Thursday, September 23, 2010

Algebra is Killing Our Kids

Daniel Webster Middle School, LAUSD, West Los ...Image via Wikipedia
With one hand I can count the numbers of times I have used Algebra since I was forced to take it in High School some 30+ years ago. If you cut off two of my fingers and didn't include my thumb you have the grand total number of times I have used Algebra since taking it. If you take out the times I used it while teaching, you could amputate my hand. 

The crime is that students are being forced to take Algebra in Middle School. Pre-Algebra is crammed into their minds as early as Elementary School. Check out your fourth and fifth graders math books. My problem with all this, as a parent and an educator, is that it is unnecessary and harmful to students. 

Teaching children Algebra is unnecessary because only a few professions actually use Algebra. If your child is going to be an engineer or an accountant then by all means take all the math available. Most students only take Algebra to meet college entrance requirements such as the A - G requirements levied on LAUSD students. The majority of students do not benefit by taking Algebra, they only suffer through it.

I ask this question: Are all these students ready to learn the abstract concepts of Algebra? How many children are sitting in classroom, trying to make sense of what is being "taught" yet, are not mentally developed enough to understand? They aren't bad kids or lazy, they just aren't ready. But, somebody read that other countries students were outscoring American students. What other countries make all their students take Algebra when they are eleven and twelve? Other countries only have the students with an aptitude for math take it! So, now the brainless surgeons who run our educational systems force ALL students to take Algebra in Middle School.

When I first took Algebra my teacher was a nice man with an incredible stuttering condition. He might as well have been speaking Czechoslovakian (no offense to any Czechoslovakian readers), I couldn't understand a word he said let alone the concepts. I have a Bachelors and Masters degree. I work in education. I have four children of my own. If anyone should see the value of Algebra it would be me. Two of my children will benefit, two will not. Why force it upon all students when it will only help a few?
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Mad at My Government? Yes!

GLENSIDE, PA - MARCH 08:  President Barack Oba...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Mad? Yes, I am. At who? Just about everybody in any government position.

The President: Yes. No one I have ever seen in my lifetime has done so much to burden the country with long term debt then President Barrack Obama. And yet no one, to my remembrance has blamed someone else more than President Obama. He has the majority in both the Senate and the House, yet, those Republicans...

Senators: Yes, I am mad at this group of self-serving egomaniacs. Any moron that would vote for any bill with out reading it and knowing what they will be enslaving their constituents and their children to, should be considered incompetent and censured, if not thrown out of office. The Senators from my state, Boxer and Pelosi, could not be in any way more foolish than they have proved to be. These nut jobs voted for smelt protection, stimulus plans that don't stimulate, health care takeovers, crushing business opportunities with taxes, and have consistently demonstrated just plain loony tune thinking.

What about my states representatives on the state level? They have not passed a budget. Do they care? It appears not. California is in a downward spiral with people and jobs leaving the state faster than Barbara Boxer can say, "Call me, Senator, I've earned it." But, according to liberal thinking maybe we should raise taxes on those wealthy business owners, that will induce them to hire more people and not leave the state.

And my Govenator: Yes, mad at him too. Democrat in Republicans clothing. Good photo ops though.

Why do I like the Tea Party? Because they tell their conservative leaders to honestly represent them.
Why do I think groups like the so called Coffee Party are silly? Because they are not liberals telling their leaders to be true to their voting base, they are just trying to counter the Tea Party.

I think the voters, conservative and liberal alike, are realizing that our government representatives (with few exceptions) are power hungry, self-serving, elitists.

I will show my anger with my vote. Will you?
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

No Tax Tuesday: A Better Steward of Your Money

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 12:  Protesters march a...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
OK my fellow Americans, it's "No Tax Tuesday." My question is are you a better steward your money than the government?

I live in a nice city with a pretty decent school system and police who are bit over the top sometimes but, they do usually keep the bad guys on the other side of the (city) border. But, I am not sure if, by the looks and feel of the roads that tax dollars are utilized the best.

My state is definitely in the crapper. We used to be the fifth largest economy in the world all by ourselves. Now, I am not sure if we even have an economy. Our illustrious senators vote for the protection of smelt fish and shut down huge portions of the farming communities, thus killing a major portion of California's economy. But, we're green! The alleged senator is now running a smear campaign against Carly Fiorina accusing her of outsourcing jobs to other countries. What is the number of jobs lost in California under the Boxer, Pelosi, Harman and Democratic majority reign?

My country? We have been "simulized" into a general stupor of confusion. The Democrats want to spend  more of  our money and tax us more to get that money. Both the Democrats and Republicans already  in Washington have their "solutions" which will only put us more in debt and enslave our children more. So far el presidente Obama has usurped control of 1/6 of the economy by his health careless takeover and who knows what evil lurks behind the unread pages of the financial reform package.

My question was: Who is a better steward of my/your money? When Senators are voting for bills they haven't even read, when a President is pushing through a bill without informing the public, or the Senators what is truly in it, then we have not just irresponsible leadership but dishonest and deceptive leadership. It is time for them to go.


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Monday, September 20, 2010

It's the Parents Who Teach the Most

Students of Nan Hua High School gathering in t...Image via Wikipedia
I am a parent. I have four children whom I love. I want the best for them. As a parent, I hope and pray each year that my children will have good teachers. I have had two older children pass through our areas schools and have two still in them. The schools in our area will succeed because the parents of the students will do what they need to do to make sure their children learn. 

In my local fishwrap they are a bit mystified why, even as class sizes increase, test scores are still rising. The educational researchers do not even no what to ask. Ask about parent involvement.  

I am also a teacher for another (much larger) district. I have, more often than not, done the real teaching for my children while Torrance teachers handed my children worksheets. My second son told me once his Calculus teaching was pretty bad but if HE (my son) read the book he could figure it out. My point, the scores go up in the district I live in because the parents care. Now, I have seen a few good teachers, but, they can only do what my wife's and my parenting will allow. 

As parents we are the primary caretaker, teacher and advocate for our children. It is our responsibility to make sure that our children learn.
All that said, school districts are usually classic examples of poorly run bureaucracies. More money doesn't necessarily mean more help for students who need help. Teachers are professionals not missionaries. Only police officers may be asked to take more grief with out reprisal.
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