Apples to Apples

I read an article today by Chad Aldeman called Kipp Works. It's about the studies done showing the success of charter schools managed by Kipp. I am intrigued by their customer-driven approach to education. If it works, more power to 'em.

One argument many like to make against charter schools is that they "skim" the best & brightest. I reject that argument with a counter argument: why don't the public schools end the "inclusion classes" and then compare apples to apples.

What I mean is this: put the public schools' best and brightest (and most motivated) against Kipp's best and brightest. When you really compare like groups, you'll find that both schools work. The public school children are getting a less-than-stellar education, not because the teachers aren't qualified or not giving everything they've got, but because their classes are populated with too many kids who shouldn't be there.

Some kids are academically advanced. Some are not. Split them up into different classes and let the fast learners race ahead, instead of goofing around waiting for the others to catch up.

As for the bright (or not) but unmotivated, if a kid puts his head down and sleeps in my class, it bothers me that he's wasting his education, but it doesn't perturb me as much as the bright (or not) attention junkie who not only doesn't want to be there, but wants to make sure no one else gets an education, either.

Constant disruptions make real learning impossible. No fun learning activities, because that privilege would be abused, so the whole class is "punished" with a mean teacher who spends all her time on behavior management. Lord, have mercy.

If I could remove between 3 and 6 students from every class in every school, move them to their own classroom where they can act up all they want, the rest of the students would get the stellar education for which their parents pay dearly every year at tax time.

Motivation is crucial to education. It starts at home at age zero, not in Kindergarten after 5 years of junk food and video games. If we compare the motivated kids with the motivated kids, you'd find that Kipp schools work, but so do public schools.

When the schools work, everyone wins.

How are you going to motivate your children to do their best today?

Children, Money, and the Family Budget part I

If I had a magic money tree in my back yard, life would be so different.

I don't know that it would make us happier, necessarily (except we could stop worrying about how much our homeowner's insurance went up this year, or what scholarships our child might receive) but it would change the nature of our discussions.

Child: Mom, I need a calculator for math.
Parent: Borrow your sister's calculator - she doesn't have a math class this term.
Child: Why do I have to go to bed so early?
Parent: So you stay healthy. And take a vitamin C - we can't afford a visit to the doctor if you get sick.
Child: Stop here for a minute so I can buy a Coke.
Parent: If you have money to buy Cokes, why don't you replace the school uniform shirt that you can't find?

This is nit-picky stuff about the family budget. Like all parents, we're doing the best we can. If we had that magic money tree, each child would have a calculator, doctor's visits would be proactive rather than reactive, and the girl could have more than two (now down to one) shirts. On the other hand, buying two calculators is rather wasteful, if only one is needed. Staying healthy really is a wiser course of action. Learning to be responsible for your uniform is a good lesson, too.

So, by not having all the money in the world, my children are learning to be responsible and make wise decisions with what we do have. They're learning to take charge of their health, live within their means, and that one needn't own everything to be happy.

They're learning to do they best they can with what they have.

That's something we all should learn.

What is your financial condition teaching your children today?

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Mardi Gras is big business in the South. New Orleans is famous, of course, for its Mardi Gras debauchery, but Mobile claims to have started the parading tradition.

Regardless, my favorite parades are on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, in Daphne and Fairhope. These parades are fun, family friendly, and the crowds are small enough that you are sure not only to make new friends, but to catch at least a couple of throws. A throw is a Moon Pie, some beads, or a trinket that maskers throw from the floats. Why the masks? Um, they belong to secret societies. You're not supposed to know who they are.

In Daphne, there are 2 women's krewes and a men's krewe that parade annually. I've made some observations about them.

The women's krewes, Apollo's Mystic Ladies and Mystic Order of Persephone, throw a lot of beads. Women are thrifty, generally, and they buy used beads and throw them again next year. Or they attend other parades, catch beads, and throw them in their own parades. This is completely understandable, of course, as these women are putting out their own money for everything they throw, and they are not wealthy by any means. What is noteworthy, though, besides the abundance of beads, is that they tend to throw at little children behind the barricades. If you are cute and maybe wearing doodly-floppers on your head, duck - beads are definitely coming your way.

The men's krewe, The Shadow Barons, throw more "consumables." This would include Moon Pies and other edibles. They like to throw at a target or challenge. If you are standing in the bed of a pickup truck with a laundry basket or bushel basket, with a poster saying "Can You Hit This?" the Shadow Barons will take this as a personal challenge. Be prepared for a haul.

I'm not saying one is preferable to the other - they're just different.

Male and female created He them. Viva la difference! (That's French for "Laissez les bons temps rouler.")

What differences will you celebrate today?

The Sky is Falling!

The sky is falling!

Snow is predicted for Mobile, AL. It hasn't snowed here since 1996. The schools are closed. The talking heads have warned "stay home!" How many schools get Hurricane Days and Snow Days in the same academic year?

Um, it's raining now. Maybe it'll snow later. Maybe not. We'll see.

"We'll see" doesn't generate media attention. They can't say that. Not & keep their jobs. So they hedge a little. They give probabilities and generalities. So did Iben Browning. He predicted an earthquake. It didn't happen. He was derided as having predicted "the greatest non-event since 'Geraldo and the Vault.'" Dr. Browning died 7 months later of a heart attack. Probably brought on by derision.

Geraldo goes on. He doesn't expect anyone to take him seriously. He'll probably live to 100.

Chicken Little is going to stress himself into an early grave.

Stay tuned for photos if, indeed, we get the white stuff.

What are you going to do with your snow day today?

Edit: photo added. Haha. (You can see the snow in the air, really, can't you?)

How to Tell if They're Telling the Truth

By their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16)

If someone tells you who they are instead of being who they are, pay more attention to their actions than their words.

If someone says "somebody needs to do something about ..." they aren't referring to themselves.

If someone has made promises they didn't keep, don't believe their subsequent promises.

If they say they value [fill in the blank], look at their checkbook register to see where their money goes. That will give you the biggest clue what their values really are.

What will your actions reveal about you today?

So Fake

I pray that my children never enter politics. Children in elementary school are told, wrongly, that they can grow up to be President. That's not true, of course, because you have to be born into the right family with the right connections and enough money, but there are plenty of local politics to go around. Local politics are probably the worst. Homeowners' Association boards are notorious for being populated with little people trying to be important and make rules for everyone else. I think I went to Junior High with girls who now sit on these boards. Politicians make promises they can't or won't keep. Everyone knows that politicians lie. Then they vote for them anyway. Then they act surprised to find out that the tiger didn't change its stripes and voted for the bills that he has always supported even though he swore this time it would be different. Which only proves that people love a beautiful lie more than an ugly truth. And that politicians probably couldn't get elected if they told the truth. Which is why I don't want my children going there. I want my children to find their mission in life. I ask them this: Where is your passion? What do you love doing so much that you would do it for free? Whatever you are, be the best one at it. Except politics. Who wants to be the best liar?