We need to be understanding. No one would argue with that. The problem according to Sporleder is that we are stressed so we overreact. The students are stressed because of the trauma in their lives so they have no self control. The illustration is the child that was “brutally beaten” the night before and can expect the same tonight. I know that the illustration reflects real life. Brutality happens. It does not happen to everyone. And keep in mind that to many educators raising your voice to a student is brutality. Making them feel bad is brutality. I was once called on the carpet because the student felt bad when I was talking. He could not give anything I said but it made him feel bad, it was just a feeling. ????? Welcome to modern education.
You will be glad to know that we now have the trauma solution. Evidently the answer is to allow the student who has just dropped the F bomb five times and questioned whether your parents were married to leave class for a time-out room where he can get in touch with his feelings. When he has dealt with the deep trauma that is effecting his life he will return ready learn. This miracle will take place in ten minutes, or however long it takes to smoke a cigarette. On returning he will be allowed to bring his pet unicorn and any Easter Bunnies he came across in the hall. (I just made up that last part. I get carried away. Please forgive me. No? Stress. Can I go to the time out room?)
In the quest for progress there are certain words that must be labeled as evil. This time the big bad word was “traditional”. “Rules” of course are anathema. The student really wants to work hard, get an education and be successful. It doesn’t matter that his hero is a basketball star with groupies following him everywhere. It is irrelevant that he figures he can make all the money he needs by selling drugs. If we can just deal with his trauma all will be sweetness and light.
It started to dawn on me that he had a program to sell the school district. Since I will be gone next year I will not be forced to deal with it. Unfortunately I will still be a part of society that will be inundated with these walking tragedies. So will you.
homo unius libri
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
Opus 2017-104: New Terms: Trauma, part 3 of 4, Charts and Graphs
Be careful when someone starts showing you statistics with charts and graphs. Benjamin Disraeli put it well: “There are three types of lies -- lies, damn lies, and statistics.” That doesn’t mean that the statistics are wrong, just that they are presented in such a way as to prove the point of the speaker.
Sporleder evidently reached “national attention” levels because he had improved the performance of his school. I had never heard of him but that doesn’t mean much. He then showed how dramatically he had reduced the number of suspensions and expulsions in his school. I do not question that he could document the numbers. The charts were impressive. The problem is that unlike the masses of educators in the auditorium, I was not born yesterday. He lost me when he claimed it was done by simply being sensitive to students and letting them know he was listening. The numbers looked dramatic but I have been at a school where we could have duplicated the same graphs. We did it by redefining terms, changing forms and ignoring facts.
We redefined terms by calling what used to be a suspension an expulsion. When I started teaching “suspension” meant being sent home to the care of your parents for a few days. It was supposed to get you thinking about the seriousness of your action and force your parents to acknowledge that all was not roses and Student of the Month. “Expulsion” used to mean that you were never to darken the doorways of our district again. Now it means what suspension used to mean and it is very rare for someone to be totally kicked out of the district. Sent-home suspensions have been replaced by “ISS” which is an acronym for “In School Suspension”. Since they are still on campus we not only don’t count them as being suspended we get the money for their bodies, too. It is a win/win for everyone except the student.
We used another way a few years ago. We “ran out” of referral forms. Those are the legal forms that must be filed and tabulated. They are the same across the district. We were told to use a locally prepared detention form instead. We were told they were the same as referrals and for us in class, that was true. For the school and district it made us shine because detention forms were not required to be tabulated and reported. We were looking good. Another approach is requiring a student to be 30 minutes late to class before it becomes a truancy. It did not take students long to realize that they could be 25 minutes late and no one would care.
Then we ignore facts. I have one student that I usually see every period, except the period he is supposed to be in my class. He is failing every class and a known trouble maker. As a penalty he has been made a teacher’s aid for the counselor. That means he has access to information he should never see and actually can wander around the campus with impunity. I also have classes where half the class is tardy on a regular basis and I keep hearing how we don’t have a problem with tardy students. If you are on a ship at dock and stand on the seaward side you can claim there is no land in sight.
