Education Uncensored

Ok, I spent the weekend with a lot of computer tech junkies.  I was a speaker at WordCamp Birmingham but the fact of the matter is, I learned way more than I actually imparted on anyone, I’m fairly certain of that.  My husband and I both went back on Sunday and it was absolutely one of the most amazing events I have been to or been part of. 

I met some great folks and I really have some big plans to start making my blogs all prettier and hipper with all the wordpress knowledge that I now have.  One of the speakers was Matt Mullenweg who in our house is referred to as “that wordpress guy” and Brett Bumeter is now on the radar as one information filled man.  You can read more from him at Ma.tt

Brett introduced us all to some theme building software called Artisteer and you can get it from his site at SoftduitMedia.  I have a lot going on this week with my son’s school but as soon as I can get things moving with that, I’m going to get some stuff prettied up around here.

I am about to be featured in my local newspaper so I also want to get some of the ebooks finished before that happens too.  Add in the great OfficeMax giveaway and subsequent party at my son’s school and I am one busy rat in the rat race. 

So, with that…..it’s almost midnight and I’m thinking I’m going to need some sleep before I hit the trail tomorrow with my to-do list….and you know what the best part is…I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I mean that, I am slowly learning where my natural gifts are.  I won’t bore you here with what I think some of them are, but I will absolutely tell you where they are not.  I am not a politician.  I am not going to tell you what you want to hear.  I am not going to tell you something just to get you to commit to something regardless of your own thoughts.  I am pretty straight forward.  If not, the blog would have “uncensored” in the title.  So, let’s be sure you all understand that this is not a political discussion.

As I chatted with the various people at the conference, I was drawn to one man in particular.  He is the man mentioned in the previous post who has an MBA in International Tax Law.  Who knew?  Chances are he is very politically opinionated but again, that’s not where I am going with this, I’m just telling you I was talking with

So, I said to him, I would move to any state in the United States for my husband to have a better job except Mississippi.  He asked why of course and my answer is simple, there are just simply a chain of order.  And, many people would never live in Alabama for various reasons.  The order that I am speaking of here in particular is that of education. 

If you live in a state that has a better education system than the one in Alabama and you have children, then you probably wouldn’t be willing to move him.  And, Mississippi is one of the places where the state of education is worse than in Alabama.  And, I won’t move there. 

Now, that led to a conversation about how to “fix” education.  And, in my opinion, we first have to have people who are wiling to admit that it is broken.  But, as politicians, and that’s essentially who is running our educational system is politicians, are not going to ever do this.  Politicians are going to continue to tell you what you want to hear and even if they can’t deliver on what they told you, they are still going to tell you the same thing.

So, as we set about as a nation, complaining about the idea of a national health care plan, can we think about what that would mean on an educational level.  If someone, preferably our government, stepped in and said, “ok, this is broken, this is a fix and we are going to take on and carry out this plan.  I will re-visit this with you in 3 or 5 or 10 years”.  It’s difficult to say when you would revisit it because it’s relative to the changes being made. 

But, we did not get in this position over night, therefore, you can expect someone to fix it over night.  What you can and should expect is for someone to step up and say, “I have a plan……..”

And your thoughts are….

Ok, for reals ya’ll…I’m breaking out the slang for this one.  When I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I look at my son’s folder for the upcoming week…?   Yea, there is a new section.  A section entitled “Homework something-ablah-blah-blah”.  Now come on, where do we put a stop to this.  I’ve been taken my stand here and I’ve been more than defensive.  I’ve been respectful of the people in charge and now, now I’m losing my cool. 

And, while I am busily losing my ability to maintain civility on this matter, more is being added.  I’m really starting to wonder how loud you have to yell, how many toes do you have to step and when and where is the end of the line.

With that, let me interject that I spent my weekend with some fast talking tech-gifted individuals but the conversation at one point made it to children and homework…as is wont to happen when you have a group of people together for a long period of time.  One man has 3 children and 2 in school.  His wife is a public school teacher and he was fully in agreement that it is out of control. 

Another woman there joined the conversation long enough to say that she had just gone to the school this past week to discuss homework with her 7th graders teacher.  The child was doing upwards of 4 hours  of homework per night.  And, she finally drew the line in the sand and said “no more”.  Her exact words were “if you are going to have her for 8 hours a day and you want me to then teach her for 4 hours a night, I can homeschool her and get it done in less time with at least the best results and very possibly better.”

And, with that, we shall see how successful is in her ploy to move on her words.  The gentleman mentioned being very disturbed because his first grade was being taught probability.  His words were something along the lines of “I didn’t do probability until my sophomore year in college and I took a lot of math.”  This man holds an MBA in International Tax Law and has written his thesis on this subject.  So, we aren’t talking chopped liver here people, this is a very educated man, his educated wife and another highly educated woman all expressing the same concerns that I have. 

