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18 Oct 2006 - 11:13
Christopher came home yesterday afternoon and told me he had his "first edline assignment," meaning his first assignment posted to edline. He could retrieve it from edline, do it, and email it to his teacher. This sounds like a great idea, and almost certainly is a great idea; edline, in theory, could help disorganized & forgetful kids tremendously. Not long after that I started hearing complaints. The assignment was long; it was many pages of reading; the questions were all verbal; one of the questions was "What does this have to do with math?" I decided not to look at the thing. Then I got a call from a pal whose child is also in the class. She was incensed. She was writing an email to the principal. So I logged onto edline.
As my friend had said, the assignment, due the next day, was ridiculously overlong, was based on text that was extremely difficult to print out (I had to cut and paste each chunk of prose individually, then hit "View Image" and print each image separately, then piece images and text together), and guaranteed that any child whose family did not have multiple computers at home would be monopolizing the PC for most of the night. Apparently Ms. Kahl had told the class that children who did not have computers at home could come in "early." I scrolled down the page and found a set of links at the end, one of which was the CRYSTALINKS MAIN PAGE. I clicked on it. Then I kept on clicking:
I especially enjoyed the page on black helicopters.
Also the page on men in black.
edline surprise
edline surprise part 2
Nazcalines
-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006 Back to main page.
Please consider registering as a regular user.
Look here for syntax help.
A couple of paragraphs? How about at least 6? Obviously, she didn't do the assignment herself. If this is an example of teaching across the curriculum, then she needs a little help trying to get a topic that is more about math. "How do the Nazca Lines relate to math?" They make modern progressive pedagogues feel warm and fuzzy and they cause kids to learn less math. "Apparently Ms. Kahl had told the class that children who did not have computers at home could come in 'early.'" Unthinking. Uncaring. Maybe she thinks it should be a really quick assignment. This would be true only if they do a really bad job of writing. What's the point? -- SteveH - 18 Oct 2006
If an enterprising young math student should read a little further into the crystalinks page that Ms. K directed them to, they'd find this: "The more one studies the more one realizes that one soul played the roles of all of the gods - left all of the markers - all of which speak of time when the eye - eclipse - light will appear in the heavens once again. It will appear 'out of the blue' - midnight blue. At this time - humanity will remove its consciousness from the 3D grid of and spiral through the 'stargate' of higher light. That time is almost here. we sense it, feel it, know it to be true or else we would not be here questing for answers." I wonder if Ms. K needs a refresher on how to critically evaluate information found on the web. -- LynnGuelzow - 18 Oct 2006
I was talking to a couple of parents last night about the use of the web in homework. One parent pointed out that a seemingly straight forward assignment became a monstrosity for kids that had dial-up service, not broadband or high speed. The teacher had asked students if they "had internet" but never inquired about the speed of the connection. The assignment took hours to download if you had dialup. -- LynnGuelzow - 18 Oct 2006
We've also seen our first "Webquest" this year (5th grade) about plant and animal cells. Some of the material linked to was good, but other pages were so technical and way above 5th grade level that it was ridiculous. Megan kept getting worried, "Do I have to understand ALL this?" I often wonder how closely teachers look at some of the Web links provided, too. -- KathyIggy - 18 Oct 2006
Adding fuel to the fire: I bet they don't do this in math class in Singapore. Or Russia. -Mark Roulo -- KtmGuest - 18 Oct 2006
This is insane. -- SusanJ - 18 Oct 2006
What on earth is mathematical about the lines? This assignment is completely irrelevant. Does it knock out the theory that Ms K may have an autistic spectrum disorder? -- TracyW - 18 Oct 2006
If Nazca was an alien airfield, it must have been a very confusing airfield, consisting as it does of giant lizards, spiders, monkeys, llamas, dogs, hummingbirds, etc....... -- BenCalvin - 18 Oct 2006
I AM LOLLLLLLLLIIINNNNNGGGGG — it's 7:17 p.m. and I just refreshed my edline page. I simply TOOK IT FOR GRANTED the thing would be gone. It's NOT gone. It's STILL THERE. Naturally I've written a MAJOR big-time email that is being forwarded all over creation, followed up by a sharply worded email to the school board and superintendent pointing out the fact that they awarded tenure to this person last year, followed by a succinct and devastating account of the Phase 4 disaster, which is itself now flying through the verizon-wires....and this assignment, with the link to the crystalinks site, is still posted on edline. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I wonder if Ms. K needs a refresher on how to critically evaluate information found on the web. oh boy, there are just so many questions one could pose re: the Nazca line assignment -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
The teacher had asked students if they "had internet" but never inquired about the speed of the connection. The assignment took hours to download if you had dialup. That's what my friend was burned up about. She said there was NO WAY a kid without fast access and no siblings etc. could have done this assignment in one night. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Christopher, meanwhile, has been completely paper-trained. He put the bare minimum into the assignment, got the whole thing done, emailed it in. All this before I even had a chance to get worked up about the damn thing. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
My friend is still trying to protect her child from the insanity that is Our School, or at least Our Math Class (Christopher has a bunch of terrific completely-not-insane teachers this year). She doesn't let him know she's contacting the principal, etc. So when she called me last night, and said something about the assignment to Christopher, she realized from his response that I didn't know anything about it — and then she felt bad. She thought she'd blown it. Then he explained to her that he doesn't read the whole thing; he just reads the questions and picks through the article for the answers. She said, "He didn't sound upset at all. Maybe now I made him upset when he wasn't." I said, "You don't understand. Your kid does much better when you tell him the school is your enemy. It takes all the pressure off." It's true. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I haven't figured out how to explain this to people who haven't had kids in special ed. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I bet they don't do this in math class in Singapore. Or Russia. rolling on the floor!!!! enjoying it, too!!! -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Kathy Iggy webquest? I can't stand it. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Nobody should be cruising the web ON PURPOSE. I cruise the web because IT'S AN ADDICTION. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
good lord -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
can't remember if I told you guys this or not on back to school night Ms. Kahl told everyone that she'd spent the summer "cruising the internet" and had found "a bunch of cool math sites" that "the kids will have fun with" I wanted to throttle her I spent the summer trying to reteach her course of course, when she said she'd found "cool math websites" I thought she meant stuff like Math Forum. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Tracy Let's just say, You read my mindy, honey. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Hey! I think I just called Tracy honey! My sister sent me an email today saying "It's going to be a long school year." She was referring to my school year. She's already pulled her kid out of school, probably for good. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
ummm.....yes I have now abandoned the Asperger Ms. Kahl I have returned to the Psychedelic Ms. Kahl, the theory Other People Who Don't Happen To Be Me suggested early last year and which I rejected out of hand -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
This is insane. ditto that -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
but hey - ! assuming she doesn't grade it, which would be the norm, it's a free 30 points! -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
G. von Breunig thinks the lines were used for running footraces. He examined the curved pathways and determined that they were partially shaped by continuous running. Anthropologist Paul Kosok briefly maintained that the lines were part of an irrigation system, but soon rejected the notion as impossible. He then speculated that the lines formed a gigantic calendar. Maria Reiche, a German immigrant and apprentice archaeologist to Julio Tello of the University of San Marcos, developed Kosok's theory and spent most of her life collecting data to show that the lines represent the Nazca's astronomical knowledge. Reiche identified many interesting astronomical alignments, which had they been known to the Nazca might have been useful in planning their planting and harvesting. However, there are so many lines going in so many different directions that not finding many with interesting astronomical alignments would have been miraculous. hoo boy I couldn't quite bring myself, last night, to face the fact that this particular page was probaby pure crap actually, I assumed it was almost certainly pure crap given the rest of the website, but I didn't wish to find out, last night, exactly how crappy -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
