You’re Never Really Anonymous When You’re Online

If you’ve been following the Kurt Greenbaum situation at the Post-Dispatch, then you KNOW that you are seldom anonymous when posting on the Web. Members of the St. Louis Bloggers Guild — an organization to which I belong — has discussed the situation at length via email and now on the Guild site here and here.

For the record, I don’t necessarily think the man in question should have lost his job. But, I don’t know WHY he resigned or lost his job. Maybe there was much MORE to the story. I am uncomfortable that he worked at a school and left such an obnoxious/vulgar comment on a blog from a school computer. I doubt if it was Greenbaum’s fault. Maybe Greenbaum went too far. Maybe he violated the newspaper’s privacy policy. I just don’t know.

I do know that when faced with a situation in which I could have contacted an obnoxious anonymous commentor’s employer, I chose not to do so. I sleep better having made that choice. But there IS a lesson here. You should NOT do something or say something or write something anonymously that you would not do, say, write with your name attached. I might go a step further and say that you shouldn’t do or say or write something that you wouldn’t do or say in front of your Mom or your kids.

What do you think?

Political Correctness Going Mad Yet Again

It seems that political correctness has taken yet another step toward insanity. As reported last week by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, students in the Rockwood School District are being taught an alternative to the calendar designations of B.C. (Before Christ)and A.D. (Anno Domini, Latin for “in the year of the Lord.”)

Dean Mandis, a father of two students in the Rockwood School District (also the school district of my children) addressed the district’s school board last week regarding his concerns that his daaughter was being taught the concepts of B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) as alternatives to the dating system that has been in place for HUNDREDS OF CENTURIES!

“Introducing B.C.E./C.E. in conjunction with B.C./A.D. in the classroom is to deny the historical basis of the dating system and ultimately leads to confusion,” Mandis told the board. Mandis said this teacher’s decision was “irresponsible” and possibly “a dangerous and slippery slope.” (quoted from Tim Townsend’s article in the Post and on stltoday.com.)

Apparently, according to a source in the article, the movement to use C.E. and B.C.E. in western academia began in the 1980s. When something similar happened in Kentucky in 2006, Christians fought it and the effort to use the new dating system disappeared. Gotta hand it to you, KY! (that’s for my husband and his relatives.)

Not surprisingly, the same textbook companies that have been re-writing history for the last few decades to make it more politically correct and less offensive are at least partially to blame for this effort. Craig Larson, Rockwood School District superintendent, wrote this explanation on his blog:

“Within the last 10-15 years, CE/BCE has started to appear in student textbooks, usually along with AD/BC and sometimes with just one or the other mentioned. Teachers make sure that students are aware of both designations so they are literate when they encounter either notation.”

I understand the textbook companies desire to sell textbooks. When I was a newspaper reporter, people used to accuse us of writing things “just to sell newspapers.” I’d say, “We need to sell newspapers, folks. This isn’t a not-for-profit operation.” But that didn’t mean we had license to write things that were false. I understand that you can probably sell more textbooks if your books are vanilla enough to not offend ANYONE, that doesn’t make them accurate.

I’ll never forget when my oldest came home from kindergarten telling me that the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving to thank the Native Americans (see, I can be PC) for helping them survive in the new country. Seriously? While the pilgrims may very well have owed a debt of gratitude to any Native Americans who helped them learn to live in this untame land, it was NOT the Indians who they were thanking that first Thanksgiving. Still, when I investigated, that was the message of the book my daughter’s teacher was reading to her class. No mention of thanking God on Thanksgiving — just the natives.

As Larson pointed out, Rockwood School District doesn’t write textbooks, and the district has a responsibility to help our students understand dates in any way they may be presented. But I’m with Mandis — it’s a slippery slope. I think the district should reject any textbooks that teach an inaccurate history of Thanksgiving, and then the textbook companies won’t print falsities about that holiday.

