Congratulations graduates of 2006. It has been a fun two years with you. I'll miss you!
Here's a poem that reminds me of graduation:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue
Why won't they turn the stinking volume up on the
microphones for the band and music at Graduation?
I wrote it myself. Pretty sweet, huh.
posted by Chad Fletcher @ 4:28 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Yes! You rule!
You're right. We should do everything we can to keep Columbus mired in the 19th century. We must not know what the world at large is saying! From now on all assignments will be done on chalkboard and papyrus.
If people knew how to conduct an argument intelligently, there would not be any fights. In class I try to teach that before anyone takes a stance on an issue they make an honest attempt to learn the facts from both (or more) sides. This is a case where, at least from what I've been reading, people on BOTH sides are just firing random shots while hiding behind the protective blanket of 'anonymity.'
Blogs are a driving force in the US Political Arena. Do a search on any of the primary engines of the internet and you'll find countless references to how blogs play a major role in driving US policy- for several reasons:
1. They provide instant feedback for policy makers. An example is the recent immigration issue currently facing Congress.
2. It gives the public a voice, including high school kids. Granted, their audience isn't very large at first, but with enough attention paid to them, they can have a major impact. Too often in our society the only people with a voice are those who are wealthy, athletes, or musicians. Normal people don't have access to air their opinions outside the local barber shops and the occasional local protest. Blogs change that. They are not the only tool for spreading discussion, but they are a good tool.
I'm sorry that people are arguing on Tim's blog. I really am. But you know what? I have no control over that. Sorry to inform you but we have this little thing called "The First Amendment." Ooh, yeah, you might have heard of it. And despite the obvious anger of some of the people that have written on the blog, no laws have been broken. Not you, the government, and certainly not me, the GOVERNMENT TEACHER, are going to restrict what is allowed on a kid's personal blog site. It belongs to THEM. No one else. At least until someone violates their Freedom of Expression. Recent case law has shown that State courts as well as Federal hold threats and other "hate speech" on the internet to be just as illegal on people's private sites as spoken slander.
As for "the hate I have started," please refer to my opening comments about how people do not have the ability to conduct a serious argument. Too often debates result in about 3 minutes of intellectual discussion followed by 10 minutes of insults and retaliations for said slanders.
I just introduced the medium, I did not introduce the hate. If you give two kids a Playstation and they start fighting over it and calling each other names, are you responsible for their fighting? Of course not. The kids themselves must learn how to control their behavior.
Again, CORRUPTION, please don't hide under the protective shield of anonymity. I'd be happy to address any concerns you have about my teaching style, but I can't do it talking to shadows and whispers. I was raised in the belief that if you had something to say to someone, you did it to their face in a civilized fashion, not lurking in cyberspace with witty nom de plumes hinting at my 'corruption.' Oh well, at least you spelled it correctly. Kudos for that.
My school email address is cfletcher@usd493.com. Please write me there or respond on this blog.
Have a great summer.
Gee, thanks for telling me that not everything i taught was pointless. That makes me feel so much better.
Actually, I don't mind constructive criticism at all. What I object to is the inflammatory name you are using to post. Since this is either Gavin, Travis, Jordan or Tim (reads more like Gavin's sensibilities than the others' but I've been wrong before) what if I posted under the name "The Class of 2006 was worthless"? Doesn't that put you on the defensive automatically, especially knowing that I'm a school faculty member making an unfair assessment of your abilities?
Just post as YOU.
I absolutely KNOW there are things I could have done better this past year. This was my first year in the class- so half of what I did was done on the fly. I already have plenty of changes I want to make to my curriculum.
1. Blogs. I still hold to their educational value, the problem was that I didn't make everyone as responsible for them as I should. The original goal was to hold weekly discussions about the "Pulse" of the government- what were people talking about, what were people saying, etc, with the larger instructional goal being to teach kids that there are events larger than what happens on Sportscenter or the halls of CUHS. But the problem I ran in to was that nobody knew who the blogs were talking about, and instead of actually taking the next step to learn for themselves just what is going on and who the subjects of the blogs were, they wrote down two sentences and went on.
See, there are two kinds of students- the first kind, who sees a locked door, turns the handle, feels that is locked, and walks away. The second kind is the kind who jiggles the handle, and if he is still interested, will either find a key, MAKE a key, or knock the friggin' door down.
We had too many of the first kind. Chalk it up to typical student apathy, or whatever. I had about ten students who really got into it, but they were scattered amongst the four classes and grouped in Gold Three.
I should have done a better job enforcing them. I wanted kids to make comments on their blogs and do, remarkably, things similar to what was happening on Tim's blog recently, only without the candy-butt "Anonymous" comments and the personal attacks.
To that end I wanted the kids to know who the leaders of our national government were so when they read their blogs they would be able to put faces to names. That worked for the length of time it took for kids to memorize the names, write them on a test, and flush the information from their memories forever.
Next year will be better.
Second, I have two units I want to work up- Political parties and the voting process- in particular for the 2006 mid-term elections. This year will be interesting. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
Third- We did the Stock Market game but only in a halfhearted measure, and we would have swept the top three prizes if not for a bad decision on my part. But I've already done a lot of research myself to make that a much more fun unit- Mr. White and I will be collaborating on a project involving the Stock Market this fall.
Unfortunately, the year is only 9 months long and a full unit of personal economics simply doesn't fit in the schedule. There isn't time for everything we want to put in.
And lastly, and I'm going against traditional educational wisdom here, many things I wanted to do in class I simply wasn't able to do because of the consistency of the classes. Projects that were advanced (in at least three of my classes) would have left up to 50% of the kids behind. You do things in Calculus class and Physics that I could not even BEGIN to attempt in Government class as they are currently set up. I think you know why.
When you get to college I'm sure your brain will get tickled a lot more than in high school.
If you simply posted as yourself without trying to give backhanded compliments/critcisms, I'd feel a lot better about conversing with you.
And one final thing- you may not like to hear this, but since you're a graduate and now I can say pretty much whatever I want to you as you can to me as well- You have a pretty limited world view. That is not meant out of malice, but instead of the stark realization that you have for the past four years been looking at events from the eyes of a student. Some things may have seemed patently unfair to you, and to your viewpoint, they were. But you only knew one side of the story.
Always find out BOTH sides of the story.
Whether or not you like me, you have been around me enough to know that I don't always tow the party line. I'm not "Joe Teacher" who always believes that what his administration is doing is perfectly correct. I've been critical of our school as much as you have, and I've butted heads with the administration plenty of times. But I've also been trying to change it and help it get better. Everyone in the school has, including Mr. Jameson.
Believe it or not.
I implore you to stop the constant attacks on the school. You don't have to make them any more. Where was this courage during the school year? A class leader who is willing to stand up and fight for what he believes in is a leader worth following- not someone who bites their tongue until the year is over and THEN sends a flurry of complaints to the school.
You felt that you never had a voice and that you got shot down, and to some extent, I might even agree with you.
But you GAVE UP.
NEVER give up, NEVER surrender.
When you are in college, and indeed the rest of your life, take this saying to heart:
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for a good man to stand by and do nothing."
When you see something wrong, STOP it. Even if you are defeated once, twice, a hundred times, eventually you will succeed. You are that talented. I know that.
Best wishes, young man.
Thanks for the comments Travis. I don't agree with them, but hey, it's a free country.
At least you put your name to them! Have a nice summer.
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