corner boys

(S04E08) "We got our thing, but it's just part of the big thing." -- Zenobia.

Mr. Prezbo, as his students call him, is doing much better with the blackboard math story-problems now that he's had a couple months experience teaching. At least there is some awareness of what's happening up front in the classroom. Kids are paying enough attention now to notice the chalk "dinks" he makes out of habit around the correct answer! However, the other teachers tell Prez the hard facts, it's not about learning: it's about training by rote for the "Leave No Child Behind" standards test, and funding.

One of the most fascinating things was experiencing police work through Carcetti's eyes on his various fact-finding excursions. Fun to see Kima take pleasure in catching the Mayor-Elect try to get away with putting an empty coffee pot back on the burner. "Oh no, fuck that," she says. "You finish a pot, you make the next one." It's also enjoyable to watch The Bunk put the screws to Old Face Andre, even the it pisses off his sergeant. I found the touches of humor more-than-usually welcome this week, because things turn serious, and seriously depressing, with Carcetti's trip to the Eastern. Rip-and-run policing only succeeds in impounding a bicycle, depriving its owner of job transportation.