so I guess I'm going to have to add some kind of peer review process for curriculum to my List of Demands -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I wish you guys could see the edline page. It's huge. You have this big enormous Irvington school logo with crystalinks scrolling inside. and it's still there -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Wikipedia actually has a pretty good article on this. Kosok and Reiche advanced one of the earliest reasons given for the Nazca Lines: that they were intended to point to the places on the distant horizon where the Sun and other celestial bodies rose or set. This hypothesis was evaluated by two different experts in archaeoastronomy, Gerald Hawkins and Anthony Aveni, and they both concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support an astronomical explanation. Article -- OldGrouch - 19 Oct 2006
Although the crystalinks site is the second result if you search for "Nazca lines" on Ask.com. -- OldGrouch - 19 Oct 2006
G. von Breunig thinks the lines were used for running footraces. He examined the curved pathways and determined that they were partially shaped by continuous running. Anthropologist Paul Kosok briefly maintained that the lines were part of an irrigation system, but soon rejected the notion as impossible. He then speculated that the lines formed a gigantic calendar. BWAHAHAHAA Imagine what people are going to make of the crap we've left behind in 20,000 years. The remains of the Mall of the Americas will be identified as a place where we ran giant footraces, no doubt. -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
This has nothing to do with math. It reminds me of a girl I knew in college who (on finding out I was a math major) told me that with my knowledge of math and hers of astrology, we'd be going places together. This Nazca lines thing is pseudomath, like those birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests so that the birds will think it's their own. -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
THIS IS A RIOT!!! -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
Oh my. Oh my. I cannot believe that this was an assignment. It's like something I'd look up at snopes.com. NOT the page, with its bad grammar and weird loopy sentences, no, the assignment. I can't believe any teacher, even the loopiest, would use that link to teach anything other than the identification of bad writing and poor logic. Reading your postings often makes me sooo happy with my district. It's not perfect, by a long shot, but heck, it sure seems a lot better run than your much wealthier district, with more educated parents in it! -- JenL - 19 Oct 2006
This assignment is completely irrelevant. Does it knock out the theory that Ms K may have an autistic spectrum disorder? Not at all--she has a "special interest" in crystals and "new age" "Math" sites. I was going to post a link to the cells "webquest" but it's no longer on the school website. Originally, one of the requirements was making a cell model completely out of food. It was fortunately modified to making a 3-D cell model out of anything. It's not obvious I do much of the work on these artistic projects since my artistic skills are below 5th grade level, and my husband's are even worse. Megan wanted to do the food project, but I talked her out of it. Several of her classmates had elaborately decorated cakes, or hollowed out watermelon halves filled with jello and other things suspended in the jello representing the other cell parts. Sigh. We went for the styrofoam square with whatever craft odds and ends were at hand..the first project that didn't require at least a $20 trip to HobbyLobby?. At least this has been the only project so far this year. -- KathyIggy - 19 Oct 2006
Ah, the infamous "cell project" - my friend's kid made his out of chocolate cake. His teacher mentioned that she LOVES chocolate, so his mom thought it would serve him well to make any food-based project out of it. I'm sure he got an A+ for the project his mother baked. Next time I hear a teacher complain that all they do is study for the state tests, I will remind them of the hours spent on creating edible cells. -- NicksMama - 19 Oct 2006
Our edible cell was actually the layers of the earth, another easy A if you use food. It involved various candies like malted balls and peanut butter M&Ms. I can't remember how we did the outer layers. Then we cut it in half and mounted it on a diorama (shoe box) that looked like outer space. -- SusanS - 19 Oct 2006
Projects where kids have to make models/dioramas/etc. always always always piss me off, especially if they are graded on said project/diorama/etc. (which is pretty much always). The artistically talented kids have an advantage, as do all the kids whose parents will do some or all of the work for the kid. It irks me to no end. I am strongly of the opinion that kids should be graded on what they know. Isn't learning the content of a course the important thing? Where does a teacher of science, or any subject other than art, get off judging a student on their artistic talent? It is not an art class, after all. A teacher should judge a student on whether or not they know the content. Can the student explain the structure of a cell? Can the student look at a picture of a cell and name all of the parts and functions of the cell? It goes without saying that my kids are not, for the most part, artistic. I am willing to buy materials for projects, up to a point. I can't say I've ever spent as much as $20. I am not willing to help my kids build or make things, though, because I feel that they should be judged on what they can do, not on what I can do. I must admit I am conflicted about that, however, because I know that it is not a level playing field - there are always parents who help their kids with these things, even if they don't admit it. Grr... Ok, rant over. Time to get back to the main topic of this thread: I agree that the Nazca lines assignment has no relevance to the math class. "Naturally I've written a MAJOR big-time email that is being forwarded all over creation, followed up by a sharply worded email to the school board and superintendent pointing out the fact that they awarded tenure to this person last year, followed by a succinct and devastating account of the Phase 4 disaster, which is itself now flying through the verizon-wires" Have you gotten any responses yet? -- LindaP - 19 Oct 2006
The remains of the Mall of the Americas will be identified as a place where we ran giant footraces, no doubt Of course, that would have the virtue of being true at least. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
This Nazca lines thing is pseudomath, like those birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests so that the birds will think it's their own. I LOVE IT!!!!! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Yes, the Men in Black page is especially terrific. I still like the Black Helicopters myself. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I also like the graphic on the Out of Body Experiences page —
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
NOT the page, with its bad grammar and weird loopy sentences, no, the assignment. It really is extraordinary. Parents who are paying attention - probably ALL parents who are paying attention - are tearing their hair out around here. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Meanwhile this came home in the backpacks yesterday. Funded by the Irvington Education Foundation. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I wonder if I should send Bobby an email? -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Dear Bobby, I'm sorry that you and your first wife were run over IN BED INSIDE YOUR HOUSE by a drunk driver. I hope my 12 year old doesn't run over anyone IN BED INSIDE THEIR HOUSE when he grows up. Because my husband and I are so committed to raising upstanding young adults who DO NOT RUN OVER PEOPLE IN BED INSIDE THEIR HOUSE, we have counseled him daily not to use drugs, drink, or use drugs and drive, or drink and drive, and to always make good decisions at all times throughout his future life. You might say our whole household is a Family Against Destructive Decision Making. So, just to let you know, we won't be attending your October 26 lecture on "Youth and the Power of their Decisions." Instead, we will be home studying math, English, Spanish, science, and social studies. We feel that studying and learning academic content is a good decision for us. Thank you. Catherine Johnson -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
moral panic
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Reading your postings often makes me sooo happy with my district. It's not perfect, by a long shot, but heck, it sure seems a lot better run than your much wealthier district, with more educated parents in it! I'm happy you're happy! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
However, I am not happy! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I actually think we probably have too much money. Ed finished the Robert Moses book - I may have to tackle it myself - I'll write something about it later. The Robert Moses book might support the idea that we have too much money. We have so much money here that scarcity of money isn't forcing people to make enough choices. more is more and all that If you CAN fund Bobby Petrocelli to come speak to your middle schoolers, then you SHOULD fund Bobby Petrocelli to speak to your middle schoolers. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Next time I hear a teacher complain that all they do is study for the state tests, I will remind them of the hours spent on creating edible cells. snort -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Linda P have I gotten responses? yup parents are SOOOO not happy now we're starting to find each other people have been working in complete isolation, on parallel tracks district placates and/or stonewalls us (stonewall for me) and tells us "you're the only parent who's complained" If anyone's interested I may need to set up a "closed" ktm listserv to post some of these things.... -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Good news. Drug Awareness Day is coming up. The kids are supposed to wear red and white in honor of Drug Awareness Day. Christian says Christopher should wear a Grateful Dead t-shirt. I'm thinking of having a red-and-white Grateful Dead shirt made up.
