So, I’m sitting in the library, and across the table from me, three students are studying Chinese.  Being the friendly fellow I am, I asked what got them into Chinese, and without hesitating they all responded simply, “Firefly”.

Makes you wonder, if CSI got people into Forensics, is it possible that more people are studying Chinese because of Firefly?

By way of a random Technorati click, I found the blog of a Georgia high school paper which made me search for an article about (phew!) how the Hartford Public Schools are now fining students for using profanity at school:

Students in Hartford, Conn., now have to pay for what they say - literally.

Under a new plan, 2,800 students at two high schools in the district could be subject to $103 fines for uttering profanity on school premises.

Officials there call it a last-ditch effort to create a learning space free from the linguistic irreverence so commonplace in society today.

“We have had kids that just curse out their teachers in the hallways,” says Zandralyn Gordon, the acting principal at Hartford Public High School. “That cannot continue.”

…

Experts say some schools are cesspools for swearing because disciplinary action is not strictly enforced. That was not the case in Hartford. Suspensions were handed down for obscenities, but administrators say they were seen as vacations and did nothing to improve unruly behavior. Now, says Ms. Gordon, “they are not going to curse, because it is going to cost.”

The fines, issued by police officers in the schools on a case-by-case basis, must be paid or students must appear in court as they would for a speeding ticket.

A main impetus behind the program was to reduce violence - and the suspensions and expulsions that were byproducts of that violence. “We find one kid swearing at another kid, the other kid responds,” says Cathy Carpino, the president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, “and it goes from being a verbal altercation to a physical one. It needs to be stopped.”

Not sure what to say except that I’m curious what happens to students that can’t pay. It seems to me, but perhaps I’m wrong, that by the time the students enter high school, at least some of their swearing is already learned. I also wonder what happens if you stub your toe and yell out something like “shit” or “damn”? Seems like a steep fine when it’s not directed at anyone, especially if a “main impetus” is to reduce violence.

It’ll be interesting to see how it gets enforced. Heidi may have more on this at her blog later.

By the way, students at Pebblebrook (the school in Georgia), um, teachers and students are actually allowed to talk about religion in school. It would be impossible to teach large chunks of western history without talking about religion. What is not allowed is teaching students how to be good Christians. There’s a difference that ought to be obvious.

WTF??!??

“Intelligent Design:” proves once and for all - there’s none in Kansas.

In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

Next thing you know, people will start to use magnets to heal themselves.

My father got this brain teaser at his last MIT reunion….

Consider a clock with indistinguishable hour and minute hands, and infinitely precise hand positions. Are there ambiguous times, times for which there are two consistent interpretations of which hand is the hour hand and which is the minute hand?

Any takers? I will probably post the answer later.

Looks like taking a kudzu pill before drinking can keep heavy drinkers from binge drinking. That’s good for some people who really need help to curb alcoholism. But they missed an important aspect of the results: I can get just as drunk on half the booze! These kudzu pills can cut my costs and health risks in half! Unless there’s some terrible side effect, I’ll get just as drunk, but have significantly fewer hangover effects. Moreover, my poutine budget will be reduced, and I can throw away my bottle of Febreeze. Everyone wins!

Ok, I am stealing this from Chhavi’s blog, but it is too good not to post here. What is up with the new Cuddle Parties? Is this a new trend that I am missing out on? Sujal, is this what you and Heidi are thinking of when you think of house warming party? the best quote:

A man named Dwayne H., who described himself as introverted, said he thought the parties would help him relax before strangers and help him express his feelings.

“I have a problem showing emotion,” he said.

Rob Beals, a software developer (Mac and other), and a man with interesting ideas has another interesting idea. Why don’t teachers have blogs set up that the parents can monitor too? One could build software that builds on RSS/Atom so kids could know assignments, maybe get extra resources, continue interesting discussions outside of class, and potentially allow parents to know what’s going on in school.

Heidi, if you want to give this a whirl next year, we can set something up. KO is probably well suited to do this, because I bet 100% of the students there have computers at home.

So aside from the presidential election, and the war on terror, we also have this obesity epidemic here in the US. I just read article regarding schools trying to introduce better food choices to students. One of the hot topics is the food choices offered in vending machines. Kids are able to fill up on chips, candy bars, and soda between classes and don’t have many healthy alternatives. The reaction of some of the kids in reference to this move from junk food choices to “health food”:

Sherrel Stokes, 15, and Akeem Brown, 14, said they worry what the move could do for their image.
”Nobody eats bananas or apples for lunch — nobody,” said Stokes, folding her hands across her chest.
”Who’s going to walk around school eating an apple?” scoffed Brown

When did it become un-cool to eat fruit? Maybe I am out of the loop on this, but I just found this statement so depressing. I grew up in a family that did not buy soda or chips on a regular basis, plus I don’t even remember having vending machines in my schools at all. If most kids live off of vending machines and fast food, it is no wonder that obesity is on the rise.

