I’m amazed that Spirit and Opportunity are still going. I remember when they landed and I watched the pictures they sent back nearly every day. I forgot about them for awhile, but found this image of a dust devil on Mars. Stop and think a moment. You are watching images from a remote control device, still running on solar power (5 years and going strong), that is roaming our neighboring planet.

It was just last year that
Voyager left the solar system. It was launched in 1977. It’s still going and we receive transmissions from time to time.

Although I teach Math, I bring these facts up every one in a while. Making something to last is important. Sloppy work leads to expensive mistakes. For this I provide an example of the Martian Lander that crashed into Mars because the two departments used different systems of measurement.

Now we are in the digital age – the age of communication, multi-media, and multi-tasking. It seems a great many things are ephemeral. Dot com here today and gone tomorrow. Unwanted and embarrassing pictures and stories seem to persist to the chagrin of many party-goers who now want gainful employment. But beyond that the landscape changes quickly. I wonder as we forge forth into the digital age, what will our new digital offspring build that will last. Are they up to the challenges of colonization of another planet? Can they save this one? I hope so, for my daughter’s sake.

There is an strong wind of anxiety in all my sections. Essays, Readings, postings, and administrative jerk-a-rounds tend to obscure the end goal. In fact is does seem like we are “rats in a maze.” (I looked and could not find a source. I used to know this but I can’t remember right now). The cheese is at the end and we all run frantically, but who get it and when. Obstacles of TPAs, podcasts, and schedule changes keep popping up and confounding us all.

I lamented to my wife that it is difficult to be the first. We’re the first to get TPAs, we certainly seem like lab rats. The early bird may get the worm, but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese. She agreed stating it’s usually the first lab rats that die, the latter ones gets get the cure and make it. It seemed true. It would be so easy to point to some amorphous bureaucracy as the reason for failing or getting discouraged.

I know I’m a rat, I also know that regardless of what is thrown up before me, I’ll get the cheese!

There is a lot of collateral damage in the world today. You can do searches on Google and find a handful examples or maybe more of the major efforts being undertaken by the United States to help the children who were accidentally injured. We hear about them in the media, and then we forget. Ever wonder what happened to napalm girl?

I did. I looked her up and found that there is a book about her (Read More Here). I found something else very interesting. I found her voice talking about what she believes in on NPR. Listen to her here, or find her on my Links page. You may learn a thing or two.

Some say that character is what you do when no one is looking. Surely thinkers from Aristotle to Malcolm X have spoken on the topic:

If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything. – Malcolm X

A common thread among people of character are a deep understanding of themselves. Here some excellent perspectives on what people believe in the This I believe Series. I urge you to go to my links page and either view or listen to a few of my favorites. Hearing what others have to say can be formative. So help inform yourself about others and their beliefs.

Teachers love to assess their students. More than teachers it seems that Institutional Education Professionals seem to love the ‘test’. So much so I think that there is a loss of sight of the effects of testing on the student. More importantly, while recent efforts are made to evaluate the cultural bias of tests such as the CaHSEE, CST, SAT, ACT, and STAR, I wonder if there is a congruent effort to evaluate the San Diego Quick or CLOZE testing. These tests can affect student placement and ego and I am curious about how good of a measure they are. I did a CLOZE test and apparently, I’m a ‘Frustrated Reader” even though I wade through 1-2 books a week.

Research indicates what we all know to be true. Students tested with literature closer to their culture perform better on on CLOZE testing that culturally distant literature. Knowing this we are left the fact that ‘objective’ is really in the eye of the tester, which is bad news for the test taker if the tester isn’t willing to find a culturally relevant piece of work.

I remember watching this on TV. I remember being amazed at the power of the individual. People have more power that they know.

Mathematics is supposed to be the great equalizer. Students strong in math do well in large variety of fields, at least that what the literature I read says. I was looking at this chart:

The phenomenal leadership of our white house (sarcasm), as seen fit to break this information down by Race. Which indicates that some groups do worse than others. We are left to assume that they did a good job in accounting for the fact that Native American in Beverly Hills is different that that of one on a reservation, and that all not Latino/Hispanic student have the same background, drive, or desire to learn. We only see that some groups are performing better than others. Is this perpetuating the racial divide in the USA or helping us realize the differences so that we may address it.

While many on the USA obsess on race another group tracks the USA Student performance against international standards. This obsession perhaps is to hide the fact that we rank above South Africa, but below the Czech Republic (A country torn apart and battling Ethnic Strife for many years…perhaps even longer than the USA).

Math

citation
Noticeably absent: China and India

We all learn differently. While a great many of lessons I learned in life came from mentors, educators, and friends, some of the best lessons I witnessed were not my lessons but the lessons of others. Two ongoing projects focus on life perspectives of others. Story Corps and This I believe. Their links are to your right. Do yourself a favor and listen to some of the essays and stories. They are enlightening and revealing.

And if you haven’t seen them yet, watch two of the most important documentaries in recent time to help increase your perspective.

The Boys of Baraka

Born into Brothels
View online here for 83 minutes

I saw a thought provoking movie, and it got me thinking about what governs my life. What are my guidelines? I have known them for years, but never wrote them down.

1. I shall not act in such a way that the principle upon which I act can be willed into a universal law.
2. Friends are an end in of themselves not a means to an end.
3. Doing good is a duty.
4. Once I stop learning I die.
5. Travel is essential to life.
6. I am not who my ancestors were.
7. The sum total of person is more than a few statements and brief encounters, I shall therefore not make hasty assessments of people or their character.
8. Violence does not solve problems.
9. Truth exists.
10. Always be on the lookout for wonder.