Our dating system shouldn’t offend anyone. B.C. doesn’t stand for “Before Christ, the one true God, Son of Man, Risen Savior.” And the newer system of dating doesn’t change anything — the calendar is still measured in terms of the birth of Jesus Christ. So let’s stop erasing God from our history. Larson says the school district doesn’t have a “policy” on dates.

Maybe we should have a policy and that policy should be that we will continue to teach our children the principles upon which this country was founded in regard to everything, including the dating system. If you are a Rockwood parent and you feel strongly about this, a group of parents have started a petition on the topic. You can sign it here.

MTV VMA’s Provide Teachable Moments

I don’t think it’s often that the MTV Video Music Awards provide a teachable moment (except to tell your daughters what NOT to wear). But last night was a real exception, as it provided not ONE but TWO teachable moments (in addition to the fashion thing).

In case you didn’t watch — here’s a brief summary of what happened, or you can watch the video below. Taylor Swift won Best Female Video instead of Beyonce. When the very young country music singer was trying to say her thanks, Kanye West jumped on stage, took the mic said he thought Beyonce had the best music video of all time. When the camera panned to Beyonce, she looked embarrassed. Poor Swift was speechless and despite the audience booing West and trying to cheer her on, she left the stage without uttering another word.

All of us Mom’s have had to try to comfort our children when someone else achieves something they wanted for themselves. We’ve had to have conversations with them about good sportsmanship. On the flip side, we may have had to try to help them cope with the ugly behavior of someone who may be jealous of their own achievements. The awful, pathetic and selfish outburst by Kanye West last night on the VMA’s gave me a chance to say to my kids, “See how ugly that appears. Jealousy and poor sportsmanship happen everywhere, and it’s just as unattractive on a national stage as it is at a swim meet or football game or on a golf course.”

Then a little later in the program, Beyonce won the final award for the night. When she took the mic, she briefly talked of how she felt when she was a teen and won her first VMA award. So, she called Taylor Swift back on stage and gave the mic to her. She “made right” by what her ill-behaving supporter Kanye West had done to Swift. Teachable Moment No. 2.

I know a few of Beyonce’s songs and I know she can dance like nobody’s business. Now, I also know she is a class act. Somebody raised her right.

Let’s Do Spelling Tests, Not Obama Politics in School

UPDATED 9/4/09 2:45 P.M. (see below)

Next Tuesday, President Obama plans to use part of the school day to address our nation’s children via a “Back to School” message. According to the White House, the purpose of this message will be to challenge students to work hard, set goals and take responsibility for learning.  But like a lot of conservatives, I suspect the speech has a much more pointed agenda — like indoctrinating our children to his socialist way of thinking.

Perhaps my cynicism about the speech stems from the “shared responsibility and commitment” language. Perhaps it comes from the fact that he’s trying to socialize our health care. Perhaps I’m just paranoid. Regardless, I prefer to do the teaching about politics and shared responsibility. I’d like my kids to stick to the basic academic subjects at school, like spelling tests.

The White House is encouraging school districts across the nation to take the time to watch the speech, and have even thoughtfully provided activities and questions to use after the speech. Check out the Menu of Classroom Activities for Pre-K through 6th Grade.  Here are some of the questions:

What is the president trying to tell me? What is the president asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?  What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?

He’s asking us to rubber-stamp his ideas on health care, banking, Wall Street, taxes, foreign policy and the environment. And he’s brilliant because he’s trying to get our kids on board. We need to be smarter.

I haven’t heard whether my school district will be taking the time to watch this speech. If it does, my son will be going out to lunch with me during that time. Perhaps we’ll practice his spelling.

————

Apparently, the White House is back-tracking a little bit on the President’s plan to request help from students. Check out this article.

