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January 31, 2006
Thailand
Teachers continue to be targeted...
Posted by Stanks at 06:09 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2006
Run for the hills
Well...it's been quite a day. Alito is all but confirmed, Halliburton has been accused of sending contaminated water to Iraq, the march to end choice decended upon DC, and Bush fields some tough questions all on his own.
Posted by Stanks at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2006
Phaideia Anyone?
It's always entertaining stumble across another deluded and repressive voice on the subject of eduction. Pastor Doug Wilson, part-time thinker and full-time destroyer of choice shares his crusade to bring back the rod to education. I hear his book sales are down...
Posted by Stanks at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
The Truth is Out There
Another reasonable entity weighs in on the Intelligent Design debate. I know, I know--almost everyone and her mother has seen this site but it's still worth to post for the one vistor that comes to mine.
Posted by Stanks at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2006
Catholics Kick Intelligent Design
I almost knocked my tea over this morning when I saw this article in the NY Times. It seems the Vatican has given a subtle nod to the theory of evolution, dismissing the preposterous theory of intelligent design.
Posted by Stanks at 06:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2006
David and Gollith
Teaching kids is funny. Where else can you get the one-two combination of unfortunate smells and dead pan humor rolled into one on a given day? If you want to experience it for yourself, walk into any elementary classroom. If you're lucky you'll get hit in the head with a piece of clay. Speakig of which, I mediated a fight today between an on-again off-again 4th grade bully and a small 5th grader. It was David & Gollith come to life in the hallway. The fight, as far as I can tell, was over a basketball and the ever changing foul line. When the bully tried to flex his muscle by slapping he ended up getting popped with a jab and upper cut by a kid 1/2 his size. When I confronted all involved the bully broke down and cried saying anything to get out of trouble. David, on the other hand, owned up to his talent for punching and apologized with a true heart.
Afte many tears and a long conversation I asked the wanna-be bully what he learned from the whole experience. At first he came up with some regurgitated line about making better choices. When I said,"Uh huh...what did you really learn?" he said, "That kids littler than you can really hit hard."
Posted by Stanks at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
Red Alert: Public Schools Waste $$$
A recent article by by ABC commentator John Stossel solved the crisis in public education. Stossel maintains that public schools should stop crying poverty, that they are, in fact, rolling in dough and throw money out the window quicker than President Bush can mis-pronounce "nuclear." He says schools should buy more textbooks and spend less money on "extras" like computers and foreign language programs. Stimulating kids' minds through hands-on experiences be damned! Let's teach everyone by rote to increase those test scores which are a true reflection of what kids know and how they learn. I think I can say with a fair amount of cetainity that Stossel has probably spent 1 hour or less in a k-12 classroom in the past 15 years.
Posted by Stanks at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2006
Backdoor Jesus
Parents in a small school in northern CA are suing their high school to block a philosophy course designed to teach creationism and intelligent design along with a dabbling of evolution. Proponents say this will foster healthy debate. Opponents say evolution is being used as a loophole to get ID into the curriculum.
Posted by Stanks at 06:12 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2006
Confirmation Hearings
Confirmation Hearings began for Judge Samuel Alito yesterday. Alito claims a "good judge is one with no agenda" and maintains he will aprroach all cases with objectivitiy. But considering his conservative stance on issues such as a woman's right to choose, education, the extension of presidential powers and civil rights, Alito's words and assurances fall flat on their asses.
Posted by Stanks at 06:24 AM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2006
Impeachment Process Begin?
The Bush administrations obvious disregard for civil liberties has gone far enough. Representive John Conyers is calling for a full investigation. CensureBush.org
has a great recap of Bush's lawlessness and what can be done about it. Read the Constitution Crisis.
Posted by Stanks at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2006
$100 Laptop Program
Inequity is what this world thrives on. Those who have and have big seems to be a bit wary about getting people on even footing--it might bring down their stock. Enter the $100 Dollar Laptop an incredible and ambitious idea spear-headed by tech pioneer and guru Nicholas Negroponte. As chairman of the non-profit One Laptop Per Child, Negroponte along several leading MIT engineers have developed a Linux-based, hand-cranked, cool lime green laptop. The idea is to distribute one to every kid in developing nations. Quanta Computer Inc. out of Taiwan has been chosen as the manufacturer.
Programs such as this are key to chipping away at the mountain of illiteracy and ignorance due to the unequal distribution of knowledge and education. One Laptop Per Child is something to keep an eye on.
Posted by Stanks at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)