On the personal front, my wife has had our second child (two months ago) and, like much of the country, I'm under-paid for my family's needs. Professionally, I'm still teaching and now working mostly as a Social Studies teacher. I've taken on a Government class, which means that I get to instill my obsession with US politics and governance in a new generation of learners. That's actually pretty exciting, and if I had time to do it the right way, this would be an absolutely incredible class. As I don't have that time, it'll likely be a good class.
Here's my newest rant (not that you haven't read it already in a hundred other places):
What kind of supposedly responsible parent would keep a child out of school on Tuesday?What good can possibly come of keeping your kid from hearing President Obama speak? I've read of places where schools are starting to realize that they will lose money by not having kids in school. I've read numerous accusations that this speech is an attempt to force socialism on our kids. I've read numerous paranoid assertions that this is unconstitutional or in some way a failure to separate politics from education. Folks, here's the reality of it. It doesn't matter if Obama is a socialist (he's not) or if he wants to indoctrinate your kids (he may) or if he's not separating politics from education (his speech is on staying in school - not sure where the politics are there). What matters is that this is a great opportunity for students to hear the President of the United States of America address them directly and begin a conversation that should continue in the classrooms after he has finished speaking.
Seriously, now. We show kids video of Hitler and Hussein, give them transcripts of Churchill and Roosevelt, and have them study maps of Waterloo and the Somme. We expect them to analyze forms of government around the world and assess various political ideologies for their strengths and weaknesses. Surely, their fragile little minds can handle one speech encouraging them to take their education seriously. I don't care about the fact that GHWB and Reagan both addressed students like this. I don't care that most schools fail to teach adequately the things that I've listed above. What I care is that this is a great opportunity for students to actively learn how our government really operates, and they are being taught all of the wrong lessons in far too many places. Ironically, timing and technology may keep me from being able to show it live to my Government class, but I certainly plan to get it recorded and use it as soon as possible.