Also, I contacted my son’s school principal and here is part of her response regarding whether the President’s address will be shown to students:

“As a district there is no district wide expectation that we are expecting all teachers to have students view this broadcast in their classrooms.  If a teacher feels it is appropriate for their class and curricular objectives, they may have student watch the broadcast although at (school name removed) we have agreed that we would tape it first and preview the contents prior to a class showing.  We recognize that there is historical value since this is the first time a President has publically addressed students.  As with all external resources to our curriculum, teachers should decide how participation and use of the source contributes to the learning and achievement of our curriculum objectives according to Board Policy.  The RSD curriculum is objective, non-partisan and non-sectarian.  We do not endorse candidates, platforms, or parties.  RSD does respect the office of the Presidency and the President’s position of the leader of the nation.  All teachers have been asked to consider the curriculum, knowledge, maturity, and competence of the class when making a decision about the use of controversial issues as this address may be considered by many.  Teachers at (school name removed) will offer alternate activities if they do determine this is a good resource and connects to their grade level curriculum.  Teachers will also inform parents in advance of their decision to view this address.”

No More Spelling Tests?!

I attended curriculum night at my son’s elementary school last week and was surprised and alarmed to hear his teacher’s answer to a parent’s question about spelling tests.

Parent: “What day will the spelling tests be?”

Teacher: “We won’t be doing spelling tests. Rockwood has mandated that spelling tests be eliminated by next year, and many teachers are opting to phase them out this year.”

What!!!??

The teacher went on to explain that:

• Spelling will be graded and assessed as part of the students’ everyday work.
• Many students simply memorize the words for the spelling test, but continue to spell the very same words incorrectly on everyday written work.
• Rockwood has research to indicate that weekly spelling tests do not improve students’ spelling mastery skills (or something to that effect).

As I looked around the room, these are the reactions I interpreted from the looks on the faces of other parents:

• Many were surprised, like me, and hadn’t heard this information.
• Many were displeased, like me.
• Some were nodding in agreement.
• Some smirked. I’m not sure whether they were smirking because they were thinking, “This is so typical” or “I knew it” or “This is yet another example of the dumbing down of America” or something else. I have yet to master mind-reading, I guess.

When I got home, I fired off an email to the Associate Superintendent for School Leadership and Curriculum for the Rockwood School District, Dr. Scott Spurgeon, inquiring about the mandated elimination of spelling tests. Within 24 hours, I received an informative email from Kathy Ryan,  Curriculum Coordinator, Language Arts K-12. (Note: this is one of the many things I love about our school district — administrators are not only accessible, but they respond quickly to parent inquiries.)

Ms. Ryan shared the following information with me:

1. The Rockwood Curriculum states that assessment of spelling should take place primarily through each student’s writing.
2. Weekly tests are not required.
3. In order to be consistent in all buildings and for all children, the district has determined that spelling pre- and post-tests will be discontinued during the 2010-2011 school year.
4. Research on writing asserts that students need more time for authentic writing tasks, and spelling pre- and post-tests take nearly an hour of instructional time each week.
5. Dozens of elementary teachers field-tested this approach during the last school year and found that spelling ability did not diminish, but student willingness to check for spelling errors in all tasks increased.
6. Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, teachers will give a spelling inventory test at the beginning and end of each year to identify strengths and weaknesses so instruction can be designed to meet student needs.

“We believe that this change in spelling assessment practices will allow students more time to study words and more time to develop spelling through writing,” Ms. Ryan wrote.

Ms. Ryan also shared with me some of the research upon which this decision was based. I won’t quote all of it now, but I will say it looks solid. If you would like to see this document, email me and I’ll forward you a copy.

