Category Archives: art and music

More on Education

by

…wow, there’s something going on when there are so many education posts in 24 hours.

Link here and here .

I should mention the connection between the Bushes and the McGraw-Hill publishing house that publishes education texts and materials.

I picked up my college history book to look at the reference to Ronald Reagan again.  It was a glowing report on him without much critical analysis of his actions nor was it all inclusive of his destruction of the Fairness Doctrine, unions, consolidation of the media markets, etc. I looked at the publisher: McGraw-Hill .

More on the profiteering by the Bushes here.

Yep, where there’s money to be made and destruction of society…you’ll find the Bushes and Cheneys….

Un-Charted waters…

by

Ball State is no longer supporting the charter schools in Indiana.  (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun for the title)

One of them is the Imagine Schools here in FW.  They’re not holding up under the test of time and students.

Here’s a story on it. (Side note~the Indiana Dunes/Lake Michigan is at the top of the webpage.  It’s so cool that Indiana has this.)

Here’s the local take: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130123/EDIT07/301239992/1147/EDIT07

Related to this, high school graduates are not graduating on time.

I reeeeeallly hate to turn to faux news, but it’s the one with the most info: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/students-not-graduating-on-time-high-school-dropou/nJ8dZ/

Notice how they immediately put the blame on the teachers, and then the parents.  While both could be at fault, I take a longer look at this–

The No Child Left A Mind Act.  It has now been torturing children since 2002, when W. signed it into law. (Note that speaker Boehner was a co-author)

From the site:

NCLB’s main focus is on skills in reading, writing and mathematics, which are areas related to economic success. Combined with the budget crises in the Late-2000s recession, some schools have cut or eliminated classes and resources for many subject areas that are not part of NCLB’s accountability standards.[32] Since 2007, almost 71% of schools have reduced some instruction time in subjects such as history, arts, language and music, in order to give more time and resources to mathematics and English.[33][34]

