Education

I teach English. Every Friday, I direct my student to write an essay and then stop directing. In other words, I ask them to write something on whatever they want. Win-win-win. Easy to assign. The kids get to express themselves. Fun to read. I might just pick the most interesting ones each week, post them here, and see if people find it as entertaining as I do. I will not alter them.

Wishes

by

Name Withheld.

I have a lot of wishes and one wish is to have a million shoes. That way, I could look good everyday. I wouldn't probably use them all, but still I want all of the cool, cute shoes in all kinds of colors and styles.

I would like to match everyday and wear new shoes everyday. I could also share them with my sisters.

I want high heels, flats, slip-ons, and more!

Anyways, the point is that I wish I had a million pairs of shoes except ugly running shoes, or, like nasty fat shoes.

So, like I said, I want shoes. I want them now! Red, orange, yellow, purple, blue, green, pink, white, black, brown, grey, and more!

Favorite Time in American History

by

Name Withheld

Read more »

I didn't see too many outrageous examples in the story. In fact, I'm surprised that it was as balanced as it was.

To the extent that there's a difference, it's because many textbook writers probably see Christians as an ideological enemy- ones they battle on campus, in their classes, on television, etc.- and don't want to encourage them, while they see Muslims as an oppressed minority. It's an almost involuntary reflex in leftists to put the majority "oppressor" culture, as they perceive it, in its place and to protect those whom they consider weaker, creating in their mind a nice, creamy equality.

An example

I covered a history class the other day and took flipped open the textbook. I found that when discussing the spread of Christianity, the textbook gives a secular, psychological explanation that belittles both the faith and the people of the ancient world. According to the textbook, Christianity spread because the people of the time felt despair and needed something to "cling to," to paraphrase our president. This is the "crutch" theory.

Why it's bias

It's presumptuous to think that people felt greater despair then than now. A more non-biased, academic approach would have been to quote the contemporary sources, whom, I'm sure, would have felt that their acceptance of Christianity was a sincere one. Or, it could have just reported the facts with no commentary at all.

At the risk of sounding "anti-education" (free-thinking):

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to launch “the most sweeping effort ... this country has ever seen” to modernize school buildings and equip classrooms with computers as part of his economic-stimulus plan, prompting optimism among ed-tech advocates despite pervasive budget constraints.

Is there any evidence that more technology in the classroom helps kids in any way (I've done some looking and have read conflicting studies. Most say that technology helps if "done the right way." Well, anything "done the right way" is good. Paper and pencil instruction "done the right way" improves student achievement as well, I imagine. Using just my brain, however, I ask: Have students become much smarter in the past 15 years? In the past 50, since television?)? In my experience, most technology in schools ranges from mildly beneficial and interesting to neutral to counter-productive. We have a lab in my high school stocked with brand new iMacs. I stopped using it.** I'd rather have my students write their essays in class and then rewrite them on their computers at home- or, by hand. Who cares?

Obama is doing for the Internet what President John F. Kennedy did for television, says Hirsch, by encouraging the use of it as a common and essential staple of American life.

I thought that people liked TV because it wasn't intellectually taxing, sometimes compelling, and free. I didn't know that it was actually a government plan. Thanks JFK! It's worked out well. Kids now spend more time watching TV, probably, than engaging in any other activity, and who would argue that they're much better off for it? I'm calling my kids right now and force them to watch more TV. After that, more computers and video games!

“It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption,” Obama, who will take office Jan. 20, said in a December radio address. “Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online,” he said, going on to link broadband access to the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

More Youtube, MTV, Myspace, and porn (redundant, I know)! Because you know that when kids get online, they're checking out Encarta, right? Because kids can only get information from the internet, yes? How did our parents learn stuff? You need T-1 lines for encyclopedias?

“When the federal government begins to model very positive models of collaborative technology, it’s only a matter of time before schools do the same,” he says.

The government is my role model. It's not yours?

“He really is the first president-elect to have harnessed the power of technology,” she says. “His campaign systematically used technology not as an ATM machine but as an effective vehicle to communicate and develop a sense of engagement of individuals across the country and across all age groups.”

He protests too much. Obama used it mostly as an ATM machine.