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
To be concluded...
homo unius libri
Sporleder evidently reached “national attention” levels because he had improved the performance of his school. I had never heard of him but that doesn’t mean much. He then showed how dramatically he had reduced the number of suspensions and expulsions in his school. I do not question that he could document the numbers. The charts were impressive. The problem is that unlike the masses of educators in the auditorium, I was not born yesterday. He lost me when he claimed it was done by simply being sensitive to students and letting them know he was listening. The numbers looked dramatic but I have been at a school where we could have duplicated the same graphs. We did it by redefining terms, changing forms and ignoring facts.
We redefined terms by calling what used to be a suspension an expulsion. When I started teaching “suspension” meant being sent home to the care of your parents for a few days. It was supposed to get you thinking about the seriousness of your action and force your parents to acknowledge that all was not roses and Student of the Month. “Expulsion” used to mean that you were never to darken the doorways of our district again. Now it means what suspension used to mean and it is very rare for someone to be totally kicked out of the district. Sent-home suspensions have been replaced by “ISS” which is an acronym for “In School Suspension”. Since they are still on campus we not only don’t count them as being suspended we get the money for their bodies, too. It is a win/win for everyone except the student.
We used another way a few years ago. We “ran out” of referral forms. Those are the legal forms that must be filed and tabulated. They are the same across the district. We were told to use a locally prepared detention form instead. We were told they were the same as referrals and for us in class, that was true. For the school and district it made us shine because detention forms were not required to be tabulated and reported. We were looking good. Another approach is requiring a student to be 30 minutes late to class before it becomes a truancy. It did not take students long to realize that they could be 25 minutes late and no one would care.
Then we ignore facts. I have one student that I usually see every period, except the period he is supposed to be in my class. He is failing every class and a known trouble maker. As a penalty he has been made a teacher’s aid for the counselor. That means he has access to information he should never see and actually can wander around the campus with impunity. I also have classes where half the class is tardy on a regular basis and I keep hearing how we don’t have a problem with tardy students. If you are on a ship at dock and stand on the seaward side you can claim there is no land in sight.
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
To be concluded...
homo unius libri
Opus 2017-103: New Terms: Trauma, part 2 of 4, Evidence Based
Several times a year we have a gathering of all district employees to prepare us to serve our students better. This session was about “serving the whole child”. Education is trying to replace the family, church and any other traditional source of stability in the culture. Jim Sporleder was our keynote speaker this time and led us another step down the yellow brick road.
He started off with race and class warfare. He made statements that could only be interpreted to mean that minorities and poor people are helpless victims and too limited to deal with life on their own. He then preceded to pontificate about “evidence based research” that supported everything he had to say. The research has been done. It is conclusive. All we need to do now is fall into step and make “Trauma” our key operative. Does Al Gore and his claim that the science of global warming is settled come to mind?
“Evidence based research” is a new buzzword that I began hearing at faculty meetings a few years ago. It sounds powerful because all research should be based on evidence, right? As someone once said, or should have, “There’s evidence, and then there is Evidence.” When you hear about “evidence based research” it is not based on the scientific method. It is based on the Main Stream Media method. You decide where you want to go. Find some people to interview that will reinforce your position. Interview them with carefully chosen questions. Edit the results and present the profound insights it has given you. It is bogus. It is based on anecdotes by people who have an agenda or are in so much pain that they cannot think straight. It is not based on double blind experiments testing a hypothesis.
What was interesting was that when he began to deal with this awesome research, it all seemed to have been done on affluent white children. What happened to our mantra about people of color and economically depressed populations? He then proceeded to show us charts and graphs that were supposed to convince us that he had the answer to all our problems in education and society.
Welcome to the world of modern educational research.
To be continued...
homo unius libri
He started off with race and class warfare. He made statements that could only be interpreted to mean that minorities and poor people are helpless victims and too limited to deal with life on their own. He then preceded to pontificate about “evidence based research” that supported everything he had to say. The research has been done. It is conclusive. All we need to do now is fall into step and make “Trauma” our key operative. Does Al Gore and his claim that the science of global warming is settled come to mind?