HOWEVER, I’m still bothered by the idea of no spelling tests. Spelling tests have worked for decades. They’re part of the BASICS! I think the new approach of assessing spelling in daily writing is a great idea. In a school district with high standards like Rockwood, a student should not be able to get an A on his/her weekly spelling tests, only to then misspell the same words in daily writing assignments. But I don’t think the time required for weekly spelling tests is wasted time. According to the “spelling letter” that was shared with parents, weekly spelling pre- and post-tests take about 40-50 minutes and that time can be put to better use for writing instruction and practice. Seriously? I’ll bet with a little effort, we could identify 40-50 minutes in the elementary school’s weekly schedule that could be used for those spelling tests without taking away from writing instruction or practice — i.e. extra recesses, assemblies to motivate for fund-raisers, “Pickle-puppet” sessions that cover topics probably best addressed at home.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my school district and I’m very impressed with the assessments on standardized tests and the ACT and SAT. I’m a huge fan of my son’s elementary school and believe the teachers and the principal there are doing an amazing job educating our students. Plus, I’m sure the district had multiple “committee/parent” meetings before making this decision, and I somehow missed the process while staying busy in my duties as a mom, part-time writer, etc. But I am alarmed by the trend away from some of the more basic learning techniques that have worked for so long. Don’t even get me started on the way my son is taught to add, subtract, multiply and do long division. That’s a whole other post.

At the very minimum, a weekly spelling test requires these elementary students to practice the skill of studying and memorization. I know that memorization isn’t the best learning technique or skill in most cases or in most subjects. I also acknowledge that learning spelling patterns and principles is vitally important and probably more effective in creating life-long good spellers and solid writers. However, memorization IS a skill and learning technique that we all use everyday. And studying for a weekly test IS a valuable practice. I vote that we bring back weekly spelling tests, and when I mentioned this last week on Facebook, it seems there were lots of other parents who felt the same way. What are your thoughts on the topic?

FINA Bans Tech Suits for 2010

I’ve written so much about the whole tech suit thing here that I felt obligated to update my site with this information. But, I’m going to be lazy and simply post some links for you.

Here’s one article.

And here’s another.

My daughter’s Blueseventy is a year old, so I feel like she’s gotten our money’s worth out of it. But I really feel for the people who have dropped hundreds of dollars in the last few months. How frustrating!

Murky Waters Regarding Tech Suits

UPDATE 6/1/09: More here.

It’s all so confusing. I keep sitting down to right about these tech suits — which ones are banned, which ones need to be modified, what that means for upcoming swim meets, etc. But I read news articles and press releases and blog posts  and just get more confused.

If you own a Blueseventy, you might want to keep an eye on the company’s blog. It seems to be a good source of information.

This article does a good job describing that “chaos reigns” when it comes to decisions about the tech suits.

I am of the opinion that if the Blueseventy Nero Comp was made by Speedo – and thus called the Speedo Nero Comp – the suit would have been approved by FINA just like the Speedo LZR was approved. You’ve never heard of the USA Blueseventy Swimming Championships, or the Blueseventy International Age Group Meet. But if you’re a member of the swim community, you’ve certainly heard of the Speedo Swimming Championships or the Speedo International Age Group Meet. It’s all about influence and money. Blueseventy hasn’t been paying to play long enough, I guess.

I’m anxious to see how it plays out, but I’m not holding my breath. I think it will be a long time before anyone is able to see clearly in these murky waters.

One Pediatrician’s Advice on Swine Flu

Since April 30, when I wrote this about the changes I’m making in my daily routine out of fear of the Swine Flu, my toddler hasn’t been to Mom’s Day Out or our YMCA nursery. During the same time period, she has had croup and last week she had some dreadful virus that involved a fever reaching 102.5 for a few days and an awful sounding cough. Said virus resulted in a visit to our pediatrician’s office. We never suspected Swine Flu, but while I was there, I brought up the subject and told our doctor of the modifications I’ve made in routine. He really helped me put things in perspective. This is a paraphrasing of his comments:

“In my nearly 25 years of practicing medicine, I’ve never lost a single patient to the flu or any other flu-like disease. I have, however, lost two patients to accidents involving swing sets. I’ve lost a patient to SIDS and I’ve lost a patient to a fall from a shopping cart in a grocery store. I’ve lost patients to car accidents. Last year, one of my patients was killed when his best friend accidentally shot him. Now, do you spend time worrying about swing sets. If you have a swing set, have you considered removing it? Do you put your child in the car, or take her to the grocery store? If you can’t live with yourself by not modifying your behavior, then do what you have to. But at this time, I don’t recommend keeping your toddler home from normal daily activities.”

