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hurricanes down south.... and
up here we might have had one if that thirty second blast had
lasted six or seven hours longer. we were reading and thinking
about poems.... were we in the middle of mark doty's stunning
"fog argument"? probably.... and out the window this
gray day went suddenly wild... a few dead branches flew out of
this mad tree right by the window.... a wall of water, not so
much buckets and buckets but a wave a tsunami descended.... for
thirty seconds.... and left. but ever since we've had wind whipping
the tall trees and the tiny garden plants every which way....
driving mountains of clouds a trillion miles a minute.... west
to east right over our heads... a chill in the air... things
to come....
dexter gordon blowing wild saxophone...
clouds scooting off to "second balcony jump".... trees
still plenty green hopping up like kids grabbing for something
good just out of reach.... somebody dancing on a friday evening
just because it's friday and the week's work is done....
and it was a pretty good week....
mostly because of these poetry days with the seniors... mostly
because the sophomore honors are reading Walden and mr. thoreau
is such a funny mystery man with his missing hound, bay horse
and turtledove.... self-appointed inspector of snow storms and
rain storms, indeed.... mostly because the regular sophs are
writing their own personal declarations of independence.... mostly
because my most excellent sister meg and my perfect niece sara
have determined a date to come visit.... provoking a series of
delightful crises for me....
speaking of which.... crises,
that is.... i had a momentary shock yesterday morning when some
students appeared just before school to announce that the class
message boards were not accessible via the school's computers.
i clicked on to check it out and - sure enough - up comes "405
FORBIDDEN: Administrative organizational policy does not permit
access to this site. See your local administrator for more information."
and you can bet yr mama's new glass eyeball that i did just that.
two weeks before quarter's end, 40% of the grade, and a good
double handful of students find themselves without school access
to the boards.... filters.... damn stupid filters....
damn stupid INEFFECTIVE filters....
because just about the same time my students were being denied
the intellectual heights of A
Plain Public Road and Godot
another teacher's student was exploring much lower realms, a
vulgar site whose nature i cannot describe without offending
the delicate sensibilities of my gentle readers... sufficient
to say, it was really gross.... and it was perfectly accessible
on the school computers, zipping like a cool breeze through the
gauzy curtains of those same trusty filters....
at any rate, a moderately calm
plea for help to various quarters brought quick action and the
boards are back in business at carmel. i really really appreciate
the way the problem was resolved. i know for certain that in
many other schools my crisis would have been met with a shrug
of the shoulders and a pitiful "gee that's too bad."
i understand why administrators and parents want filters. i just
wish they also understood that a perfect or perhaps even an adequate
filter has not yet been invented (based on my admittedly limited
reading).... and these imperfect critters can wreak a lot of
havoc.... and produce some mind-numbingly stupid outcomes.
but to speak out against filters
makes some folks think you are speaking up for pornography and
other cyber-scumsuckers.... me, i just want my scholars to be
able to get where they need to go.
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