“Evidence based research” is a new buzzword that I began hearing at faculty meetings a few years ago. It sounds powerful because all research should be based on evidence, right? As someone once said, or should have, “There’s evidence, and then there is Evidence.” When you hear about “evidence based research” it is not based on the scientific method. It is based on the Main Stream Media method. You decide where you want to go. Find some people to interview that will reinforce your position. Interview them with carefully chosen questions. Edit the results and present the profound insights it has given you. It is bogus. It is based on anecdotes by people who have an agenda or are in so much pain that they cannot think straight. It is not based on double blind experiments testing a hypothesis.
What was interesting was that when he began to deal with this awesome research, it all seemed to have been done on affluent white children. What happened to our mantra about people of color and economically depressed populations? He then proceeded to show us charts and graphs that were supposed to convince us that he had the answer to all our problems in education and society.
Welcome to the world of modern educational research.
To be continued...
homo unius libri
Opus 2017-102: New Terms: Trauma, part 1 of 4, The Guru Arrives
We had a district wide training session for teachers. Our speaker was Jim Sporleder and he seems to be the latest guru of education, at least in our district. His contribution to our jargon of education is “trauma”. His thesis is that every child we deal with is a victim of trauma and the only way we can reach them and teach them is to be warm, accepting, listening and positive. He stressed that it is not just obvious victims of trauma but every child. The reason that this is a new term is because it is now defined as applying to everyone. If you are not aware that you suffer from trauma it is probably buried deep in your subconscious and you are hiding it to shield yourself from the pain. Suddenly every teacher is going to become a psychotherapist.
Once again we have another “One size fits all” miracle. What makes it almost providential is that you have your public schools, guided by ex-school-teacher consultants, to lead you to the promised land.
Sporleder is part of an organization called Resilience Trumps Aces. They have a spiffy website that explains it all. Amazing as it may seem they expect to be paid for this. I know you thought they were doing it because they care about the kids but it seems they have expenses. It is clear when you scroll to the bottom and see icons of all the credit cards they accept.
Old educators never die and, unlike old soldiers, they never fade away. They become consultants who after years of working in a system that is a disaster become the ones with the answers to fix it.
Why do I feel there is nothing new here?
To be continued...
homo unius libri
Once again we have another “One size fits all” miracle. What makes it almost providential is that you have your public schools, guided by ex-school-teacher consultants, to lead you to the promised land.
Sporleder is part of an organization called Resilience Trumps Aces. They have a spiffy website that explains it all. Amazing as it may seem they expect to be paid for this. I know you thought they were doing it because they care about the kids but it seems they have expenses. It is clear when you scroll to the bottom and see icons of all the credit cards they accept.
Old educators never die and, unlike old soldiers, they never fade away. They become consultants who after years of working in a system that is a disaster become the ones with the answers to fix it.
Why do I feel there is nothing new here?
To be continued...
homo unius libri
Opus 2017-101: Getting on with the Health Care Conversation
We need to continue the conversation on health care. I would prefer that the federal government get out of it totally but, since that isn’t going to happen, I am sure I can come up with other ideas.
How would health care be different if regular office visits were removed from the insurance coverage. Sometimes this is called catastrophic coverage. It is the kind of coverage that young people preferred and which they were willing to pay. I would recommend it for everyone.
Some would say that it would cost more because regular check ups are a way of avoiding bigger problems. People would not go if they had to pay. That is possible but it leaves the decision up to them instead of forcing everyone into one size fits all plans.
We would also need to demand a serious co-pay for the Emergency room. Too any people use it as their GP. We could refund any charges if the problem turns out to be a genuine emergency. Of course the issue then is defining genuine emergency. It might be set at the level of being admitted to the hospital. I remember one time I went because I thought I was going blind. I never saw a doctor. The triage nurse took one look at me and said, “Pink eye.” What I thought was an emergency, and it was after hours so I had an excuse, should have cost me the going rate for an office visit and a few bucks for a generic prescription. It should not have socked my insurance $800.
