Morning Feature: Identity and Information (and a poll!)

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Wednesday September 23, 2009 · 3:56 AM PDT

2009/09/23 · 03:56

Good morning Krew! The coffee is hot, the grapefruit is fresh, the eggs are over easy, and there is plenty for everybody...

Politics, tennis, television awards shows, Carl Jung's Red Book, Will Ferrell's support of insurance company executives, and ~~elropsych~~ Caractacus. Five of these six have been national news stories in the past few weeks (and one of them will be soon, I just know it!) All of them share at least a couple of things in common. I'm thinking of identity and information.

How we see ourselves, how we see others, the things we all do to create these impressions in ourselves and in others, and what we base all of this on have been much in my thoughts lately.

What does all of this have to do with more and better Democrats? Well, let's see...

Poll

27 votes Show Results

Tom "Twinkletoes" Delay will exit Dancing With the Stars ______.

27 votes Vote Now!

Tom "Twinkletoes" Delay will exit Dancing With the Stars ______.

this week.

9 votes

next week.

8 votes

the week after that.

1 vote

the fourth week.

0 votes

far later than anyone expected. He's actually a great and entertaining dancer!

1 vote

Are you kidding me? The fix is in and Tom got to the judges by playing their interests off against each other. He ain't goin' nowhere!

8 votes

Quote This!

elropsych

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Wednesday September 16, 2009 · 7:41 AM PDT

2009/09/16 · 07:41

I'm a quote kind-of-person. I just love a good quote. I collect them, have several quote anthologies on my shelves, and have occasionally used them in conversation and writing, too.

For example,

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool. - Joseph Roux

So, when I opened my igoogle page this morning and glanced at the quote gadget there, I was shocked and amazed to find the following collection. While none appear to be recent, and some are definitely not, they all shared a feature I found amusing. They each commented on some recent happening in our political landscape.

See if you agree, and if you would like to play along, please add your own favorites, recent finds, and even original entries, if you'd like!

I'd love to see what you have to add to the list.

elropsych

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Wednesday June 10, 2009 · 3:42 AM PDT

2009/06/10 · 03:42

The following is a rough draft of a speech I will give a week from Monday, to roughly 980 people. The occasion is a high school graduation, and I have been asked to represent the faculty and staff in making 5 to 10 minutes worth of ~~time filler~~ comments.

This is not a final draft, by any means, but fairly represents what I'm thinking about right now.

I've been through several drafts, and several themes, and left out many, many more pages than I thought possible, but in the end went for simplicity instead of my more usual complexity. Of course, that is open to interpretation, however!

The students don't know I have been selected, so I have changed the names to protect the innocent and the unwitting.

{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}

elropsych

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Saturday June 06, 2009 · 10:03 PM PDT

2009/06/06 · 22:03

Kristof's Sunday Op-Ed: Rising Above I.Q.

Kristof notes that Asian-Americans make up nearly 20% of the student population of Harvard, that 1/3 of all Nobel Prizes in the sciences won by Americans were won by Jews, and that West Indian Blacks (a good friend prefers "Caribbean," but I'll use Kristof's nomenclature to be consistent) are 1/3 more likely to graduate from college and their median income is nearly 1/3 higher than the median of non-West Indian black people.

And, there's this:

One survey found that a quarter of Jewish adults in the United States have earned a graduate degree, compared with 6 percent of the population as a whole.

Kristof uses these statistics to build the thesis that intelligence cannot be based on innate (genetic) predisposition, therefore, because these three groups are heterogeneous.

He ends the piece with a quote by the scholar from whom he acquired the statistics, Richard Nisbett:

Intelligence and academic achievement are very much under people’s control.

But, how?

elropsych

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Saturday May 16, 2009 · 7:12 AM PDT

2009/05/16 · 07:12

This is the season of graduations. College graduations, high school graduations, even elementary school graduations.

Turns out, our glorious leader, despite being accused of profound inexperience by political opponents during the election, has given several commencement addresses which I can quote from in this diary!

Funny thing is, we mostly didn't think of using his graduation addresses as evidence of his experience, or fitness for office. This is a small attempt to correct that omission.

And, given the potential controversy over the impending Supreme Court nominee appointment, I think I've found something that every graduate, and every person regardless, should be aware of regarding that decision.

