It's a Different World...

...from where I'm comin' from for sure! So, as I said before, it's not going very well at my new institution of employment. It all comes down to expectations. Expectations that the institution has for the students and expectations that the students have of themselves. I sense that a culture of failure has been perpetuated. It starts with attendance and goes all the way through test performance.

The administration says that they want to increase attendance, but they don't seem to act in a manner that demonstrates that. For example, I was encouraged to create a strict attendance policy that would increase attendance (administration says one thing), but then as the department head was walking me to my classroom and telling me where to park he mentioned 'It might be more difficult to find a spot next week when the upper classmen start classes.' I thought this was odd so I asked him, "Oh, do you have a staggered entry for upper classmen? Are freshmen required to start classes earlier?" Then his response was, 'No. It's just typical for upper classmen to not come to class for the first week or two." (administration doing another thing; accepting low attendance). I can understand that this sort of thing happens, but for it to be such an accepted behavior is what really shocked me. And it made me wonder how most of the classes are structured. I give lecture material on the first day of class that will be on the test. Is everyone else not starting test material until week two of classes? I was also told not to expect an attendance roster until two or three weeks into the semester, since students would be adding for up to three weeks after classes began. I had one student come to class, for the first time mind you, the day before the test...

I have 31 students registered in each class. I've never had more than 22 show up on any day... including the test day! But I don't want to talk about the test yet...

These students are so different. I have a hard time imagining what their lives must have been like before college. They all have such a different, almost half-empty outlook on the world. Like it's supposed to be extra difficult for them to succeed or that they shouldn't expect to get the same kind of service as the majority. They know they are the minority and they seem to expect to be marginalized. So much that it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I had an activity where I gave them a very empty story (one from my own experience). It went something like this:

I witnessed an intoxicated man get hit by a car. I contacted the authorities. They responded.

The point of the exercise was for them to fill in all the blanks that I left. To fill the story with details and vivid language; to make it more interesting. Each group also had to tailor the story to a specific audience. I told them to create whatever details I left out so that they were realistic.

In every single one of the five groups, in both classes (ten groups total), the car that hit the man left the scene of the accident (sped away in most of them), it took at least 20 mins for any type of law enforcement or ambulance to reach to scene, and the man died as a result of the accident. Every single group! What does this say about their experiences and their outlook on emergency services?

By the way... The driver of the car stopped, emergency responders were there within 2 minutes of my 911 call, and the man was not severely injured.

I can understand that the guy dies in all the stories, maybe they've never heard of someone living after a car hit, but every one of the drivers fled the scene. It's just expected that the driver wouldn't take responsibility for the accident, and what really gets me is that they all expect the police to take a very long time to respond to their needs. What sort of experiences have they had to shape their views like this?

And then there's the test... but I'll wait to tell that story another time. I've got to read the papers they've just turned in...

Too tired to write much...

Well I wanted to write about some of my experiences at St. Aug's. It's not going well. At all really, but I'm just too tired to sit here and write it all out.

I've been sick. Ugh. A steak sandwich and waffle fries should only be seen once. Going down. Definitely not five times... coming up. Not to mention the numerous times I saw my gatorade...

Anyway; I've been sick. I think I've recuperating very quickly, and I plan on waking up at 100% tomorrow. This will be a 36 hour bug at the most!

But keep posted, because I will eventually spill the beans on my new work environment...

Electro-Stimulating

For about 6 bucks I ordered an electro-stimulating ab belt on eBay. I'm quite sure it's going to be crap, but hey... for $6 even crap can be fun for a few minutes of shock induced crunches!

It's being shipped form Hong Kong, so it'll probably take about two weeks to get here. I'll let you know how it turns out.

... and don' worry, I'll probably have someone else around when I try it for the first time. You know... just in case the jolts stop my heart or something.... HA!