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
oh good The Church of Scientology supports Drug Awareness Day. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Well, she certainly looks sadd (sic) to me; that is such a fake smile. I think she's in denial. Perhaps if she made more positive decisions she wouldn't be so sadd. And I'd recommend some Partridge Family, of course. You can never have too much Partridge Family. -- DougSundseth - 19 Oct 2006
Oh, and perhaps a red and white shirt with "Drug Awareness Day" and the NORML logo. That would probably help too. -- DougSundseth - 19 Oct 2006
good lord I just noticed red ribbon WEEK Christopher kept oscillating between "Drug Awareness Day" and "Red Ribbon Week" Finally I said, "Is it a week or a day?" He said, "It's a day." no it's not It's a day AND it's a week -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
good god it's a whole red ribbon season -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
this reminds me the School Board has sent out an email soliciting opinions from the community on the proposed Fields Improvement proposal: The Board of Education has begun to move forward with a proposal for improving our schools’ fields, and we want to hear from you. The following is a summary of the project as it currently stands. I don't see how we can possibly pay for fields improvement when we have to buy so much drug awareness from every vendor under the sun -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
When Christian and Martine were leaving just now these words came out of my mouth: "Have the kids had their drugs?" -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Back when I had a normal life, a life with two autistic kids, two dogs, a regular kid, and a (semi)regular school, I used to call it "medicine." I used to say, "Have the kids had their medicine?" In the olden times before character education became point whatever-it-is on the strategic plan. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I wish you guys could have heard Christian riffing on what Bobby Petrocelli Day in Yonkers High would have been like. Can't post it; just can't. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Goal III Drug Awareness 24-7 is Goal III on the strategic plan -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Drug Awareness and counting the number of put downs on Sponge Bob -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
ok, here's a theory is it possible none of this is real is it possiblethis is all just one long-seeming lucid dream? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Doug good thought on the logo, but unfortunately the NORML colors are green and white, not red and white green and white are Bulldog colors -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I need a red shirt. Red & white. Red & white & not immediately identifiable as an ironic parental commentary on Goal III. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
that might work
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
we could revisit the Jewfro incident
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Ed finished the Robert Moses book - I may have to tackle it myself Robert Caro is not exactly a succinct writer. counting the number of put downs on Sponge Bob Sponge Bob IS character education. It's very popular in our house. Drug Awareness Day is coming up. We saw our felon neighbor from the Hell's Angeles house down the block stroll by in his DARE shirt a few days ago. -- BenCalvin - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Robert Caro is NOT succinct -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Way not succinct -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
yeah, well.....D.A.R.E. Irvington is a D.A.R.E. town we have signs everywhere one of Christopher's teachers had a relative who'd done research on D.A.R.E. showing it increased drug use -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
a person I happen to know well says it's standard procedure amongst the young to smoke pot while wearing your D.A.R.E. t-shirt -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I love it
"This DARE T-Shirt features the slogan from the the late 80's and early 90's to help keep children off of drugs."
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I have a D.A.R.E. street sign around the corner & down the hill from my house. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
So I get the feeling IMS teachers aren't necessarily On Board for character ed. Christopher said tonight that one of his teachers yelled at them for some infraction or other, then said, "This is why we're shoving all this character education down your throats. So you won't grow up to be jerks." I spent about 10 seconds thinking, YOU'RE TELLING ME I HAVE TO WRITE ANOTHER EMAIL TONIGHT??? Then I thought, Hey! That sounds like something I would say. So I said, "Which teacher is this?" Christopher: XXXX Me: Do you like XXXX? Christopher: Yeah! XXXX is my favorite teacher! Me: Was XXXX being ironic? Christopher: I don't know. Me: XXXX was being ironic. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Kids seriously don't get irony. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Ben Sponge Bob IS character education Correct yup Sponge Bob is character education; kids get their character education - brace yourself - PRIMARILY THROUGH IMPLICIT NOT EXPLICIT LEARNING I know this because my neighbor looked it up my neighbor the clinical psychologist -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Here it is. (pdf file) here, too Kathleen Matusiak's claim to fame. Our Board of Ed hired a woman whose entire claim to fame, as far as Google is concerned, is character ed. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
our superintendent (pdf file)
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
good lord I just noticed red ribbon WEEK Christopher kept oscillating between "Drug Awareness Day" and "Red Ribbon Week" Finally I said, "Is it a week or a day?" He said, "It's a day." no it's not It's a day AND it's a week -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006 Yes, and my good friend with FOUR boys in public school is wondering how she's going to keep track of 16 ribbons for a week. You know that they are going to be giving out extra credit for wearing them. And her 6th grader who forgets to turn in his homework NEEDS extra credit...badly. -- NicksMama - 20 Oct 2006
They have to wear red ribbons? For extra credit? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Well, if she needs a ready-made email to the School Board I've got one. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Or I probably will have, knowing me. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
That is offensive. The whole thing is offensive. It's also stupid. Children don't learn to stay off drugs by being constantly harangued about drugs. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Got drugs?
