Roger, you are a mere babe in the woods. Listen to your elders, who are wiser than are you. You have not taught long enough to know which end of the chalk to grasp.
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From: Richard Ceglio [mailto:Richard.Ceglio@sdhc.k12.fl.us]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 7:08 AM
To: lee decesare
Subject: Re: SPAM: FW: monkey biz
ONE MORE THING I AM 50 YEARS OLD. I HAVE RAISED TWO CHILDREN Comma: nonrestrictive appositive ONE WHO IS A TEACHER, Period: comma splice, a grammar felony I BEGAN TEACHING 3 Spell out numbers up to one hundred. YEARS AGO. I SPENT 30 Spell out. YEARS IN THE CORPERATE WORLD Comma WHICH I MIGHT ADD NO TEACHER I EVER MET COULD SURVIVE IN! You wouldn't survive a minute in an intensive-care unit with two gun-shot wounds, three strokes, and a kidney failure on dialysis. I was head nurse and kept them alive on my shift every time. I AM HERE DOING THIS JOB FOR THE KIDS comma: contrasting element NOT MYSELF. I FEEL BAD FOR THOSE 10 Spell out. GRANDCHILDREN, NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE A BAD GRANDMOTHER Period: grammar felony fused sentence I WOULD IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE I ? What's this "I" for? ONE OF THE BEST. BUT GRANNY SHOULD TRY TO KEEP THEM IN MIND AND NOT THE TEACHERS Period: fused sentence (grammar felony) YOUR. Now you are rattled: you stumbled into a period where it does not belong. FRUITLESS EFFORTS ARE NOTHING BUT MINDLESS RANTS WITH BIG WORDS Teachers are supposed to be able to use big words. If they can't, they can repair to the corporate world of Mc Donald's, where they ask sans big words, "Do you want fries with that super-duper Big Mac? THAT ACTUALLY ARE QUITE AMUSING Don't underline for emphasis: that's comic-book style, worse than sophomoric. It's Pampers language. AND REALLY DO NOT DESERVE RESPONSE. Then why do you respond? THANK GOODNESS FOR SPELL CHECK AND DICTIONARIES. And thank you, Jesus, Allah, and Buddha for that terrific ninth-grade English teacher who taught most people grammar and punctuation but missed this corporate refugee, who wandered into pedagogy burdened with the misguided belief that he knows his ass from his elbow.
lee drury de cesare, granny of ten, former teacher and supporter of teachers, faculty president, and cook who can make the best damn chicken and dumplings this side of the Mason-Dixon line, above which live the villains who conducted the War of Oppression against us Southern belles, making it obligatory for us to grab the family silver and head for the cane brake and for Scarlett to shoot the Yankee marauder between the eyes whose foul object was to rape the plantation's women and steal the silver
You are out of your league, sugarbritches. Give up before this granny ties you in knots from which you will never extricate yourself. Pricking the balloons of pompous twits is this adorable granny's specialty. Go to your room until you can keep a civil tongue in your jejune head. Love and kisses, Granny Lee
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From: Richard Ceglio [mailto:Richard.Ceglio@sdhc.k12.fl.us]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 6:54 AM
To: lee decesare
Subject: Re: SPAM: FW: monkey biz
FIRST OFF comma: sentence modifier I DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE comma: compound sentence AND SECOND comma, sentence modifier I REALLY DO NOT CARE Period: grammar-felony fused sentence WHEN YOU SO hyphen: two words before a noun acting as a single adjective CALLED IDEALIST spelling:"idealists" plural GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT comma: introductory adverbial clause; "get your head on straight" is such an ancient cliché that it has grown moss and whiskers MAYBE THEN YOU WOULD REMEMBER THAT TEACHING IS ABOUT THE KIDS comma: contrasting element NOT ABOUT YOU. JUST LIKE YOU, SOME TEACHERS CAN'T FUNCTION MORE THAN 8 Write out numbers up to one hundred. HOURS A DAY WITHOUT FINDING SOMTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. Oh, those spoiled teachers. What pikers they are! I SIT EVERYDAY (this is two words for an open compound here: "every day." AND WATCH TEACHERS RUN OUT THE DOOR PAST MOST OF THE KIDS comma, nonrestrictive participial phrase LEAVING SOME CHILDREN WHO COULD USE THEIR HELP BEHIND. YOUR RESUME IS IMPRESSIVE IN YOUR MIND Period: grammar-felony comma splice THANKS FOR SHARING. I AM SURE ALL YOUR JOBS QUOTED HAD UNION REPS TO PROTECT UNPRODUCTIVE WORKERS TOO. Nurses didn't. Nurses still think that they should not unionize because theirs is a mission of mercy. I say phooey to that piffle. I talked union the whole time I nursed. PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER ME WITH THESE UNIMPORTANT OPINIONS. What are you doing with your time: contemplating Plato's theory of Ideal Forms or THE MEANING OF LIFE according to Mickey-Mouse metaphysics? WHY NOT FOCUS YOUR ENERGY ON EMAILING CONGRESS AND OTHER GOVERMENT AGENCIES TO HELP FIND MORE FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS. I am afraid it would give money to school administrations to hire more teachers from the corporate world who can't punctuate ENERGY TO HELP PARENTS AND CHILDREN GET BETTER EDUCATIONAL FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGE.
PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER ME ANY MORE WITH THIS EFFORTLESS JARGON SO YOU CAN HAVE YOUR 15 Spell out. MIN Put a period for an abbreviation or, better, spell it out. OF FAME. Clichés have a malignant hold on your mind. SEND IT TO MORE OF YOUR IDEALISTIC FRIENDS WHO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO BUT COMPLAIN Those of us in the education racket must remind you to put a period at the end of a sentence.
Richard, I wish you had come in as a patient when I worked the emergency room. I would have administered all your injections with an 18 blood-donor needle in the most nerve-nourished part of your glutei. I would have told the duty intern to order a barium enemy because you complained of impacted bowels. He would have. Interns always do what nurses tell them to do. I would have passed the word along to the other nurses that you were a pill who needed cuffing around by the sisters of mercy ad lib, prn, q.i.d., t.i.d., and h.s..
May cow dung be rained on your empty pate, sirrah, and may your crops like fallow in the fields. Other than that, have a nice day.
Sairy Gamp, R.N.
Betsy Prig
8 comments:
Actually I feel for Dick.
Most teachers feel the same way he does for the first five years and perhaps a little longer. I suspect he really doesn't need the money and this "vacation" away from the Corporate World is spent "helping the kids" at Sickles. Unfortunately his attitude appears to be ego-based which is something to guard against. Having those faces looking up to you, appearing to hang on every word, and particularly providing that adult validation so many students seem to need is intoxicating to rookies. It is also something that really undermines reality and often times blurs the paycheck that so many college-trained teachers need to pay off that ole college loan. It can be like crack - you just can't get enough of it. Obviously Mr. C. doesn't need the money and feels that his peers don't either.
I have to wonder if he left the Corporate World out of guilt. Downsizing, buyouts, firings, and other unpleasant realities of his previous job may also be driving him to make amends via his teaching position - once again on the backs of the veteran teachers.
Dick, please keep in mind that the teachers you reference in your email may be experiencing burnout. Watch closely: THAT is your future. You will gain no support by dismissing their condition. Your lack of understanding will only exacerbate the tension and you will have to isolate yourself or they will. Once again it's a rookie mistake.
In the meantime use some of that "corporate experience" to learn the culture you have chosen to join. Find out why some of the teachers you witness are behaving in that manner. Don't be so damn aloof and maybe you will gain an understanding before you get run over with your eyes closed.
So WHAT do you teach? How many preps do you have? Are you enrolled in the Alternate Certification Program? ESOL training? Are you supporting a family? Do you aspire to an administrative position? Does your wife work? Do you need the paltry 34K or did you land at Sickles with a golden parachute or trust fund?
You lasted 30 years in the Corporate World, I give you 10 in the classroom.
I know Richard personally. I believe he is a great person at heart. I have seen him donate much of his time and money helping students. Recently, he took legal responsability for a student who has no home or parents to care for him. Richard has provided a place for this student to live and taken care of his basic needs. In doing so, this misguided student is now going to college to become a professional chef. When Richard comments he is teaching for the students, he is sincere.
Richard is not financially well-to-do and needs the paycheck as much as the rest of us. I understand what Richard is trying to say. Allow me to explain..
I, like Richard, come from the culinary world. As a chef, I have spent the majority of my career at work and on my feet. When others are enjoying a night out or a holiday, I was working in the trenches of a hot kitchen. As a chef, you get no lunch, no breaks, and little time off. I started my day at 4:00 a.m. I worked non stop until after the lunch rush. If I was fortunate, I had time to change my chef coat and get ready for the dinner shift. I worked through dinner until closing. I would return home around midnight. It was not uncommon to work 75 hours or more a week. This is the life of a chef. Richard has been through the same experiences as I. It is difficult to explain just how difficult the job of Professional Chef is.
