Fun and Creativity squashed in the Real World of Education

This post serves the purpose of providing a post for Web 2.0 at WOU ning assignment 5a.  It also highlights that in a real world of education, fun is a necessary and often forgotten component.  Here is a link to a short podcast I made for the podcasting class.  If you have an extra minute or two, and need a laugh, check it out.

http://www.yodio.com/yo.aspx?cardid=Bovf0lrskl6G9pxuDEwhqI

Perhaps my real life experience was the source of my laughter because I actually broke my ankle one year and was only allowed to go back to work if I used a "knee cruiser."  No existing commercially bought product allowed me to get my violin easily back into the classroom so I modified this mini motorcycle I had made in college.  It originally had a weed whacker engine with modified chainsaw parts and three speed transmission.  Upon cruising into my first school, the Orchestra students were so excited to see me they called my name and waived across the library, oops, too much fun.  The next day I was greeted by my home principal (different school) not with a welcome back greeting, but with "The District called and you can't ride that in here."  I called "Employee Relations" and they were extremely concerned that my knee cruiser was not a medically approved device.  A quick trip to my doctor provided a good laugh and smile by him, and the necessary note that my device was medically approved.  The next day, "Employee Relations" had called again and told me my knee cruiser was now "Too distracting for the learning environment."  Unable to argue, and wanting to get back to my students, I picked up my grandpas boring wheelchair, flipped the back around and installed some handle bars with fake brake lever so that I could push it like a scooter.  Despite my best attempts, I was no less distracting to the learning environment cruising through the halls on my boring old wheelchair, but I at least got to teach until my appendix kicked it two weeks later:)