Gray says President-elect Obama’s move to appoint a chief technology officer for the government demonstrates a shift in the way that technology is viewed nationally: “This is in fact recognizing the critical role that technology will play in America’s” quest to be more competitive in a global marketplace.

Lowering the corporate tax rates and cutting back on regulation would probably make us more competitive than the government wasting money on Carmen SanDiego and modeling efficient, competitive behavior.

Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?

In addition to providing schools with the technological infrastructure to teach students 21st-century skills, President-elect Obama has also promised to bolster professional development for teachers. Ann L. Flynn, for one, hopes that he follows through.

What, pray tell, is a "21st-century skill?" Why don't we get those 17th-century skills down first? Teaching isn't that complicated. It would be more productive to take the cash spent on teacher "development" and fling it towards one of those new wind mills. At least I wouldn't have to attend those boring teacher classes.

“We are celebrating the election of our first president who truly understands and embraces information and communication technology, connectivity and the power of the World Wide Web, and the democratization of information, knowledge, and 21st-century communications,” Knezek says. “The most important priorities for the U.S.—to regain a leadership role globally in education, to overcome the recent slippage among nations we’ve seen in almost every important statistic of international educational comparisons—are already on President-Elect Obama’s radar...”

...Keith R. Krueger, the executive director for the Washington-based Consortium for School Networking, or COSN, thinks that reforming the federal E-rate program, which has an annual budget of $2.25 billion, is a key step to achieving universal broadband access.

We're slipping internationally after Bill Clinton's E-rate technology initiative. Well, then what we need is more technology, obviously.

How much would you like to bet that the students with the most technology upgrades will get dumber?

But, which administrator will say "no" to more stuff?" Which politician will point out that school spending has no clothes? Onward towards waste!

Article here.

**I would like a projector at school. It may not help the kids, but what the heck?

Tags: education spending obama, what is obama's education plan

Reason number 4232 I hold mostly conservative views is an article I read while I was a teacher at Fred C. Nelles in Whittier (since closed), the California Youth Authority (CYA) or: a jail for California's juvenile offenders. The writer made the case for graffiti being "art" and a legitimate way to bring attention to the oppression of Mexican-Americans (I wonder what she thinks of the white, middle class students who vandalize property.).

Today, I happen to work in a Los Angeles high school, Hunting Park High School, plagued by graffiti. At the beginning of the year, I always give a speech to students which I'll paraphrase here:

Why is graffiti the dumbest crime of all time? Think about it:

Graffiti is the only crime in the world that costs you money to commit. A hungry person stealing fruit? OK, I might understand. But going to the store and spending $10.00 to commit a crime that will give you nothing back except the respect of other losers? Dumb.

It also costs you time. Imagine if you spent the same time studying that you do climbing freeway overpasses to scribble something that decent people, including, probably, your parents, think is disgusting.

It not only hurts you personally, but it hurts your parents, school, and neighborhood. Do you think your parents would be more proud of you for doing well in school, working, and raising a family- or for having to drive you from the police station?

Would you rather the school spend money on more teachers and activities- or on painting the walls every month?

Why do you think the houses in some neighborhoods are more expensive than in other neighborhoods? Because more people want to live there, right? Well, do you think people would prefer to live in a place where they run the risk of having their property defaced- or in a clean place? You are costing your parents' money by lowering the price of their house. Why don't you try to raise the price instead? It might be your house some day.

What about businesses? Do they want to paint over the graffiti on their buildings every week? Wouldn't they rather go to a cleaner area? When companies move into a neighborhood, they provide that community with jobs and tax revenue. In other words, more money out of you and your parents' pocket.

Let's imagine somebody driving through a city. Let's say the person is a non-Latino: If he notices that he's more likely to see graffiti cruising through a Latino or Mexican neighborhood than a Chinese or White one, what do you imagine he's thinking about each people? How does having that reputation help Latinos? Do you have a right to complain about somebody who holds negative stereotypes for your ethnic group if there's some merit to them?

The most important reason, however, is simple: It's wrong to write on other people's property. When people own something, they have a right to enjoy it without others ruining it. Apply the Golden Rule: How would you like to wake up and see your house or sidewalk with some gross paint strokes on it?

