Education Failure - Linking Verbs

Be am is are was were been being seem feel look appear become grow taste smell sound continue remain....

Freshmen English... 1958. Every morning for 6 weeks we repeated this refrain until it was indelibly etched in our minds. We were not allowed to be "creative" with our language. We had to learn it. Learning the technical aspects of our language was as important as writing an essay of our own thoughts.

Three years of Latin; three years of German; Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer... learning the foundations of our language. No phonetics... no "hooked on phonics." Knowledge passed along rather than invented on the fly.

I found Thomas Sowell's article (and part 2) about the impact of passing along knowledge versus "facilitating" learning less than surprising. Oh, I know, Thomas Sowell is not exactly revered among the left-leaning and maybe too revered among the right-leaning. Okay, let's just say that my own experience says that I got more out of teachers who passed along the information and how it was relevant than those who simply handed out assignments and tested.

Teaching is not a process of "facilitating" learning and it is not a process of being "conveyors of knowledge who enlighten their students with what they know." It is a process of facilitating learning by conveying specific knowledge in ways that are relevant and interesting.

I once asked my son's geometry teacher if he ever attempted to relate that subject to everyday applications. He responded with a dull, blank expression and a simple, "No." That confirmed my son's opinion that this guy was putting in his time until retirement. I wanted to tell him how I built a two-level deck with a bay front on the back of my house using a level, chalkline and standard length lumber, plus what I had learned in geometry. No tape measure was needed.

The point is that teachers have to be more than "guides"; teachers must be surrogate parents. Before you get all huffy about teachers being surrogate parents, think about the reality of the situation. For the better part of the day, teachers must be the authority, the counselor, the guide, and the expert in our children's lives. Many teachers prefer just one or two of those roles, but the effective teachers establish a personal relationship based on strength of knowledge, strength of position and strength of character. They don't replace parents; they assume the temporary position of a parent who is educating many offspring.

My father taught me how to build and fix things. He showed me the right way, guided my hands-on efforts, and corrected me until I understood and was competent. He didn't hand me a power saw and just say "don't put your hand in front of the blade" while I "discovered" how to cut wood properly. He was a teaching parent. Good teachers understand that they are surrogate parents.

By the way, that English teacher who drilled those linking verbs into our collective consciousness was a reasonably good teacher. She had a difficult subject... grammar... and a difficult group of students... freshmen. But I never really understood until much later just why we were learning that list. Regardless (not irregardless), she did convey the knowledge needed to advance my understanding and proper use of English. Admittedly, I have become a little sloppy in my use of punctuation and, occasionally, grammar, but her efforts largely were successful.

China - Market Opportunity, Trading Partner, Competitor, Enemy?

Nothing is ever as simple as it first seems.

Triple your original estimate.

Ignore the man behind the curtain.

China:

• Market opportunity - GM goes in; Chery comes out
• Trading Partner - jobs for cheap goods
• Competitor - IBM, UNOCAL? (read the papers)
  
• Enemy - We'll nuke you if you actively defend Taiwan

http://washingtontimes.com/specialreport/20050626-122138-1088r.htm

Read both parts.

Education Failure - I'd Rather Not Go There

In Michigan:

State high school science test scores show a slight drop

In Detroit:

Earn your GED through television

In Ontario, Canada

Toyota to build 100,000 vehicles per year in Woodstock, Ont., starting 2008

Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.

"The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario."
(Thanks to Steven for the lead)

Alabama, Mississippi, Michigan, Detroit... what do they have in common?

a) What, me study?
b) A lot of free time.
c) Professional TV watchers
d) All of the above

Ethnic Divisiveness - Biting The Hand That Feeds You

Gratitude: grat·i·tude

Pronunciation: 'gra-t&-"tüd, -"tyüd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French, from Medieval Latin gratitudo, from Latin gratus grateful
: the state of being grateful : THANKFULNESS [Merriam-Webster Online]

The New York Times reports today:

Imran Waheed, a spokesman for a radical British-based group, Hizb ut Tahrir, which is allowed to function here but is banned in Germany and much of the Muslim world, said: "When Westerners get killed, the world cries. But if Muslims get killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, it's the smallest of news. I will condemn what happened in London only after there is the promise from Western leaders to condemn what they have done in Falluja and other parts of Iraq and in Afghanistan."

