Lawsuits needed

The airlines and passengers need to start suing idiots like this guy when they deliberately make statements that cost people money. 

“About mid-way through the flight, I stood up, pulled my video camera out — I was going to post it to Instagram, send it to 6ixbuzz so it goes viral, I looked around, I said ‘can I get everybody’s attention please’ and … I followed up by saying, word-for-word, I said, ‘I just came back from Hunan province, the capital of the coronavirus … I’m not feeling too well. Thank you.’”
Potok, an aspiring musician, nevertheless insists the prank was “good for publicity.”
“It would be something else if I said, ‘Hey guys, I have a bomb strapped to me,’” Potok told CityNews. “People blew it out of proportion.”

The plane had to return to its originating airport.

Babysitter

So many of my friends seem to think that education would be better served by private and charter schools, a market based solution. In my opinion, there is a segment of our population that would not fare any better, regardless of the methods used for instruction. Let me illustrate:

For the past two weeks, my biology students have been learning about the human reproductive system. This is so that they are in compliance with the following Florida educational benchmark:

L.16.13 Describe the basic anatomy and physiology of the human reproductive system. Describe the process of human development from fertilization to birth and major changes that occur in each trimester of pregnancy.

There are 85 of these benchmarks that students need to master during the 36 weeks we spend in biology, so time is short. This is how I presented the unit:

  • Day one: Students learned the anatomy of the male and female reproductive system. They then completed a worksheet where they had to label anatomical diagrams of each. Then they had to describe the function of each organ (testes, ovaries, uterus, etc.)
  • Day two: Students learned about sperm production and the three main hormones that regulate it. 
  • Day three: Students learned about the menstrual cycle and the hormones controlling it. They also completed a crossword puzzle that had the chapter vocabulary words as answers.
  • Day four: students completed a worksheet that allowed them to apply what they have learned about the physiology of the human reproductive system.
  • Day five: students learned about the stages and major landmarks of pregnancy, including major events of each trimester, effects of drugs on birth defects, and the three stages of labor.
  • Day six: Students watched the film “Life’s Greatest Miracle” which includes videos of a developing fetus and an actual childbirth. 
  • Day seven: Students completed a worksheet with questions about the stages of pregnancy and labor.
  • Day eight: Students played a review game that was boys versus girls in a “Family Feud” format. 
  • Day nine: students took a quiz on the material. 4 questions were true/false, 16 were multiple choice. 

I have 63 Biology students. During the nine days of this unit, 28 of them were absent at least once. Seven of them were absent more than four times, one of them because he is in jail for weapons and drug violations and hasn’t been able to make bail. Of the four worksheets that were assigned, 41 students got a zero on at least one of them for failure to even attempt to complete it, twenty of the students got more than one zero. Six of my students do not speak English, so I am required to give them no less than a ‘C’ no matter how they perform. Apparently, some judge ruled that to fail a non English speaker is a violation of their Constitutional rights. They know this, so most of the students who fall under the “shelter” rule don’t even try.

One of the questions during the Family Feud review game was “Name a hormone that is involved in human reproduction.” The answers were testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and gonadotropin releasing hormone. They knew testosterone and progesterone, but beyond that, they were lost. I got several answers that were not even close. One answer was “I forget, but isn’t it a hormone that makes you horny? The human horniness hormone?” 

They took the unit quiz today, and the results were heartbreaking: the highest score earned was an 80. The average was a 46. The low score was a 20.  If I spent more time on this, I might get better scores, but then I would be losing valuable time that needs to be spent on one of the other 84 things that I have to teach them.

In my school, we separate students into three categories: college prep, honors, and ‘regular track’ students. The regular track is made up of students who have made it clear that they don’t want to be here. One of my regular track students recently told me “I don’t want to graduate. The only reason that I am here is because my probation officer said that I have to be. As soon as I can, I am dropping out so I can take my GED.” This is why, when I was asked to take over biology, administration told me that my goal was to increase the pass rate on the standardized end of course exam from 26 percent to 50 percent.

Someone explain to me how a private or charter school can do any better with this set of kids. Yes, charter and private schools get better results overall, but that is largely due to the ability that those schools have to get rid of underperforming students. It is no accident that EVERY school in Florida that received an ‘A’ rating has some form of restricted enrollment. This is the single most frustrating thing about being a teacher: I feel like this is a giant waste of my time. I can’t teach a student who doesn’t want to learn. 

Great Read

Truth:

Bill Clinton was impeached after a multiyear grand jury investigation by Independent Counsel Ken Starr and an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives in which Clinton’s lawyers participated and were able to present and  cross-examine witnesses…
In marked contrast, the House voted to impeach Trump for non-crimes of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after a relatively brief 78 day investigation by the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees most of which took place in camera in a secret underground bunker. For all but the last week (by which time it was too late to affect the outcome) Trump’s lawyers were excluded, not allowed to call or cross-examine witnesses, and questioning of witnesses by Republican committee members was severely restricted.

The Democrats are crying foul, but their one sided impeachment is what caused the situation that they currently find themselves in. Go read the whole thing.

Police have other priorities

Florida passed a law allowing teachers to be armed. Not one single school district has done so. Most have simply paid to have police officers stationed in every school. A couple have opted to hire dedicated armed security guards. Both of these options cost money, but are less than ideal.

For example, putting armed police officers in school. Here is a story about a school resource officer who saved residents of an apartment complex from a fire. First, the reason that he saw the fire was that he was late for work. Then the time spent actually working the fire and rescuing people. All of this time means that the school, which is paying to have a police officer there to protect students, was left unguarded and without protection. Of course, one could say that the threat to life safety at the fire outweighs the duty at the school, but this line of reasoning makes me wonder just how often this excuse is used to justify leaving the school defenseless. 
After all, if a nearby fire (which is not primarily a police department function) justifies the police in being elsewhere, what other events do so? A car chase? Shoplifting? A nearby robbery? The number one priority of police is their own safety, in case you forgot the images of police hiding behind carloads of families in that Miami shootout. The police commenting on that shootout even admit that their safety takes priority over the safety of the public. 
Their number two priority is catching criminals. Saving the lives of children come a distant third to that. The SRO at my school said that he was against arming teachers because anyone on campus who is armed should be accompanying him in his quest to find and catch the shooter. I pointed out that, as the last line of defense for the students, an armed teacher should lock themselves in the classroom with their students and defend that classroom full of kids and leave the elimination of the threat to the cops. He laughed at me. 
This isn’t a criticism of the officer. This is a criticism of the refusal to arm the one group of people who are there, on the scene, and have a vested interest in defending the lives of school children. After all, as a teacher, my fate and the fate of my students are the same. I have skin in the game, and defending my own life also ensures that I am defending the lives of my students. 
Where is the line drawn? Arming teachers would solve every one of these. The teacher isn’t going to be 

About Facebook jail

One of the businesses that I own is a paying advertiser on Facebook. In order to manage my PAID advertising, I need access to my Facebook accounts. I was released from Facebook jail for exactly one day, and then received a SECOND ban, this one for 30 days. This is unacceptable. I know that a large company like that doesn’t care about me and my small company, but effective immediately, I am cutting all ties between my business and Facebook. Not one more dime.