I was recently invovled in a revitalizing professional activity. I went out on a New England Association of Schools and Colleges visting team to evaluate a high school which is up for reaccreditation. It was such a refreshing experience to see such a strong community there. The people there are really proud of their school and very supportive of each other. I’ve also been applying for several summer programs. One is through the National Endowment for the Humanities and the other is the Western Mass Writing Project. I’m pretty excited about both prospects, but I’m not holding my breath on the England possibility. It’s really competitive.

In my several application processes, I had to write up some work that I do with writing that i would be willing to present to a peer group. Sujal read them over for me, and he suggested I post them, so here they are:

I would like to present some of the work I do as a teacher of creative writing. The first unit I teach is a unit on autobiographical writing. I begin with this unit, because I place an emphasis on sharing writing in my creative Writing class. I firmly believe that students do need to hear each other’s work to give them a sense of where they are in their own development and to allow them the opportunity to have pride in their work. I begin the semester with daily journal prompts about themselves. The journal prompts are a mainstay of the class, though the prompts shift focus during the various units. I give them participation grades for sharing their journal prompts. It does not significantly hurt the student if they do not read, but it doers boost their grade if the do read. I allow for one pass per week, in case something is too personal to read. I never force any student to read, but I do strongly encourage them to share.

The first assignment they have is to bring in some sort of object that each student feels represents him or herself in some way. It could be a pen, a journal, a basketball, a necklace, a doorknob, a shopping bag, etc. Then in class, I ask each student to write from the point of view of the object about him or herself. I suggest describing how they met or perhaps a significant conversation overheard by the object. I tell them that the piece of writing is from the object’s point of view but it should reveal a lot about the owner of the object. This tends to be an activity that is fun for them. When the first draft is due, they have an opportunity to share.

The next assignment I give is for the autobiographic essay. I stress the importance of choosing a very specific moment or aspect and getting as detailed as possible. It is with this essay that we go over the writing process in detail. I tell them that it is required to share this particular essay, so they each need to pick a topic that each is comfortable sharing with the class. The day we share the drafts, we just listen. If they would like me to take a look at the essay and make suggestions, I offer that opportunity. This essay must be brought to a final draft.

Over the next week I assign two more essays, a personal essay in which that can explore any topic that interests them. And the second essay is a persuasive essay on a topic about which they feel strongly. Of the three essays: the personal essay, the persuasive essay, and the identity object essay, they choose one to bring to a final draft for a grade.

The first unit is over with the assignment of this final draft. By this time, the groundwork is usually laid for a very tightly knit class that is very willing to take risks with their writing and to share their writing.

and the second one:

I would like to share one of the recent projects that I have developed and had students complete. This is a multi-media presentation in which Grade 12 students had to chose a current issue that is important to them or interested them, research the issue, take a stance on the issue, write an essay, and give a multi-media presentation to a panel at an evening forum. I believe it was an enormously beneficial project for the students.

Some of the basic parts were as follows. They first needed to choose some kind of current issue. The range they chose from was drilling for oil in Alaska, whether or not global warming is a myth, teen pregnancy, treatment of POW’s, alternative fuels, the effectiveness of management classes, the war on terror, cloning, legalizing marijuana, and the cause of street racing’s popularity. They needed to choose a faculty mentor, whom they could go to for direction when they needed sources for their research. For example, the student doing a project on whether global warming is a myth worked with the environmental science teacher for direction. They needed to research many different points of view on the issue.

While they were doing that, they also needed to find people to serve on their assessing panels by sending out formal request letters. The panel needed to consist of a parent, a teacher, a student, and an administrator. In doing that, I went over the proper techniques for writing a formal business letter.

As they assembled their research, they worked on the essay portion of the project. The essay needed to address their research techniques, their various findings, and their final conclusions and evaluations of the evidence. I gave them an opportunity to turn the essay in to me to look over before they brought it to a final draft. I gave them time to work in the library, both for research and for writing, so they could ask me questions as they did their work.

As they researched and wrote, we as a class wrote rubrics for both the essay and multi-media presentation. I broke them up into two camps, each camp had to write the first draft of a rubric. Then we as a class tweaked the documents and agreed upon final drafts. This way, the students knew exactly what was expected of them, and the panel knew exactly how to assess them. They again needed to deliver these documents to their panel members.

Also while they were writing, they needed to assemble a way to present their findings and conclusions to their panel. They needed to use some sort of media – a PowerPoint presentation, a website, a video, sound recordings, etc.

Then they turned the essays in to their various panel members about five days before the scheduled evenings of presentations. During this time, the panel members were to assess the essay using the rubric. On the two nights of presentations, each lasting 20-30 minutes, the panel again assessed the students, this time on the multi-media presentations. It was an intimate affair, catered with hors d’oeuvres, and friends and family were invited.

Finally, when all was done, the class wrote thank you notes to their mentors and panel members. They improved their writing, research, technology, networking, and public speaking skills. It also included the community. Overall, it was an incredible amount of work but very well worth it.

The second one, Sujal came to the high school to attend some of the presentations. I was really happy he came for two reasons — so he could see the good work some of my kids were doing, and so I could share with him some work that I did. I felt proud that he was there. Sometimes what one does in the classroom as a teacher goes so unnoticed. So I was happy to have him see it. And now I’m sharing it with you all.