Education Paradigms

Countries that reserve the right to kill Gays

A new U.N. resolution condemns the arbitrary execution of whole classes of humanity, from street kids to indigenous groups. It was to have included sexual minorities, but a bunch of nations balked at protection for LGBTs. The U.N. General Assembly then approved an amendment that removed them from from the list.


The vote was 79-70. Here's the list of countries that wanted to reserve the right to kill the gay:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brunei Dar-Sala, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

from Maddow blog

Perspective in Schools

Here's a quick observation from my current position which is district wide: 

Some elementary staff exaggerate the seriousness of certain behaviors.  Their perspective is working with students from 5 to 10 years old and I've noticed they think that misbehavior is more serious than what it is.  They love children and when they don't act in a lovable manner, they jump to an extreme view of what that behavior means.  I find myself saying "really?" and thinking "relax!".

On  the other end of the spectrum, high school teachers tend to forget that students that are 14-18 still need nurturing and compassion.  They can be quick to assume that a student is being manipulative or intentionally disrespectful which justifies their terse and condescending tone.

So I guess that makes those who teach students in the middle grades just right!   Haha! well my mother might chuckle at that conclusion, but it is an interesting mix of teaching styles: this can lead to a nice balance or in the hands of a weak leader, staff dissention.  Many think that those who teach middle school kids are just crazy, but it's transition time from the nurturers to the time to get serious about your life bunch which can be an exciting time when handled with care.

My Three C's

I've got three words for tonight: CREATIVITY, COMPASSION and CONSTRUCTIVE.

I've had these words on my mind for a few days now.  I spend a lot of time in meetings about at risk children.  These can easily drop into the pointless chatter of what's wrong with this behavior or that behavior or what's wrong with their parents. 

I'm on a Campaign for the 3 C's.  Can we create a new strategy? 
Keep our compassion for children on the front burner and
be constructive.

We educators must resist the mind-numbing conversations that permeate the teacher's lounge -
we invigorate ourselves when we access our creativity and if that creativity is on behalf of children, then all the better.  Make constructive choices that build something and if we're building on our compassion for children, then all the better.

We can do better than giving into negativity, punishments and manipulating the young minds of today -
have a 3 C day!

Gay Teachers

Kilian Melloy writer for Boston's Online Edge:
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina in an Oct. 1 address at the Greater Freedom Rally, which took place at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a church in the South Carolina city of Spartanburg.



DeMint told rally participants that he would work to bring more conservatives into government in order to "take our country back"--and deny gays the right to be in certain professions, such as teaching school. The senator also said that unmarried, sexually active women should be barred from the teaching profession, but he did not place any such restrictions on unmarried heterosexual men. DeMint’s comments were reported in an Oct. 2 article at GoUpstate.com
 
Oy - I'll go back to my last post when I urged administrators to cut poor teachers lose.  I can't imagine singling out a person's sexual preference as the reason for termination.  With all the issues we need to resolve why would anyone give this homophobic view any traction? 
 
I know dozens of good and great teachers who are gay.  Their sexual preference doesn't make them a better teacher and it certainly isn't grounds for being run out of the profession.  Please - let's focus on whether they can teacher or not!