I Am Casey Blake

Casey Blake:

Mr. Everything for the Cleveland Indians from 2003-2008 who represents a persona I identify with and admire.

Blake never made an All Star team. He never broke any glamorous records. In fact, he was usually one of the last players Tribe fans like myself thought of when we bragged about our team. He was often chastised by local AM radio sports jockeys for being played so much with very little production in their minds.

But Casey Blake showed up everyday with his hard hat and lunch pail. He played almost any position the manager needed.

"Where you need me today coach?" had to be a common question he asked in the dugout everyday. If he wasn't at third base, he was in the outfield. If the outfield was set, he'd go to first base.

You need him to fill the 2 hole in the batting order? "Sure thing coach. I'll try to move the runners and slap some singles."

How about cleanup? "Yup, I'll try to get get some pop and hit in a few runs."

Even in the bottom of the order, Casey Blake was there to fill the hole and never complain about it.

Versatility and consistency defined Blake. His career batting average is .264. Nothing to brag about. He never hit over .282 for a whole season. He did have two seasons hitting 23 and 28 homers, but in the steroid era that is not too impressive. For the most part he is a 15 homer guy. Overall, he is a .265 hitter, 15HR and 70 RBI guy. He has had a couple game winning dingers but clutch isn't an adjective one would use for Blake.

Nothing flashy.

I like to think this is me. Looking at different stages of my life and different aspects of my life, I can relate to the lack of flash. I can also relate to the consistent, reliable, grinder way of things.

In my career, my classroom is not pretty or filled with cool looking things. But the walls consist of necessary references for my students to get the job done. I'm no where near the quality of the "greatest teacher ever if you ask me" teacher in the room next to me, but I clock in everyday and get those kids to learn despite many challenges. I entered my school a decade ago and filled the open spot in fourth grade. I have consistently and reliably kept that spot filled the whole time.

Stability. That's my middle name.

Of course, that is almost the antithesis of the utility style of Mr. Blake (that would go to my good friend who has taught almost every grade level at our school since he entered), but in this case, my consistency is my comparison.

When it comes to sports, I am not anywhere close to most of my friends and peers in terms of athleticism. I am not tall. I am not big or strong. I can't jump. I am not fast. I can't dribble the basketball in traffic. I can't hit the softball over the fence. I make my share of errors in the field. Nobody will ever mistake me for a point guard or cleanup hitter.

I could go on.

But I still play softball every summer. I pitch. I play infield. I play outfield. I'll hit lead off, I'll hit at the end of the order. I can score from second. I make contact. I'll buy a teammate a beer after the game and pound some chicken wings. Cheese garlic bread too.

I continue to contribute to basketball every Wednesday. I'll bring the ball up when I have to but immediately pass when pressured. I'll hit my share of three point shots. I'll hustle for rebounds and steals as best as I can. I'll set picks and try to cut when I avoid my laziness. Overall, I am a middle of the road guy on Wednesday.

Throughout almost every other aspect of my life I am Casey Blake. I am not the guy women will turn their heads at but I have received my share of compliments from numerous ladies, many of whom I trust. I am no comedian, but I can contribute to the laughter. There is no Ph.D in my future but I have been able to learn just enough about a number of things to maintain solid conversations on numerous topics to a point be called "smart" often. I can clock in and go to work within so many topics.

With me, like Casey, you know what you are going to get. It isn't pretty but more often than not, it gets the job done.

I'll take that.

Ten Songs I'm Digging Right Now

I usually go through phases with my listening preferences. Sometimes it may be a particular genre that I am regularly in the mood for and others it is a set of songs. My love for making different playlists on my iPod stems all the way back to high school when I, like many of you out there I am sure, made mixed tape after mixed tape for exercising, chilling, partying or for some girls.

So I thought I would share with you ten of the songs that have been in heavy rotation of late. Granted, there are more than ten. I counted twenty-seven to be exact. But I feel ten would be more concise and interesting. So I picked out ten songs across genres to attempt to show my diverse tastes. That means these are NOT necessarily a top ten list. Just ten songs.