sorry I couldn't resist -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
If I could persuade parents to boycott Drug Awareness day I would. I probably can't even persuade Christopher to stay home. Christopher loves school. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
He likes the new principal, btw. He was uncertain in the first couple of weeks, and he was ticked off about the bomb threat assembly. But now he likes him. He says Ms. Helgans, the assistant principal, is "annoying," but then, he adds, "She's supposed to be annoying; she's the assistant principal." All of this is good. He likes being at his school, he likes his principal, he respects the assistant principal and thinks she's fulfilling her role. So.....in the midst of all this character-ed crap, all this rationing-of-courses crap, all of this hiring-only-young-teachers-straight-out-of-ed-school crap...we may actually have a decent new principal at the head of the school. We'll see. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
You know, I was going to offer to have our [urban, not rich, though not poor because we're highly property taxed]district take some of that money (or at least the sushi from the cafeteria) off of your hands. But then, I thought no. I don't want to screw anything up here. So, I personally offer to take millions off your hands. Cancel all speakers and special programs and just send me the wads of cash. Really, it's the least I could do. I'd love to see the replies about this assignment. -- JenL - 20 Oct 2006
I don't want to screw anything up here. good thinking Cancel all speakers and special programs and just send me the wads of cash. bonne idee! -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
There aren't going to be any replies about the assignment. The assignment is going back from whence it came, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Which is just as well. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Chrisitian, it turns out, loves conspiracy theories, metaphysical stuff of all stripes, etc. When he finally figured out a couple of nights ago what the website really was he had me email him the link. Turns out he knows it well; it's a famous but old metaphysical website. Christian said, "The thing I don't like about it is it doesn't give the correct information. It just tells you what a lot of different people think is the correct information." THANK GOD HE'S IN COLLEGE That got me to thinking about conspiracy thinking. Christian loves conspiracy stuff. He loves it, meaning he says, "I like conspiracy stuff, but it shouldn't be in a school. That's stuff you stay up late drinking and ** about; it shouldn't be for 7th graders." The thing about conspiracy thinking is that it's complex - when you're really into conspiracy thinking there's a HUGE amount of data & actors to keep track of. It suddenly occurred to me that when you take naturally brainy people, as Christian is, and then teach them nothing, conspiracy thinking might be where they end up. They need to exercise their brains; they've got naturally active thought processes. Christian is like that; he's constantly coming up with stuff - novel observations that make you see things in a different way - that kind of thing. The other night he came downstairs and we were all at the dinner table already, and he startled, then said he was having one of those Twilight Zone experiences where you're dead and you don't know it and you see everyone sitting at the dinner table without you and you know that's not right. He said it better than that, too. That's just wild. We all decided that came from being an only child. I said, "When you've got four kids in the family you know the party can start without you." -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Anyway, this got me wondering about all the conspiracy thinking in Arab states. Their schools appear to be dreadful; conspiracy thinking gives the mind something to chew on. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Black culture is FILLED with conspiracies. Filled. I don't think white people have any idea. I sure didn't. There's a whole alternative set of Christian beliefs even. Apparently most of the blacks in Christian's circle believe Jesus was actually born at Easter time. I forget why. I've got to get all this stuff down. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
A Different Look at D.A.R.E. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
If the measure for success of D.A.R.E. is whether it is effective in reducing drug use (let alone abuse) among young people, the evaluations uniformly conclude no, D.A.R.E. is no more effective than any other drug education program, nor more effective than no program at all. Although many evaluations have been done, no scientific study has discovered any statistically significant difference in drug-usage rates between students who had taken D.A.R.E. and those who had not. The most exhaustive and authoritative study to date on the effectiveness of D.A.R.E. was done by the Research Triangle Institute, North Carolina, at the behest of the U.S. Department of Justice, entitled "Past and Future Directions of the D.A.R.E. Program, September, 1994."(338k) It was first reported in the national press by USA Today. The reported concluded: "The D.A.R.E. program's limited effect on adolesent drug use contrasts with the program's popularity and prevalence. An important implication is that D.A.R.E. could be taking the place of other, more beneficial drug education programs that kids could be receiving." For a summary of the report, see "How Effective is D.A.R.E.?," American Journal of Public Health, September 1994, p. 1399. etc. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
My problem isn't that D.A.R.E., S.A.D.D., Drug Awareness Day, Bobby Petrocelli and whatever else we're throwing money at this year might take the place of effective drug programs. My problem is that all this crap might take the place of actual academics. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
So here's Bobby: My ultimate desire is that you will find hope, faith and love in every area of your life. My message is clear and simple…10 Seconds is all it takes to change a life forever. Our lives our lived in increments of "10 Second) decisions. No matter how small and insignificant every decision may seem, it will invariably have a profound impact on your life and the lives of others positively or negatively. In other words, every good and bad thing in this world starts with one person, one decision. What we say, how we act, react or respond, takes no more than 10 seconds, and 10 seconds can change your life forever. We live our lives 10 seconds at a time.
My question is: why is this a philosophy we want to teach to kids with immature frontal lobe development who, precisely because of immature frontal lobe development, do in fact, right now, live their lives 10 seconds at a time. Planning, persistence, "remembering the future" — these are all frontal lobe functions we parents are trying to nurture and develop in our kids. Why does my child have to be constantly subjected to all this stuff by his school and its associated fundraising parents? I want them to teach him academic content knowledge, and to support and motivate him in his efforts to learn it. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Well, this is just great. Are they going to make the kids read this? And why are they treating my child like the future truck driver in this scene? Why are our children seen as young people who would just naturally make deadly "decisions" without the school's intervention? Isn't my kid more likely to be the guy getting run over? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Bring back self esteem please -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
"Children don't learn to stay off drugs by being constantly harangued about drugs." When I was growing up in the 60's, we has to watch "Reefer Madness". We thought it was hilarious. -- SteveH - 22 Oct 2006
If I were her, I'd start out her lifetime of good-decision-making by putting on some other clothes.
-- CarolynJohnston - 22 Oct 2006
ha ha ha ha ha -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I knew there was something wrong with that picture - but I hadn't put it in words. This reminds me of the first time I ever saw a book by - Dr. Schlessinger? Is that her name? I'd never heard of her, and her books were all over the place at our local Crown Books, and the photo was wretched. She had frizzy dyed-blonde hair & blue eye shadow and god knows what else. The title was something like, "Ten Stupid Things Women Do" — and my immediate thought was, Number one is look like that. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I have it on good authority that Young People smoke dope wearing their D.A.R.E. shirts. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
Christopher will probably be the only child in the school not wearing red and white. sigh -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
oh I know - It was "Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Screw Up Their Lives"
ok, she doesn't have blue eye shadow -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
mess up their lives excuse me -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I saw Reefer Madness in college, I think. I'm sure that film saved many lives. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I remember a great line about Roseanne: She never met a line she didn't cross. That's how I feel about these programs. They're like a dare (dare, not D.A.R.E.) A cautious kid like Christopher doesn't need this program; a hyper daredevil kid isn't going to remember this program when the time comes; a rebellious contrarian kid is going to go out and use drugs on purpose just because he spent 3 years in middle school being told not to. Rebels don't like people drawing lines in the sand. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
A line in the sand is a big fat temptation. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
edline surprise
Christopher came home yesterday afternoon and told me he had his "first edline assignment," meaning his first assignment posted to edline. He could retrieve it from edline, do it, and email it to his teacher. This sounds like a great idea, and almost certainly is a great idea; edline, in theory, could help disorganized & forgetful kids tremendously. Not long after that I started hearing complaints. The assignment was long; it was many pages of reading; the questions were all verbal; one of the questions was "What does this have to do with math?" I decided not to look at the thing. Then I got a call from a pal whose child is also in the class. She was incensed. She was writing an email to the principal. So I logged onto edline.
