With new national education standards being put in place across the country, state school boards are struggling to find resources and textbooks which provide the best opportunities for their students to reach those standards.  Textbook selection has always been a difficult task for schools, they must consider content, cost, reading level, and of course... politics.

In the past the text book industry was often guided by larger states like Florida, Texas, and California.  It was expensive for publishers to cater to regional preferences and because those states have such large populations, text book publishers would base their content on their preferences.  However with many districts opting to use digital texts it has become more cost effective for publishers to provide regional options.

This past week the textbook battle was once again raging in Texas as the school board attempts to choose new Science texts.  This battle is centered around whether or not the books should teach evolution, creationism, creative design, or present all three theories.  Creationists claim that evolution has not been proven, and because of this it should only be presented as one theory among several.  

At the latest state review panel, the skeptics of the evolutionary theory of humanity included a biologist and a chemical engineer.  The supporters of evolution however number in the vast majority of the mainstream scientific community.

As the battle rages in Texas, what do you think?  Should text books offer all the different theories of man's origins? 

Thoughts? 

A comedic discussion of "Creationism" by Lewis Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDZTveY4uQ

Creationism debate Hugh Ross vs. Kent Hovind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vavu8KduvhA

Matt Labrun, the head football coach of Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah, suspended his entire team this week for what he termed a "lack of character."  It was brought to his attention that the students on his football team were participating in bullying and cyber-bullying, were being rude and disrespectful to teachers and faculty members, and were struggling in some of their classes.  

This week, Mr. Labrun had enough and decided it was time for a change.  He gave the following letter to each member of his team:



Gentlemen, we are not pleased with how our football brothers are representing our family, school, community, alumni, family and yourselves.  It is a privilege to play this wonderful game!  We must earn the opportunity, to have the honor to put on our high school's jersey each Thursday and Friday night!  The lack of character we are showing off the field is outshining what we are achieving on the field.  We want student-athletes that are humble to learn and grow through adversity and success on and off the field. 


We want a team that others want to associate themselves with and support; winning isn't the most important criteria for that to happen.Humbleness, thankfulness, humility, respect, courage and honor are much more important than winning ballgames! We can achieve both if we start to act with others' feelings in mind and focus on how we can make someone else's day instead of just wrapped up in ourselves. 

WHEN WE ARE WORKING ON THIS AND ACHIEVING THIS WE WILL BE MOLDING OUR CHARACTER IN A POSITIVE WAY! Right now we are way off as a collective group. We want change and are going to make changes now.

As of tonight we are no longer playing football until we meet certain criteria!

TURN YOUR JERSEYS IN NOW!




Saturday: 7:00 a.m. electing captains "Attitude Reflects Leadership" — Remember the Titans.

Monday: 3:30 we will be doing a service project during practice time, come prepared to work, then we are all required to attend the Cougar Legend Banquet. Find ways to serve during this event.

Tuesday: We will be performing more service in lieu of practice.

Wednesday: Study Hall begins at 3:30 and we better have specific items to work on. We will be in there for the duration of practice. You must have enough work for 2 hours.

Criteria to EARN jersey back for Friday's Game

1) Attend all practices that we have planned and any others that may come up.

2) Be on time and totally prepared

3) No F's or discipline problems

4) Do an individual service project for your family, give me a typed report of it and pictures and have your parents sign it. (Due Wed. before study hall)

5) Memorize and pass this quote off to one of the coaches at some point during study hall

"Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece — by thought, by choice, courage, and determination."

If you meet ALL criteria by Wednesday night, you will have earned the privilege to play in the games on Thursday and Friday. If you fail then you will miss this week's game.

Signed,

your coaches



What are your thoughts?

As the world begins to come to terms with what exactly happened in Kenya this past weekend, we also see the dangers of assumption and stereotyping.  Already, Somali-Americans in Minnesota are feeling the angry backlash of  citizens as they begin to blame the entire group for the actions of only a few... assuming they must be affiliated with Al Shabab even though most Americans probably hadn't heard of Al Shabab before Sunday evening.