What a “freeing” conversation. Maybe it was just the excuse I was looking for, because I really miss my YMCA. My toddler has always loved going there, and I’m afraid if I keep her away too long, she won’t be so agreeable when I drop her off at the nursery. Maybe I’m worried that there will be no sensible end to our self-imposed isolation. Maybe I don’t want to give up the possibility of Mom’s Day Out in the fall, or a new playgroup for older moms that is forming in my area and that I really want to join. Maybe I realize I was over-reacting, or maybe I’m being selfish and wanting my normal routine back. Maybe it’s a combination of all of these things, but I think I’m going back to the YMCA this week.

FINA’s Recent Ruling on High-tech Suits Raises Questions

UPDATE 6/1/09: More here.

UPDATE 5/29/09: More here.

UPDATE 5/28/09: I know I should update this post, but I still don’t have many  more answers and I’ve been crazy busy with the end of school. I’m not ignoring the topic, but I think things pretty much stand the way they did when I first wrote this post. The Blueseventy is still on the “needs to be modified” list and I think there are dozens, if not hundreds, of attorneys involved at this point on behalf of Blueseventy and the other brands that were either banned or are being required to be modified, as well as for the swimmers whose world records are in question, even though they were swimming in suits that were considered legal at the time they set them. The waters are still very muddy.

UPDATE 5/21/09: USA Swimming, as expected, is not taking any action at this time but will support the FINA regulations when it does take action. See the statement here.

Also, Steve Nicolls of Blueseventy left the comment below on this blog.

“Thanks for the posts, nice to see such a proactive community both for and against.
To clear up a few points mentioned below:
1/ Our suit passed the buoyancy and thickness tests, it does not float, and is not a wetsuit.
2/ the materials in the jaked suit are (to my knowledge) not chloroprene like the our blueseventy nero suits or the TYR titan.
3/ We launched a buy back program 2-3 weeks ago I believe, where any suits bought between now and the end of the year we would buuy back at approx 50% of the purchase price applied as a credit on the 2010 FINA legal model.
4/ Interesting the comments re: pockets of air being the reason the suit is fast… one of the most popular strokes for our suit has been breaststroke, while I’ll not admit to being a total swim geek and having intimate knowledge of breaststroke stroke mechanics, my discussions with athletes on product design has been that of all the strokes this is the one that has the most time underwater…. which would kind of mean that buoyancy assistance is not an advantage…thoughts….
If you have any other questions regarding the suits you would like answered please feel free to mail me:
Steve@blueseventy.com Steve@blueseventy.com, check our website, or our blog…

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As is the case with most governing bodies, and as is the case with most decisions made by governing bodies, FINA’s ruling Tuesday on High-tech racing suits leaves as many questions as answers.

This article goes into more detail, stating:

“After reviewing 348 swimsuits from 21 manufacturers,” FINA said in a statement, “the FINA Executive decided the following: 202 swimsuits approved, 10 swimsuits rejected for not passing the tests of buoyancy and/or thickness.”

FINA said 136 other swimsuits needed to be modified to meet the requirement that “swimsuit material shall not be constructed to or include elements/systems which create air/water trapping effects during use.”

FINA said the manufacturers had until June 19 to “resubmit the same swimsuit for FINA approval, with the corresponding corrections.”

