"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Not everything that counts can be counted...

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." -- Albert Einstein

Rupert Murdoch wants to replace teachers with computers. He said "you can get by with half as many teachers."

Jersey Jazzman, a New Jersey teacher wrote a list of things that computers can't do...things you need teachers for. It's one of the best lists like this I've seen...
I present to you, Rupert, a list of all of things a computer can't do that a teacher can:
  • Listen.
  • Give a hug to a five-year-old who scraped her knee. 
  • Give notes to a 17-year-old who slept through the last lecture class because he was up all night working to support his family. 
  • Care. 
  • Coach the JV girls basketball team to a 3-14 season, but make the #12 girl on the squad feel like she was the deciding factor in those three wins. 
  • Direct the seventh grade talent show, and watch as the other kids' jaws drop when that shy girl who always wears her hair in her face belts out a show-stopper. 
  • Take the high road when, during a call about a seven-year-old's behavior problems, a parent breaks into an obscenity-filled tirade that ends in tears. 
  • Teach a third grade class that putting away materials properly is the most important job an artist has. 
  • Find a way for a kid with cerebral palsy to play kickball. 
  • Command respect. 
  • Counsel and console a first-year colleague who swore she'd never raise her voice in her classroom, but just did. 
  • Volunteer to lead yet another committee on yet another state-wide initiative with yet another professional-development goal. 
  • Bag everybody's jacket, hat, backpack, and mittens separately to prevent another outbreak of head lice. 
  • Break up a fight before it starts between two two-hundred-and-twenty-pound football players over something so stupid that neither can remember exactly what it was. 
  • Stand on conviction. 
  • Share in the pride an eighth-grader feels when she finally figures out what "x" is. 
  • Make pain au chocolat sound so good that it's worth learning French just to order it. 
  • Help a 15-year-old see that he has something in common with Hamlet. 
  • Move a class of six-year-olds around a mound of puke and out the door. 
  • Listen.
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