But after the ten were selected, the order in which I present them IS in a sort of descending order. Of these ten, one is my favorite (right now anyway) and two is my second and so on. But these are not indicative of my favorite songs in general.

Enjoy:

10) Number 1 In Deutschland Hanzel Und Gretyl


9) To Kill A Mockingbird Elmer Bernstein
My brother introduced this beautiful song (maybe score?) to me when we were in Alabama for our grandmother's funeral and it moved me. I loved thinking back to my time with my grandmother as this soft music was in the background. Later that summer when my wife and I dealt with our loss, I found myself returning to this song in my time of solitary mourning. One would think I would dislike a song attached to such depressing events, but I really cherish it deeply. I am glad my brother discovered this and shared it with us.


8) Microphone Fiend Eric B. and Rakim
I couldn't get this for the blog but you can check out the video at this url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6SypUwUho4

Classic rap song. "Nuff said as they like to say. Or liked to say back in the day.

7) Folsom County Blues Johnny Cash
I never thought of myself as a country music guy. In fact, I usually can't stand country. But "The Man in Black" is different. I dig a number of his songs like "Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire" and "A Boy Named Sue." Right FCBs is the one I find myself singing along to. You can thank Social D for this. Their cover of "Ring of Fire" on their live album "At The Roxy" is what caught my ear and directed me in the direction of Mr. Cash. It was all downhill after that.


6) Drive The Cars
I love the Cars. Right now this song is the one I dig most from them and find myself listening to often.


5) Bullet Frank Black and the Catholics
Heard this song on CD101 in Columbus a ways back and really liked it. Bought it on iTunes and listen to it regularly. This is a home made video of the song, but it works.


4)In The Clouds Under the Influence of Giants
Again, I heard this updeat song on CD101 and couldn't help but move with it. Now my wife has caught on and finds herself enjoying it as well. So now it has become one of "our songs." If the poor thing wasn't so uncomfortable carrying around the littlest one we may actually dance to it too.

Here is a link to the video of this fun song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqkCi2MgupA

3) Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress The Hollies
Of course I am jamming to a song by The Hollies. I love these guys.



2) L.E.S. Artistes Santogold
She recently lost a lawsuit over the spelling of her name so it may be Santigold now.


1) History Stranglers The Bronx
My buddy out in L.A. suggested this band and sent me the video back when I requested music suggestions (a la my sister-in-law) and I jumped on it. This song in particular strucvk my fancy. Good rock! And the video is pretty sweet. (Caution: There is some pretty strong language used in this song....that's for mom.)

Education Reform

President Obama and Ohio Governor, Ted Strickland have both recently spoke out about fixing the mess that is education in our country. I agree there are problems that need to be fixed, but I am not so sure I agree with the ways they propose to fix it.

Being a teacher in an urban setting for over a decade now, I have legitimate perspective on what is wrong where it is wrong. The areas where schools are failing includes the area in which I teach. When you speak of "failing" schools, you speak of my school. When you speak of "failing" teachers, you speak of me.

The classifications of schools are based on results from statewide standardized tests and graduation rates. The federal classifications include Academic Emergency, Academic Watch and..... well I don't know because my school has never had a positive classification. I suppose it would be something like Academically Sweet! Or School of Absolutely Awesome Teachers Who Kick Butt While You Others Stink! Maybe something like Our Schools Work and Yours Doesn't So Do What We Do.

My bitterness is obvious, but you would feel the same if you spent just one school year teaching where I teach let alone a decade.

From the bits and pieces I have heard, I gather the President and Governor both feel that teachers need to be held more accountable. President Obama seems to favor charter schools. They both seem to favor merit pay for teachers. They also want to extend school hours and school years.

Fair enough.

Here are my humble suggestions. Again, these come from someone who is on the front lines and has been for 11 years. I have some credibility.

Teacher Accountability:
How can you not be for this? As I objectively approach this issue I do think we should be held to particular standards. We are the facilitators of the education on the ground level. We are the foot soldiers and have the most influence in the classroom itself so everyone is counting on us to deliver. Therefore, we need to held to high standards. But education and the teaching profession itself is a unique monster.

