Advice for Teaching Middle School

One of my former COS students just got a job teaching middle school History, the very job I started with at the age of 27 for my first full-time teaching position. He asked if I had any advice, and here is what I sent him.

Ah yes, 7-8 History. I did that for 17 years, starting at age 27 years, 11 months. Is that about the same for you or are you a little younger?  At any rate, I do have some advice for middle school teaching. You have to have standard procedures for everything: how they come into class, leave class, pass out and pass in papers. Remember how I had COS classes pass in their papers in perfect order? If your seating chart is alphabetical it makes it easy to enter grades and easy to pass oars back expeditiously. Every instance of undirected down time is an opportunity for chaos to break out. You have to train them on your procedures. 

When you show videos have worksheets for them to do so they pay attention and don't fool around as much. Your discipline code has to be clearly understood and rigorously enforced. So don't make a rule unless you intend to enforce it. Remember that 29 or 30 out of every class of 32 kids are pretty neat people, but It's the nature of their age that the other 2 or three can make your life miserable. So have a seating chart and let them know you reserve the right to move people if you consider it necessary. Separate the difficult kids away from each other. Starting alphabetically and/or boy-girl are fine. 

I had them clean things up and have their desks straight and didn't dismiss rows until they were all in good shape. That brings peer pressure to bear, which can be your great ally. I would have competitions between classes on passing papers in and out the fastest with Jolly Ranchers (cheap and popular) for the class that had the best time. (Add one second for each paper out of order and one second for each time somebody talks.)

But even with all this rule and discipline stuff, crucial as it is in middle school, let it show that you love teaching and love history, and that though you may be kind of tough you care about them each as individuals and will make every effort to help them as much as you can!

Appearance to Beneift Young Democrats

I will be making an appearance in Visalia on Friday, February 16, and you are all invited. It's called "Liberally Speaking: An Evening with Steve Natoli," and will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Lamplighter Inn at 3300 W. Mineral King Boulevard in Visalia. The event is being hosted by the Tulare County Democratic Central Committee. Benefits from the evening will be used to support the COS (College of the Sequoias) Young Democrats to attend the California State Democratic Party convention and to help organize a new countywide Tulare County Young Democrats club.   A donation of $15 per person is requested. Coffee and light refreshments will be served. If you would like to contribute more, you can make checks payable to COS Young Democrats. For more information contact COSYD President Katherine Dodson at (559) 750-6916 or email her at kdodson@cacollegedems.org.  

I will be reading excerpts from my book "Liberally Speaking: Why Liberalism is Right for America" and signing copies for those who wish to purchase the book. I will have observations on current political developments and there will be some time for questions. Copies of "Liberally Speaking" sell for $21.60 including tax.

I joined the demonstration last Tuesday at the Vista office of Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican of California's 49th district. Though he was not considered vulnerable, the 8-term incumbent was surprisingly re-elected by only 1621 votes a year ago, the closest margin of any House member who wasn't defeated. This surprising vulnerability has engendered a blood-in-the-water response from local Democrats, who are aroused and eager to unseat Issa. Demonstrations have been held at his office in Vista every Tuesday for a year, with 300-600 people showing up every time.

 Here's a picture of me at the most recent one. As you can see, part of my objection to people like Issa is personal in nature!  



I live in the adjoining 52nd District, represented by Democrat Scott Peters. I still wanted to register my disgust with Issa and the rest of the GOP congress for their regressive moves on immigration, taxes, health care, equality, and in not standing up to the appalling demagoguery and dishonesty of President Trump. Issa himself is reputedly the richest man in congress with a net worth of around $400 million. He earned notoriety as chairman of the House Investigations committee, spending years trying to trash President Barack Obama without cause, and finding nothing, of course, to charge him with.   

 

World Series Tonight

I'm really excited that my cousin Mark and I are going to game two of the World Series tonight at Dodger Stadium. It wasn't cheap but for us two lifelong Dodger faithful it was a must. In my younger years it seemed the Blue Crew was in the series practically every 3 years or so, and I'd say I was spoiled by success and didn't feel a sense of urgency to experience baseball's pre-eminent showcase. There'd always be another opportunity in a couple of years. The Dodgers were in the Series 9 times in the seasons between 1959 and 1988. But now it's been 29 years. If it takes another 29 years there's a good chance I won't be around (I'm 63 now) or will be too feeble to attend! I've been to 3 playoff games but never a Fall Classic, as Tommy Lasorda likes to call it. So now's the time. Tune in at 5:00 and look for us in the Reserved Level, aisle 11, row H.
GO DODGERS!

Trip to Greece

Tomorrow Joan and I will set out on a trip to Greece. For someone who taught Western History for 35 years this should be a real thrill. We'll fly to Athens and begin a 4-day land tour the next day. We'll get to see sights like Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and the fabled monasteries at Meteora.