So, let's commence, shall we?

elropsych

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Saturday May 09, 2009 · 2:46 PM PDT

2009/05/09 · 14:46

Our Fearless Leader will stand behind a podium in a week and one day to deliver a commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. Some disapproveof his being selected to give this speech because they disagree with policy proposals he has made regarding reproductive rights.

Three weeks after that speech, I'll be in a lecture hall at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. I'll be giving the faculty address at a high school graduation. Each year at the high school where I teach, the senior class votes on which faculty member they would like to address them during their graduation ceremony.

This year, that's me.

The purpose of this diary is to open a dialogue about graduation speeches. Do they matter? How do you determine a good one from a bad one? A memorable one from a forgetable one? Do we even remember anything from the graduation speeches? Are they an important part of the ritual, or a waste of time on the way to walking across the stage?

And, to address two additional questions:

What should President Obama talk about in his 1 week from tomorrow?

What should I talk about in mine next month?

elropsych

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Wednesday May 06, 2009 · 3:15 AM PDT

2009/05/06 · 03:15

Farming and Cousin Joe
I have a cousin, my Cousin Joe, who is a farmer. He owns a farm. A big farm. He is very good at what he does. He has skills I can only aspire to, skills with mechanical vehicles, with livestock, crop rotation and soil preparation. Things I can't begin to understand, but would expect a farmer to know.

When we were kids, I'd spend the night, or a whole weekend, or even a week, on the farm with Cousin Joe. We'd build big mazes out of bales of hay, push mounds of earth into ramps for dirt bikes, and eat the freshest corn and eggs and beef that have probably ever passed my lips.

Yet, simple exposure to Joe's farm (it was his father's before him) did not convey to me any expertise about farming possessed by my Cousin Joe. I continue to be jealous of him, in some ways, to this very day.

Quick, think of a word that ends with the letters "ble." The first word ending in "ble" that comes to mind. Now, scroll down to the poll, answer the question there, and then--and only then--rejoin the lecture after the fold.

As always, the bagels are on the house, please don't drink all the coffee until everyone has gotten some, and if you're the last one out, please flip off the lights.

Poll

68 votes Show Results

If your word is below, please select it. If it is not, please mention it in a comment. Thank you for polling, you may now return to your regularly scheduled diary. :-)

68 votes Vote Now!

If your word is below, please select it. If it is not, please mention it in a comment. Thank you for polling, you may now return to your regularly scheduled diary. :-)

able

22 votes

capable

8 votes

fable

1 vote

table

0 votes

discernible

0 votes

doable

0 votes

cable

0 votes

debatable

2 votes

agreeable

1 vote

whateverble

0 votes

radioimmunoassayable

1 vote

believable

0 votes

nibble

0 votes

bubble

1 vote

noneofthesewordswereminewhatsthepointible

32 votes

Edunomics 101: Friedman Gets An F

elropsych

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Wednesday April 22, 2009 · 9:10 AM PDT

2009/04/22 · 09:10

Edunomics 101
Thomas Friedman in this morning's NYT published an op-ed on education and economics, or as I dubbed it in the title: edunomics.

I encourage you to read it, so you may form your own opinion. It is an important argument, and should be considered.

His concern is a worthy one:

Our credit and housing bubbles have masked...how far we have fallen behind in K-12 education and how much it is now costing us.

Unfortunately, it is a flawed one. If you have a moment, and care about the economy, or education, you may find this interesting...

elropsych

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Sunday April 19, 2009 · 3:46 PM PDT

2009/04/19 · 15:46

2 years, 2 days, and 2 hours
Drew Westen, nearly 2 years ago, published a bookin which he discussed Terror Management Theory (TMT).

My father-in-law, 2 days ago, wrote me an email so full of Glenn Beck-isms and loony-tunes talk that it reminded me of the Westen book.

2 hours ago, I read a diary by Teacherkenthat inspired me to write this diary.

I've reached the conclusion that the whole teabag party protest movement can be explained by Westen's interpretation of TMT, and that my father-in-law is a living, breathing example of it in action.

A Caveat
I've read more than a dozen "Help me, my once sane relative has gone batshit-crazy with the Glenn-Beck-Bill-O'Reilly-ophrenia" diaries. I once wrote one of them myself. But it bugs me that they generate hundreds of "It's too late, just forget about them, they're too far gone" comments.

Today, I'd rather discuss possible reasons why these things are happening, and I think I've found one...

But, first, what is TMT?

Poll

49 votes Show Results

TMT

49 votes Vote Now!

TMT

explains all this tea party stuff, and so much more!