Kahl - Online Assignment [10/18/06] Nazca Lines - Due Wednesday 10/18/06 Online Assignments Online Assignment #1 - 30 Points Nazca Lines This online assignment will allow us to explore an interesting mathematical discovery. Your task is to go to the following website and read the information it provides. In a couple of paragraphs, you will answer the questions below. (Be sure to answer in well written and grammatically correct complex sentences using your own words. Do not just copy the information.) THE ASSIGNMENT
Please go to the following website: www.crystalinks.com/nazca.html and read the article up until "Theories about the Nazca Lines". Answer the following:
1) What are the Nazca Lines?
2) Who discovered them and how? Where are they? What size are they?
3) How were they formed?
4) Who was Maria Reiche and what did she think of the Nazca Lines? (Look at the first entry under "Theories about the Nazca Lines")
5) What are your 3 favorite Nazca Lines?
6) How do the Nazca Lines relate to math?
HOW TO TURN IN THE ASSIGNMENT:
Be sure to follow all of the following directions.
When you have completed the assignment e-mail it back to Ms. Kahl at:
XXXX@XXXX **In the subject of the e-mail, please write the following: Online Assignment
DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SUBJECT
**Please type up your response directly in the email. There is no need to attach it as a word document.
**Make sure to include your name at the beginning of the e-mail.
As my friend had said, the assignment, due the next day, was ridiculously overlong, was based on text that was extremely difficult to print out (I had to cut and paste each chunk of prose individually, then hit "View Image" and print each image separately, then piece images and text together), and guaranteed that any child whose family did not have multiple computers at home would be monopolizing the PC for most of the night. Apparently Ms. Kahl had told the class that children who did not have computers at home could come in "early." I scrolled down the page and found a set of links at the end, one of which was the CRYSTALINKS MAIN PAGE. I clicked on it. Then I kept on clicking:
I especially enjoyed the page on black helicopters.
Also the page on men in black.
edline surprise
edline surprise part 2
Nazcalines
-- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006 Back to main page.
Comments
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Look here for syntax help.
A couple of paragraphs? How about at least 6? Obviously, she didn't do the assignment herself. If this is an example of teaching across the curriculum, then she needs a little help trying to get a topic that is more about math. "How do the Nazca Lines relate to math?" They make modern progressive pedagogues feel warm and fuzzy and they cause kids to learn less math. "Apparently Ms. Kahl had told the class that children who did not have computers at home could come in 'early.'" Unthinking. Uncaring. Maybe she thinks it should be a really quick assignment. This would be true only if they do a really bad job of writing. What's the point? -- SteveH - 18 Oct 2006
If an enterprising young math student should read a little further into the crystalinks page that Ms. K directed them to, they'd find this: "The more one studies the more one realizes that one soul played the roles of all of the gods - left all of the markers - all of which speak of time when the eye - eclipse - light will appear in the heavens once again. It will appear 'out of the blue' - midnight blue. At this time - humanity will remove its consciousness from the 3D grid of and spiral through the 'stargate' of higher light. That time is almost here. we sense it, feel it, know it to be true or else we would not be here questing for answers." I wonder if Ms. K needs a refresher on how to critically evaluate information found on the web. -- LynnGuelzow - 18 Oct 2006
I was talking to a couple of parents last night about the use of the web in homework. One parent pointed out that a seemingly straight forward assignment became a monstrosity for kids that had dial-up service, not broadband or high speed. The teacher had asked students if they "had internet" but never inquired about the speed of the connection. The assignment took hours to download if you had dialup. -- LynnGuelzow - 18 Oct 2006
We've also seen our first "Webquest" this year (5th grade) about plant and animal cells. Some of the material linked to was good, but other pages were so technical and way above 5th grade level that it was ridiculous. Megan kept getting worried, "Do I have to understand ALL this?" I often wonder how closely teachers look at some of the Web links provided, too. -- KathyIggy - 18 Oct 2006
Adding fuel to the fire: I bet they don't do this in math class in Singapore. Or Russia. -Mark Roulo -- KtmGuest - 18 Oct 2006
This is insane. -- SusanJ - 18 Oct 2006
What on earth is mathematical about the lines? This assignment is completely irrelevant. Does it knock out the theory that Ms K may have an autistic spectrum disorder? -- TracyW - 18 Oct 2006
If Nazca was an alien airfield, it must have been a very confusing airfield, consisting as it does of giant lizards, spiders, monkeys, llamas, dogs, hummingbirds, etc....... -- BenCalvin - 18 Oct 2006
I AM LOLLLLLLLLIIINNNNNGGGGG — it's 7:17 p.m. and I just refreshed my edline page. I simply TOOK IT FOR GRANTED the thing would be gone. It's NOT gone. It's STILL THERE. Naturally I've written a MAJOR big-time email that is being forwarded all over creation, followed up by a sharply worded email to the school board and superintendent pointing out the fact that they awarded tenure to this person last year, followed by a succinct and devastating account of the Phase 4 disaster, which is itself now flying through the verizon-wires....and this assignment, with the link to the crystalinks site, is still posted on edline. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I wonder if Ms. K needs a refresher on how to critically evaluate information found on the web. oh boy, there are just so many questions one could pose re: the Nazca line assignment -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
The teacher had asked students if they "had internet" but never inquired about the speed of the connection. The assignment took hours to download if you had dialup. That's what my friend was burned up about. She said there was NO WAY a kid without fast access and no siblings etc. could have done this assignment in one night. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Christopher, meanwhile, has been completely paper-trained. He put the bare minimum into the assignment, got the whole thing done, emailed it in. All this before I even had a chance to get worked up about the damn thing. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
My friend is still trying to protect her child from the insanity that is Our School, or at least Our Math Class (Christopher has a bunch of terrific completely-not-insane teachers this year). She doesn't let him know she's contacting the principal, etc. So when she called me last night, and said something about the assignment to Christopher, she realized from his response that I didn't know anything about it — and then she felt bad. She thought she'd blown it. Then he explained to her that he doesn't read the whole thing; he just reads the questions and picks through the article for the answers. She said, "He didn't sound upset at all. Maybe now I made him upset when he wasn't." I said, "You don't understand. Your kid does much better when you tell him the school is your enemy. It takes all the pressure off." It's true. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I haven't figured out how to explain this to people who haven't had kids in special ed. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I bet they don't do this in math class in Singapore. Or Russia. rolling on the floor!!!! enjoying it, too!!! -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Kathy Iggy webquest? I can't stand it. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Nobody should be cruising the web ON PURPOSE. I cruise the web because IT'S AN ADDICTION. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
good lord -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
can't remember if I told you guys this or not on back to school night Ms. Kahl told everyone that she'd spent the summer "cruising the internet" and had found "a bunch of cool math sites" that "the kids will have fun with" I wanted to throttle her I spent the summer trying to reteach her course of course, when she said she'd found "cool math websites" I thought she meant stuff like Math Forum. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Tracy Let's just say, You read my mindy, honey. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Hey! I think I just called Tracy honey! My sister sent me an email today saying "It's going to be a long school year." She was referring to my school year. She's already pulled her kid out of school, probably for good. -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
ummm.....yes I have now abandoned the Asperger Ms. Kahl I have returned to the Psychedelic Ms. Kahl, the theory Other People Who Don't Happen To Be Me suggested early last year and which I rejected out of hand -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
This is insane. ditto that -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
but hey - ! assuming she doesn't grade it, which would be the norm, it's a free 30 points! -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
G. von Breunig thinks the lines were used for running footraces. He examined the curved pathways and determined that they were partially shaped by continuous running. Anthropologist Paul Kosok briefly maintained that the lines were part of an irrigation system, but soon rejected the notion as impossible. He then speculated that the lines formed a gigantic calendar. Maria Reiche, a German immigrant and apprentice archaeologist to Julio Tello of the University of San Marcos, developed Kosok's theory and spent most of her life collecting data to show that the lines represent the Nazca's astronomical knowledge. Reiche identified many interesting astronomical alignments, which had they been known to the Nazca might have been useful in planning their planting and harvesting. However, there are so many lines going in so many different directions that not finding many with interesting astronomical alignments would have been miraculous. hoo boy I couldn't quite bring myself, last night, to face the fact that this particular page was probaby pure crap actually, I assumed it was almost certainly pure crap given the rest of the website, but I didn't wish to find out, last night, exactly how crappy -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