When will someone finally realize that enough is enough?

We actually brainstormed on this…that’s coming in my next post….stay tuned.

It’s been quite a week and I’ve been a not-so-good blogger here.  It all starts with a sinus infection with me, some minor meltdowns over homework one night and we’ve made it to Thursday night without anyone harmed. 

As for the homework issue, it started when I had to go to the doctor myself on Tuesday.  And that in turn, took away the wee bit of pay time that my first grader normally gets afterschool.  Add to that the cantankerous behavior of a 4 year old and when we started homework, the meltdown started.

Spelling words went off without a hitch (the kid can spell the words if you ask him to spell aloud, if you ask him to write them, if you spell them and ask him what they are – he is good, even if he is mine).  Vocabulary which is usually a cinch was even difficult.  But, then, the site words….we made it to the 9th or 10th word, which was “these”.  And, that’s when it started.  He wanted the word to be “those”.  I corrected, we back up a word or two and he said it again, “those”.  I  asked him to sound it out and he started to get a bit whiney.  I insisted, he got whiner. 

I suggested we do his reading and he fell to pieces.  I called it quits, put a note in his folder that we had a rough evening, my son got upset and we did not finish homework.  He was afraid if he did not sign-off on his spot, he would be in trouble.

I wrote a note to the teacher and that was all that was needed. (see note at bottom about this).  However, last night and again tonight, when we got to the word “these”, he wanted to make the word “those”.

We finished homework without any trauma and I put a note in his folder on his page where the site words are listed indicating that he was continuing to say the word was “those” not “these”.    I can’t be sure, he has never had problems with any site words before, but I think part of it was the font.  The “e” and the “o” are very similar and since he wears glasses and we know that he has some vision issues, I’m hoping that it isn’t the case of his eyes not being corrected and is just an issue of bad fonts.  We shall see. 

What do you think?

*Personal note:  As you may remember from a week or so ago, the homework issue was discussed in greater detail.  At the beginning of the school year, his teacher said that she understood that on occasion things come up and homework just doesn’t get done.  And, indeed, my note regarding me being sick and that my doctors appointment had messed our afternoon routine up and that my son had a meltdown was enough for her.  I explained that he was upset about not signing off on the sheet for his part.  She was kind enough to put a smiley face by my notes and his signature and added that she understood and that he would not be trouble even if he hadn’t signed. 

I put a note at the bottom that said “thanks” and that he was quite anxious about homework in general. 

So, I figured that it is important to note here that when I said what I said about homework and when I said that if the teachers are doing what the text book producers are suggesting, then very possibly this homework issue is not an issue with the teachers.  And, I do hope she reads this and knows that while I think (and know) that the teachers have control to some degree, she works as part of a team of 3 first grade teachers, she works through a state wide curriculum and she does, in part, have to conform to rules. 

That doesn’t mean I like the homework issue anymore than I ever did before.  But, my son’s school does their part, his teachers do their part and without a doubt (and not that she needed to), she proved that she is genuine in her love of teaching and does what she really thinks is right.  And I like that.  And we like her.  Nothing is or ever has been personal. 

Need I say more? 

What are your thoughts on this part too?

I am playing a bit of the devil’s advocate here, but I am curious first of all if anyone will speak up on this matter and secondly, how many people are willing to be really honest about it.  And, of course, as usual, I have an ulterior motive.

I am speaking this weekend at Word Camp Birmingham and hopefully at another conference next month which is just a one day event as well.  Either way, the second I learned that I had been accepted as a speaker, I started getting nauseated. 

And, not for the reason that most of you think either.  I’m certain that my content is good.  I am positive and confident that what I have to say is going to be good for the people in attendance.  I am a bit self-conscious about my looks but not near as much as many other people I know my size. 

So what then?  It’s my accent, my slang, my dialect….if you wanna call it that.

I am an educated woman.  I’m not boasting here, just giving you facts.  But, generally speaking, when people have read my work online, they know I have a touch of “southern slang” to me.  But apparently it is much worse than most people imagine because within the first few minutes of me opening my mouth, people start to look at me funny.  And, many people often leave projects that they have started with me and I feel really sure that it is because my slang is thick, my southern accent is really really thick. 

No one has ever admitted to cutting ties with me on projects for that reason and obviously by speaking in Birmingham, most of the people won’t notice my accent because they will all talk just like me (or most of them anyway).  But, the further away from the south I get, the more people I meet (for instance in Chicago in July, I had cabbies in stitches because they didn’t understand me and the feeling was mutual), the bigger an issue it becomes.

