The latest in education? Or "everything old is new again?"

I first started teaching in 1985. I started to go to school in 1965. I'm still going to school. In the past 40 years, I have seen many teachers with differing educational styles. Students have different learning styles, too. In my professional classes, I have often heard how important it is that teachers continue to learn, either by becoming more expert in their subject area or by staying attuned to the latest "best practices" in the field of education. Over the years, however, I have seen many fads come and go. It makes me a bit leery to hear of some new practice or way of teaching that is reported to be the best thing since sliced cheese.

Interestingly enough, several stories ran this week on the subject of education. I'm going to share with you the links and provide a little bit of introduction. You can feel free to react to any or all of them.

The first has more to do with culture, I suppose. It reports that "teenagers are getting younger." Here's an excerpt:

In some ways, it's simply part of a kid's natural journey toward independence. But child development experts say that physical and behavioral changes that would have been typical of teenagers decades ago are now common among "tweens" — kids ages 8 to 12.

Some of them are going on "dates" and talking on their own cell phones. They listen to sexually charged pop music, play mature-rated video games and spend time gossiping on MySpace. And more girls are wearing makeup and clothing that some consider beyond their years.

What do you observe? Do you have younger siblings who act in the way described in the article? Are parents simply unable to resist the pressure of the culture, and too busy trying to be buddies than to be parents?

Now, back to school. Blissfield reports a successful program called 'DRIVE' that has had a great success in motivating students to complete their homework and improve their grades. Read about the program here. What do you think? What are the special motivators? It sounds like "Do your homework or else you'll have noon hour detention and after school detention for the remainder of the year." I get a kick out of the statements describing how much the kids "love" the program. Well, maybe if the students won't do homework they should consider cancelling homework. Or would that be too much like the clowns running the circus (or inmates running the asylum)?

Everything old is new again...old concepts like "detention" and "homework" are making a comeback in Blissfield. And in La-la land, single sex classrooms are the rage. The thinking goes that boys and girls have different learning styles. Boys favor a competitive environment, but girls love to have partners and groups and work together cooperatively. Or, as one young lady put it in this article, "I like math now a lot more than I used to. Boys are a distraction because they goof around a lot and it's easier for me to concentrate when they're not there." Read the article and consider the case for and against single-sex classrooms.

Is Wal-Mart good or bad?

Wal-Mart is evil.
They pay their employees terribly.
They block every attempt to unionize their “associates.”
They sell goods from third-world countries, making them guilty of supporting virtual slave labor in sweatshops.
They come into town and run the small stores out of business.

Wal-mart bashing is in vogue these days. Groups like “Wake Up Wal-mart” and “Wal-mart watch” organize rallies and urge their supporters to avoid shopping at the evil retail giant. Politicians with presidential aspirations like Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, John Kerry, John Edwards, and Hillary Clinton have placed Wal-Mart in their crosshairs.

That's one version of reality. In an alternate universe...(should we call it "America?")

Wal-Mart is good.
They pay their employees well.
They provide significant benefits without having to deal with unions.
They sell goods cheaply so that Americans of modest income can enjoy a rather comfortable existence.
They even are resisting the siren song of political correctness and allowing their associates to wish their customers a “Merry Christmas.”

This Friday is “black Friday.” The day after Thanksgiving is a make-or-break sales day for many merchants because it sets the tone for the holiday shopping season. (Just so no minorities have a cow, the colors “black” and “red” indicate “profit” and “loss” in business jargon.)

My wife works as a circulation director for the Hillsdale Daily News, and they are required to keep the Wal-Mart ad for Wednesday under lock and key…and anyone found leaking the specials contained in it are to be fired. However, the word was leaked to the press and Wal-Mart's "Black Friday" ad is readily available at places such as Gottadeal.com It makes you wonder just how cheaply Wal-mart is going to sell the PS-3 or Wii or Gamecube this year.

