I seem to be waffling back and forth on this whole democratic primary. I think I am coming to support Obama, but I still wish that Edwards was in this campaign, even as a VP candidate, especially Obama's VP candidate. This would help me feel better about voting for him in many ways. But I think that he is probably the better candidate. This was sparked by a great post by Dr. Monkey that says why I support Obama in many ways better than I can say it, so just go over to his site and read this. DCup also inspired me toward this position with this great post as I think that Obama has been less negative than Clinton.
This being said, I will not take my Edwards '08 banner from my site as this is still who I want for the next election.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Six Word Meme
Mathman tagged me to do a six word memoir. So here is my best effort.
Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
This was much harder than I thought it would be. I have been thinking about this all day and this is pretty much the best I could do. Since I struggled so mightily with this one, I am not going to officially tag anyone, but I would encourage anyone who wants to do this, to please do it and then let me know in comments that you did so. That way I can see what other people came up with.
Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Not a jar, do not label.
This was much harder than I thought it would be. I have been thinking about this all day and this is pretty much the best I could do. Since I struggled so mightily with this one, I am not going to officially tag anyone, but I would encourage anyone who wants to do this, to please do it and then let me know in comments that you did so. That way I can see what other people came up with.
Friday, March 7, 2008
YouTube Friday
I started to think about penguins for some odd reason yesterday so I found some clips from my favorite movie that has penguins in it. Yes, I have a favorite penguin movie, The Farce of the Penguins.
I don't usually like Gilbert Gottfried, but this scene I really like.
See global warming is bad for all of us.
I don't usually like Gilbert Gottfried, but this scene I really like.
See global warming is bad for all of us.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Movie Meme
Seeing as how y'all know I love movies, I decided I needed to do this meme that I saw over at Harp and Sword, which if you aren't reading you need to start to read.
Instructions: Look up 15 of your favorite films on IMDb and take a quote from each. List them below. When someone guesses the quote correctly, cross it off the list. Leave a comment with your answers. And NO CHEATING.
UPDATED: The answers.
1.Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket... (Serenity, from Robin)
2.This comet came crashing into the earth. BAM! Total devastation. No celebrities, no cable TV, *no water*! It hasn't rained in 11 years. Now, 20 people gotta squeeze into the same bathtub. So it ain't all bad. (Tank Girl, from Gourmet Goddess)
3.If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever. (The Crow, from Gourmet Goddess)
4.No, "Through the Looking Glass". That poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" that's an indictment of organized religion. The walrus, with his girth and his good nature, he obviously represents either Buddha, or... or with his tusk, the Hindu elephant god, Lord Ganesha. That takes care of your Eastern religions. Now the carpenter, which is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ, who was raised a carpenter's son, he represents the Western religions. Now in the poem, what do they do... what do they do? They... They dupe all these oysters into following them and then proceed to shuck and devour the helpless creatures en masse. I don't know what that says to you, but to me it says that following these faiths based on mythological figures ensure the destruction of one's inner-being. Organized religion destroys who we are by inhibiting our actions... by inhibiting our decisions, out of... out of fear of some... some intangible parent figure who... who shakes a finger at us from thousands of years ago and says... and says, "Do it - Do it and I'll fuckin' spank you." (Dogma, from Brave Sir Robin)
Garden State
5. You'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.
6.I'm a mog: half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend! (Spaceballs, from Brave Sir Robin)
7.You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted. (Princess Bride, from Thunderbird)
Storytelling
8. I don't know about what happened... because once you start writing, it ALL becomes fiction.
9.McManus came to us with the job, Fenster got the vans, Hockney supplied the hardware, I came through with how to do it so no one got killed, but Keaton... Keaton put on the finishing touch. A little 'fuck you' from the five of us to the NYPD. (Usual Suspects, Thunderbird)
Memento
10. Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.
Batman Begins
11. When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural.
12.I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?(The Matrix, from DCap)
13.Hey, how come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be anarchy. (Breakfast Club, from DCup)
14.It is clear that I must find my other half. But is it a he or a she? What does this person look like? Identical to me? Or somehow complimentary? Does my other half have what I don't? Did he get the looks? The luck? The love? Were we really separated forceably or did he just run off with the good stuff? Or did I? Will this person embarrass me? What about sex? Is that how we put ourselves back together again? Or can two people actually become one again? (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, from Gourmet Goddess)
15.Wow. How about this: I work for you; in exchange, you teach me how to clean. Hmmm? What do you think? I'll clean your place, I'll do the shopping, I'll even wash your clothes. Is it a deal? (The professional, from Thunderbird)
Instructions: Look up 15 of your favorite films on IMDb and take a quote from each. List them below. When someone guesses the quote correctly, cross it off the list. Leave a comment with your answers. And NO CHEATING.