26 votes

helps me understand some of this tea party stuff.

19 votes

may have something to do with tea parties, but I'm not convinced yet.

3 votes

is nothing without crumpets and Splenda. Where are the crumpets?

1 vote

is so much hot water we should just stick a tea bag in it and call it a day!

0 votes

Teachers Lounge: Got Emotion?

elropsych

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Saturday April 11, 2009 · 7:56 AM PDT

2009/04/11 · 07:56

Katy.

Katy snorting to herself in the back corner of the room.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. What are you retarded?"

My blood rising. Filling my face. Turning...red.

Ash's question had been fair, and good. And more, maybe, most important: true. He had opened himself and shared a genuine curiosity about a controversial topic. A student who asked a fair, good, and true question because he had encountered something he wanted to know more about.

And then Katy.

"No, Katy. In eight years of teaching, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Not in this room. Not ever again."

Calm hands. Not a tremor. Clear, but not raised voice. In control. Blood back down.

Katy in tears, rushing out the door. Me, sending two friends after her, so she is not alone.

Katy, four months later, asking me for a letter of recommendation for a college application. Me writing one.

A good one. Fair and good. And true.

Welcome to the Teachers Lounge. This morning's lecture: emotional intelligence.

The bagels are on me, enjoy the coffee, and if you're the last one out, please turn off the lights.

elropsych

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Monday March 30, 2009 · 8:03 AM PDT

2009/03/30 · 08:03

This week's issue of Entertainment Weekly includes their editors' list of the top 20 "vilest villians" from American pop-culture.

This list, like the AFI "top 100 films of all time", is designed to generate conversation and attention for the publishing entity, more than to serve as a serious commentary on the "best" or most "villainous."

But, this one really made me think.

I thought, given this list of pop-culture supervillains, what would the top 20 conservative supervillains look like by comparison?

So, I've given the EW list below, and added alongside the real-life characters I believe align with them in terms of placement and similarity

I'd love to see your top 3, top 5, top 10, or if you're really motivated, top 20 in the comments.

So, who is the Republican Voldemort? Darth Vader? Wicked Witch of the West?

Poll

55 votes Show Results

Who should be considered the #1 Conservavillain of the 20th century?

55 votes Vote Now!

Who should be considered the #1 Conservavillain of the 20th century?

Karl Rove

7 votes

Richard Nixon

4 votes

Roger Ailes

2 votes

Tom DeLay

1 vote

Bill O'Reilly

0 votes

Rush Limbaugh

0 votes

Ronald Reagan

11 votes

Dick Cheney

26 votes

George W. Bush

4 votes

Sean Hannity

0 votes

Roy Cohn

0 votes

Pat Buchanan

0 votes

Teachers Lounge: Delicious Ambiguity

elropsych

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Saturday March 21, 2009 · 8:14 AM PDT

2009/03/21 · 08:14

Good morning, and welcome to the Teachers Lounge!

I posted a diary earlier this week on "tolerance for ambiguity."

It was an entry in NCrissieB's "Morning Feature" series (yes, like many teachers, I have been moonlighting during the week).

But, there was a DKos technical glitch; no one could comment, tip, or rec the diary. Thanks to better bloggers than your humble diarist (WinterBanyan, among others), the error was detected and corrected, but, there were several suggestions that I re-post the diary so that it could possibly reach a wider audience. I was humbled that so many thought it was worthy of one.

I have accepted those suggestions.

I very much look forward to seeing what you make of it/bring to it.

For starters: What can we do in schools to encourage a greater tolerance for ambiguity in our students? Is it even desirable to do so? Does the conceptual framework offered below make sense? Can it be improved upon? What would such a thing look like in practice?

This one is a little long, but is hopefully well worth it. So, fill your mug, share the donuts, and the last one out please get the lights...

Newer
Older

RSS

Morning Feature: Identity and Information (and a poll!)

Quote This!

Morning Feature: BPI Graduates, Unite!

On Kristof's IQ Op-Ed, and Dweck's Mindsets

Teachers Lounge: Empathy, Justice, and Commencement

Graduation Speech Suggestions? (Notre Dame & 92nd St. Y)

Morning Feature: Priming Fear and Hope (+ a poll!)

Edunomics 101: Friedman Gets An F

Terror Management Theory, Rightwing Relatives, and Tea

Teachers Lounge: Got Emotion?

20 Vilest Villians! (w/ a real poll now)

Teachers Lounge: Delicious Ambiguity