After that we'll be back in Athens for four nights to take in the Greek vibe and see the remarkable sights there. The Greeks, and the Athenians more than any other, were the originators of philosophy, democracy, drama, rationalism and humanism. Their self-confidence and use of logic is well-expressed in their splendid art and architecture. They established the approach that underlies the scientific method. The museums will be marvelous and I'm told the food is great!

Then we'll set sail on the Aegean Sea to tour the Greek isles. Our 700-passenger ship will go to Mykonos, Crete, Patmos, Rhodes Ephesus and Santorini to take in the culture, the vivid azure waters and, in some cases, the small-town ambience. We will be back in the U.S. around the 18th of October.

Fortieth Anniversary

I just wanted to comment on a personal note this week. Yesterday Joan and I celebrated 40 years of marriage together! She is the best thing that ever happened to me. Thanks to Joan we have our two wonderful daughters, Jeanette and Marie, and our dear granddaughter Katherine.

We've been through thick and thin together over the decades and her steadfast support and encouragement has been my rock all this time. I am very grateful to God for putting Joan in my life and sustaining our love for each other. Every day is a new blessing for me!

Moving To San Diego

Joan is now retired, our house has sold, and we'll be on our way to San Diego in a matter of days. Oldest daughter Jeanette made a surprise visit yesterday and presented Joan with her full-time grandmother credentials! The upcoming schedule looks like this: Wednesday the guys from Custom Auctions are coming to take items we aren't moving with us for sale at their weekend auctions. That includes our washer and dryer and some large furniture items like our main couch and formal dining table. We are downsizing to half our current square footage and need to pare things down. (The condo already has a washer and dryer, too.)

 

Thursday the packing crew from Jack & Jeff Transfer, the local Bekins affiliate, will be here. Then on Friday they'll load everything up and take it away. Joan and I will remain in Visalia over the weekend, staying with friends Walt and Sheri Bentley Friday and Saturday nights. Friday we'll go out to dinner with friends. The Bentleys, John and Carole Greening, and Newell and Mary Ann Bringhurst will join us. Then if we can get tickets we hope to see "Holly," the story of Buddy Holly, at the Ice House Theater. Saturday evening the Episcopal Church will have a going-away barbecue for Joan, who has been the principal music minister there for the past seven years. She'll play at her last Sunday service, we'll say good bye to the folks, and then be off to begin our new life in SD.

Personal Announcement

Dear Readers:

This is to let everyone know that new entries in Brave Gnu Whirled may be sparse for awhile. My wife Joan and I are preparing our home in Visalia for sale. We are retiring and plan to move to our condominium in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego area) permanently once Joan finishes her school year on June 9. Much of our furniture is being moved out today to ready the house for staging. Our target date to put the house on the market is March 2. I am so grateful for your readership and support. In the mean time, don't forget that now is the time to get involved and make a difference. Several of the new administration's plutocratic and reactionary initiatives have already been derailed or curtailed by the concerted efforts of an aroused citizenry. The U.S. Senate, for instance, reports public contact running five times higher than normal!

The disappointment at Trump's election, nauseating cabinet nominations and first actions as president has been lessened to some extent by the consequent rise of the Resistance movement to oppose his half-baked, inhumane, impractical, unamerican and unconstitutional agenda. The liberal/progressive majority has awakened and its resolve is a heartening thing to behold. We haven't seen this level of commitment and enthusiasm since the Obama candidacy in 2008. I encourage you to act locally to support this movement. Call your representatives, join a march, write letters to your local newspaper, speak out in the public comment segment at your city council and school board meetings, talk to your friends, join an organization, and most of all, vote. Here's a link to a piece on how to effectively get your message across to the office of an elected official. 

Peace to you and yours!

My Experience at the Electoral College

Monday December 19 was a memorable day in my life. I participated as a member of the California Electoral College, casting one of my state's 55 Electoral Votes for Hillary Clinton, the 2016 winner of our state in the presidential election. It was a tremendous honor to be part of this traditional rite, established by Article II of the Constitution and later modified by the Twelfth Amendment. You can read about the process by which I was appointed in my blog of November 21. In today's entry I'll tell you about the process I participated in on Monday, December 19, the day the Electoral College meetings took place in all the states plus the District of Columbia.

The California Electoral College meeting took place at the State Capitol in Sacramento. We checked in at the Governor's Conference Room on the main floor about 10 A.M. There we received our credentials and our guest passes. Electors were permitted two guests, who could watch the proceedings from the galleries above the Assembly Chamber. I invited my wife Joan and Louis Campos, the Democratic candidate for my congressional district, the 22nd, who had nominated me to the Electoral College. The next scheduled activity wasn't until 1:00, so we toured the Capitol Building and went out for lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant.