UPDATED: The answers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Garden State
5. You'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.
6.
7.
Storytelling
8. I don't know about what happened... because once you start writing, it ALL becomes fiction.
9.
Memento
10. Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.
Batman Begins
11. When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Are Practical (and Affordable) Preschools Better?
I found this article over at Mathman's blog and knew that I had to read it since I am a preschool teacher. It is a quick perspective of one women who lives in Sweden and her discussion of the Swedish early childcare system. The first thing that struck me is that according to Swedish law, parental leave is 18 months. This means that parents are able to stay home with their children to help them to gain the experiences and knowledge they need for the first year and a half of their life. I know in many US childcare settings children start at closer to three months of age. I know this is obvious, but that is a difference of fifteen months. That amount of time is huge in the development of children. The first year of a child's life there is more brain growth and development than in any other time in their lives. So the ability of the family to be able to help the child to gain these experiences and not have to put them in childcare is to a great advantage to the family and specifically the child. This also allows the parents to bond with the child and create important attachments between parent and child that will last well into adulthood according to the theories of Bowlby and Ainsworth.
Second, the fees for Swedish childcare are determined according to the household income with a maximum set at about $200/month per child. Now I don't know if you have ever looked for childcare for a child, but according to this site childcare will cost you from $100 to $400 per week per child, which sounds about right to me. So that means you will spend at least $400/month on childcare alone and for a higher quality childcare you are looking at $1600/month. So obviously Sweden's childcare which is all high quality as it is government run or at least it is all of a similar quality is a quarter of what we pay here for what I am guessing is similar care. In addition, the Swedish government provides a monthly allowance for each child that almost totally covers the entire cost of the early childcare.
Third and finally, this point may be a bit more theoretical and not make total sense to you if you are thinking about your own early childcare, but the Swedish childcare curriculum focuses more on the needed social skills and the needed abilities to work as a community in the classroom over more academic skills such as reading and math. Now I know some of you may say that we need to force kids to learn to read and do math as they will not know how to do it when they go to kindergarten or into elementary school, thus setting themselves up for failure when they have to take the mandated testing in third grade for No Child Left Behind. Well, first, the NCLB crap is just that, it is crap. Standardized testing does nothing more that reward a teacher who can teach to a test and students who can take a standardized test. So as a student, if you are not a good test taker you are screwed, no matter if you know the material or not. And if you are not a white, middle class child, most research shows that you are at a disadvantage anyway when you take the standardized test as they are written for and by white, middle class people.
I could, of course, go on about NCLB, but I will stop there to show the other fallacy in the whole idea that children need to be taught to read and do math in preschool prior to going to kindergarten. That is simply that if a child does not have the skills to function in a classroom, their academic skills become almost void. I have had and still do have children who know their ABCs and can count, in fact I have one now who at three could say all of his ABCs and could count to 100, but he is disruptive to the rest of the class, he does not know how to sit still and he does not know how to listen to the teachers. So his knowledge does him no good as he is not able to learn new information because he lacks the skills to function in a classroom. Most kindergarten teachers will tell you that they would prefer to have a child who only knows a few letters, but can sit and listen in the academic setting than one who knows all of his letters and can count, but cannot sit still for more than five minutes. This information comes both anecdotally from friends of mine who are kindergarten teachers and from articles I have read from a variety of different sources from Newsweek to more academic and carefully researched journals. So, if the Swedish curriculum focuses on children being ready for school socially and emotionally, they will become more ready academically.
As Americans we wonder why our education system is lacking when compared to most any other nation (18th out of 24 nations worldwide according to a study by UNICEF in this article). We force parents to put our children into day care at too young an age, only the most wealthy can afford high quality childcare and we do not teach children how to function in a formal education setting. As was said by my mom when I emailed her this article, "I am sure there are advantages to the American education system, I am just not sure what they are."
Second, the fees for Swedish childcare are determined according to the household income with a maximum set at about $200/month per child. Now I don't know if you have ever looked for childcare for a child, but according to this site childcare will cost you from $100 to $400 per week per child, which sounds about right to me. So that means you will spend at least $400/month on childcare alone and for a higher quality childcare you are looking at $1600/month. So obviously Sweden's childcare which is all high quality as it is government run or at least it is all of a similar quality is a quarter of what we pay here for what I am guessing is similar care. In addition, the Swedish government provides a monthly allowance for each child that almost totally covers the entire cost of the early childcare.
Third and finally, this point may be a bit more theoretical and not make total sense to you if you are thinking about your own early childcare, but the Swedish childcare curriculum focuses more on the needed social skills and the needed abilities to work as a community in the classroom over more academic skills such as reading and math. Now I know some of you may say that we need to force kids to learn to read and do math as they will not know how to do it when they go to kindergarten or into elementary school, thus setting themselves up for failure when they have to take the mandated testing in third grade for No Child Left Behind. Well, first, the NCLB crap is just that, it is crap. Standardized testing does nothing more that reward a teacher who can teach to a test and students who can take a standardized test. So as a student, if you are not a good test taker you are screwed, no matter if you know the material or not. And if you are not a white, middle class child, most research shows that you are at a disadvantage anyway when you take the standardized test as they are written for and by white, middle class people.
