Friday, August 20, 2010

Nancy Pelosi, I'll Tell You Where to Look

Aflicktion: The Wreck of HopeImage by ocean.flynn via Flickr
Who does Nancy Pelosi think she is? Just what kind of power does she think she wields? It is one thing to ask who is possibly behind the resistance to the building of a mosque so close to the site of a Muslim attack on the United States of America, which sounds foolish in its’ own right. But, it is entirely different as a Senator of the USA to say she is going to look into it.


Just what does Nancy Pelosi think she is going to do? What does she think she can do? Would she do what her party does and bring a law suit against those who are against the mosque?  Attempting to litigate those who disagree with her into submission.


This, to me, it is just another arrogant remark by a power hungry liberal. If she hadn’t already proven to be the type of person who cares little about those she professes to represent, I would think of it as a dumb comment. But, she actually believes that she can and she should control those who would disagree with her about building this monument to the attack on the very nation she professes her allegiance to. That is exactly why she is one of the most dangerous people in government. If she doesn’t believe that the health care bill, which took over 1/6 of the economy, and the bail outs and take over of Wall Street, which take a generation just to figure out how badly we have been enslaved to debt, if , she doesn’t really believe that those actions will help Americans, then she is evil. If she believes that she is helping the country then she is just plain daft.


For those of you who like a nut cracker white liberal. She is custom built for you. Arrogance in politics is believing that your going to “help those people” (yes it sounds condescending to me too) rather than assuring people the freedom to help themselves.


So, Nancy Pelosi, look elsewhere. Look at American and listen to us say, “Get out!”
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Educational Blame Game

Berendo Middle School, LAUSD, Los Angeles CAImage via Wikipedia
Since the beginning people have been blaming others. But God, "It's the women you gave me."

Now, in education the blame game goes to teachers. The LA Times has been running articles about teacher effectiveness. The LA Times is making public a data-base of teachers that purports to allow parents to see how effective, or not, their child's teacher is. The funny thing is that if LAUSD was using this information to evaluate teachers it would not be public anymore.

I've been in education for 21+ years. Evaluations are usually just a royal pain in the asterisk. Why do I say this? Because they normally are not geared to actually helping a teacher improve. I have been on both sides of the evaluation process. It takes a lot of work and preparation, as an administrator to use the evaluation process in a positive manner.  I will say that without the ability to dislodge un-teaching teachers it is hard to always make progress.

The reality is that on the whole, good students come from good families, no matter the socio-economic situation. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The block-head doesn't fall to far from the cliff.  If you haven't taught you probably have no idea what it's like to teach a "won't learn" student from a "don't care" parent. If you are a good parent, your children will probably be successful because you will do what you need to do to make sure your child succeeds.

While I do believe teachers should be accountable, parents and students need to be accountable too.
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

NoTax Tuesday: They tax My Coffee, They Tax My Tea...

Description: Coffee cortado (An latte art exam...Image via Wikipedia
They tax my coffee
They tax my tea
They tax my baby
They tax me.
I make, they take.

They say my money is their to take
To redistribute for those they hate.
"Let's tax the wealthy!" they always say,
But it's my money that doesn't stay.

Giving money to banks to play
To car makers not intending to pay.
The goods and services are green they say,
Which means more money I will pay,
for goods and services
that do not last a day.

Ah, enough of the bashing you will say,
Listen to the President, to what he say.
"Have hope, my dope, it will be OK,
'Cuz I'm the President, that's what I say!"

So, they'll tax my coffe
They'll tax my tea
They'll tax my baby
And they'll tax me.
I'll vote in November
and any time between
To rid this country of this vile scene.

 PTVoice
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Monday, August 16, 2010

Effective vs. Ineffective Teachers

"Teacher Appreciation" featured phot...Image via Wikipedia
The LA  Times has been running a series of articles on teacher effectiveness. As an educator and parent I am obviously invested in the debate. Although there are several things that can effect the success of an individual teacher in the classroom, by and large I have have always believed that there is an obvious difference between good, effective teachers, and not so good ineffective teachers. Isn't that stating the obvious? So, when I read in the LA Times...
Based on test score data covering seven years, The Times analyzed the effects of more than 6,000 elementary school teachers on their students' learning. Among other things, it found huge disparities among teachers, some of whom work just down the hall from one another.- LA Times
 I was not surprised. That the district has known this for eons and either refused to do something about it or been unable to do anything due to the Unions resistance is one of the frustrations of working in just about any school district. My experiences have been mixed. Most of the administrators I worked with have been supportive and generally recognized when a teacher is effective or not. The problems have been that we, as educators, are deathly afraid of the ideas of merit pay and policing ourselves.

Merit pay can be a slippery slop if, as a teacher, you receive a bad mix of students. There are some students who won't (as in choose not to) learn. There are students who are disruptive beyond belief or control. Most of the time an effective teacher can deal with even those students, but...not always.

Teachers also struggle with confrontation. How do you tell your friend down the hall that all the students you receive from them are behind the students you receive from someone else? When I did it was like accusing your brother of incest.

I think I will follow up...more to come after NO TAX TUESDAY.