Crack history students at Westfield High School in Fairfax,Virginia, have a simplified task. They are to learn from teacher handouts, their private previous knowledge, and one, repeat one, book.
The teachers' rules are worth quoting. The reporter writes:
What did surprise some Westfield students and their parents was a sheet titled "Expectations of Integrity" included in the materials handed out by the three (advanced placement) World History teachers. Their No. 1 rule discouraged random outbreaks of curiosity:
"You are only allowed to use your OWN knowledge, your OWN class notes, class handouts, your OWN class homework, or The Earth and Its Peoples textbook to complete assignments and assessments UNLESS specifically informed otherwise by your instructor.''
Perish the thought of fertile young minds polluted by, say, a wander through Commanger's Documents of American History or Gibbons' take on the last centuries of imperial Rome.
Reporter Jay Mathews was taken aback and asked the boss about it.
Westfield Principal Tim Thomas told me he will decide soon whether these rules are okay. He couldn't say much on the record, but gave me the impression that the teachers, who did not respond to my request for comment, were only trying to be fair. Some students have more help and resources than others. They should not be allowed to use materials classmates cannot get.
We're indebted to the Tweaker at Where Sometimes Things go Bang for this find and for the pertinent "Just make sure no child gets ahead."
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I'm rather sure the publicity will move the teachers to hem and haw, "That's not what we meant." I will then suggest they surrender their licenses to teach until such time as they have successfully completed a remedial course in basic expository writing.
Jan 29, 2011
Egypt
It is a bread riot, period.
The street warfare is domestic reaction to domestic sin, namely theft of the nation's resources by Mubarak's apparatchik.
The Muslim Brotherhood is undoubtedly pleased at the prospect of a Cairo power vacuum, but when 10 million mothers are too malnourished to produce breast milk, it takes no cabal of turbaned Pat Robertsons to create a certain amount of anger.
Yes, it may contribute to four-dollar gas in Pleasantville, but there is nothing the inept American foreign policy machine can do about that. What Hillary, President Obama, and USAID can profitably do is shut up. Except for issuing a statement suggested by my buddy Joe in during a similar foreign goat grope some years ago. "We are sorry for your troubles and wish you all the best of luck. Have the last man standing send us a telegram. We'll be pleased to deal with him."
The street warfare is domestic reaction to domestic sin, namely theft of the nation's resources by Mubarak's apparatchik.
The Muslim Brotherhood is undoubtedly pleased at the prospect of a Cairo power vacuum, but when 10 million mothers are too malnourished to produce breast milk, it takes no cabal of turbaned Pat Robertsons to create a certain amount of anger.
Yes, it may contribute to four-dollar gas in Pleasantville, but there is nothing the inept American foreign policy machine can do about that. What Hillary, President Obama, and USAID can profitably do is shut up. Except for issuing a statement suggested by my buddy Joe in during a similar foreign goat grope some years ago. "We are sorry for your troubles and wish you all the best of luck. Have the last man standing send us a telegram. We'll be pleased to deal with him."
Jan 28, 2011
The January thaw is here. It began yesterday and will persist until this evening's dinner hour, topping out at 33 torrid degrees in mid-afternoon, then yielding to the next Canadian import. Tuesday and Wednesday night will be somewhere in minus-six range. Around here the rustics abbreviate that as OFAGDSF. That is, "Oh fooey, another gol-danged scrotal freezer."
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I have an inconsistent philosophy about weather moaners. When others over-gripe about a few little feet of snow and a bracing Alberta breeze, I'm often prone to huff that they should shut up or move to Arkansas. When I do it it I am merely exercising my First Amendment right to bitch. Use it or lose it.
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The firewood stash is much diminished but more than adequate for remaining season. It is no longer a neat stack, and I've used a little more than I planned, probably because some of the ash wasn't as dry as I thought. Still, I should carry over a couple of months' supply to the winter of '11 and '12. This is known as a budget surplus, and I usually have one, confirming my long-held belief that I am morally superior to those in or seeking public office.
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Being a somewhat weather-driven man, I naturally read the Washington Post reports of the end of the world yesterday. That led to a mischievous Bing search for the Capitol's fool-proof plan for evacuation in response to nuclear attack. If you need a giggle as badly as I did, do the same.
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This is the sort of thing you get from a fellow who feels compelled to write something but who has absolutely nothing to say. Please love me anyway.
.
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I have an inconsistent philosophy about weather moaners. When others over-gripe about a few little feet of snow and a bracing Alberta breeze, I'm often prone to huff that they should shut up or move to Arkansas. When I do it it I am merely exercising my First Amendment right to bitch. Use it or lose it.
---
The firewood stash is much diminished but more than adequate for remaining season. It is no longer a neat stack, and I've used a little more than I planned, probably because some of the ash wasn't as dry as I thought. Still, I should carry over a couple of months' supply to the winter of '11 and '12. This is known as a budget surplus, and I usually have one, confirming my long-held belief that I am morally superior to those in or seeking public office.
---
Being a somewhat weather-driven man, I naturally read the Washington Post reports of the end of the world yesterday. That led to a mischievous Bing search for the Capitol's fool-proof plan for evacuation in response to nuclear attack. If you need a giggle as badly as I did, do the same.
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This is the sort of thing you get from a fellow who feels compelled to write something but who has absolutely nothing to say. Please love me anyway.
.
Jan 27, 2011
Snort
Some news guy says, "They're getting rid of color terror alerts and replacing them with emoticons."
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