The Grit family — Bullgrit, Cowgrit, Calfgrit7, Calfgrit3, and Momgrit — will be on vacation all of next week. We’ll be driving all day Saturday to Disney World in Florida. We’ll be staying the week in the Walt Disney World Port Orleans French Quarter resort. We plan to visit Animal Kingdom on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, Hollywood Studios on Tuesday, and Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are left open to go back to whatever we want to revisit, or to possibly go visit Sea World. Then we’ll drive back home all day next Saturday. Six full days in Disney World!

Unfortunately, with the active storms in the Atlantic headed this way, it may rain a lot during our stay. But, as they say, a rainy day in Disney World is better than a sunny day at home. Even if it does rain, the parks will be open, most of the attractions are indoors, and who the hell is going to care if we get wet? We’re on vacation!

I may post about our adventures in the Happiest Place on Earth when we get back, but I’m not going to bother with trying to keep blogging while on vacation.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Cowgrit and I went to the end-of-quarter parent-teacher meeting with Calfgrit7’s teacher. He’s doing well in school, and this, of course, makes us very proud. But trying to make sense of the grading system makes us [read: “me”] confused.

His teacher showed and explained to us the grading forms she uses (as set down by the state board):

On math, the grades are A, B, C, D — C and D are good; A is bad. It was hard for me to get excited for all his Cs and Ds.

Other subjects apparently have points and stars. At one point, she said, “He’s at a four points on these two, so I can give him three stars.” Huh? “He got three-plus on these two, and a three on this, so he’ll get a three overall.” Huh?

In kindergarten and 1st grade, the grade scale was 1, 2, 3, 3+, and 4. 1 = does not “get” the skill; 2 = below grade level for the skill; 3 = knows the skill (at grade level); 3+ = knows and is able to apply the skill (a little above grade expectations); 4 = able to apply skills to expanded situations (above grade level), or something like this. It was different than the old standard letter grades I was used to, but it made sense once explained.

After we understood the new grading system, we could easily follow it on his report cards. He was always getting 3s, 3+s, and 4s. His 2nd grade teacher says we’ll still be seeing the 1-4 scale on his report card, but she wanted us to see the workings behind the numbers. That’s great, and I appreciate her showing it.

But it’s like the people behind setting the grading system for one skill (say, math) don’t talk or organize with the people setting the system for another skill (say, reading). One is rated as a letter (with A being bad, and D being good — directly opposed to the traditional scale), another is rated with stars, and another is rated with numbers, etc. What the hell?

Think of the poor teachers who have to work with these varied systems. The education bureaucracy is insane — they must have gone to public schools.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Calfgrit3 was having an unusually difficult time going to bed, so I laid down with him in the lower bunk. He kept saying, “I’m not sleepy,” “I’m not tired,” etc., etc. Eventually we both fell asleep.

I woke up just enough to realize where I was. I got up, stumbled my way out of the room and into the den where Cowgrit was watching TV. I sat down in a chair and fell asleep again.

Some time later, Cowgrit woke me up saying it was time to go to bed. “I hafta write my post,” I slurred. I bumbled my way into my office and sat down at the keyboard. “i’m so sleepi.’

;i’m just sayin, i can . . . good nite, nite nite, somethin

Bullgzzzzzzz

Dragon magazine was the monthly magazine for Dungeons & Dragons. It was published from 1976 to this month 2007 — the last paper issue was #359, September 2007. Its content is now only published online, but that’s not really a magazine to me.

I had a subscription to Dragon from the early 80s to the early 90s, and I picked up individual later issues, off the newsstand, here and there through the years. Some years I’d only pick up one or two issues, but since somewhere around 2003, I’d been buying 3-6 each year. The September 1983 issue (25 years ago this month) had the only readership survey I ever saw in Dragon. (There may have been others, but I never saw them.)

I had filled out the survey, but I never sent it in. Of the 20 questions, I didn’t answer #15 “How do you rate DRAGON Magazine overall compared with other gaming magazines?” and #20 “What other magazines do you read?” I didn’t read any other magazines at the time, gaming or other.

Click the image to see the survey near full size. (You can also see my answers from 1983.)

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com