so I guess I'm going to have to add some kind of peer review process for curriculum to my List of Demands -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
I wish you guys could see the edline page. It's huge. You have this big enormous Irvington school logo with crystalinks scrolling inside. and it's still there -- CatherineJohnson - 18 Oct 2006
Wikipedia actually has a pretty good article on this. Kosok and Reiche advanced one of the earliest reasons given for the Nazca Lines: that they were intended to point to the places on the distant horizon where the Sun and other celestial bodies rose or set. This hypothesis was evaluated by two different experts in archaeoastronomy, Gerald Hawkins and Anthony Aveni, and they both concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support an astronomical explanation. Article -- OldGrouch - 19 Oct 2006
Although the crystalinks site is the second result if you search for "Nazca lines" on Ask.com. -- OldGrouch - 19 Oct 2006
G. von Breunig thinks the lines were used for running footraces. He examined the curved pathways and determined that they were partially shaped by continuous running. Anthropologist Paul Kosok briefly maintained that the lines were part of an irrigation system, but soon rejected the notion as impossible. He then speculated that the lines formed a gigantic calendar. BWAHAHAHAA Imagine what people are going to make of the crap we've left behind in 20,000 years. The remains of the Mall of the Americas will be identified as a place where we ran giant footraces, no doubt. -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
This has nothing to do with math. It reminds me of a girl I knew in college who (on finding out I was a math major) told me that with my knowledge of math and hers of astrology, we'd be going places together. This Nazca lines thing is pseudomath, like those birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests so that the birds will think it's their own. -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
THIS IS A RIOT!!! -- CarolynJohnston - 19 Oct 2006
Oh my. Oh my. I cannot believe that this was an assignment. It's like something I'd look up at snopes.com. NOT the page, with its bad grammar and weird loopy sentences, no, the assignment. I can't believe any teacher, even the loopiest, would use that link to teach anything other than the identification of bad writing and poor logic. Reading your postings often makes me sooo happy with my district. It's not perfect, by a long shot, but heck, it sure seems a lot better run than your much wealthier district, with more educated parents in it! -- JenL - 19 Oct 2006
This assignment is completely irrelevant. Does it knock out the theory that Ms K may have an autistic spectrum disorder? Not at all--she has a "special interest" in crystals and "new age" "Math" sites. I was going to post a link to the cells "webquest" but it's no longer on the school website. Originally, one of the requirements was making a cell model completely out of food. It was fortunately modified to making a 3-D cell model out of anything. It's not obvious I do much of the work on these artistic projects since my artistic skills are below 5th grade level, and my husband's are even worse. Megan wanted to do the food project, but I talked her out of it. Several of her classmates had elaborately decorated cakes, or hollowed out watermelon halves filled with jello and other things suspended in the jello representing the other cell parts. Sigh. We went for the styrofoam square with whatever craft odds and ends were at hand..the first project that didn't require at least a $20 trip to HobbyLobby?. At least this has been the only project so far this year. -- KathyIggy - 19 Oct 2006
Ah, the infamous "cell project" - my friend's kid made his out of chocolate cake. His teacher mentioned that she LOVES chocolate, so his mom thought it would serve him well to make any food-based project out of it. I'm sure he got an A+ for the project his mother baked. Next time I hear a teacher complain that all they do is study for the state tests, I will remind them of the hours spent on creating edible cells. -- NicksMama - 19 Oct 2006
Our edible cell was actually the layers of the earth, another easy A if you use food. It involved various candies like malted balls and peanut butter M&Ms. I can't remember how we did the outer layers. Then we cut it in half and mounted it on a diorama (shoe box) that looked like outer space. -- SusanS - 19 Oct 2006
Projects where kids have to make models/dioramas/etc. always always always piss me off, especially if they are graded on said project/diorama/etc. (which is pretty much always). The artistically talented kids have an advantage, as do all the kids whose parents will do some or all of the work for the kid. It irks me to no end. I am strongly of the opinion that kids should be graded on what they know. Isn't learning the content of a course the important thing? Where does a teacher of science, or any subject other than art, get off judging a student on their artistic talent? It is not an art class, after all. A teacher should judge a student on whether or not they know the content. Can the student explain the structure of a cell? Can the student look at a picture of a cell and name all of the parts and functions of the cell? It goes without saying that my kids are not, for the most part, artistic. I am willing to buy materials for projects, up to a point. I can't say I've ever spent as much as $20. I am not willing to help my kids build or make things, though, because I feel that they should be judged on what they can do, not on what I can do. I must admit I am conflicted about that, however, because I know that it is not a level playing field - there are always parents who help their kids with these things, even if they don't admit it. Grr... Ok, rant over. Time to get back to the main topic of this thread: I agree that the Nazca lines assignment has no relevance to the math class. "Naturally I've written a MAJOR big-time email that is being forwarded all over creation, followed up by a sharply worded email to the school board and superintendent pointing out the fact that they awarded tenure to this person last year, followed by a succinct and devastating account of the Phase 4 disaster, which is itself now flying through the verizon-wires" Have you gotten any responses yet? -- LindaP - 19 Oct 2006
The remains of the Mall of the Americas will be identified as a place where we ran giant footraces, no doubt Of course, that would have the virtue of being true at least. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
This Nazca lines thing is pseudomath, like those birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests so that the birds will think it's their own. I LOVE IT!!!!! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Yes, the Men in Black page is especially terrific. I still like the Black Helicopters myself. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I also like the graphic on the Out of Body Experiences page —
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
NOT the page, with its bad grammar and weird loopy sentences, no, the assignment. It really is extraordinary. Parents who are paying attention - probably ALL parents who are paying attention - are tearing their hair out around here. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Meanwhile this came home in the backpacks yesterday. Funded by the Irvington Education Foundation. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I wonder if I should send Bobby an email? -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Dear Bobby, I'm sorry that you and your first wife were run over IN BED INSIDE YOUR HOUSE by a drunk driver. I hope my 12 year old doesn't run over anyone IN BED INSIDE THEIR HOUSE when he grows up. Because my husband and I are so committed to raising upstanding young adults who DO NOT RUN OVER PEOPLE IN BED INSIDE THEIR HOUSE, we have counseled him daily not to use drugs, drink, or use drugs and drive, or drink and drive, and to always make good decisions at all times throughout his future life. You might say our whole household is a Family Against Destructive Decision Making. So, just to let you know, we won't be attending your October 26 lecture on "Youth and the Power of their Decisions." Instead, we will be home studying math, English, Spanish, science, and social studies. We feel that studying and learning academic content is a good decision for us. Thank you. Catherine Johnson -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
moral panic
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Reading your postings often makes me sooo happy with my district. It's not perfect, by a long shot, but heck, it sure seems a lot better run than your much wealthier district, with more educated parents in it! I'm happy you're happy! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
However, I am not happy! -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
I actually think we probably have too much money. Ed finished the Robert Moses book - I may have to tackle it myself - I'll write something about it later. The Robert Moses book might support the idea that we have too much money. We have so much money here that scarcity of money isn't forcing people to make enough choices. more is more and all that If you CAN fund Bobby Petrocelli to come speak to your middle schoolers, then you SHOULD fund Bobby Petrocelli to speak to your middle schoolers. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Next time I hear a teacher complain that all they do is study for the state tests, I will remind them of the hours spent on creating edible cells. snort -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Linda P have I gotten responses? yup parents are SOOOO not happy now we're starting to find each other people have been working in complete isolation, on parallel tracks district placates and/or stonewalls us (stonewall for me) and tells us "you're the only parent who's complained" If anyone's interested I may need to set up a "closed" ktm listserv to post some of these things.... -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Good news. Drug Awareness Day is coming up. The kids are supposed to wear red and white in honor of Drug Awareness Day. Christian says Christopher should wear a Grateful Dead t-shirt. I'm thinking of having a red-and-white Grateful Dead shirt made up.