So far, there appears to be little effort to restrain outspoken clerics, including prominent extremists like Sheik Omar, who has reportedly been under investigation by Scotland Yard.

Sheik Omar, who remains free, is an example of the double-edged policies in Britain. He is a political refugee who was given asylum 19 years ago and is supported by public assistance. Asked in an interview in May how he felt about being barred from obtaining British citizenship, he replied, "I don't want to become a citizen of hell."

The Christian/Humanistic culture of the West may have a slight problem understanding the depth of Islamic thinking. On the other hand, radical Islamists may have a difficult time understanding why anyone would actually want to guarantee their civil rights... but they will certainly take advantage of it.

Environmental Extremism - If only I had a brain

The Scarecrow could be excused for his shallow thought process. After all, he didn't have a brain. But when our leaders and editors use the old "we should do something" as a statement of policy, it is hard to excuse.

In today's Detroit Free Press, columnist Tom Walsh wrote:

If the United States and other major economic powers were to switch from gasoline to hydrogen or another alternate fuel for cars and trucks, just imagine the geopolitical impact. Radical regimes in the Middle East would lose the only clout they have, as demand for oil falls along with its price.

Well, yes, if we just switched fuels that would be great. But, as I have written several times, each alternative has a price that, so far, we haven't been willing to pay.

A hydrogen-based transportation system would require massive efforts to build a distribution infrastructure. It would also require new nuclear or clean-burning coal power generation plants to make enough energy to create the hydrogen gas which, incidentally, is a storage medium like a battery, not an energy source. Even Greenpeace co-founder, Patrick Moore, agrees with that (see June 13).

Meanwhile, Congress toys with dismantling Amtrak which is a mass-transportation alternative.

But, we gotta do something... something. If I only had a brain to figure out what.

But as Tom Walsh put it:

I don't have a clue what will ultimately emerge as the best replacement for gasoline.

His solution:

Why not just put a lot of really smart people on the case, give them the money and resources they need, then light a fire under them and keep it lit until they find a way to kick the oil addiction?

Tom, the answers are already out there. It's just that our "leaders" don't want to face the heat from a "fire under them". And, quite frankly, neither do most citizens if it means $5.00/gallon gasoline.

Current energy alternatives to oil products and where best used:

• nuclear power - regional/national (Chernobyl - not!)
  
• clean-burning coal - regional/national (millions of tons of that stuff in our back yard)
• tidal - regional/local
  
• solar - regional/local/homes (heat and light)
• wind - local/homes
• geothermal - commercial buildings/homes
• hydrogen - storage medium
• batteries - storage medium
• insulation - duh!
• triple-pane low-e glass - duh!
• skylights - duh!
• sweaters - duh!
• walking and bicycling - duh!

If I only had a brain.... No, if I only had the will.

Ethnic Divisiveness - London Bombing

Today's bombing in London will create a temporary crisis of confidence... very temporary. What is more likely to happen is that Europeans will begin to view all Muslims with increasing hostility.

Why? Because most Muslims in Europe have not demonstrated any indication that they are against those who are responsible for a similar attack in Spain and the murder of a Danish film maker Theo Van Gogh, recently. There have been no clerics or leaders stepping forward denouncing these actions. Don't expect them in England. I suspect that even though the Muslims might be horrified by the actions, they are secretly delighted that the Europeans are getting "payback" for displacing the Ottoman Empire's glory.

The Middle Eastern version of Islam, particularly the religious state versions, have stifled the Muslims with regard to social, intellectual, and economic growth which they are all too willing to blame the on the West.

That said, it is unlikely that there will be any negative reaction coming out of the Muslim world... more likely a positive reaction to the murders in England.

What are the long term effects? I think that the Europeans will begin to resist further immigration of Muslims. It is likely that Turkey's efforts to join the European Union will be hurt further. Muslims living in Europe will find themselves the targets of hate crimes.

But what would surprise me least is that there may be secret communications by the European governments with the leaders of Iran and Syria warning that further attacks by the Muslim extremists will result in mysterious explosions in Damascus and Tehran. It is no secret that Iran and Syria directly and actively support the terrorists. They may not control them, but they give them sanctuary and resources. An EMP cruise missle or two would send a strong message: DON'T TREAD ON ME! It's time the jackels were restrained... or the lions may be unleashed.