The 1:00 order of business was to attend a briefing. The Electors went to a legislative committee room to receive final instructions before the meeting convened. I got to meet a couple of interesting people. I sat between Faith Garamendi, daughter of Congressman and former Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, and John MacMurray, whose wife is a Board Member on the La Habra City School District. La Habra is a town in north Orange County where I went to elementary school. At 1:30 P.M. we left the committee room to take the elevator up to the second floor to enter the Assembly Chamber, where the official College would be convened. Joan and Louie were at the same time going up to the third floor to find a place in the gallery.

The organizers had assigned seating for us on the Assembly floor, and we had to find our name placards on the desks. I found my place on the right side of the center aisle as you faced the rostrum, fairly close to the front. Seated next to me on my left was a woman named Donna Irvine of Pleasanton, on the inland side of Oakland. A retired community college office manager, Donna was extremely happy and proud to be part of the proceedings. She had been nominated by Congressman Eric Swallwell, whom she had met five years before in his first run for congress, when he came knocking at her door walking precincts. That led to her volunteering for his campaign and eventually his nomination of her as an Elector. As I took my seat I was glad to see Joan and Louie had secured an excellent vantage point in the gallery in the front row on the left side. They had a good view of the rostrum and they and I had a clear line of sight between us. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the state constitutional officer responsible for seeing that the meeting was properly called, carried out and recorded, mingled on the Assembly floor and chatted with the Electors.

Assemblyman Ken Cooley called the meeting to order shortly after two o'clock. No doubt he was selected for this role due to his parliamentary expertise as Chairman of the Assembly Rules Committee. We began with a prayer from a Buddhist Priest. He called for everyone to be mindful, pointing out that Confucius, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Pope John Paul II all spent four hours a day in prayer or meditation. Following this, the College recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Tellers (two young Democratic Party aides) then read off the roll call of Electors. Pages circulated through the floor, giving us each an official paper with our name on it to sign, verifying our attendance. Alex Padilla rose to administer the Oath of Office to the assembled Electors. We pledged to defend the United States and California constitutions "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

We proceeded to the election of a chairperson of the College. Prior to the meeting we Electors had received an email from California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton asking us to support Elector and SEIU official Laphonza Butler as chairperson. Christine Pelosi nominated her, there was a second, no other candidates were nominated, Mr. Cooley called for voice votes of aye and nay and Ms. Butler was elected. An honor guard of six 6 Electors was selected to escort her from her seat with the rest of us on the Assembly floor to the rostrum to assume her duties. Assemblyman Cooley handed her the gavel and took a seat.

When the roll had been read, four of the 55 Electors had not been present. By pre-arrangement, Elector Christine Pelosi now nominated four replacements from the appropriate districts. They were seconded and elected in turn by voice vote as called for by the Chair. We then turned to the election of a Secretary. The same email from Chairman Burton that had asked us to support Laphonza Butler for Electoral College Chair had asked for our support for retired State Senator Christine Kehoe as Secretary. She was nominated by Pelosi, seconded and elected by unanimous voice vote. As with Butler, an honor guard of six Electors was selected to escort her to the rostrum to assume her office.

Now that all formalities and preliminaries were complete it was time to fulfill the solemn duty for which we had been summoned: the casting of our official votes for President and Vice President of the United States. At the direction of the Chair, pages came around with large, pre-printed ballots. Each of us was given two ballots on heavy card stock. The one bordered in blue had Hillary Clinton for President; the one bordered in red had Tim Kaine for Vice President. These were the candidates who had received the overwhelming majority of California's votes on Election Day. To validate the ballot all we had to do was sign our name at the bottom. If we had wanted to vote for someone else we would have had to cross out the pre-printed name of the candidate and write someone else in.

Filling out our ballots.

Pages came around, collected our ballots and brought them up to the rostrum. The pages came back around with a succession of additional official papers for us to sign. Different sets of the same materials were destined for different recipients. Some are going to the U.S. Senate, where the ballots will be officially tallied before a joint session of Congress on January 6. Others will remain in the possession of the California Secretary of State's Office. Another set goes to the National Archives. When she had received them all, Christine Kehoe as Secretary of the Electoral College counted up the vote. Both votes were unanimous: 55-0 for Hillary Clinton for President and 55-0 for Tim Kaine for Vice President. Each of these results was greeted by an enthusiastic round of applause from the Electors and the gallery.

After the vote and the signing of official documents Pelosi introduced a resolution calling on the Congress to initiate an immediate investigation of possible foreign interference in the election process. This was seconded and unanimously passed by voice vote. The Chair then thanked us for our service and called for a motion to adjourn. once that was passed official photographers took pictures and our guests were invited down to join us on the Assembly floor.

Joan, I and Louie after the vote.