TEACHERS AS TARGETS

There is an International Herald Tribune article that is chilling - teachers are now being targeted in Iraq. Why teachers? Why not! Teachers are dangerous... remember the poignant poem Pat Stall read to us last summer?

The poem is by Sigmund A. Boloz and is called "Be Dangerous" ; near the end it reads:

"...but because this is America, you must continue to be a teacher

You, the teacher, are freedom's greatest hope... be dangerous."

BORDER PEDAGOCY - PEDAGOGIA FRONTERIZA

We were priviledged to attend the "Crossing Borders: Education for a New World", in Spanish, "Cruzando Fronteras: Educación para un mundo nuevo" on Saturday September 24th. It was a great experience to meet the teachers from Tijuana and San Diego under one roof. The event was punctuated with a great mexican breakfas, and a nice lunch - including "flan!" for those of us with a sweet tooth - and of course music!

The brass was in town that morning - got to see the president of the University Karen Haynes along with the head of the College of Education Mark Baldwin plus all the key figures of the COE that are involved in languages, Juan, Zee, John, Maria de la luz, Elizabeth, and others.

These are a few of the pictures:

Check out some more pictures posted at FLICKR:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37257426@N00/

If you have any questions please drop me a note...

TECHNOLOGY

Computer-Using Educators - are you a member? If you have taken Educ 422 you probably are a member of CUE. This is just to let you know that there is a local conference coming up in October...

Check it out:

Things you will learn: Digital Imaging with Ease - curriculum integration, Virtual Gaming, Podcasting 101, Wikis for Wackos: Cross-curriculum & Differentiated instruction...and much much more...

BILINGUAL - EDUCATION - MULTICULTURALISM

As a teacher-in-training you will be exposed to dogmas and philosophical beliefs and many hot-button societal issues. Familiarize yourself in a rounded fashion on things like: Bilingual Education, Multiculturalism, Race, Fairness, etc. Be prepared to think things through - as an individual, as an American citizen, and as a teacher. As a teacher you have the responsibility to strengthen the fabric of our nation As MLK so elegantly said:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Speech at the Lincoln Memorial, 1963.

WHY?

I have been asked so many times... why do you want to become a High School teacher and leave a very nicely paid career? Well my answer has always been - while I still have the energy - I would like to share my knowledge, experience and help builld up young people... honeslty to try to make a difference that is more lasting than the Corporate world - so on I pursue my credentials. Dreamer? Perhaps - but I have to be true to myself... we shall see.

In any case, there is a great write up at Star Tribune by Katherin Kersten - check it out. She concludes with:

"If you want to influence our nation for the good, the most important thing you can do is become a high school teacher."

FOLKSONOMY

Have you ever used "Favorites" in your web browser? It helps you organize your PC links nicely and to your liking. There is also in Yahoo something called Yahoo Bookmarks which allows you to do the same thing except your favorites become available on ANY computer.

Well, there is another iteration that is even more powerfull called: del.icio.us this tool actually allows you to bookmark any page without any hassles and it allows you to extend the name and add tags! This very cool feature is called Folksonomy - similar to taxonomy. Pay attention you English majors lest your students zip right by you! The Wikipedia defines folksonomy as: a neologism for a practice of collaborative categorization using freely chosen keywords.

Got that? It is a community way or organizing links! It means that the group has already vetted and categorized much more information that you alone could ever do! Egalitarianism at its best!

Here is the link if you dare:

¿TOMAS CAFÉ, NO?

You know how I love words…. I encountered a letter to W. F. Buckley in the August 29th edition of National Review that I thought was a keeper. The letter said:

…I don’t remember ever encountering a grammatical construction such as, “Your imagination should be able to handle that, no?”
Why not end with “yes”? And what response indicates agreement or disagreement when ending the query in “yes” or “no”?

WFB answers:

….Very interesting, As in other matters in language, doing what comes naturally tends to be the thing to do. The negative is obviously called for in French (“Tu désires du café, non?”) and Spanish (“¿Tomas café, no?). If one were to expand the negative locution here, we’d have “You’re going to have coffee, aren’t you?” And there is the negative, poking its head. Aren’t you? – Are you not? The sentence you quote is constructed to suggest that the addressee’s imagination is (presumably) sufficient to cope with the problem; so that the indicated answer – if the imagination were insufficient – would be: No. A “yes” could be accomplished by a nod of the head, or – silence…

Wow – talk about brilliance in handling the language!

Check out NRO at:

BLACK BOARD JUNGLE

Well, well, well – one week behind us! The first week in class was interesting, provocative – and as usual confusing.

Monday went to class to find out that the class was not being held that day! Oy Bey! Three of us stood in class looking at each other wondering – ok… where is the rest of the class? Lack of communication was the explanation – oh well. Class does not start until September 12th.

Tuesday was a-ok but boy you better keep up with the multitude of assignment/locations/explanations/suggestions in a conundrum of icons on the web… take out a wet suit and your scuba gear!

Wednesday – the syllabus said that class was held last week already! So some of us ended up going in as if we had missed a class already! It was a relief to find out it was a professor error! Now this class is very interesting – found another Bolivian in the class!! LOL J

Thursday – another miscommunication – could not find the classroom – we finally figured it out!

I tell you, the COE is a constant basic training boot camp. It makes you wonder if this is all part of teacher training… is this preparing us to face the blackboard jungle? Remember that movie? "The Blackboard Jungle" or am I dating myself because most kids would not know what a blackboard is... anyway, risking dating myself; the movie was about an idealistic teacher on his first job!!!!!! Honestly, check it out: