Interesting how giving myself permission to miss one day ended up lasting seven days. I’m not ashamed, nor apologetic. I’ve been very busy this week with school, family and Catacombs. All three of which trump this blog.
But in the week that I skipped I had a number of semi-worthy ideas that were not developed. Consider this entry the recycling bin, where discarded ideas go to achieve another, less loquacious life.
“Our Mu(n)barak” In this international breaking news entry I was going to discuss the unfolding events in Egypt. My basic idea was that President Obama did a good job in handling this. Everyone criticized the response but he was in a tight corner without many bold options. For starters President Mubarak of Egypt has been a close ally with America and has battled Islamic Jihadist and made peace with Israel. So to betray him and call for his head would send a very bad message to all of our other allies. Now the fact he was a dictator who ruled with an iron fist cannot be whitewashed over. But consider how much worse he may have been if America, our diplomats and our military (who have close ties with the Egyptian military) hadn’t have been a stabilizing force. Look at how different the Libyan military is treating their fellow citizens as opposed to the mature, statesmen like manner that the Egyptian military has behaved thus far.
But the fact that a dictatorship doesn’t line up with our core human rights / democratic ideas and that what the demostrators were calling for does line up with our values means we couldn’t very well betray the demonstators either. So we had to walk a very tight rope of not betraying our allies, and not betraying a popular democratic revolution. As far as I can see at this moment, the course of action President Obama and Sec of State Clinton took was spot on perfect. Congratulations from a moral conservative – you did a good job.
Eagle Eyed: My wife and I went to see the movie, The Eagle, this week. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had the setting of Braveheart (Scotland) with the warriors that populated Gladiator and King Arthur. It didn’t reach to the transcendent level that Braveheart did, nor have the scope and feel of Gladiator, but for a simpler, grittier film it was nearly perfect. I’d definately recommend it for those still waiting for Braveheart II or one of my future films.
Danged if you do or don’t: This week a teacher on the East Coast got in trouble for writing something on her blog where she complained about her students whining and their attitude. So let me get this straight: a teacher whined about her students whining, and apparently some students or parents read this and whined about it to someone else? Do they need anymore cheese to go with all of the rotten whines?
My thoughts, as an educator for 10 years, are hesitant. On one hand the teacher didn’t use any names (a clear no-no) and was venting on her blog. And the larger question no one cares to ask is; was she wrong in what she said? Are her students whiners? Most adults, sitting on their front porch in their rocking chairs, would heartily agree. The other more immediate question is did she do anything wrong by writing this?
The accusation being floated about is that it was unprofessional. The problem is professionalism, like indecency, is hard to define. We know it when we see it but until then we aren’t able to give much guidance.
The second thought hits closer to home; what are the guidelines for a teacher to discuss his/her day job? Teachers are not in classified military positions and have as much right as anyone else to vent. Students trash teachers all the time on the internet, Facebook and bathroom walls and yet that is okay. While a teacher venting is cause for national outrage.
Personally I don’t vent online or on this blog about my students. For starters (hi! school board and parents) I love all my students. Seriously though, I do and have enjoyed teaching my students and have very found memories of every class I’ve taught. I’ve encountered challenges over the years but I try to minimize these and keep it to myself and the teacher lounge (1/2 joke). But to say no teacher can vent online about anonymous students doesn’t seem right (again most teacher worth his/her salt wouldn’t dare use a students name). I think her actions will hurt morale among her current classes and that isn’t smart. If you’re having a difficult time with a class don’t trash talk them. I try to take a more positive approach and it has served me well.
I am concerned about this issue. I’m hesitant to say anything about my teaching experiences because of privacy and other concerns. But there is a lot that I could say about teaching that might be beneficial or insightful. I am going to start blogging about some of my better lessons so that others can use them in their own classrooms if they like. And if writers should write what they know, then education is one of the few things I’m actually qualified to write about. This may be why there are so many educators who question the system once they retire from it. While they are in it they tend to … oops I was about to write something that could come back to bite me later. That not smart.
There were a few other ideas that I wanted to write about this past week but these three were the big ones. Now that I’ve excised enough of each one of them, I can now move on to new subjects.
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