So there are a couple of ideas. I know there are a lot more out there.
homo unius libri
How would health care be different if regular office visits were removed from the insurance coverage. Sometimes this is called catastrophic coverage. It is the kind of coverage that young people preferred and which they were willing to pay. I would recommend it for everyone.
Some would say that it would cost more because regular check ups are a way of avoiding bigger problems. People would not go if they had to pay. That is possible but it leaves the decision up to them instead of forcing everyone into one size fits all plans.
We would also need to demand a serious co-pay for the Emergency room. Too any people use it as their GP. We could refund any charges if the problem turns out to be a genuine emergency. Of course the issue then is defining genuine emergency. It might be set at the level of being admitted to the hospital. I remember one time I went because I thought I was going blind. I never saw a doctor. The triage nurse took one look at me and said, “Pink eye.” What I thought was an emergency, and it was after hours so I had an excuse, should have cost me the going rate for an office visit and a few bucks for a generic prescription. It should not have socked my insurance $800.
So there are a couple of ideas. I know there are a lot more out there.
homo unius libri
Opus 2017-100: Headlines: Red Herrings from the Right or Left?
Have you seen the headlines about Flynn wanting immunity in order to testify? If you read beyond the headlines it is a bit more complex than that but it seems he is willing to tell what he knows as long as it doesn’t become the typical feeding frenzy that the media loves. Than I asked myself, “Is this Trump playing the media again?” I am not the only one asking that question.
Does the Rachel Maddow exposé come to mind? All the hoopla and publicity to tell us that Trump had paid his share of taxes.
The news certainly does get interesting.
homo unius libri
Does the Rachel Maddow exposé come to mind? All the hoopla and publicity to tell us that Trump had paid his share of taxes.
The news certainly does get interesting.
homo unius libri
Opus 2017-099: The Spirit of April 1
Is April Fools’ Day like Mothers’ Day or like a birthday?
Is it something to remind us of a daily reality or a one time celebration?
Mothers’ Day is a type of holiday that reminds us of what we should be celebrating all year long. We should always be thoughtful of our mothers and fathers. We should always be romantic to our significant other. I guess we should always be glad to be Irish, Mexican or Black. Those days are simply reminders.
Other days are to honor a specific idea or person. Veterans’ Day, Washington’s Birthday, Guy Fawkes Day are all a simple reminders. I don’t think about my birthday every day of the year. Some women who are age averse might but most people don’t.
Some days are both, depending on the people involved. For the masses Easter is a time for new clothes, candy and egg hunts. For Christians it is a day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus which is also to be celebrated every Sunday. Halloween is either a celebration of evil or a chance to get candy.
Where does April Fools’ Day fit in? I am afraid I would put it with Mothers’ Day. Fools are always with us. They never get the attention they deserve. Maybe it would be better to say they never get the recognition they deserve.
homo unius libri
Is it something to remind us of a daily reality or a one time celebration?
Mothers’ Day is a type of holiday that reminds us of what we should be celebrating all year long. We should always be thoughtful of our mothers and fathers. We should always be romantic to our significant other. I guess we should always be glad to be Irish, Mexican or Black. Those days are simply reminders.
Other days are to honor a specific idea or person. Veterans’ Day, Washington’s Birthday, Guy Fawkes Day are all a simple reminders. I don’t think about my birthday every day of the year. Some women who are age averse might but most people don’t.
Some days are both, depending on the people involved. For the masses Easter is a time for new clothes, candy and egg hunts. For Christians it is a day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus which is also to be celebrated every Sunday. Halloween is either a celebration of evil or a chance to get candy.
Where does April Fools’ Day fit in? I am afraid I would put it with Mothers’ Day. Fools are always with us. They never get the attention they deserve. Maybe it would be better to say they never get the recognition they deserve.
(Proverbs 26:5 KJV) Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.My wish for you is that this would be a day in which you do not need to celebrate.
homo unius libri
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