Bad Breath

Nothing is worse than the disappointment you get when you meet a really hot chick, but then get slapped in the face with bad breath. I mean like slapped in the face by a dead fish bad. It completely ruins it. Because a couple of feet away all you're thinking about is getting close to those luscious lips, but as soon as you get within range you're back peddling like a clown on a unicycle trying to find his balance... was that too much juxtaposition of images? ... oh well.

The important thing to realize here is that it doesn't have to be this way. That's right! You too can remedy your death breath! Of course there are the obvious things of smoking and avoiding foods with a lot of garlic, and I've found that coffee can leave a particularly rank aroma in its aftermath... but it all comes down to proper brushing technique. So here's what I've developed after some research and personal trial and error... and I think it's worked out pretty well.

First, begin with a good pre-rinse mouth wash. I've been using a whitening mouthwash that utilizes peroxide, so I have to brush afterwards to get all the foam out of my mouth. Although, I think I would keep the habit of rinsing with mouth wash first even if it weren't a whitening wash. It helps to loosen up all the particles of food and kill bacteria in your mouth.

Let's face it... the reason why your breath smells like death is because you've got dead and rotting things in your mouth. The bacteria feeds on little bits of food that are rotting away, and then the bacteria eventually die and rot in your mouth too. That's just gross, so we want to get rid of that stuff as much as we can.

So, while you're rinsing (for at least 30 seconds) use that time to rinse your brush out and put your toothpaste on it. I'm not gonna specify which kind of bristle or paste you use. I don't think it really matters. Just use your average long neck brush and a paste or gel that you like.

Spit out the rinse and get to work brushing! Make sure that you brush every tooth. Don't neglect those guys and gals in the back of your mouth. Brush in little circular motions all around. Brush the front of your teeth, the tops of your teeth, and the backs of your teeth. Brush 'em all... You should spend about 2 minutes on your teeth so that you thoroughly clean them. Next comes a big... no huge... no... monumental key to avoiding bad breath!

Brush your tongue!!!! Yeah, that's right. A lot of stuff lives on your tongue... and dies there, and stinks up the whole place. It's not like the funky smell coming from under your house that you can't find. You know where this is, so take care of it. Clean it off from the back to the front. Get all that crud cleaned off. Just because you don't always see it doesn't mean it's not there. I've found that if I'm getting sick I'll get this gross film on my tongue (that smells bad), and I also discovered that if I'm diligent in scrubbing that stuff off I feel better faster.

Once you've finished with your tongue, brush the roof of your mouth. I know this might sound a little odd, but think about it. When you close your mouth where do you rest your slim covered tongue? That's right... against the roof of your mouth. So it has just as much stuff growing, if not more, as your tongue.

Spit.

Here, I rinse out my brush and then do another quick pass of everything with a freshly rinsed brush. I like to make sure that I get every thing cleaned out.

Spit again.

Now this is another very important step that is sometimes overlooked. RINSE with clean water. I usually rinse at least twice and gargle it on the second time. But you should look at the water as it's leaving your mouth. The first time you rinse toothpaste and food particles will be clearly visible coming out with the water. You might even see some come out with the second rinse. That means you should rinse again. Remember, you want all the crud to come out. So you should rinse until the water that comes out of your mouth looks just like the water that went in; clear. If it's not clear, then it's not clean.

And that's all there is to it. I know it may seem like a big process, but it should only take 2.5 mins all together; maximum. And it can make a mighty big difference.

I would like to make one additional note though. If you have any sort of permanent dental work in your mouth, like braces or a retainer, then you have an additional hurdle to leap. That metal bar is the perfect brothel for germs and bacteria to get together and make smelly little babies. So no matter how well you brush, if you don't get something behind that dental work to scrub those germ babies out, you will still have bad breath. So take some floss or some other kind of tool, and get under that stuff to clean it out. Very important. The people in your intimate space will thank you... and you may just find a few more people entering your intimate space.

My girlfriend from high school is pregnant and about to be a mom... is that supposed to be weird?

She seemed a lot younger than me then, although... she's a lot older than some of the girls I date now...

I guess as long as I'm not getting any girls pregnant things can't get too weird...