Sorry. I got caught up in Listmania making my own homeschooling list on Amazon
March 1st, 2007
Blogging Will Be Light Today
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December 20th, 2006
A Reason To Believe
With the Santa Mantra continuing full-force in our house, I’ve encountered a number of people who find it surprising that the Big-Eyed Boy still believes in Santa Claus. He’s six. Of course he does! He also believes in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Mommy’s ability to heal just about anything with a kiss and a cookie.
So I’d be furious, to say the least, if my son attended a school where some teacher informed him that Santa does not exist. But that’s precisely what happened in Britain:
Last week a primary school teacher was sacked for telling her young class that Santa does not exist.
The supply teacher apparently decided the pupils – some as young as nine – were too old to believe in Father Christmas.
The teacher, who has not been named, is believed to have told the class at Boldmere Junior School, in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands: “All of you are old enough to know there is no Father Christmas or fairies.
If you ask your parents to tell you they will say there is no such thing.”
I, personally, agree with Techievampire’s approach.
December 8th, 2006
Some Things Never Change
In case you ever wondered, things are no different than when you were in high school.
(Via O’Donnell Web.)
November 30th, 2006
He’s No Mr. Chips
Dubbed by Xrlq as “the best argument for homeschooling,” the story of a substitute science teacher who used the same lancet to draw blood from 7th graders for a class project is mind-blowing.
Even more shocking is that when the students expressed alarm over the AIDS risk, the teachers said nothing but merely continued wiping the lancet off on his own shirt before pricking other students. In fact, had a student not mentioned the situation to her mother, the school might never have known about it. Now, over 30 students must be tested for hepatitis and HIV.
Yep, I’d have to agree with Xrlq, but not for the obvious reason. Sure, the situation was appallingly dangerous for the kids. But the real shocker here is that such a person was hired as a “teacher” in the first place.
November 17th, 2006
School Officials Extorted Parents
Parents of special needs children often wonder how best to obtain the additional care and specialized eduation their children need. In Irvine, California, the answer apparently is by coughing up bling:
To get proper care for their severely autistic son, an Irvine couple say they were forced to shower employees at his elementary school with $100,000 in diamond jewelry, Coach bags, Chanel perfume and other lavish gifts, according to a legal claim filed this month.
Thomas Lin, a pediatrician, and his wife, Liya, a homemaker, also purchased and furnished a condo that a teacher’s newlywed daughter and husband lived in rent-free for a year before moving out with the furniture, according to the claim filed Nov. 2 against the Irvine Unified School District and the Orange County Department of Education.
County Supt. Bill Habermehl said he was told the Lins were not pressured to give gifts in exchange for educating their 7-year-old son, who could not speak and was not toilet-trained, but county education officials have launched an investigation. (Source: Mercury News.)
The parents claim that when their gift-giving waned, school employees actually began calling to demand specific gifts. Meanwhile, school officials deny it… but apparently have no explanation for the twelve “Thank You” notes written by employees to express their gratitude for the Lin’s gifts.
I can’t wait to see what the EducationWonks think of this one.
October 30th, 2006
The Cos on Cause
Bill Cosby attended a forum called “Education is a Civil Right” over the weekend. Considering his aggressive promotion of parental involvement and teacher excellence, the audience most likely expected more straight-talk from the honorary doctorate recipient. They weren’t disappointed. But this time, Cosby extended his message even further.
“We’ve got parents who won’t check the bedrooms of their children to see if there’s a gun,” he said.
He chided teachers for not explaining clearly to students who ask, “Why do I need to know this?” that their algebra and English classes can help them obtain higher-paying jobs.
“I’m not asking you to entertain the children,” he told listening teachers. “If you teach English, and you can’t answer this child … then you’re in trouble, and we’ve been in trouble. We can’t answer these children, because nobody’s given them any goals.”
If students know that they could fix elevators at the local mall and earn $75,000 a year, he said, “and if they like the job of fixing the elevator, you’ve got to get to them with that algebra.”
Even some churchgoers drew a rebuke. Cosby riffed on the common expression “The Lord will find a way,” adding, “So I’m just going to wait for Jesus to find a way.”
He said: “Too many people are waiting for Jesus to come along and cut your grass. And Jesus isn’t going to come along and cut your grass.”
Anyone want to bet on how soon church groups lodge their protests against Cosby and demand an apology?
October 13th, 2006
School Violence: The Game
Two companies, Rockstar and Take2 (the U.S. producer) are coming out with a video game called “Bully.” The concept? The main character fights with school bullies and tries to get accepted by various cliques within his school. Not surprisingly, many parents are outraged and the company does not understand why.
“Hitting girls, little kids, teachers and prefects lands you in serious trouble – you’re busted straight away,” said the spokesman.
The game is set in an American private school
Fighting forms a large part of the title but the developers said it was displayed like a “cartoon or Popeye fight”.
He said: “There’s no blood at all in the game. There’s no physical damage.
“Nobody dies in the game. There are no guns.”
But the main character can use dustbin lids and baseball bats to hit other children in the school.
He said: “Anyone over 15 knows that hitting someone with a baseball bat is going to cause serious head injury and would not copy it just because they saw it in a video game.”
Sure they don’t. It’s just pure coincidence the shooter in last month’s Montreal killings considered Super Columbine Massacre RPG to be one of his favorites.
UPDATE: After watching someone else play the game for him (because, apparently, judges can’t be bothered to play silly games?), Judge Ronald Friedman acknowledges that the game has a considerable amount of violence but cleared it for release.
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October 13th, 2006
Should Students Defend Themselves
Via Joanne Jacobs comes a story about Burelson school district — located outside Fort Worth, Texas — where students are being trained to defend themselves against would-be school shooters.
“Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success,” said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.
That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed.
But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week. [...]
Browne recommends students and teachers “react immediately to the sight of a gun by picking up anything and everything and throwing it at the head and body of the attacker and making as much noise as possible. Go toward him as fast as we can and bring them down.”
Response Options trains students and teachers to “lock onto the attacker’s limbs and use their body weight,” Browne said. Everyday classroom objects, such as paperbacks and pencils, can become weapons.
“We show them they can win,” he said. “The fact that someone walks into a classroom with a gun does not make them a god. Five or six seventh-grade kids and a 95-pound art teacher can basically challenge, bring down and immobilize a 200-pound man with a gun.” (Source)
I can’t say I’m thrilled about schools compelling children to attend and then looking to the children to defend themselves. But, if nothing else, at least kids don’t need to feel like they’re sitting ducks just because the school district can’t figure out how to keep armed people from walking its halls.