I left the culinary field because I have a wife and children I never had time for. I never spent Christmas or Thanksgiving with my family. I was always in the kitchen. When the opportunity to teach culinary came available, I took it. My family needs me to be available to them.However, as much as they need me and I need them, I am wondering if I made a mistake. I certainly believe I am working in the wrong county.
As culinary instructors, Richard and I still spend long hours at work. We still start our day at 4:00 a.m. I get up and go to the 24 hour Wal-Mart to buy food for the day. Culinary programs like Richard's and mine operate a Cafe for the Teachers and Students. We have lesson plans and grades just like the core subjects. We also have the job of running a cafe to do at the same time. When the day is over, we have our academic jobs to attend to as well as the culinary.I have papers to grade, parents to call, e-mails,paper work, and all that is required of a teacher to accomplish AFTER the last bell has rung. I then have a kitchen to clean, inventory to complete, menus to finish, and all that is required to run a culinary program. Quite often, I do not leave work until after dark. I know Richard does the same.
Richard, like myself, may be a new teacher but he is not deserving of the remarks I have read on this site. Perhaps, he could have conveyed his thoughts diferently. Perhaps, more professional.
Teachers, like Chef's are thought of as professional. We all agree the school board members are misguided. Money is the determining factor behind the decisions they make. If we, as professionals, want to see a difference in the school board's decision making, we must maintain professionalism.
I have read the comments on this site and I am concerned. Everyone has the right to their opinion. Why do some people feel it necessary to critique others grammer. What good can come of belittling others. Let your actions speak for you. If you are a great teacher and leader, you do not need to tell everyone just how great you are. Let us talk about solutions to our problems. Speaking ill of others accomplishes nothing. You can not drag others through the mud without getting dirty yourself. Correcting someones grammer is childish. Others can read and, in doing so, make up their own mind about the person who sent the message. I am sure I have made errors in this text. Does it make me less of a person or a bad teacher.
I am sure Richard is thinking the same thing. Richard believes in solutions, as do I. If we expect to be taken seriously by the members of the school board, then we should act serious. How do you think the school board members will view this site. Are we posting benificial comments. I am not perfect. However, I am striving to be the best I can.It is my hope we will strive together to make a change in Hillsborough County. Perhaps, the change should start with us.
Anonymous:
I stick with my credo that people must be able to read and write to be teachers. I don’t want people who can’t punctuate teaching my grandchildren. I want my grandchildren to learn from qualified teachers to write literate prose with punctuation marks in the right places so that they can go to a good college and get a spiffy degree that ensures a good job.
Richard may be one swell dude, but he badmouthed other teachers in emails to me, saying they couldn’t wait to get out of school at the end of the day while heroic Richard stayed to help students. He made himself look good by trying to make his colleagues look bad. That is not my idea of a first-class person.
Richard said not one negative word about the administration. All his vitriol went to other teachers.
If teaching cooking is as unattractive as you make it sound, then quit. Get another job. But don’t teach if you can’t punctuate. If you can’t make the effort to learn to punctuate, then depart education so as not to inflict your illiteracy on my grandchildren.
A teacher unable to punctuate is like a chef unable to boil water.
And, yes, your essay has a passel of basic errors. And if you can use email, you can use the spellcheck. Start doing so. And stop whining. Pull up your socks and face life. Nobody said it would be a rose garden.
lee drury de cesare
Lee, your comments in regards to my e-mail about Richard speaks volumes about the kind of person you are. You do not know me nor do you have any idea of my dedication to teaching. I enjoy teaching culinary. My description of a chef's life was to show the amount of dedication it takes to teach culinary. I was not whining and my socks fit just fine. I was suggesting that personal assaults on others was childish. I do not always agree with Richard or his opinions. However, I have enough respect for others and myself not to speak ill of him. To speak ill of someone just because they hurt your feelings, makes you no better than they are. You miss the point completely.
I will lower my standards a bit to say this.. I face life each day with a dedication you will never know. I was shot four times, riddled with shrapnel, stabbed, and tortured, all in service to my country. I have sacraficed a lot for others to continue to enjoy their freedom. I lost one kidney, half of my stomach, a good portion of my intestine, half of my pancreas, gall bladder, appendix, duodenum, and my spleen.I have endured burns from explosions. I have a tear in my aorta, and three fractured disks. I do not know how to whine, only how to survive.
If I had wanted to whine or seek sympathy, I would have included this information in my last e-mail. I would have commented how I took the teaching job because physically, I could use the break from 70 hours a week.