It is difficult to truly measure a teacher's worth or success. This is because it is totally dependent on somebody else's performance--the student. In addition, it is not dependent on one student but a group of students. Also, a whole year of work is accounted for with a test that is taken on one particular day. A teacher can do everything by the book all or most of the year but have a student come in on test day with any number of problems that weigh heavier on their mind than a test. Finally, the everyday battle of teaching students who are unmotivated or apathetic to the educational process as a whole make it near impossible to be effective enough to earn a positive classification.

Then the emotional and mental toll this takes on a teacher over time begins to eat away at their own motivation and feeling of self-worth. Year after year of dealing with these issues separate from the education of the students and getting labeled as a failure wear on you and negatively affect performance.

I read an analogy in a newspaper article my wife copied for me about holding a doctor accountable for a patient's lack of improvement because the patient did not take the medicine prescribed or followed through with the rehabilitation assigned. Holding teachers accountable based on test scores is like that. Of course, the doctor could prescribe something wrong and would deserve blame for it but just because a patient doesn't recover well doesn't automatically mean they made a mistake or performed their job erroneously.

Charter Schools:
From a business perspective, the charter school model makes sense. It creates competition. Competition increases quality. The good schools and teachers or administrators rise to the top and the others sink and fail and are closed. But as I wrote above, it is difficult to fairly assess this success or failure. Many of the problems are out of the control of the schools.

Merit Pay:
On the surface merit pay makes sense because you would reward good teachers. You would provide incentive for teachers to work harder. But again, harder work by the teachers isn't necessarily the problem here. We are working hard! I have tutored after school and on Saturdays. I have attended professional development. I have stayed late and come in early. I even did work at home for a number of years in addition to the extra hours. My scores still stunk!

The problem is deeper than the effort of the teachers. Honestly, the effort of the students is more important and as hard as we try to encourage, motivate or affect the students' effort, the bottom line is that we can't make them do anything they don't choose to do themselves.

Merit pay will mean teachers in more affluent districts or districts where students come from families that value education will get paid more while teachers in districts where the improvements need to be made the most get paid less.

That isn't fair and it won't fix the problems.

Extending School Days and School Years:
I admit I love my summers off. In fact, I NEED my summers off to rebuild my sanity. But this is not why I think this idea won't be effective. Developmentally, I am not sure kids could benefit from the longer days. Their attention wanes by the end of the day as it is. More hours would just be a waste of time because their attention won't be focused like it needs to be to be worthwhile.

Here is my suggestion: Instead of extending the year or days, change the format. There are several schools in our district that are year round. I don't have any data to support their success or lack thereof and due to the neighborhoods in which they are located, I doubt they are overwhelming successful, but allow me to give you the theory behind why this format would be more effective than extending the hours or year.

This format maintains the 180 days of school per school year but eliminates the summer. Students attend school for four nine week periods with three weeks between each. This keeps them in a routine because there is no three month gap. This gap often creates the need to spend weeks getting them back into the school routine every year. Most importantly, the three week intercessions between the grading periods can be used for enrichment or remediation. Students that are struggling can catch up in the three weeks between the four grading periods. Gifted students can have opportunities to extend their learning during these intercessions. Students who need a break can get a break. The intention of extending the school years would be served this way in my mind. It also allows for choice and flexibility for parents and students and teachers.


Final Shots:
The problems with education have less to do with teachers and more to do with the funding or lack of funding (ruled uncontitutional in Ohio), lack of support from parents, students themselves and the general lack of value of teachers. Education is a difficult problem to solve. There are so many underlying factors outside of the schools that you can't pinpoint one specific thing to do in the schools to cure the ills.

I think we can start with fixing the funding problems, move to year round schools and try to encourage more support for schools through volunteers and instilling a general value in education. We need to repair the relationship and trust between teachers and parents. Finally, parents need to be held more accountable. They need to initiate communication with the teachers and play a more direct role in their child's education with the teacher.