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
oh good The Church of Scientology supports Drug Awareness Day. -- CatherineJohnson - 19 Oct 2006
Well, she certainly looks sadd (sic) to me; that is such a fake smile. I think she's in denial. Perhaps if she made more positive decisions she wouldn't be so sadd. And I'd recommend some Partridge Family, of course. You can never have too much Partridge Family. -- DougSundseth - 19 Oct 2006
Oh, and perhaps a red and white shirt with "Drug Awareness Day" and the NORML logo. That would probably help too. -- DougSundseth - 19 Oct 2006
good lord I just noticed red ribbon WEEK Christopher kept oscillating between "Drug Awareness Day" and "Red Ribbon Week" Finally I said, "Is it a week or a day?" He said, "It's a day." no it's not It's a day AND it's a week -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
good god it's a whole red ribbon season -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
this reminds me the School Board has sent out an email soliciting opinions from the community on the proposed Fields Improvement proposal: The Board of Education has begun to move forward with a proposal for improving our schools’ fields, and we want to hear from you. The following is a summary of the project as it currently stands. I don't see how we can possibly pay for fields improvement when we have to buy so much drug awareness from every vendor under the sun -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
When Christian and Martine were leaving just now these words came out of my mouth: "Have the kids had their drugs?" -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Back when I had a normal life, a life with two autistic kids, two dogs, a regular kid, and a (semi)regular school, I used to call it "medicine." I used to say, "Have the kids had their medicine?" In the olden times before character education became point whatever-it-is on the strategic plan. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I wish you guys could have heard Christian riffing on what Bobby Petrocelli Day in Yonkers High would have been like. Can't post it; just can't. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Goal III Drug Awareness 24-7 is Goal III on the strategic plan -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Drug Awareness and counting the number of put downs on Sponge Bob -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
ok, here's a theory is it possible none of this is real is it possiblethis is all just one long-seeming lucid dream? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Doug good thought on the logo, but unfortunately the NORML colors are green and white, not red and white green and white are Bulldog colors -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I need a red shirt. Red & white. Red & white & not immediately identifiable as an ironic parental commentary on Goal III. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
that might work
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
we could revisit the Jewfro incident
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Ed finished the Robert Moses book - I may have to tackle it myself Robert Caro is not exactly a succinct writer. counting the number of put downs on Sponge Bob Sponge Bob IS character education. It's very popular in our house. Drug Awareness Day is coming up. We saw our felon neighbor from the Hell's Angeles house down the block stroll by in his DARE shirt a few days ago. -- BenCalvin - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Robert Caro is NOT succinct -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Way not succinct -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
yeah, well.....D.A.R.E. Irvington is a D.A.R.E. town we have signs everywhere one of Christopher's teachers had a relative who'd done research on D.A.R.E. showing it increased drug use -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
a person I happen to know well says it's standard procedure amongst the young to smoke pot while wearing your D.A.R.E. t-shirt -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I love it
"This DARE T-Shirt features the slogan from the the late 80's and early 90's to help keep children off of drugs."
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
I have a D.A.R.E. street sign around the corner & down the hill from my house. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
So I get the feeling IMS teachers aren't necessarily On Board for character ed. Christopher said tonight that one of his teachers yelled at them for some infraction or other, then said, "This is why we're shoving all this character education down your throats. So you won't grow up to be jerks." I spent about 10 seconds thinking, YOU'RE TELLING ME I HAVE TO WRITE ANOTHER EMAIL TONIGHT??? Then I thought, Hey! That sounds like something I would say. So I said, "Which teacher is this?" Christopher: XXXX Me: Do you like XXXX? Christopher: Yeah! XXXX is my favorite teacher! Me: Was XXXX being ironic? Christopher: I don't know. Me: XXXX was being ironic. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Kids seriously don't get irony. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Ben Sponge Bob IS character education Correct yup Sponge Bob is character education; kids get their character education - brace yourself - PRIMARILY THROUGH IMPLICIT NOT EXPLICIT LEARNING I know this because my neighbor looked it up my neighbor the clinical psychologist -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Here it is. (pdf file) here, too Kathleen Matusiak's claim to fame. Our Board of Ed hired a woman whose entire claim to fame, as far as Google is concerned, is character ed. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
our superintendent (pdf file)
-- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
good lord I just noticed red ribbon WEEK Christopher kept oscillating between "Drug Awareness Day" and "Red Ribbon Week" Finally I said, "Is it a week or a day?" He said, "It's a day." no it's not It's a day AND it's a week -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006 Yes, and my good friend with FOUR boys in public school is wondering how she's going to keep track of 16 ribbons for a week. You know that they are going to be giving out extra credit for wearing them. And her 6th grader who forgets to turn in his homework NEEDS extra credit...badly. -- NicksMama - 20 Oct 2006
They have to wear red ribbons? For extra credit? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Well, if she needs a ready-made email to the School Board I've got one. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Or I probably will have, knowing me. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
That is offensive. The whole thing is offensive. It's also stupid. Children don't learn to stay off drugs by being constantly harangued about drugs. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Got drugs?