"Yeah, but it's still art," you say. Here's an idea that's a win for you because you get to practice your art and win for your parents, school, city, and whomever you think is watching you: Buy a little book and write in it or paper over your wall and practice there.

A lot of people today were talking about this article on graffiti in the Los Angeles Times describing how graffiti vandals are getting more aggressive.

Tags: graffiti, graffitti, grafiti, grafitti, hispanic graffiti, hphs, opinion of graffiti, taggers, what do people think about graffiti

Mayor Villaraigosa is a weirdo. Wouldn't you think a mayor would try to make his city look better rather than worse, "33%? Ha! Try 60%. In fact, only a few kids in my city care about school!"

What this actually shows are the incentives created by government's perverse funding philosophy: The worse you are, the more money you get.

From here.

Sharply disputing a state report, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he believes the dropout rate at Los Angeles schools is even worse than the dismal 33 percent estimated by state officials.

Villaraigosa, who previously used the dropout-rate issue as leverage to take control of a handful of schools, said the new state figures released Wednesday did not take into account all relevant factors.

For example, he said, the state report did not count students who dropped out before ninth grade.

"I'm heartened they are highlighting the dropout issue, but I know it is higher than they are saying," Villaraigosa said. "We know it's 50(percent) to 60 percent and in some parts of the city 65(percent) or 70percent."

Girls are 6 times less likely to have sex if they're enrolled in the best friends program. Good! I've started my own abstinence program in the Guirado household with my own children (My wife has her own program which takes effect every time she gets angry.). Besides teenage boys, whom would these results upset?

Tags: do abstinence programs work

In related news, the French declare deodorant an unnecessary expense. People print this with a strait face? 60% of undergraduate college students are women, but boys are OK (Are women better off by being the majority on college campuses?). Here's what the university women did: They looked at SAT and ACT tests and determined that since men score higher, there's no problem. Well, of course! Those tests correlate to IQ, a factor that doesn't change much despite disparities in education. Some minorities still do worse, the women pointed out. Hmmm, why would they point that out? (Hint: We need action for our favored groups!)

Anyways, my hypothesis is that, except for the sciences, school has become a place for girls. In high school, at least, if you look at literature anthologies, you'll notice that most of the stories involve an initially misunderstood person or group whom the dominant group accepts later on. In other words, the Oprah selection for months May through November (You can read more in this article and I'll have more later.). Where are the stories of adventure, conquest (without feeling bad about it. Well, sorry.), bravery, and all of those other things that have horrified moms and bored education researchers for centuries and decades respectively?

Tags: boys in college, male to female ration in college, why do more women go to college

Some of you may know because you're parents and some of you may remember from your own educational experience that all students play together through grammar school, i.e., if Osama bin Laden had met George Bush in grammar school, they’d have traded puddings during lunch and then have played a game of "Crusaders and Jihadis" during recess. In middle school (Jr. High for the mature set), things change and kids break up into different cliques or groups. The process continues until retirement when once again they all play together again in Vegas or Branson.

This post describes the different groups or cliques from my beloved place of employment, Huntington Park High School. Now, as I describe these groups, some of you may become alarmed, but it’s not my intention to cause parents or culture-watchers concern, and while some consternation may be warranted, much will be excessive, for the vast majority of students outgrow their strangeness. Even many of those who hold on to their faux-rebellion and bourgeoisie-bashing go on to lead lucrative if not productive lives as graduate students or college professors. The only immediate threat is the gang-member, although even he is loved or at least "understood" by the aforementioned graduate students and college professors. I don't pretend that this list is comprehensive, but I think it should give an overview of the groups or cliques at HPHS in 2007 (none of the pictures are of actual HPHS students):

Normal

The vast majority of students are what I'd call "normal" in that they don't do anything most adults would find strange. These students are presently happy for the most part and future contributors to your social security.

Pretty Boys

Distinguishing marks: Star earrings on or even inside both ears and well-kept appearance.

Hair: Neat, short.

Clothes: Fashionable in the least offensive hip-hop style; shirts outside of pants.

Music- Reggaeton and other mainstream music preferred by Hispanics.