Following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 the Islamic community in our country felt that backlash.  People who had been and continued to be loyal, peaceful, law abiding citizens overnight became targeted as the enemy simply because they called God, Allah.  These Americans cried with the rest of us, mourned with the rest of us, and like the rest of us were disgusted by the actions of monsters from half way across the world.

A friend of mine from Oman named Ali is coming to the United States in January with his family and he recently emailed me to ask if I thought it was safe for his 17 year-old daughter to wear her hijab to school and in public.  Ali and his family are not particularly religious people, and his daughter wears the hijab less for religious reasons and more for cultural ones.  

What do I tell him?  That his daughter will be fine and that no one will bother her?  The fact of the matter is, someone probably will bother her without knowing her, her family, or the very real differences between Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc... or the very real differences between mainstream Sunni Islam, Shiite Islam, or Ibadi Islam as practiced in Oman.  

We fear what we don't know and what we don't understand... why else would a Sikh be harassed after September 11 if not for ignorance?  Why would a Hindu be accused of Islamic extremism if not for ignorance?  

Thoughts? 

On Saturday gunmen from a group known as Al Shabab infiltrated and attacked an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.  More than 1,000 people were rescued during the attack however as of Monday night, 62 people had been confirmed killed by the gunman.

The intruders numbered between 10-15 and according to some reports, there are American members of Al Shabab. Two such members are reportedly from Minnesota which has a large immigrant Somalian community... Al Shabab is based in Somalia.   

At this point it is unclear the purpose behind the attack, but the Somalian based group claims Kenya's relative prosperity is due in part through the exploitation of the Somalian people.  The mall in Nairobi is seen as a sign of that prosperity, and thus became the focus of the attack.

Kenya's military quickly responded with help from the Israeli, French, English, and American governments.  At this point there are still hostages inside the mall with Al Shabab refusing to surrender... the group confirmed they were responsible for the attack through their Twitter account.

Thoughts?  

Last month the Arkansas Christian Academy made national headlines after it placed a sign outside its main building which reads, "Staff is armed and trained.  Any attempt to harm children will be met with deadly force."

After the sign went viral, the school began receiving emails and tweets both in support of the new policy and in condemnation of it.  As a teacher, I am greatly concerned with how to best keep our schools safe... however like many people across the country, I am at a loss as to how to best do that.  Whatever your political leanings, I'm not sure 'doing nothing' is good enough anymore.

Where do you stand?  Are you comfortable with teachers being armed in an effort to protect our schools?  Is arming people the only way to ensure our schools are safe?  

Thoughts? 

It should not come as a surprise, but a study released from Nebraska that was recently published in the Journal of Pediatrics shows that children who are physically fit absorb and retain new information more effectively than students who are unhealthy... yet across the country, including in Warwick, districts are cutting physical education programs.

Learning is a complete process of mind and body which involves not only the taking in and storing of new information (encoding), but also recalling that information for use at a later time... and according to latest research these processes can only function at maximum efficiency when the mind and body are trained. 

Reducing or eliminating physical education programs is often done as a result of tough financial realities for school districts... however cutting such programs actually has clear detrimental effects on the educational growth, development, and success of students... 

Thoughts???

Have you ever sat in class in May or June... or perhaps in early September and after looking outside and seeing a perfect 75 degree day you ask your teacher, "Can we have class outside?"  The response from the teacher is almost always... No.

It would seem that the person in charge of your educational future, the so-called expert in the room, that educational professional charged with guiding your intellectual growth just put up a huge roadblock to that growth and development.  Back in the 1970s environmental psychologists began researching nature's healing effects on the mind.  That research has continued into the 21st century and we now know that connections with nature actually help to shirk mental fatigue, restore drifting attention or day-dreaming, and help to focus the mind on the task at hand.