My personal interest is that my daughter has a Blueseventy, which is not on the approved list. It is among the among the suits on the list that need to be modified. Blueseventy released this statement about the ruling. So I have a lot of questions:

• Can Blueseventy appeal the ruling?
• If Blueseventy makes the modifications to their suit and gets it approved by FINA, what happens to all the suits already purchased (at a hefty price tag, I might add)? Will Blueseventy replace those suits? Pay to modify those suits? Give a credit toward a modified suit?
• Is this ruling effectively immediately? In other words, can swimmers who own suits not on the approved list wear them until all of the appeals, etc., are complete?
• I have a friend who recently bought a Nike Swift — also not on the approved list — can that swimmer wear that suit at summer long-course meets?

Of course, on a more “local” level, USA Swimming has yet to make a ruling on this other than the ruling it made last fall.  Ozark Swimming, our swim club’s Local Swim Committee or LSC, adopted the same rules regarding high-tech swimsuits (aka Speedo LZR, Blueseventy) as USA Swimming.  Here is the wording that was adopted by USA Swimming at the 2008 House of Delegates:

Swimsuits worn for all 12 & under age group defined competition shall not cover the neck, extend past he shoulder, nor past the knee.

You can read this ruling  from last fall here.

I suspect USA Swimming, and thus, Ozark, will wait until all the dust settles and all the appeals and modification deadlines are passed before making any new rulings on the suits. That makes sense, but again, it leaves room for lots of questions regarding the summer swim season. Do the current USA Swimming/Ozark rules stand, which means our swimmers who own Blueseventy’s can wear them in summer competition, particularly big meets like Championships, Sectionals and Zones?

Interestingly, FINA approved the Speedo Lzr, worn by Michael Phelps and several other swimmers who set world records in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

I’ve written a lot about the Blueseventy controversy on this blog, and at my previous blogging site. If you choose to comment on this topic, please do so on this site, as I no longer write at the previous site or moderate comments there.  I will approve comments that leave a valid email addresss (which won’t be published, but is simply requested for verification). I will not, however, publish comments that are personal attacks on my family. Unfortunately, this issue has brought out the very worst in some people, so this clarification is necessary.

Swine Flu Too Close to Home

I’d like to say I’m one of those completely rational people unaffected by the news reports about the Swine Flu. We are a “news family” — my husband is a journalist and I’m a former journalist. But the emphasis is on the word “former.” These days, I’m first and foremost a Mom. I’ve got three kids, one being an 18-month old, and I’m a little scared, especially now that the news is reporting a case of Swine Flu in Ellisville, MO, which borders Wildwood, MO, where I live.

I know the case in Ellisville is actually a college student from Chicago who was diagnosed there and came home to Ellisville to recover. He says he is putting himself in voluntary quarantine. It still makes me nervous. What if someone from his household becomes infected and then goes out in public before showing symptoms?

So, I’m doing a few things differently and taking a few precautions.

• First of all, I was almost done weaning my 18-month old and had actually nursed her for what I thought was the last time on Tuesday night. Then I reconsidered yesterday and even had a conversation with my pediatrician. He said that it is extremely unlikely/almost impossible that my breast milk would have any antibodies to protect my baby from Swine Flu. But he acknowledged that there is research that breast milk does contain some immunity strengthening properties for babies. His advice: “If it makes you feel better to continue nursing her until this Swine Flu thing plays out, then do it.” My decision: Keep nursing her. What difference does it make whether she is weaned at 18 months or 19 months.
• When I heard yesterday that all area Walgreens are out of face masks, I decided to visit a small private pharmacy to see if they had any. They did, so I bought some “just in case.”
• I’m planning to keep my baby home from Moms Day Out and away from the YMCA nursery for a little while. I’ll run with her in the jogging stroller, or run on my treadmill, or let my in-laws watch her while I’m at the YMCA.
• I plan to nag the kids more about hand-hygiene, particularly when we’re out in public and when they return from school.

So far, that’s it. I know worrying about this won’t do any good. So, I’ll do what I can, pray about it and then go about my life as normally as possible minus the above-mentioned changes.

PS — my former employer, Standing Partnership, has a great post about reliable sources of information on the Swine Flu on Twitter. Check it out.