Go ahead, brag on yourself . . .

I am going to.

So feel free if you want to add a brag.

The state of New York will allow you to have a teaching certification if you have a certification in certain other states (such as Massachusetts).

The one requirement is that by the third year of your new certification, you need to have passed three NY teaching tests.

Now, I have not been teaching the last couple of years, but I want to, so I took two of the three tests earlier this year (I take the third in June).

I know I can teach, and I know I have general knowledge. But it's nice to be validated.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Test: 291/300

Secondary Assessment of Teaching Skills: 269/300

The passing score is 220

Here's what really pleases me.

The A&S Test has fivesections. I got 300 on two of them, and the other scores were 288, 288 and 278.

The Teaching Skills Test has four sections and I went 300-266-259-255.

Both tests have a Written Analysis and Expression portion. It's similar to what I have taught kids to do and for which I have been trained to score high school tests.

I got a 300 on each of them.

The other 300 was Historical and Social Science Awareness.

The remaining test is the Social Studies/History test.

I really want to get back in the classroom!

Wednesday evening: I like the sun being out.

1. Sunny weather has returned to the North Country, and I like the sun being out at 6:25 p.m.

2. Three more days of high school basketball this weekend. I am covering for the local paper and (right now) one out-of-town paper.

3. Good analysis of the gay prom decision.

4. So, trying to save money is a big deal here these days. There's nothing like getting two extra meals out of one meal. I made a terrific America's Test Kitchen slow-cooked pot roast and used the beef for the Guinness/Beef/Cheese soup. (And actually subbed a cheaper beer). I then pureed the extra vegetables and gravy from the pot roast and made a slow-cooked meal with winter vegetables and string beans.

5. Sportswriters are as bad as heralds.

We're having a give-and-take in e-mail on whether Queens High School of Teaching will be H.S. of Teaching or QHST on second reference in our basketball tournament stories this weekend.

6. Interesting AP story on the recruitment of young basketball players.

I have bolded the phrase that really concerns me.

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -- When Tyus Jones took the floor for his first varsity practice last fall, Tubby Smith was there to watch the budding star - who happens to be an eighth grader.

For kids like Jones, who plays at Apple Valley High School in this Minneapolis suburb, it's not unusual for a college coach to enter the picture well before calculus appears in the curriculum. Young teens are attracting ever-more attention from coaches in the competitive and lucrative world of major college basketball.

A concerned NCAA is trying to keep control of the situation, having recently clarified a rule to try to better protect middle-school prospects and raising the possibility of future prohibition on the earliest scholarship offers.

With help from family and coaches, Jones is just trying to stay grounded and get better at his game. It's too early, he says, to actually consider where he might want to play next.

Yep, "middle-school prospects" being recruited by college coaches. Not cool.

7. I'm just sayin' . . .