"Gay Teen Worried He Might Be Christian"

This according to The Onion. Very Funny Stuff!

Alternet: 4-Year-Old Boy Suspended From School for Months Because His Hair Is 'Too Long'

Apparently this boy's hair violated his elementary school's dress code. I understand the need for a dress code, but this is ridiculous. Here are some other aspects of the dress code for of Floyd Elementary School, the Dallas school that Taylor "Tater Tot" Pugh attends:

• Top and bottom clothing items cannot be the same color.
• Acceptable colors for pants, skirts, short and jumpers are khaki, navy blue or black (solid, single colors)
• Belts must be worn buckled at all times and must be worn inside the belt loops.
• Bottom of sweatshirt, sweater or sweater vest may not extend more than 4 inches below the belt.
• Shoes must be solid color brown, black, gray, navy blue or white.
• Undershirts must be white, black, gray or same color as top shirt.
• Shoelaces must be white or match the color of the shoe.
• Hair is to be clean and well groomed.
• Unusual coloring or excessive hairstyles that may include "tails", "designs", "puffs", etc. are prohibited.
• Girls must wear sufficient undergarments. (What does that even mean?!)

Not allowed:

• Zippers, snaps, etc.
• Leather, suede, vinyl, corduroy, denim and knit materials
• Suspenders
• Visible stripes, check or other designs

Tara Lohan sums up the problem pretty well here:

So what's this really about? Messed up cultural norms that put boys in one box and girls in the other and don't allow any kind of freedom of expression. What do the people of Texas think will go wrong if a boy has long hair? Does it have anything to do with *gasp* gender identity? Will it get in the way of that algebra they're surely teaching 4-year-olds? I'm guessing the only thing that really interferes with education is not letting a kid go to class.

Ed Week: Whiteboards Impact on Teaching Seen as Uneven

The story is here.

On the con side: Whiteboards are expensive, so is the training for teachers, and many teachers never use it.

On the pro side: If you use one enough, it greatly enhances the way lessons are taught in a classroom.

For the record, I used a Whiteboard/SMART Board during my student teaching, and was greatly spoiled by it. In my classroom now, I use a good-old chalk board. Because of the likely budget cuts, it doesn't look like I will be using a SMART Board anytime soon. For those teachers that have a SMART Board, and don't really use it, I have this to say:

COME ON! Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have that piece of technology in your own room? If you won't use it, give it to teachers that will (like me).

Education Triage and Competition

An important post from Barto's World on special education programs and competition. It is something that is worth reading. My favorite line:

We are in the age of No Child Left Behind, yet this is now combined with a Race to the Top for state education departments. Doesn't a race mean there will be some left behind? Using the word competition indicates that there will be a loser.

More Snow Days

So, in addition to Wednesday off, I also had yesterday and today off. Basically, this week was a third week of Christmas vacation. It has been nice staying inside, but I know by Monday, I will definitely be ready to get back to the classroom.

Gay Marriage: Bad. Marriage between Cousins: That is another thing . . .

An interesting map I found from Andrew Sullivan:

Snow Day

So I am off today because of the weather. It is normal to have bad winter weather during this time of year in the Midwest, but here in the KC/NE Kansas area, we have had one of the worst winters in several years, and it is only getting worse. My school, as well as pretty much every other district in the area, if off today. Not because bad weather is already here, but it is on its way. We will probably be off tomorrow, and maybe even Friday because it is supposed to get below zero (which means no snow will be melting).

America lifts HIV/Aids Ban on Immigrants

This is long overdue.

A Great Project for Gifted Students

This from a Middle School in New Jersey, and apparently part of an eco-friendly curriculum (which I wish more schools would implement):

As in the past several years, Linda Hubschmidt's seventh grade gifted and talented class will take part in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition.

The competition challenges students to put into practice engineering solutions to ecological and fiscal concerns as they create an efficient and earth-friendly future city.

The Hopewell Crest pupils have been applying their brainpower to do just that for Espoo, a real-world city of about a quarter million people and Finland's second largest.

Education Cuts in Kansas and Missouri

These are tough times for everyone, including those of us in education. For myself, living on the salary of a first-year public school teacher can be a very challenging thing. I make enough to get by, but just barely. My wife only recently found a part-time job, which will help, but only slightly. We have already cut a few things out of our own personal budget, which was not really that hard to do, but now we will likely cut our health insurance coverage because it is just costs too much. Indeed, the road ahead is sometimes too much to think about, as the economy of education funding is not looking good.

The KC Star has put out this article on the cuts that will likely take place in education in both Kansas and Missouri (the image above comes from the same article). Missouri has been able to avoid making cuts so far, but will no doubt be making them in this upcoming legislative session. Kansas, on the other hand, has made several cuts to their budget, and will be making more as their budget deficits aren't getting any smaller. I know my school district has already announced they will be making budget cuts, although what and who will be cut out has not been announced.

While the cuts are understandable (and from a budgeting policy standpoint, somewhat necessary), they are truly unfortunate. It is not just my own job that is on the line, but the jobs of numerous other teachers and school staff. In the greater scheme of things, the quality of education we will be giving our children will only be hindered by increasing classroom sizes and decreasing lack of resources to school services.

Now is the point in this blog post where I would go off on my socialist rant about the need to increase taxes on the wealthy and cut military and prison budgets to help out health care, education, and other social services. But I won't; not right now anyways. All I want to do is show what 2010 has in store for myself, and the education system in the state of Kansas. I will promise to continue to look at this issue as is develops, and keep readers of this blog (if there are any) informed of the situation both with myself, and here in Kansas.

In addition, I will continue to work as hard as I can to be the best teacher I can be, and continue my professional development requirements so that I can better ensure a renewal of my contract next year (or at the very least, make myself more marketable to other school districts if my contract isn't renewed).Beyond that , I will pray and hope. It isn't just my job, or the jobs of other teachers on the line, but the quality of education so many children in Kansas need.

2009 Special Education Policy in Review

A good overview from Special Needs Truth.

11-year-old charge with felony assault in Arkansas

An absolutely deplorable situation. Pictured above is Zakhqurey Price, a boy whose life is being ruined by a poor school administration team.