Stranger than Fiction

I'm out sick today. Even though I didn't sleep at all last week I wanted to go in today, because it's actually *more* work prepping to be out, especially when it's last minute.

Anyway... I love/hate this time of year every four years, with that little thing called the Presidential Election. This year seems like a circus. Not surprisingly, many candidates are focusing on education. I don't think anyone has nailed it down completely yet, but no one is getting it more wrong than this guy. Petri says it much better than I ever could, but college (i.e. higher education) is for snobs? Really? I think he has finally gone off the deep end... which is actually unfortunate, as the entertainment he has provided will soon be no more.

Jon Stewart, you're my hero

I rarely watch TV, but when I do... usually my first choice is The Daily Show. Stewart's wit and interview skills are really freakin' amazing. It's too bad guys like that did not go into politics... but I digress.

Recently, Education Secretary Arne Duncan was on the show. If you missed it, here is the link. He did have some good things to say (I really loved his idea about the "wraparound" school, where it becomes a crucial community center, not just an 8-4 building), but for the most part, Stewart was ripping him a new one. It was one of the better interviews I have seen, if for no other reason than it got a professional policy maker to admit just how broken the current system is.

In other (better) news, I have a student in my first period who always brings his guitar with him to class. He almost always arrives early and starts to play a song while others are shuffling in. It's a great start to the day, and today he played "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab For Cutie. We had a really nice conversation about it before the bell rang. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay creativity!

Had to share...

As much as I'm trying to talk more about my own teaching experiences now and less about others, I couldn't not share this, because it is a great example of how broken the system is. Why are teachers continuing to be so undervalued? Why is there all this obsession with standardized testing, when we keep hearing, time and again, that we should be teaching children how to think critically and creatively, something that will never be accomplished with test upon test upon test? Aaaaaaargh.

Alternative Schooling

If you were to ask me how I felt about home-schooling, I would not be sure how to answer you. On the one hand, I think there are a lot of students who benefit from an environment that traditional schooling does not provide (and, in fact, one of my students is being homeschooled for the remainder of the year due to health issues she has been having, and is excelling in that environment), but on the other hand, I think that people can abuse it (mainly religious nuts), and some use it as a cop-out.

In the same ilk, I am slightly unsure about what I think about this, but I am leaning more toward the "I don't like it" vein, since I think it would mostly benefit people who homeschool their children because they don't like the "liberal agenda" or whatever they think traditional schools promote (it is named after another religious nut, after all).

I do agree that since parents who homeschool their children still pay taxes, so they should be able to have some input about public schooling-- but then again, they have made the choice to homeschool their children, and are aware of what they are giving up to do so. Also, I think waaaay too much emphasis is placed upon sports and other extra-curriculars where the academic curriculum is being ignored. But that's an entirely different issue...

Diversity at its best

I feel like I've been really negative lately. No surprise, really; I am a purebred cynic.

However, I'm going to really, really try to use this as less of a forum for bitching and instead use it as a forum for ideas and successes. Like, for instance, this one. It is quite a step for Gay Rights Advocates. While sexuality really has nothing to do with education, tolerance does. What is school for, if not to teach tolerance? So I feel like this article is extremely relevant to education.