(italics are mine)

~~~~~~~~~

The children graduating now and in the next year would have been subjected to this mind-numbing, controlling, micro-managing of schools and teachers for all of their education careers.  This system has FAILED miserably, as the inability of these students to graduate on time and with the skills of life (not of business, mind you, but of life–schools are waaaay too influenced by the corporate “needs” instead of the country’s needs of an educated populace that can ask questions and analyze information in a way that is helpful towards sustaining a democracy.)

Another point of the above link was that they were saying the kids didn’t care and were disrespectful.  The kids want out of school.  This should be a red flag that something is terribly wrong when so many children hate school.  We’re born with the natural curiosity in order to learn about our world and how to go about in it.  Most kids love to learn, so if they’re not interested in it, then the fault is on the system, not the kids.  And I believe the kids are disrespectful because they are repeatedly subjected to boring school days that don’t stimulate their creativity, don’t encourage them to think outside the box, subject them to endless tests, reading, math, reading, tests, reading, math, tests…you get the idea….they become angry because they know they’re being screwed.  And they perceive the teachers as being at fault when the teacher is only doing what has been required of her–she cannot teach in a creative way while using her own intuition to conduct the class–she has a guide book that she must follow with little room for any creative expression either by her or her students.

When I was a substitute teacher, on one of the first assignments I got behind in class because we were doing Math and a student was having difficulty understanding the concept.  The class day was so unbelievably structured that it didn’t allow for extra time, and I soon fell far behind and couldn’t get everything done that the teacher had outlined.  She hit the roof when she came back to class later that day, because it meant she had to add everything I did not get done to the next day, which is also as structured with no time for extra.  I never subbed for her again.

 

 

Ghosts of Alcatraz

by

Indian Country also has this up on the re-painting of the water tower at Alcatraz.  It’s simply amazing that they allowed this to be done.  I’m glad that this piece of history is being preserved.

If you recall, Alcatraz was formerly a prison that was taken over by the Native Americans on the basis of their former treaties that allowed them to claim any federal land that was not being used.  It was part of the new reclamation of traditional beliefs and reclaiming the Self that had been nearly destroyed by the European population.

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was one that was there, and she wrote about her experience in her autobiography, Mankiller. This is a great book for those unfamiliar with the Native American history and customs.  It was one of the first books I read that opened my mind to how different the Native Americans were as opposed to how they had been portrayed in my history books.

 

When annihilating a culture doesn’t work…

by

…you diminish them in other ways.

That wasn’t the only recent incident of continuing to sexualize Native American women…No Doubt also used it in a video.

Holy crap, you couldn’t see how unbelievably offensive this was–not only to Native American women, but to women in general?  I seriously doubt the claims that they had consulted with *cough* experts and Native Americans who thought this was just fine.  Anyone with two brain cells would be offended by it.  Violence towards women is never okay.  It’s not entertainment.

Victory for the kids in CPS

by

DN! has a report up from Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Public Teachers Union.  She is saying that the biggest thing that got applause for the new contract was the clause that the teachers could write their own lesson plans.  Woot!!

I saw how much the stupid No Child Left a Mind law did for teacher’s ability to conduct their classrooms according to their own intellectual, creative, and intuitive talents.  As Karen Lewis stated, teachers have been micromanaged in the classroom for things they know are harmful to their kids.

The anti-bullying clause is stunning–principals who were setting up teachers to fail.  This has been in the back of my mind with this whole evaluation process putting the full load on the teacher’s shoulders.  A school administrator could easily set a teacher up to fail by loading her/his class with students who are slow learners or have behavioral problems, etc.  Then she/he would have a failing classroom, by the impossible standards set up by these draconian laws.

The best thing that Karen Lewis spoke of was not only a longer school day, but a higher quality school day including a more well-rounded curriculum with arts, etc.  From my own experience as a substitute teacher, I could see how myopic the math and reading curriculum was–and how mind-numbing it was for kids.  The creative thought is what creates intelligence…anyone can recite numbers and facts, but to truly be able to problem-solve, one needs creative thought to look at all factors influencing the problem.

It’s very telling that President Obama, a Democrat, did not lend his support to the union.  Also very telling, but not surprising, is the Romney/Ryan ticket supporting Rahm Emanuel, a democrat in name only.   That should raise red flags as to what this is all about.

What also should raise red flags is Lewis’ assertion that the school closings are about real estate–and a school board that did not attend the school closing hearings.  See, they frame it to be about the kids, while making land deals behind the scenes.

And as Karen Lewis asks, “Where is the accountability?”  The “Accountability Movement” is geared towards one goal and one view.  God Bless her for her courage and strength.

Do as I say, not as I do…

by

…is how Rahm Emanuel operates.

Story here on the private school where he sends his kids.  His kids enjoy a good education with art, physical education, languages, and God forbid, libraries…

…while he advocates charter schools run not by education majors, but finance majors; busing kids clear across town; longer school days that don’t necessarily mean a better education; and questionable evaluation measures for the kids and their teachers…

From the story:

Writing on the University of Chicago’s Lab School website two years ago, [Director David] Magill noted, “Measuring outcomes through standardized testing and referring to those results as the evidence of learning and the bottom line is, in my opinion, misguided and, unfortunately, continues to be advocated under a new name and supported by the current [Obama] administration.”

Well said.  But is anyone listening…?

Living in the moment…

by

…this weekend encompassed every human emotion possible…

I’ll start with the good stuff…

Fortunately for me, my son is a Bob Dylan fan….so he treated his Mom to the concert here at Parkview Field Friday night.  It was wonderful!!!

It was one of those perfect summer nights that wasn’t muggy, wasn’t too cool nor too hot–perfect.

Dylan took the stage at 8:00 and played until 10:00 p.m. , dressed in white pants and blue jacket.  My son and I were sitting in the stands–I told him he should go down to the area in front of the stage and he said I should go down.  Okay, I’m not usually an outgoing person–I am the wallflower of all wallflowers (I know that sounds really funny reading this blog)….but I couldn’t resist and went down to the ballfield area–I am soooo glad that I did–the positive, warm energy there was amazing. (minus the drunk couple that started to get into it, but thankfully stopped before it got too out of hand.)

I was about twenty feet from the stage–close enough to see Bob smile.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photograph of him smiling–he seemed to be really enjoying playing as much as we did listening–magical. 🙂

The band was super–really together.  Bob played a baby grand piano, which was a thrill–I don’t care how much technology tries to imitate the authentic instrument–I can still tell when it’s not the real thing because there’s no soul to it.  And I loved that he also incorporated a cello in the ensemble–really added to the sound. (Bob didn’t play it–a band member (Tony?) played it.)

My son and I were debating whether Bob would play “Blowin in the Wind”.–he jokingly said he was going to request it if Bob took requests…

On that fateful day of the Big Storm here, I was at the main library, waiting on those hidden books in the storage unit to come up, and happened to see a book written about Bob Dylan.  I was flipping through it, and came upon a paragraph where Bob had an audience with the Pope and the Pope requested “Blowin in the Wind”….and Bob refused to play it for him.  Bwahahahaha.  Cracks me up still…

….so, I wasn’t getting my hopes up that it was going to be on the setlist…

…I had gone back to where my son was seated after they stopped playing the set.  I was hoping for an encore, but I was concerned about losing my son when the crowds started to leave, so I headed back to the seats.

…so you can imagine what happened…

Bob came back on stage and started playing a Rag Time tune…my son recognized it before I did–he was playing “Blowin in the Wind”, but in Rag Time.

Thank You, Bob Dylan, for coming here–please come again.  This concert made my whole summer year.

(I never knew there were so many cool people in Fort Wayne….where have they been hiding?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On to the rest of the weekend–

With my Dad unable to return to his place, it needs to be cleaned out, so I went over to help out.  A tough job. Emotions are running high and feelings have been hurt.  I guess that’s part of the process.

Then yesterday–

A resident came to my door with another lady I didn’t know, who was concerned about one of the residents.  She was a friend of hers and hadn’t been able to get in touch with her for a couple of days.  This resident was always up and about, so I was concerned.  I have access to the radio to contact the maintenance folks, so I called them to see if they could pop over for a wellness check.  Normally, the housing folks charge for non-emergency calls on the weeknights and weekends, so the maintenance guy said he’ d have to clear it with his supervisor.  (Yes, money is that tight, folks).  However, while we waited to hear back, the lady’s friend said that her car was in the parking lot and they normally talked every day, and she hasn’t answered her phone for two days.  I went back to the radio to tell the maintenance guy the new information, hoping that he would come over.

After awhile, the EMS showed up, but we were unaware that it was for this lady.  I followed them, wanting to ask them to check on this lady, but there was no need–they were headed for her apartment.  The maintenance guy showed up shortly afterward, to let them in.  When they didn’t come right back out, I knew that she was, indeed, in the apartment, but had not responded to us banging on the door.  Not a good sign.

Then the EMS came out and asked if she normally responded and spoke in complete sentences.  Also not a good sign.  When they brought her out, she was in the fetal position with her knees drawn up to her chest, and her head falling to her chest, as if she couldn’t lift it up at all.  And she was as pale as a ghost.

I haven’t heard any more on her status.  Adding to it is another resident that she was close to died just over a month ago, and I’ve heard that the police and EMS were interrogating her like she had caused her friend’s death…upsetting her even more.  They seemed to have lost the focus of their profession….