Politicians have made a name for themselves bashing Wal-Mart, but sometimes even they can’t resist a good deal. Former Senator John Edwards, who was the Vice-Presidential running-mate for John Kerry in 2004, apparently sent a staffer to Wal-Mart to get a piece of the PS3 action. Wal-Mart had this to say about their “loyal customer.”

“The Company noted the PlayStation3 is an extremely popular item this Christmas season, and while the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Senator Edwards wants to cut to the front. While, we cannot guarantee that Sen. Edwards will be among one of the first to obtain a PlayStation3, we are certain Sen. Edwards will be able to find great gifts for everyone on his Christmas list – many at Wal-Mart's "roll-back prices."

Those who want to make Wal-mart into some kind of evil incarnate mystify me. It’s a corporation that makes money with a minimal profit margin. People who don’t want to shop there have many available alternatives, but it always seems crowded in Wal-Mart to me. If you don’t want to work there, get a job somewhere else. On second thought, it isn’t really a mystery. Socialists can’t tolerate a successful capitalistic venture, so when one makes a lot of money, it must be either gouging its customers or taking unfair advantage of its employees.

Anyways, see you at Wal-Mart..and may the spirit of holiday shopping not detract us from the message of Peace on Earth brought about by Jesus, whose birth we look forward to celebrating.

Hail to the Victors--the Uni-di-versity of Michigan

“I have a dream that one day a man will be judged on the content of his character, and not on the color of his skin.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., an African-American civil rights leader from the 1960’s (not to be confused with the German leader of the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s) shared that dream of a color-blind America in 1963.

This past Tuesday, Michigan voters codified that dream by voting overwhelmingly to pass proposition 2, the Michigan Civil Rights initiative, by a 58%-42% margin. This ballot initiative stated:

“The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”

In other words, if you are applying to the University of Michigan, your application will not be treated as less worthy than a minority candidate’s application even if your ACT score was 30 and the minority’s was 22. Race or ethnic background is not to be considered a criterion.

Despite the clear statement from voters on an election day that obviously favored the more liberal candidates for governor and senator, the president of the University of Michigan, Mary Sue Coleman, refused to accept the results and vowed to fight in court or in any other as yet unnamed ways she can think of. UM prides itself on being a place of “diversity.” In fact, at this campus rally in protest of Proposition 2, Coleman used the term “diversity” 21 times. Even with affirmative action (the preferential treatment of minority applications in order to create a “diverse” student body), the percentage of African-Americans decreased this school year from 7.5% to 6.4%.

I’d also like to share an e-mail I got from the chancellor of UM-Flint, where I’m enrolled in a Masters’ Program. Juan Mestas writes, “TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY: The message by President Mary Sue Coleman reiterates the University of Michigan's firm commitment to diversity in the aftermath of the approval of Proposal 2. Her words convey the position of the university as a whole, including the Flint campus. For moral and educational reasons, I support President Coleman's statement wholeheartedly. Juan E. Mestas, Chancellor"

A number of questions come to mind. First of all, does it seem like a liberal trait to refuse to accept the results of elections when they don’t like them, and try to circumvent the democratic process by means of the courts? After Tuesday, even Republicans defeated in close Senate races graciously conceded defeat, unlike Al Gore and John Kerry who to this day continue to question the legitimacy of the Bush presidency and allege funny business with voting machines, etc. You’d think the college president would get the message, but it is really a mark of arrogant elitism to say “I know better and I don’t care what you voters have decided.”

Secondly, I wonder if the term “diversity” that is so prized by liberal college presidents includes conservatives, since it is no secret that the vast majority of college professors are liberal, and conservative speakers are the ones assaulted when they appear on campus.

But most importantly, I’m wondering if the effect of affirmative action—to try to help the disadvantaged people of color and to overcome years of discrimination in a sort of compensatory way—has been to actually increase racism. When the white majority student looks around the lecture hall, does he assume that the black kid is either there on a sports scholarship or is only there because of affirmative action? I don’t think that many students at our school are overtly racist, but sometimes a comment here and there about “Detroit” and “welfare” may be code words. We’re not a particularly diverse community, but do we value the diversity we do have, or is there some bigotry? Feel free to share anecdotes, or even personal experiences (anonymously if you prefer).

