Did Cotter Ever Leave to Grant a Welcome Back

As Vinny would sit there with a dumb look and say "WHAT"
Freddy "boom boom" Washington glared in a woman's eyes and say "HI THERE"
I sit and glaze at my sweathogs in today's classes
There still are those kids you call on and they say "what"
And there still are Arnold Horseshack's with hands raised, "O,O,O,O,O,O,O,"
So am I Gabe Cotter with my cheap 70's suit and curly man fro?
Hippest teacher who was once a Sweathog
Well if I am then here I am, willing to attempt to make a difference
Solving problems 45 minutes at a time
Trying to prove to the kids that sometimes, if they pay attention......
Sweathogs may be ruling this Country!

Don't give up. Don't ever give up

Jim Valvano was diagnosed with bone cancer in June 1992. In July, he found out that it had metastasized. Shortly before his death, he spoke at the inaugural ESPY Awards, presented by ESPN, on March 4, 1993. In that speech he had many moving points, including the following:

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special. Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all!


I choose to add this to my blog for the simple fact that, even though I have never had to fight a battle such as the fight against cancer, I do live by those 7 words each and every day(dont give up, don't ever give up). I always want to make myself better and to LIVE life not just survive, BUT TO LIVE IT!!

School Ties

Today I called my wife between classes to "Vent" about a situation I had with a student and them not following the rules of our campus. About 30 minutes later she sends me a message that I should read her blog. So I did and this was what I read:

I'm wondering if you have walked
inside a school today,
to see the rules they follow,
and the games the students play?
They know the tricks and secrets
to make things go their way,
and this is exactly what I saw
when I went to school today.

I saw a teacher yelling,
telling students to go to class.
I saw a student roll their eyes
and tell her to kiss their ass.
I saw the teacher make a face
as if they want to say,
"Do you know what I go through
when I go to school each day?"

I walked into the office
and saw students by the bunch,
some were tardy, some were sick,
some were waiting for mom to bring them lunch.
But, all of them were laughing
and playing by the way,
because this is how they spend their time
at school every day.

I went into a classroom
and saw a teacher head in hand,
it seemed no student cared about history
except the history of their favorite band.
I even saw some listening to music,
iPods neatly tucked away
because this is what they do in class
and at school every day.

I heard a noise out in the hall
and ran to take a look
I thought some kids were fighting
or that someone dropped a book
I saw a teacher take a bag, a no no by the way
but it seems that Johnny carries one
at school each and every day.

I followed little Johnny
to his locker for a peek
I wanted to see if Johnny would be strong
or fall to peer pressure and be weak
He did not put away his books, he gave them to a friend
and said, that teacher doesn't know what he just did
that teacher will meet his end.
For Johnny's mom is the head of the PTA and dad a CEO
and how much Johnny has gotten away with, the world may never know
but Johnny took out his cell phone, called mom and gave a grin
said, "Mom, a coach just took my bag, I can't have it taken away again."
I don't know what Mommy said, but Johnny smiled and smirked
"Thanks, Mom, you're the best. This school is run by jerks."

I walked back to the office and saw Johnny's mother running in
She said "I need the principal. That same teacher is after my boy again."
They closed the door behind him, a smile on the principal's face
and I knew that in that moment, that teacher had run his final race.
Little Johnny had his bag, by eleven o'clock that day
but that's just what happens when Mommy comes to school
to help you break the rules each day.

I don't know what will happen
to our country or our world
but I know that it depends on the education
of each little boy and girl
and this is being challenged
by the parents and TV so I say
walk into your childs school and see what you can see today.

By: Lori Gonzales