Movies: Mainstream.

Heroes: ?

Philosophy: Sort of the Hispanic equivalent of the mainstream metrosexual, they nonetheless reject the near-homosexual vibe put out by the metrosexual. They profess no political ideology or advocate any dangerous behavior except the normal underage drinking and partying. Note that actual physical “Prettiness” is not a requirement. They like Cadillac Escalades and “pimp-my-ride” type cars.

Behavior: Skirt-chasing.

Example of Pretty Boy earrings.

Miami Chronicles

Greasers

Distinguishing marks: None.

Hair: Fifties-style duck tails for boys and Bettie Page pin-up style for the girls.

Clothes: Both wear jeans with the hems folded over and other fifties inspired clothing. Girls don’t wear skirts, however.

Music: Fifties Doo-Wop and early Rock and Roll, Stray Cats from the eighties, and some genres called "neo-rockabilly" and "punkabilly."

Movies: Grease.

Heroes: Elvis Presley

Philosophy: Nothing special that I can detect.

Behavior: Normal

Somethin' Else: The Fine Lookin' Hits of Eddie Cochran

Gangsters/ Cholos

Distinguishing marks: Gang-related tattoos; heavy, dark, make-up with thin, penciled eyebrows for girls.

Hair: Hairnets for those with long, slicked-back hair; shaved head for most, however. Girls have long, strait, hair often “feathered” back.

Clothes: Baggy pants and black Raider-colored polo shirts; over-sized Dickies work pants; belts have friction-slide buckles; athletic wear consists of same except that the Dickies pants are cut off to the ankles; girls wear black clothing.

Music: Oldies; Doo-wop and early Motown (Martha Wells is a favorite).

Movies: Blood In Blood Out; American Me.

Heroes: Tony Montana of Scarface. Don Corleone.

Hobbies: Many cholos like pencil drawing. I remember purchasing some from a juvenile offender when I worked at the California Youth Authority. Some collect Li'l Homies, below.

Philosophy: Brown/Chicano Pride (a moderate site compared to some), extreme masculinity, criminality, and drugs.

Behavior: Belligerent and criminal, but their behavior is mediated somewhat by a code of honor.

American Me

Taggers

Same as above, but only commit graffiti-type crimes; probably do not have tattoos.

Again, with the proud anti-antiestablishmentarianism.

Paisas

Nearly all of the students at Huntington Park high school are Hispanic with the overwhelming majority of those coming from Mexico. "Paisas" are those students who especially enjoy Mexican culture-specifically, Northern Mexican culture where vaqueros or cowboys are in style. Think Texas.

Distinguishing marks: None.

Hair: Normal

Clothes: Some may wear cowboy boots, but they dress normally for the most part.

Music: Mexican Norteno, Banda; Chalino Sanchez I and II.

Movies: Mainstream.

Heroes: Chalino Sanchez.

Philosophy: May not be as assimilationist as other recent immigrants, but not officially anti-assimilation. This may be a transition phase shile they choose one of the other groups.

Behavior: Normal

Tucanes de Tijuana are one of the more popular groups.

Corridos Con Banda

Heavy Metal

Distinguishing Marks: None.

Hair: Long, in the style of 1986 Bon Jovi and 2007 Tommy Lee.

Clothes: Van Halen, Metalica T-shirts, Levis. I've also seen Stradivarius.

Music: Heavy Metal. Some enthusiastically opposed to poseur-rock and “Hair-band” heavy metal and make a point of distancing themselves from such music. Don't call them "Emos."

Heroes: People who produce many metal albums, but don't "sell out" (Produce a rock ballad.).

Philosophy: No deviation from norm.

Behavior: Nothing out of ordinary. Mild anti-authority.

Holy Diver

Randy Rhoads

Skaters

Distinguishing marks: None

Clothes: Vans, Levis.

Hair: Varied, but usually longer.

Music: I forgot to ask, but I’m thinking its alternative rock.

Movies: Various skating videos, Jackass, and Bumbfights.

Philosophy: Varies from skating is fun to Skateboarding is not a crime pretentiousness and grievance.