Election day 2006--The Republican massacre

Tomorrow is election day. Most political pundits and bloggers have written their predictions for the event, and, according to the polls, Americans are so fed up with the war in Iraq that they want to send a message to President Bush that his days are numbered. If he wants to get anything done, he’ll have to work with a Democratic Congress. Historically, the party in power during the sixth year of a two-term president loses seats in Congress—sometimes as many as 60-70. Because the Senate staggers its terms, only one-third of the upper chamber stands for election each cycle. So it will be more difficult for Democrats to ride the alleged tidal wave of anti-Bush feeling and storm into power in the Senate.

I will not make any predictions. Turnout is expected to be low, especially among voters aged 18-24. Americans are a typically selfish lot, valuing mainly personal peace (the right not to be bothered) and prosperity. If voters don’t seize the opportunity to cast their ballots, how can we complain about the government we get?

I'm going to keep this thread open and update this posting once the results are in. If you're 18, go vote!

My kid beat up your honor student

So says a bumper sticker slogan, presumably attached to a car driven by a parent who’s sick and tired of GPA or athletic prowess being the main measure of parental pride. Do smart kids think they’re better than average ones?

Apparently Senator Kerry (D-Massachusetts—by the way, did you know that he was in Vietnam?) thinks so. At a campaign appearance last week in California, the former standard-bearer for the Democratic party cautioned university students, “If you study hard, if you make good grades, if you are smart, then you can get ahead; if you don’t, you wind up stuck in Iraq.” Interpretation: the military is filled with dumb and lazy people who didn’t do their homework and for whom military service was the only alternative to burger-flipping. Of course, Mr. Kerry refused to apologize for his remarks, insisting that he was the victim of dirty Republican tricks. However, when such Dem dignitaries as Hillary Clinton urged him to apologize, Kerry posted a statement on his web site in which he indicated “regret if anyone misinterpreted my remarks” which were intended as a “joke” which he “botched.” He really meant to say “If you don’t, you end up getting us stuck in Iraq,” indicating that he believed that George Bush is the only stupid one here. Ha ha. ROFLOL.

Besides this being a clear case of a non-apology apology, what does it say? Bush and Kerry both went to Yale. Last I checked, Ivy League schools had pretty tough admission standards, especially before affirmative action. Last I checked, Bush graduated with a masters’ degree and had a higher GPA than Kerry did. Who’s calling whom stupid?

In a song from the musical “Wicked,” Glinda sings about how she’s going to make Elphaba “Popular.” A line that sticks in my mind is “Celebrated heads of state, or ‘specially Great Communicators—did they have brains or knowledge? Don’t make me laugh! They were popular..please! I know about popular.” In case you didn’t know it, “Great Communicator” was the nickname of President Ronald Reagan, who was, in his day, equally dismissed as a bumbling fool by the Democratic elite. Reagan saw that the Cold War could be won and that Communism was evil and needed to be opposed. His political adversaries said he was an idealistic idiot. Sound familiar? Now who’s calling whom stupid?

The Bible speaks of those who are wise in this present age. For them, the Gospel—Christ crucified for sin and raised again to declare sin forgiven—is foolishness. Consequently, those who believe the Gospel are fools. And, as we discussed a few weeks ago, those who publicly profess such faith and admit to praying to God for his guidance are considered just plain scary. Who’s calling whom stupid? To the rationalist, the enlightened atheist who declares “There is no God,” God himself says that that is what a fool says in his heart.

How does it feel to know that as soon as you open your mouth to say “I believe in Jesus Christ,” that you may be dismissed as a fool? How do you think those laying their lives on the line feel to know that intellectuals consider them lazy and uneducated?