29 November 2008

Oh goody, more phlegm...Need Nurturing

I got a flu shot on Monday and now I have a 100.3 temp and body aches all over. Kathy was nice enough to fix me some hot spiced tea, but she's not much on the babying you when you're sick. Maybe Erin burned her off that.

07 September 2008

Now is am finally CERTIFIABLE

I just finally got my instructor certificate to teach people to be certified as Emergency Dispatchers. This will be a capstone certificate to my students that have been with my program for their high school career. The students can take the national certifying test with NAED and if they pass and pay the fees, they can go out and apply for a job as Emergency Dispatchers at police departments, fire departments and even places like OnStar
This is VERY beneficial and just so cool!

20 August 2008

Back to school

It is Back to School time and this seems like it will be the best year ever. Last year was very good but this year is shaping up to be a really encouraging year. I have a good crop of students and almost 65 second year students. A lot of them are returning 10th graders so that means that we may have a good 3rd year program and maybe even a 4th year.

The most pressing need I have now is equipment and another teacher.

31 July 2008

Arrrghhh!


Webpub will not let me upload anything to the TAMU-C system! I will have to try tomorrow from the school lab.


Curses, foiled again.


Last assignments!

Here it is that last day of class (online) and I am rushing to meet the deadline for last assignments! Is there anyone else out there doing the same?

Webquests bog me down because I get so fascinated by them. They get me going off on such wild tangents. Is this something that will happen to my students also? Especially my law enforcement students who test out heavily on the ADD or ADHD side of the learning equation. Good cops are ADD; at least all the good cops that I have known. They are also adrenaline junkies. AHA! That reminds me of another website that gives a self test to see if you are an adrenaline junkie. This is not such a bad thing. You want the police and firefighters to be adrenaline junkies. They are the ones that will charge into a burning building or a dangerous accident scene to drag your behind out.

24 July 2008

Aunt Stelle's Sno Cones

This is absolutely the quintessential Dallas summer time experience. Aunt Stelle's Snow Cones
The snow cone has been elevated to an art form at this location. When I first married, my wife and I lived on Marlborough Avenue in Oak Cliff. Six blocks south at Clarendon at Marlborough is Aunt Stelle's. Not Aunt Stella's because they are very adamant about that. The snow cones are unique because of the ice shaving machine was invented by Aunt Stelle's husband (Uncle Stelle?) The syrup flavorings are made in the frame house next door. Aunt Stelle retired several years ago and her daughter runs the business.

Go now. Aunt Stelle closes down when school in DISD starts back in August. Flavors to try: Pink Lady (tastes like homemade vanilla snow ice cream) , a flavor called Popeye and Beatle. One of those tastes like licorice. I can't remember. For .75 cents, try both.
See the video here.

22 July 2008

Russ Martin arrested for aggravated assault

The news media reported that radio personality Russ Martin was recently arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Russ Martin is popular with police officers in the area because of his involvement with the Russ Martin Foundation, a foundation set up to financially support the widows and families of police officers and firefighters that give their lives in the line of duty.

How will this relate to Law Enforcement classes at Forney High School? This incident can be used to teach Current Events, Ethics and Elements of the Penal Code.

Teaching points are: Should an arrest have been made in what was basically a civil dispute? Were the elements of a crime present? Were the arresting officers influenced by the well known celebrity of the arrestee? Did the contributions of the Russ Martin Foundation to police officer's families buy any favoritism or preferential treatment to Martin?

16 July 2008

10 Hour Law School

The “Slightly Newer” 10 Hour Law School
URL: http://members.aol.com/ronin48th/hope.htm

Summary: A humorous look at Law School and everything that a lawyer would learn if he were to go through the three years required. An old joke is that in First Year Law they scare you to death; in Second Year Law they work you to death; in Third Year Law they bore you to death. This site attempts to get the knowledge to you without doing any of the above three things.

This site is a wealth of knowledge that pertains to the LAW. Everyone at sometime of another will have a “brush” with the law, whether is it as simple as receiving a speeding ticket or as extensive as getting a divorce or becoming a victim of a crime. Would you chose a doctor without knowing at least what type of doctor you need? Not all lawyers are alike either and it behooves us as informed consumers to acquaint ourselves with the bare minimum of knowledge that will keep us from becoming another type of sheep.

15 July 2008

Mass Casualty Triage

I found a good file on Mass Casualty Triage and how to fill out a triage card. The website is for New Jersey but it uses an almost standard MT-137 Triage Card.

http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems/documents/njdisastertag.pdf

This will be covered in the section of instruction over Disaster Preparedness.

14 July 2008

Outdated Software = Dead Links

I was thinking about the dead links that are found on tutorial websites and have come to a really firm belief that those dead links belie a lack of interest in that particular software. I tried to find the tutorial for ICQ, a wildly popular application in the dark days of dialup. Almost all of the links were dead. ICQ is an application that has fallen out of vogue with the advent of MySpace IM or any of the other instant messaging applications.

Trends on the internet come and go. Dead links are the bread crumbs left behind.

10 July 2008

Holy Smokes!

This class is teaching me a lot and when I emailed a friend, I told her that the class was HARD. She replied that the class was CHALLENGING. Sheesh.

08 July 2008

Criminal Justice becomes LAW ENFORCEMENT

As you may have heard me discuss in class the Texas Educationa Agency (TEA) has now changed the name of the Criminal Justice classes in Texas to LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is a paradigm shift which will be discussed throughout the semester.