I could, of course, go on about NCLB, but I will stop there to show the other fallacy in the whole idea that children need to be taught to read and do math in preschool prior to going to kindergarten. That is simply that if a child does not have the skills to function in a classroom, their academic skills become almost void. I have had and still do have children who know their ABCs and can count, in fact I have one now who at three could say all of his ABCs and could count to 100, but he is disruptive to the rest of the class, he does not know how to sit still and he does not know how to listen to the teachers. So his knowledge does him no good as he is not able to learn new information because he lacks the skills to function in a classroom. Most kindergarten teachers will tell you that they would prefer to have a child who only knows a few letters, but can sit and listen in the academic setting than one who knows all of his letters and can count, but cannot sit still for more than five minutes. This information comes both anecdotally from friends of mine who are kindergarten teachers and from articles I have read from a variety of different sources from Newsweek to more academic and carefully researched journals. So, if the Swedish curriculum focuses on children being ready for school socially and emotionally, they will become more ready academically.
As Americans we wonder why our education system is lacking when compared to most any other nation (18th out of 24 nations worldwide according to a study by UNICEF in this article). We force parents to put our children into day care at too young an age, only the most wealthy can afford high quality childcare and we do not teach children how to function in a formal education setting. As was said by my mom when I emailed her this article, "I am sure there are advantages to the American education system, I am just not sure what they are."
Monday, March 3, 2008
Obama on education
I am not sure I support him on all of his issues and I don't really think that he is the best candidate, although I don't really like Clinton either, but this video on Obama and education, I really like. It is very inspiring, but I am not sure he gives a lot of specifics on what he would do to change some of the problems we have with education, but he does want to raise the salary of teachers and I am all in favor of that, being a teacher myself.
h/t to Comrade Kevin
h/t to Comrade Kevin
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Movie Review- Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures is the story of two girls in New Zealand between the years of 1953-1954 and the friendship and ultimately tragedy that surrounds this friendship. Pauline and Juliete become friends at a girls school in Christchurch, New Zealand where they bond over a fantasy story they create together in their minds. This fantasy story becomes very real to them so much so that they begin to call each other by the names of characters in their "novel". We also see scenes where they imagine their world exists with them in it. These scenes are amazing as they are a combination of the two actresses and these clay figurines that they have made that are now life size. Both of the girls are trying to use this story as a means to escape their own lives and the tragedy that they see their lives becoming. The girls become very attached and this attachment leads to tragedy and murder as they try to continue their relationship even after both sets of parents are trying to separate the girls. The movie is based upon a true story and the characters and diary entries of Pauline.
Heavenly creatures is directed by Peter Jackson who later went on to do the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and again the backdrop of New Zealand is used superbly. Juliete is played by Kate Winslet in what seems to be her first motion picture film. She is incredible as a young women who seems to be cheerful and imaginative and yet is trying to cover her disappointment and frustration with her parents. Melanie Lynskey plays Pauline incredibly as well especially considering that this was her first acting role anywhere. This is an incredible film and so very scary and interesting cause the whole movie is true.
I have to end this review with possibly my favorite exchange in the whole movie and one of my favorite of any movie.
Pauline Parker: Oh, I wish James Mason would do a religious picture! He'd be perfect as Jesus!
Juliet Hulme: Daddy says the Bible's a load of bunkum!
Pauline Parker: But we're all going to heaven?
Juliet Hulme: I'M not! I'M going to The Fourth World... it's sort of like heaven. Only better, because there aren't any Christians!
Heavenly creatures is directed by Peter Jackson who later went on to do the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and again the backdrop of New Zealand is used superbly. Juliete is played by Kate Winslet in what seems to be her first motion picture film. She is incredible as a young women who seems to be cheerful and imaginative and yet is trying to cover her disappointment and frustration with her parents. Melanie Lynskey plays Pauline incredibly as well especially considering that this was her first acting role anywhere. This is an incredible film and so very scary and interesting cause the whole movie is true.
I have to end this review with possibly my favorite exchange in the whole movie and one of my favorite of any movie.
Pauline Parker: Oh, I wish James Mason would do a religious picture! He'd be perfect as Jesus!
Juliet Hulme: Daddy says the Bible's a load of bunkum!
Pauline Parker: But we're all going to heaven?
Juliet Hulme: I'M not! I'M going to The Fourth World... it's sort of like heaven. Only better, because there aren't any Christians!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