Jackass Number Two (Unrated)

Fresas (Or, now, "Pretty Girls" for non-Spanish speakers)

Fresa is a Mexican term for somebody from a privileged background. American equivalents would be Yuppie for adults and Valley girl or Preppy for adolescents. It seems strange that such a term would be used in what is a lower middle-class neighborhood, but these things are relative.

Hair: Normal and nice, very feminine and sometimes elaborate for the girls.

Clothes, Clean, normal, fashionable in the mainstream sense.

Philosophy: Positive. Many are eager to take advantage of America’s opportunities.

Behavior: Non-offensive. Adhere to what most would consider positive American values.

Fey by Varios Natalia Lafourcade Genitallica Elefante Zoe Fey Volovan Pulpo Ximena

Jocks

Present at every high school, Huntington Park is no exception.

Clothes: Normal with athletic attire and letterman jackets mixed-in.

Hair: Mainstream.

Music: Mainstream

Movies: Mainstream. Possibly more action-oriented.

Heroes: Various athletes.

Philosophy: Positive, can-do, performance-based judgment as opposed to idea-based. For some reason, athletes are more receptive to conservatism.

Behavior: I’ve observed mostly positive behavior.

Machorras

These young ladies are part of a movement which I’ll call "Lesbian chic." At Huntington Park and, I would imagine, other high schools, lesbianism and homosexuality are not frowned upon by the general population. In fact, they're somewhat fashionable. The origin of its popularity has many possible causes which I’ll explore at a later time. I suspect it’s a phase for the majority of the girls. Of course, there are openly homosexual boys, but I can't categorize them as a group with a uniform style other than to say that they act more feminine and mostly have girls as friends. Male homosexual students are never openly affectionate with each other while Machorras are- very.

Hair: Long, straight, and in a pony tail.

Clothes: Masculine-looking attire reigns here; polo shirts and baggy, unflattering denim.

Music: Mainstream

Movies: Mainstream

Heroes: ?

Philosophy: Like many of the groups, Machorras seem to enjoy their counterculturalness.

Behavior: Mainstream.

Nerds

Students interested in academics and/or smart students. Many nerds also belong to one of the other groups. They may be, for example, Heavy Metal or Yu Gi Oh nerds.

Clothes: Nothing special.

Hair: Varied.

Philosophy: Many nerds profess a left world view. Why this is the case falls beyond the purview of this article, but is, nonetheless the case, generally. I'll discuss at a later time.

Actions: Many students involve themselves with school and its activities.

Wannabees

Clothes, hair, and philosophy: Like gangster above, but don't commit crime.

Rebelde
Recent immigrant children devoted to Mexican-youth trends such as the super-popular youth-oriented novella (soap opera), Rebelde.

Clothes: Tend to follow Mexican trends. Generally normal, but with trendy flashes such as Rebelde-style high school uniform ties or t-shirts.

Hair: Mexican trendy.

Philosophy: Generally, these students are happy, innocent, and cooperative.

Empezar Desde Cero

Rebelde pushed the envelope by tackling such themes as teenage pregnancy and, of course, homosexuality. Mexicans now have little cultural advantage over the U.S.

Toy Taggers

The equivalent of Wannabees. These students parrot the philosophy and style of taggers, but don’t destroy property. They mostly tag in their notebooks.

Yu Gi Oh

High school students who haven’t outgrown things associated with younger adolescents such as the popular Japanese playing-card game, Yu Gi Oh. They're boys, have no distaff equivalent, and I don't see many girls flocking to them soon.

Hair and clothes: Because of a retarded interest in the opposite sex, hair and clothes are afterthoughts and therefore, generally sloppy and un-trendy.

Philosophy: These students are concerned with leveling up their characters. They have little interest in the operation of the real world.

Behavior: Nice; and quite animated when talking about their particular interest.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Music to Duel By

Skin Heads

Strange in a Mexican-American neighborhood, yet real.

Distinguishing marks: Tattoos.

Hair: Shaved heads, of course.

Clothes: Boots, chains.

Philosophy: Curiously, this group appropriates the style of a notorious racist group in order to promote anti-racism. As if they enjoy being asked whether they’re racists only to stridently point out that they’re not that kind of skinhead.

Behavior: ?