sorry I couldn't resist -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
If I could persuade parents to boycott Drug Awareness day I would. I probably can't even persuade Christopher to stay home. Christopher loves school. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
He likes the new principal, btw. He was uncertain in the first couple of weeks, and he was ticked off about the bomb threat assembly. But now he likes him. He says Ms. Helgans, the assistant principal, is "annoying," but then, he adds, "She's supposed to be annoying; she's the assistant principal." All of this is good. He likes being at his school, he likes his principal, he respects the assistant principal and thinks she's fulfilling her role. So.....in the midst of all this character-ed crap, all this rationing-of-courses crap, all of this hiring-only-young-teachers-straight-out-of-ed-school crap...we may actually have a decent new principal at the head of the school. We'll see. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
You know, I was going to offer to have our [urban, not rich, though not poor because we're highly property taxed]district take some of that money (or at least the sushi from the cafeteria) off of your hands. But then, I thought no. I don't want to screw anything up here. So, I personally offer to take millions off your hands. Cancel all speakers and special programs and just send me the wads of cash. Really, it's the least I could do. I'd love to see the replies about this assignment. -- JenL - 20 Oct 2006
I don't want to screw anything up here. good thinking Cancel all speakers and special programs and just send me the wads of cash. bonne idee! -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
There aren't going to be any replies about the assignment. The assignment is going back from whence it came, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Which is just as well. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Chrisitian, it turns out, loves conspiracy theories, metaphysical stuff of all stripes, etc. When he finally figured out a couple of nights ago what the website really was he had me email him the link. Turns out he knows it well; it's a famous but old metaphysical website. Christian said, "The thing I don't like about it is it doesn't give the correct information. It just tells you what a lot of different people think is the correct information." THANK GOD HE'S IN COLLEGE That got me to thinking about conspiracy thinking. Christian loves conspiracy stuff. He loves it, meaning he says, "I like conspiracy stuff, but it shouldn't be in a school. That's stuff you stay up late drinking and ** about; it shouldn't be for 7th graders." The thing about conspiracy thinking is that it's complex - when you're really into conspiracy thinking there's a HUGE amount of data & actors to keep track of. It suddenly occurred to me that when you take naturally brainy people, as Christian is, and then teach them nothing, conspiracy thinking might be where they end up. They need to exercise their brains; they've got naturally active thought processes. Christian is like that; he's constantly coming up with stuff - novel observations that make you see things in a different way - that kind of thing. The other night he came downstairs and we were all at the dinner table already, and he startled, then said he was having one of those Twilight Zone experiences where you're dead and you don't know it and you see everyone sitting at the dinner table without you and you know that's not right. He said it better than that, too. That's just wild. We all decided that came from being an only child. I said, "When you've got four kids in the family you know the party can start without you." -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Anyway, this got me wondering about all the conspiracy thinking in Arab states. Their schools appear to be dreadful; conspiracy thinking gives the mind something to chew on. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Black culture is FILLED with conspiracies. Filled. I don't think white people have any idea. I sure didn't. There's a whole alternative set of Christian beliefs even. Apparently most of the blacks in Christian's circle believe Jesus was actually born at Easter time. I forget why. I've got to get all this stuff down. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
A Different Look at D.A.R.E. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
If the measure for success of D.A.R.E. is whether it is effective in reducing drug use (let alone abuse) among young people, the evaluations uniformly conclude no, D.A.R.E. is no more effective than any other drug education program, nor more effective than no program at all. Although many evaluations have been done, no scientific study has discovered any statistically significant difference in drug-usage rates between students who had taken D.A.R.E. and those who had not. The most exhaustive and authoritative study to date on the effectiveness of D.A.R.E. was done by the Research Triangle Institute, North Carolina, at the behest of the U.S. Department of Justice, entitled "Past and Future Directions of the D.A.R.E. Program, September, 1994."(338k) It was first reported in the national press by USA Today. The reported concluded: "The D.A.R.E. program's limited effect on adolesent drug use contrasts with the program's popularity and prevalence. An important implication is that D.A.R.E. could be taking the place of other, more beneficial drug education programs that kids could be receiving." For a summary of the report, see "How Effective is D.A.R.E.?," American Journal of Public Health, September 1994, p. 1399. etc. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
My problem isn't that D.A.R.E., S.A.D.D., Drug Awareness Day, Bobby Petrocelli and whatever else we're throwing money at this year might take the place of effective drug programs. My problem is that all this crap might take the place of actual academics. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
So here's Bobby: My ultimate desire is that you will find hope, faith and love in every area of your life. My message is clear and simple…10 Seconds is all it takes to change a life forever. Our lives our lived in increments of "10 Second) decisions. No matter how small and insignificant every decision may seem, it will invariably have a profound impact on your life and the lives of others positively or negatively. In other words, every good and bad thing in this world starts with one person, one decision. What we say, how we act, react or respond, takes no more than 10 seconds, and 10 seconds can change your life forever. We live our lives 10 seconds at a time.
My question is: why is this a philosophy we want to teach to kids with immature frontal lobe development who, precisely because of immature frontal lobe development, do in fact, right now, live their lives 10 seconds at a time. Planning, persistence, "remembering the future" — these are all frontal lobe functions we parents are trying to nurture and develop in our kids. Why does my child have to be constantly subjected to all this stuff by his school and its associated fundraising parents? I want them to teach him academic content knowledge, and to support and motivate him in his efforts to learn it. -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Well, this is just great. Are they going to make the kids read this? And why are they treating my child like the future truck driver in this scene? Why are our children seen as young people who would just naturally make deadly "decisions" without the school's intervention? Isn't my kid more likely to be the guy getting run over? -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
Bring back self esteem please -- CatherineJohnson - 20 Oct 2006
"Children don't learn to stay off drugs by being constantly harangued about drugs." When I was growing up in the 60's, we has to watch "Reefer Madness". We thought it was hilarious. -- SteveH - 22 Oct 2006
If I were her, I'd start out her lifetime of good-decision-making by putting on some other clothes.
-- CarolynJohnston - 22 Oct 2006
ha ha ha ha ha -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I knew there was something wrong with that picture - but I hadn't put it in words. This reminds me of the first time I ever saw a book by - Dr. Schlessinger? Is that her name? I'd never heard of her, and her books were all over the place at our local Crown Books, and the photo was wretched. She had frizzy dyed-blonde hair & blue eye shadow and god knows what else. The title was something like, "Ten Stupid Things Women Do" — and my immediate thought was, Number one is look like that. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I have it on good authority that Young People smoke dope wearing their D.A.R.E. shirts. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
Christopher will probably be the only child in the school not wearing red and white. sigh -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
oh I know - It was "Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Screw Up Their Lives"
ok, she doesn't have blue eye shadow -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
mess up their lives excuse me -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I saw Reefer Madness in college, I think. I'm sure that film saved many lives. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
I remember a great line about Roseanne: She never met a line she didn't cross. That's how I feel about these programs. They're like a dare (dare, not D.A.R.E.) A cautious kid like Christopher doesn't need this program; a hyper daredevil kid isn't going to remember this program when the time comes; a rebellious contrarian kid is going to go out and use drugs on purpose just because he spent 3 years in middle school being told not to. Rebels don't like people drawing lines in the sand. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
A line in the sand is a big fat temptation. -- CatherineJohnson - 22 Oct 2006
| WebLogForm | |
|---|---|
| Title: | edline surprise |
| TopicType: | WebLog |
| SubjectArea: | IrvingtonMath, IrvingtonSchools |
| LogDate: | 200610180711 |