. I have lived through things you could not imagine in your wildest nightmares. I live each day in spite of the pain and scars I will always carry. However, I face life with joy in my heart and a prayer on my lips.
Forgive me, I should have proof read my e-mail and used spell check. I do, however, insure I teach my students with the highest standards. Anything written is written perfectly. I know how to spell and punctuate. I assure you, should I teach any of your grandchildren, I will make sure I speak, read, and write to your standards. All I ask is that you teach your grandchildren to be kind to others. Teach them that it is wrong to speak ill of others; no matter what they may have done to them.
Lee, I sincerely hope and pray you take my comments to heart. Take some time before you reply with more negative comments. I feel as strongly as you about the injustice the school board is doing to teachers.I believe all teachers should be fighting for justice. I also agree all teachers should be able to spell and punctuate. However, I do not agree with the way you have spoken of others and myself.
I have one last request. Please, critique your own e-mails with the same harshness you have critiqued others. I am positive you will see , all of us are capable of mistakes; no matter how smart we are.
To Mr. Anonymous:
Anybody who has as many wounds and missing body parts as you claim to have and is still walking around much less teaching cooking is a medical miracle.
I happen to be a registered nurse and must have authentication of such outrageous physical pathology. I am quick to spot malingering in any form. So send me your medical records. I will review them and make infernces about how many of your injury claims are true and how many are persiflage.
You have cleaned up your error rate in writing, however, and used the spellcheck. That's an improvement. I will consider whether any of my grandchildren would be safe in your cooking classes.
But you have turned a perfectly benign granny into some kind vile despoiler of fragile egos. Knock that off, or I will have to rat you out to your mother for granny bashing. Those tactics don't work with me. Try them on somebody more gullible. lee
Lee, like I said before, your comments speak volumes. Once again, you choose to put me down. People who inflate themselves and put others down suffer from extreme self esteem issues. You should know, your credability is damaged each time you respond with such negativity.
As a nurse, you should know what a whipple procedure is. You should also know what happens when a whipple goes wrong and the remaining tail of the pancreas begins to digest the surrounding organs and tissue. You should also know what high velocity bullets do to the human body.
I feel no need to prove anything to you. It is obvious you are not a person who understands reason nor is willing to accept fault. I bid you good day and a nice life. I have more important things to do.
God Bless.
Mrs. De Cesare's,
I am aware of many of your accomplishments and I applaud your success. I am also appreciative of your support of teachers in Hillsborough county. I regret that my first comments to you were not interpreted correctly.
I am aware of some of the comments Richard made in regards to teachers. I believe he was targeting a select few. I understand how his comments struck an already sore nerve with you and others. In Richard's defense, I have heard Richard voice his opposition to the fumblings of the school board. Conversations Richard has had in my presence held no love for the administration.
I understand how my support of Richard, a fellow Chef, did not sit well with you. I know Richard to be a different person than you described. With this knowledge, I allowed myself to get off track in my first comments to you. I know Richard as a generous person that does a lot for the students and the culinary programs in the county. It is unfortunate my support of Richard caused you to feel the same lack of respect for me.
Please accept my sincere apology for allowing my comments to become personal. I believe we should use all of our efforts to show our opposition to the money changers at the school board. I believe we should remain professional in our comments. Should La Elia, as you call her, become privy to the comments on this site, credibility should be our goal.
I know you are not a forked tongued devil with horns and a tail. I do not wish to portray you as such. A lot of your comments are amusing, to say the least. However, your negativity in comments to myself were unfortunate. My negative comments to you were as well.
You were correct, It is a miracle I am alive and able to work. I thank God for that. My injuries, circumstances behind them, and my ultimate survival is something I take very serious. I believe life is to precious to waste time bashing each other on the head with our ego sticks.
I hope I expressed my thoughts and intentions more clearly. I hope all is well with you and yours.
OK, anonymous, we are buddies. Let's do what we can with what brains and body parts we have left.
For example, show up at the next Board meeting and lay a guilt trip on Board members about your defending-your-country injuries.
Then use that opening to help me get a permanent teacher slot on the Board agenda so teachers will have an official voice in what goes on in the school system.
I do not lack sympathy for Iraqi vets with mutilated bodies. But they are better off than the 3000 plus who left their lives in Iraq for Bush's lying us into war. And a whole lot of Iraqi civilians are dead due to our "rescue." They count in my book too.
Yet if you interview the average GI in Iraq or anywhere, they are all sentimental about President George Bush, the draft dodger. Brave these soldiers are; smart they are not. lee
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