Punk Rockers

Distinguishing marks: Piercings, tattoos.

Hair: Unnaturally colored.

Clothes: Denim in various states of defilement.

Music: Punk, of course.

Philosophy: Officially anti-social.

Behavior: Indistinguishable from any other group.

Emos

"Emo" is a type of music that emphasizes negative emotions. This is the group other students love to hate.

Hair: Not quite punk rock style weird, but unconventional.

Clothes: Again, not quite punk-rock, but definitely not what one would wear on a job interview. Boys wear make up.

Music: Chemical Romance.

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

Philosophy: "Emo" is short for "emotional." Although they may deny it or even be unaware of the philosophy pertaining to this trend, Emos enjoy being depressed or, at least, acting depressed, and profess a nihilistic view of society. Their philosophy implies an interest in dark subjects, suicide, and self-mutilation.

Behavior: To me, their actual behavior is indistinguishable from normal students. It seems more like a pose.

Satanists

I don't know if this is the official name. They may go by something else.

Distinguishing marks: Punk-style mutilations.

Hair: Punk or Heavy Metal.

Clothes: Punk or Heavy Metal, but with an emphasis on pentagrams and upside-down crosses.

Music: Heavy Metal with dark, Satanic verses; Marilyn Manson.

Philosophy: Rulers of Hell rahter than servers in Heaven (or parents, specifically). Future fervent Christians, probably.

Antichrist Superstar

New! Christians

Seeing a few girls wearing long, denim skirts, my inner-sociologist prompted me to ask asked one of my students, "why." She replied that it was because they were Christians and that they "had" to. Suspicious, I asked one of the girls who wore the skirt and she admitted that it was more of a self-imposed rule, and that they did it out of "respect."

Of course, some students have always been drawn together by their religion, but this is the first time that I've noticed an actual style associated with it. In other words, Christian girls, for the first time I remember, want to stand out.

Style: I picked a skirt from the internet that approximated the style. Otherwise conservative and normal.

Philosophy: I'm guessing protestant as most Hispanic Catholics take their faith for granted.

Tags: c, groups in high school, high school cliques, high school clubs, high school divisions

This story describes an effort to get more females interested in the sciences.

On 2005's National Assessment of Educational Progress, high school girls trailed their male counterparts in scoring for nearly all science and math categories. Yet in elementary school, females scored similar to the boys in their classes.

Secondary teachers face the same conundrum every year: How to get girls interested in math and science beyond their elementary years.

If this is funded by a corporation that designs blouses with pocket protectors, who cares? But if it's our tax dollars, how does this kind of program serve the national interest? Are female designed bridges sturdier? Do female engineered servers have less down time? Really, why must we spend money to realize somebody's socialist fantasy?

If we do need more scientists, we should steer scholarships to useful college majors that lead to inventions and innovation from, say, "American studies."

Speaking of which: Is there any aspect of life that doesn't have to be a major in college?

These students studying American culture visited a brothel (I'm sure dad's thrilled to know where his tuition money is going.). Let's see the intellectual level of discourse:

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Alexis: "Most women in this business wear the pants in the family."

Is there a certain look most men prefer?

Alicia: Every man wants something different. "There's all different kinds of girls."

Why aren't there brothels with male prostitutes?

Rivenburgh: Former Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss is trying.

Do you still give a military discount?

Rivenburgh: Yes.

What's the worst part?

Alicia: "Being confined, being cooped up. I have to be here 24 hours a day."

Fascinating! So, men prefer all kinds of girls (By the way, anybody who asks why there aren't brothels for women is either a fool or an American studies major [supply, demand, etc. Like the story above, such a question implies that all sex differences are social constructs.].)?

The brothel tour was a natural fit for a class that tells students "don't just study America -- live it," said Julio Rodriguez, the director of the college's American Culture Program.

How's that different from what 300,000,000 other Americans do? I "live" America. Can I get three units?

I wonder if we can train some of the hookers at the Chicken Ranch as engineers.

Tags: college students visit whore house

No, but it's over-rated. It's a subject I've groped around (here and here), but Adam Creighton puts some meat on my feeling-based skeleton here.

Tags: should i go to college, should i go to the university