instructor of American Government.  It was a great semester...the kids were more engaged than my US History class last year.  To see some of the comments and analysis being done, it was good to see students taking an interest in government.  Class average ended up being about 83%, so I went a bit light on them but it's still within a reasonable measure.  Considering there was 26 chapters to cover in 16 days I think it went well.  Worked in several projects to take the place of tests and gave an oral final which was fascinating to see.  Non-academically, I got to talk to them about a variety of issues including going to college and the behind the scenes to teaching.

3. Last Lecture, Randy Pausch - For anyone who hasn't seen it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

This man was a professor of virtual systems at CMU...amazing lecture and man, anyone who sees it could learn something from the hour long lecture.

Isn't it sweet?  I finally landed my first full time teaching placement.  Granted, it's only summer school but at least it's something that I can count as experience and get paid for.  Two sections of world history - which is what I want to be teaching anyway!

Also taking summer grad classes (12 credits)...gonna be a busy summer  =)

http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/26946prs20060927.html

I ran across this today and found it exceptionally interesting.  As a teacher, I am bound to being impartial...but as a citizen, it sickens me that communities can trample over others rights just because they are in positions of authority.  To see a school so willing to squander constitutional principles is a travesty to what the country stands for. 

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikiversity:_Hitler%27s_Germany

So I've decided I'm going to try teaching a class for free online through Wikiversity.  For those that haven't heard of it, Wikiversity is a side project to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that is edited by the internet community at large.  To add to this project, Wikiversity is set up to teach entire classes about a variety of topics.  Yours truly will be teaching a class on The Third Reich, totally free and without any strings attached.  Granted, this doesn't confer credits or accreditation, but it does allow someone who is interested in the topic, the chance to study it under someone who has studied the subject before and hopefully prep them for any future classes they may wish to take.  Personally, I think it's a great idea as it allows for people that want to learn about a topic to do so without having to pay unless there is a professional goal in mind.  If we could offer more things like this, perhaps for more of the autodidatic people out there, educational content can be passed on to society at large?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/25/brashear.obit.ap/index.html

If anyone has seen the movie 'Men of Honor', hearing that a good role model like Mr. Brashear is no longer with the world..we really need to take a look at how we live and some of the challenges people face every day.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/07/19/france.blog/index.html

I read this just this morning and I found it to be very fascinating.  Exactly how far does an employer have control over an employee's life?  I've often had to consider how to act in public because of the possibility that what I do might be misconstrued as something immoral and if that that back to the school, could potentially mean my job.  Yet a vast majority of people are allowed to go about their lives with whatever abandon they see fit.  I find it interesting that people are willing to judge others so easily, without first looking at their own lives for perspective.

Ah...another day of IT work.  Last week, a pipe started dripping on the computer lab and so 6 of our machines got soaked in water.  So we let them air dry over the weekend and now coming around to test to see if any of them still work.  So far, two dead and a power supply.  Oh well.

I other news however, I recieved a call from a principal out in western IL for a possible interview, now if only I could get ahold of her instead of playing phone tag...  I guess I'll just have to keep trying.