EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, I’M RE-POSTING SOME OLD BLOGS I THOUGHT WERE INTERESTING AND WORTH A SECOND LOOK, OR A FIRST GLANCE FOR MY MANY NEW READERS.
Sports.
I love it.
At every level.
There’s tremendous inherent value in competition, especially the younger the athletes are.
The actual contests can and do create controversy. And the way sportscaster describe the action also comes in to question. Witness the general dissatisfaction Packers fans have with Joe Buck’s call of the any game involving the green and gold. Buck has denied the criticism that he leans against the Pack. I recall his legendary father, Jack Buck. He didn’t like Green Bay. I doubt his son likes the cheeseheads.
But I’m about to raise an issue I don’t believe has ever been touched upon; otherwise I would have discovered and linked to it. And I’m boldly proclaiming that 99 out of 100 grammar school teachers would agree with me.
While Bernie Sanders’ socialist crusade for the presidency may be sidelined, Roll Callreports he is “ready to help Democrats take control of the Senate.”
Sanders is planning a massive surge campaign activity with Senate candidates like Ted Strickland in Ohio, Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania, and Russ Feingold in Wisconsin.Sign-up to stop them.
These candidates are so desperate to win, they’re willing to abandon the American free enterprise system, the core of our economic engine, in order to score a few political votes on the far left.
A Bernie Sanders endorsement raises more red flags than a parade in the old Soviet Union.
Imagine a Senate run by Bernie Sanders: A European lookalike with higher taxes, single-payer healthcare, and a straightjacket of regulation on American business.
It’s a scary thought.
Today, a jobs-friendly majority controls the Senate, but that majority is very much at risk. We simply can’t afford to have radical, far-left liberals like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Chuck Schumer leading the charge against free enterprise system.
When you think about the Beatles, the most famous band on popular music history, it’s hard to believe that they toured for just a little more than two years before pulling the plug on concept performances.
John, Paul, George, and Ringo certainly had many good reasons to stop going out on the road, mainly their own personal safety.
The conservative political website The Weekly Standard has a very interesting piece on why the four got out when they did.
It’s the great debate in schools. And it’s been sparked by a young teacher in Texas who sent the following home.
This policy is getting all kinds of support with educators and parents enthusiastically embracing taking it easy, real easy on today’s students. Check out this CBS News report that lacks any tough inquiries questioning this policy.
The concept of no homework is not an original thought. The idea has been bandied about before.
Keep in mind what advocates like Alfie Kohn are pushing. Don’t simply reduce the amount of homework or rethink the types of assignments being handed out, despite the positive effects homework can have.
“There are simply no compelling data to justify the practice of making kids work what amounts to a second shift when they get home from a full day of school,” says Kohn. “My general suggestion is to change the default: No homework should be the norm. Six hours of academics is enough—except on those occasions when teachers can show strong reason to infringe on family time and make these particular students do more of this particular schoolwork.”
To critics like Kohn homework is akin to a nauseating ailment, almost destructive in the negativity it can cause. From an intro to Kohn’s book:
Death and taxes come later; what seems inevitable for children is the idea that, after spending the day at school, they must then complete more academic assignments at home. The predictable results: stress and conflict, frustration and exhaustion.
So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil – or even demand a larger dose? Kohn’s incisive analysis reveals how a mistrust of children, a set of misconceptions about learning, and a misguided focus on competitiveness have all left our kids with less free time and our families with more conflict.
Cutting back on excessive assignments? Go for it.
Getting rid of so-called “busy work,” unnecessary assignments? I’m in.
An all-out ban on homework. No way.
I’m completely turned off by the assertions that homework is evil. Eliminating homework is yet another signal of the wussification of education, lowering the bar, demanding lesser standards. It’s just too hard. It’s just too much. The lil’ darlins simply can’t handle it.
Angela Downing, an elementary school teacher in Newton, Massachusetts takes, in my view, a wonderful approach. She posts examples of excellent homework on the walls inside and outside of her classroom. It’s like a badge of honor, and it works.
“This practice sends the message to students that their work and their learning are important and valued,” Downing says. “Students take special care to do their best work when they know that the final piece will be displayed in the hall or on the classroom bulletin board.”
Many times we over-analyze. Forget the books and scholarly studies. An online submission by a man named Dave Clark is blunt and for me just about nails it.
No homework? What a great idea – let’s have our students fall even farther behind the students in other countries who have already passed ours by in their academic achievements. Students can learn time management some other time, right? It will also relieve the parents of having to have any involvement at all with their kids’ education. What a relief!
While we’re at it, let’s allow our students to be on their cell phones all day at school, too. Hey, why not do away with grades? Let’s make school just a fun time for kids. And no more of those rigid schedules – let the students come and go wherever they want to in the school. And no final bell – let the students go home when they feel they’ve learned enough each day.
Talk about “dumbing-down” America (like we need any help with that effort).
School starts Monday for my daughter. And she will probably leave school with homework. And the next school day. And the next school day. And the next.
This Just In... From Franklin, WI 