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Photo by Sergio

Last night I went with Sergio and Wes to see Common Market and Blackalicious at the University of Puget Sound.
  • The concert was early. We were out by 10:30 p.m.
  • Ra Scion dropped Sergio's name in a song.
  • Sergio took some great photos.
  • UPS students bump and grind.
  • Wes still knows a lot of people at that school.
  • UPS is sporting some fine looking women right now. Wes and I agreed that he should have traveled for a couple years before attending college. The timing would have been better.

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Matt, with his girlfriend -- a poster.
Editor's note: This is the second and final installment of "Head of Class," a two-part, autobiographical series chronicling guest blogger Matt Wood's experiences as a student teacher. The following was edited for grammar, clarity and length to bring the quality of writing up to a high school competency level.

Head of Class, Part 2: The Food Drive for Mr. Wood

One of my classes failed a test I gave them recently. The class average was 55.6%. I admit I made the test too hard and did not cover some subject matter as in depth as I should have, so part of their failure was my fault. Still, my students thought it would be easy and they obviously did not study.

On the day they received their grades back, my master teacher (the real teacher for the class) berated the students and informed them of my financial situation as a student teacher. He was telling them that I am paying $18,000 to teach them, can’t afford to turn my heat on and only spend 16 bucks a week on groceries (These statements are of true, but I chose to make these financial decisions. I’m not destitute, but he certainly painted that picture). When the students were given time to quietly work on homework at the end of class I didn't realize they were text messaging each other and starting a “food drive for Mr. Wood.”

The next day when I arrived, students came to class with frozen dinners and cookies. One girl brought a homemade cheesecake. Several students from the cooking class brought in a huge teriyaki bowl for my lunch. I was quite embarrassed at first and then I thought it was pretty cool that these students were bringing this stuff in. Do I have any shame? Did I return the food? Um… NO. I kept it -- That’s lunch and dinner for the next week!

I did share the cookies and cheesecake with them. Sure, teachers may not be able to afford a car, home, or new shoes, but I would challenge folks to come up with interactions and stories like this. High school students are so funny and unpredictable you never quite know what they are going to do. They keep things fresh and keep me on my toes.

And the food keeps coming… On Wednesday I got about eight cans of chili/beans, four or five cans of soup, a whole box of doughnuts, a few cookies and one frozen dinner. One of my students who forgot to do his homework and is failing my class brought in two cans of beans. Shocking, I know. I now have enough food to eat lunch for the next two weeks or so… though the beans could get rough by about fourth period. (Editor's note: Matt has horrible gas.)

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Breaking news: I am sad to inform you all that Audioslave has broken up. Just a few hours ago, former Soundgarden frontman and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell released the following statement:

"Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members" — guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk — "nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors."

Audioslave's break-up has been rumored for months, following Audioslave's announcement that they would not tour to support their last album, "Revelations." Cornell immediately began working on his sophomore solo album, "Carry On" (due out May 1) after finishing "Revelations" instead. He also penned the "You Know My Name," the lead track for the latest James Bond movie, "Casino Royale." More recently, Rage Against the Machine announced a reunion concert at Coachella (to be attended by yours truly), which further prompted rumors that Audioslave was calling it quits. (The other three members of Audioslave were 3/4 of Rage Against the Machine, fronted by Zach de la Rocha, for those of you who I lost at "Breaking news".)

I was fortunate enough to see Audioslave three times: at The Paramount, the White River Amphitheatre and the Everett Events Center. Those guys put on one hell of a show and created three great records. The pain I feel now can only be relieved if Rage Against the Machine reunites out of this.

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Editor's note: WIB presents "Head of Class," a two-part, autobiographical series chronicling guest blogger Matt Wood's experiences as a student teacher. The following was edited for grammar, clarity and length to bring the quality of writing up to a high school competency level.

Head of Class, Part 1: A Formal Rebellion

Most of you know that I have been working on my student teaching over here in Spokane at University High School. I teach US History and Current World Problems four days a week to 132 junior and seniors, including Kenna's little sister.

Two weeks ago I had my first observation. The day before my advisor was to come in, I told my students what was going to happen, and I tried to prep them for what to expect. My students all stated they understood and would behave appropriately. The next day, five male students, who usually wear baseball caps with well-worn sweatshirts and blue jeans, come in wearing dress shirts, ties and slacks. They take their seats right in front of my advisor and proceed to tell me how eager they are to learn.

Throughout my entire lesson these five guys keep raising their hands saying how this is the best lesson they have ever heard and that they were dying to hear what I have planned next. When I was lecturing, all five guys would nod their heads and scribble notes as if they were grossly engaged with the material at hand. At the end of class the guys came up to me and said they could not wait to get home and start their homework because this is their favorite class and I am such a great teacher.

The entire time I could hardly keep myself from laughing in the front of the class. Seeing their nodding heads with quizzical looks plastered on their faces was almost more then I could handle. My advisor told me in his 30 plus years of teaching he had never seen anything like that. I still have four more observations, so I hope next time they don’t show up in body paint or skirts.