Basketball Is Life

This is not a sports post so Carrie and Michelle can continue reading, I promise. The whole Basketball is Life metaphor may have been done already (see One Tree Hill...I don't, I just heard about it from my sister and observe my wife's passing interest in it), but I thought I'd give my spin on this metaphor.

They say the NBA is a game of runs. One team may jump out to a big lead but you know that their opponent will make a spirited comeback at some point. The ability to counter that comeback determines whether that initial leads holds or not.

In addition, anyone who has played basketball for an extended period of time has noticed that they have days where anything they throw in the air goes through the hoop and then without explanation nothing goes in no matter how easy, open or close they are to the hoop. It is a great feeling to be in the zone as it is called and play with all the confidence in the world. On the flip side, it may be the most frustrating feeling to do everything right and still be unable to make one stinking shot.

Teams can experience the same phenomenon. They can "click" on all cylinders passing the ball crisply and accurately, getting easy shots and making them as well as grabbing every rebound on both ends of the court and staying in the face of their opponent every time they try to shoot. Their energy can seem to be at full power and unending. Then before that very same game is over, they find themselves sputtering and stagnant, unable to do what they want and are usually capable of doing. The very same team in the very same arena playing the very same opponent on the very same day.

Life is like this.

You have periods where you feel like you can do no wrong. Whatever you say or do and feel is right. Without even trying, you ace a test or you understand a concept you are learning in school. Maybe you accomplish a task at work with ease. You walk up to that girl or guy and say the perfect thing that attracts them and accurately demonstrates the awesome person you are. You feel good and do good things as a result. People shower you with praise and adulation. You feel like you can conquer the world! If only more people listened to you, the world would be a better place for all! You should write a book about how to live life.

Then without notice or anticipation, BAM! Nothing seems to go right. You stumble over yourself with that girl or guy you met only last week. You fail a test at school or just can't grasp the concept your teacher is presenting no matter how much you read, listen or study (Exhibit A: My attempt at a Math major and the immediate inability to make it through the last course of calculus). You screw up a major task at work and you let down your fellow workers and boss. You say things you regret to people you care about. You feel downright angry and pitiful. "How did this happen?" you wonder. I might be the worst person who every walked this planet. Everything goes wrong for me. And the pity party begins.

But most of the game is made up of a back and forth of buckets or missed shots on the offensive end and buckets or stops on the defensive end. Outside of a random dunk or blocked shot, a good day or bad day, most of the events go unnoticed soon after they occur. The runs are what stick in your head.

I would like to think that I haven't reached halftime of my game yet. I hope I am somewhere in the second quarter. So the outcome of my game is far from determined. There is a lot of game left to be played and I still can make some halftime adjustments.

I don't want to lose my game. I want to win.

Right now, I feel as though my opponent is going on one of those runs. I started out of the gate pretty quick. I took an early lead. My teammates set me up and I have been carrying my share for most of this quarter. But I am starting to have a hard time. I can't buy a bucket right now. Every rebound is bouncing their way. Each time I think I get a stop, I get called for a foul. I am trying to stick to the fundamentals and do what I was taught and what I learned on my own, but nothing seems to be working. I can't stop the other squad from scoring and they are getting easy points in the paint. They are out hustling me. They are just too physical for me right now.

I have tried to take my timeouts effectively, but even those are unable to stop the bleeding. Part of the reason may be the fact that I don't have a coach. I am getting lost out here. What has worked for me up until now isn't working. The coach I had didn't see eye to eye with me. I didn't feel as though I needed to conform to the coach but I needed to find a coach that would fall in line with me.

I am worried the deficit I am finding myself under is too much to overcome. But I do NOT want to lose. I am too damn competitive to lose this game. I must find a way to make a run of my own. If I can cut the deficit to single digits before halftime, I'll feel better. I just need some shots to start going. I need a rebound or two to bounce my way or my teammates' way. If I can get a second chance shot, I know I'll drill it. Or I'll get it to someone who will.

One thing I have learned from living life and watching basketball: The ball doesn't just bounce your way, you have to go get it.