I’m about to finish my biography

I’ve been revising my biography, “Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker,” which is due out next fall (of ’13).

I’m also teaching a short course on her life — and what we can learn from it — at Trinity College’s  Academy of Lifelong Learning. You can learn more about this woman (who’s been a bit of an obsession of mine for about 10 years) — who she is, why history forgot her, and why she should be remembered.

I promise it won’t be boring. And don’t let that angelic picture to the right fool you. The woman had it going on.

Find out about enrolling here. (I figure if I teach this class, I’ll stop bringing party conversations to a grinding halt when people ask “How’s the book going?” But did I mention it won’t be boring?)

Have a Coke and a…uh…

80 Percent of Public Schools Have Contracts With Coke or Pepsi, says Mother Jones.

Even if you don’t consider the other contents, check out how much sugar‘s in those drinks — which makes this kind of corporate double-speak, yes?

This is for all the teachers, everywhere.

Can I get an amen?

And thanks, DickG., for this.

We are not No. 1. Discuss.

To read more, go here. And thanks, DickG., for the link.

All the education you can afford…

Recently, the likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was quoted saying:

I think this is a land of opportunity for every single person, every single citizen of this great nation. And I want to make sure that we keep America a place of opportunity, where everyone has a fair shot. They get as much education as they can afford and with their time they’re able to get and if they have a willingness to work hard and the right values, they ought to be able to provide for their family and have a shot of realizing their dreams.

Uh, Mr. Romney? If I’d gotten as much education as I could afford, I would have stopped at high school, when most of us not blessed to be Romneys have to start paying for our education. I would have continued reading and educating myself, but I wouldn’t have begun to know how to challenge myself to learn more, to pull up out of the socio-economic group into which I was born, to find a job that didn’t involve me bending over hundreds of thousands of flannel shirts, or bib overalls, or any other of the jobs that awaited me in southwest Missouri.

I don’t say that to belittle those jobs. I have family who worked them, and friends who continue to work them, mostly because they did precisely what you suggested, and got all the education they could afford, and then they stopped. Who knows what lives they might have lived, had they had the opportunity of student loans or scholarships, or any other infusion of money that allowed them to continue on to college and beyond? I guess we’ll never know. All I know is I took out loans and worked multiple jobs and got some scholarships and when I graduated and the first loan payment came due, I paid it. I paid that debt off early, in fact, just as I knew I would. With that college degree I could get a job that would allow me to pay my debts, including the debt I incurred by going to college. It was debt well worth it, and I’d do it again.

I suppose this is a step up from your earlier suggestion that would-college students or entrepreneurs borrow money from their parents. Perhaps you meant borrow money from your parents, as mine didn’t have any.

I don’t see people like me in your vision for the future of education in America, Mr. Romney. Or, rather, I see people like me, and we’re all stuck at getting just the education we can afford. So: No. Thank you.

Yet another use for Nessie, the Loch Ness monster

The (I assume) mythical creature is being used in a textbook from Accelerated Christian Education to disprove evolution. From the book:

Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.

Scotland’s The Herald  reports that the textbook in question also says that a Japanese whaling boat once caught a dinosaur, and that Jesus once appeared on The Flintstones.

I thought I made that last part up, but no. As you can see from the clip above, Jesus’s birthday was explored on the show, though I don’t think it’s in the offensive textbook.

Regardless, it turns out ACE doesn’t have a stellar reputation for accuracy. That would be troublesome on a good day, but such stupid-on-a-stick is even more appalling because in Louisiana, at least, some

students receiving publicly funded vouchers and attending private schools in 2012-2013 will be taught from educational media promoting young earth creationism, global warming denial, history that is not factual, and bigotry toward Catholicism, Mormonism, other Protestants, and non-Christian religions. 

And thanks, Cynical, for the link.

Let’s send Hartford’s The Real Ambassadors to the Olympics

CREC’s Greater Hartford’s Academy of the Art‘s The Real Ambassadors (named after jazz great and Connecticut resident Dave Brubeck‘s musical) have been invited to perform at the Olympics Village in London. They are the only high school jazz choir who’ve been invited, and they need donations to go.

The award-winning band,  led by  Dianne Mower, will also take instrumentalists and chaperones, and after you click on this link, I’m betting you’ll agree they’re more than worth the effort. Dave and Iola Brubeck think they are. They said:

In a sea of over polished, over dressed ‘cookie cutter’ swing choirs, ‘The Real Ambassadors’ from the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts stand out as refreshingly ‘real,’ poised to become the next generation of jazz musicians. 

The extraordinary integration of voices and instrumentalists, create a beauty of sound that has made them the premier high school vocal ensemble in the country. Working together, they are true ambassadors of good will, displaying the depth of their commitment and character, creating music with soul and a wisdom far surpassing their youth.

Do it! Donate now! Oh, and then? Tell everyone you know.

And thanks, Cynical, for the link.

You are not special

I am from a family of teachers, so take that:

When is teaching “Just say no” ineffective

Well, in sex education, for one, and thanks, DickG., for the link.

Abstaining from sex is a 100-percent effective means of birth control, as it says here. But it’s not that easy a concept to teach, and it’s most effective when included as part of a larger comprehensive sex education program.