Maybe Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle knew what they were doing by having their students discuss philosophy and metaphysics in open-air forums, or on cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea... of course they did, they were Greek after all!

So now that you know the best educational environment... enjoy the asylum-like interior of Pilgrim High School!!! 

At around 8:00am yesterday morning, a lone gunman made his way into a D.C. Navy Yard and began a shooting rampage that claimed the lives of 12 people.

Aaron Alexis had served two years in the Navy reserves and was given a general discharge in 2011 after exhibiting a "pattern of misbehavior."  He had however worked as a subcontractor on an HP Enterprise Services contract with the Navy since his discharge.

While many employees were having breakfast gun shots began to ring out at the facility which sits about a half mile away from the Capitol.  Mr. Alexis apparently made his way to an upper floor which over looked an atrium, he then began firing down into a crowd of people... all the victims were civilian employees, not military personnel.

Police and S.W.A.T. arrived within minutes and a gun fight ensued which ended with police killing Mr. Alexis who was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun, and a semiautomatic pistol.  The facility remained on lock down for several hours, as did the Capitol, as police were investigating reports of two other armed men in the area... it now appears that Alexis acted alone.  As of late last night police were still looking for a motive.

It seems that these mass shootings are becoming all too common in our society... they occur in schools, at malls, movie theaters, the work place, political rallies... anywhere and everywhere; and each time we see our local and national leaders, political commentators and pundits, religious leaders, and anyone else who has a microphone or a camera to speak into make the same nonsensical arguments.  Leaders on both the liberal left and the conservative right will now spend the next few weeks politicizing this latest tragedy until it quietly becomes back-page news; just another entry on the list of mass shootings.  

But nothing will change.  For some reason we simply refuse to address this issue in our culture and it is costing lives. And each and every time an event of this sort happens the result is the status-quo as law makers look to secure their own positions rather than make real change or real effort into finding a solution... and so nothing happens... and in a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months I will be on here blogging about yet another tragic mass shooting.

Thoughts...

Update: the latest reports say that Alexis did not in fact have an AR-15... That he was armed with a shotgun and may or may not have had a handgun.

This past weekend the New York times published an article entitled, "The Real-Life 'Glee' in Levittown, Pa."  The article chronicles a theater program run by Lou Volpe at the area high school.  The drama program competes each year for an invitation to the annual Thespian Festival at the University of Nebraska... one of the most prestigious high school festivals in the nation.

Each season 50 students audition for only a small number of parts, and if one is lucky enough and talented enough to receive one of those parts, their reward is hundreds of hours of prep and rehearsal.  They are not paid, they do not turn into big time movie stars... so why do they do it?  

As I read the article I started to think of the 130 students who signed up this past week for travel club.... the largest turnout the club has ever had.  Why did so many students sign up for a club for which they receive no academic credit and will miss no class time?  

Perhaps Mr. Volpe's kids and the kids of travel club are sending a very clear, very simple message to the adults running our education system... tap into something that actually peaks the interests of students and they will respond.   

Thoughts?

When Jorge Bergoglio chose the name Francis following his election as Pope earlier this year, he made a statement that like his namesake St. Francis of Assisi he would attempt to be a man of the people... and thus far he has been just that.

The latest example of his reaching out to the people has been what is now being earning him the nickname, "the Cold Call Pope."  Each day the Vatican receives hundreds of letters and emails addressed to the Pope.  These letters range from asking for forgiveness, prayers for illness, or spiritual advice.  Apparently the Pope reads as many of these letters as he can... and sometimes he responds.

Pope Francis has taken it upon himself to make several phone calls of the past few months to the writers of these letters.  His calls always take the faithful by surprise and sometimes at first, they don't believe that it really is the Pope.  

The Pope also has a Twitter account which is updated daily offering a constant, somewhat direct connection to the leader of the world's Catholic community.

Thoughts?