So, I ask you, if you have never met me in person, you’ve read my work, you know I make typo’s regularly, you know I am not grammatically correct most of the time and you know I like to use really deep redneck type phrases but you also know that I have a degree in this or that, will your opinion of me change when we meet and the first thing you hear me say is…

“oh my gosh, I dinnt know you wuz gunna be hare (here)”  or

“holy cooooooooow, I’ve been dyin’ to meet you, you ain’t ne’er (never) gettin’ rid of me now, I’m gunna be all over you like flies on…ne’er mind”

Or, if it’s on a more formal basis and the first sentences you hear sound more like this….

“Hey, my name is Jerri Ann and I want to tell you how ridiculously crazy I am and how I got this way.  No, I watton (wasn’t) born this way, all these mad skillz come from some back alley learnin’.  So, let’s get busy and you tell me what you wunna know more ‘bout”

Be honest, remember that first paragraph up there.  If you meet me and my accent, my slang, my dialect is completely different than what you would expect from someone who has an extended education, will you be turned off?  Or, will you just think a few snide thoughts to yourself and brush it off?  Or will you cower in the corner and hope that I don’t remember who you are?

Honestly now, honesty!

I am on the speakers panel for Word Camp this upcoming weekend in Birmingham. 

I’d love to join wordcamp as a regular if at all possible.  I can’t imagine anything more fun than doing what I love and then teaching others to do what I do. 

So, if you are coming to Word Camp in Birmingham this weekend…I’ll see you there!

Guest Post by Adrienne Carlson

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of engineering degrees online . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com

The number of children being homeschooled is on the rise, and it’s not just because most parents have lost faith in the public education system. Some of them truly believe that they know what’s best for their kids and that turning them over to teachers who consider them strangers, one among a group of 30 to 40 kids, is an act of treason. Others prefer to keep their children close, where they can control their education and steer it in the direction they want – it may be because of religious or political beliefs that make them baulk at their children learning what they feel amounts to blasphemy.

Homeschooling may work for some kids while failing miserably for others. As with other methods of education, this one too depends on certain factors, all of which must be conducive for it to succeed. In a regular school, a child who excels academically generally has the following characteristics:

· They are smart and hard working

· They have average to good teachers

· Their parents support their academic pursuits

· They are part of a happy family

And a homeschooled child does well if:

· Their parents are dedicated to the cause

· They are sincere in their efforts to learn

· They respond well to parental authority

· They realize that this alternative method of schooling depends mostly on their efforts if it is to succeed

If you compare both, you’ll see that it’s mostly the efforts and talent of the student that allow them to succeed, whether it is at a regular school or through homeschooling. The proponents of homeschooling would argue that regular schooling is filled with negative experiences that kill their children’s creativity and strive to conform them to a mould, one that is used to shape all children without any thought to their individuality. And opponents say that without social interaction, a child would be stifled and forced to toe a certain path, one that was chosen for them by their parents. This would be like a horse with blinders on, and once those restraining objects come off, they are completely disoriented.

The questions parents have to ask themselves is this – are they doing what they truly believe is good for their kids or are they lying to themselves and others and doing what is good for themselves? What would they do if their children wanted to be homeschooled if they went to a regular school or vice versa? Of course, most would argue that the kids don’t know enough about the world to really make this choice, but then, isn’t the very idea of schooling meant to teach children how to take the good with the bad, the ugly with the pretty? So if we wrap them in a cocoon and protect them from big, bad teachers and the schooling system, are we really doing them any good?

I guess only parents can answer this question, because they certainly seem to know what’s best for them!

Join me on Tuesday night on Twitter at the #gno party this week.  I will be one of the panelist on the topic of ..none other than…education, you got it.  Don’t miss out!

In addition to that, it’s football season you know, check out Ed…

Football is all the rage this time of the year, football, football and more football.  And, you can read more about that very topic if you visit Ed at Gridiron Gab.

Ed who is a self-proclaimed avid football fan since the 80’s (the New York Giants to be exact), and a hockey fan since the early 90’s, although that one’s cooled off slightly the last few years will be writing Gridiron Gab

Check it out!

I’ve spent many hours blogging and asking for someone to recognize that I am for real and what I have to say is FOR REAL.  And, now, with that, I’ve managed to grab the attention of some folk and I’m starting to reap the rewards.  How is that you say?

First of all, I have been chosen to represent Office Max and Erase Teacher Funded Classrooms, Adopt-a-Classroom and A Day Made Better as a “Max Mom”.  Absolutely this is one of the most awesome things I’ve been able to be part of. 

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So, grab that button and get busy helping fund our schools so that we can give our children all that they deserve. 

Check Out the

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Twitter ID for A Day Made Better

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