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

Te Amo

Together they walk holding hands and crying
She knew that his life was over because he stopped trying
He was once a strong, tall man
But with every step he hurts and tells her he has no plan
No plan to continue their journey in pain
No plan to walk anymore in the rain
She pulls him tight and caresses his cheek
Wiping away a single tear, exposing that he is weak
In time she will move on but keep him in her heart
Never feeling like they are apart
So, slowly they continue to walk and his tears fall like rain
And she closes her eyes and he does all he can to take away her pain
Kissing each other they feel the life slipping away
And 10 years later he can still remember that moment like it was today.

Rinks Revenge

Ok so a couple days ago my sister invites me to the roller rink to go skate. Well I used to LOVE skating when I was younger and since then haven't very much. So I go to the rink and as I'm walking in and getting my skates on, I am flashed back to the greatness of my younger skating days. The sounds, smells, and the incredible atmosphere shared by all those that were there. Now, I know I was probably the only one that was that engulfed in the moment but I didn't care. I proceeded to skate and after a couple of laps I decided to stop. As I turn around to break, BAAAAAAM I fall back slamming by butt bone then my head to the ground. I laid there just a second and jumped up, trying to play it off. Over all I had an awesome time and even got to speed skate with my wonderful sister(who by the way is pretty damn fast). But i do have to say this after waking up today.....IM NOT 12 ANYMORE AND I ACHE BAD FROM THE CRASH!!!
HAHAHAHA

Inside your brain

Information seeps into my thoughts without any direction
Why am I so dumb
Knowledge has overtaken my soul with a vengeance
Why am I so dumb
A plant of education is pulsating its roots in my brain
Why am I so dumb
My earth has provided me with a plethora of wealth
Why am I so dumb
My mind is too full and I only see whats right to ME
Am I so Dumb?

Creekside Talks

For many years my life was a blur
I would lose myself in that funnel made by the cool-aid I would stur
A whisper in the wind would send my mind away
Off to another place like those creeks shown to me by my uncle Rey
Fearless with a heart of a lion
Then there was that one day I got poison ivy, uh yeah I was crying
But every time I was balancing on another creek bank or crawling over rocks
In that very moment my life never felt under those emotional pad locks
So now every once and a while I escape to another running stream
Trying to keep myself from slipping and everyone would hear me scream
The rumbling of water over the moss infested rocks sings to me
Explaining what I can do to make my life happy and free