Mathematics IS Beautiful

The parent who sounded off about me showing Carl Sagan videos ON Carl Sagan Day in the local newspaper contacted me again. This is to be expected - his child is one of my students. I expect communication. This email however is interesting. It contained a video that I have seen before (one of those circulating emails). It is titled The Beauty of Mathematics.

I actually appreciate that he sent me this. I always enjoy playing around with numbers and seeking out patterns here and there that perhaps someone else wouldn't have caught.

But that's the point. We are creatures of habit (I tell my students this all the time - sometimes it's a good thing, sometomes a bad thing) and we will project patterns where sometimes there really aren't any. The interesting thing about receiving this video from him, though, is he thinks that the content somehow validates his position in terms of the existence of a higher power. I think what he fails to realize is that 'hardwork' and 'attitude' are single words, while 'love of god' is a phrase of three words. What I would suggest is to use just 'god'. If we do, then 'god' amounts to 26%. Hmmm. Even the lowest of the Algebra II students I have would score better than 26% on an exam.

Quiz Bowl

I am the coach for our school's quiz bowl team. It is similar to Academic Challenge. We compete against schools from our conference mostly. A match consists of 10 category rounds, an alphabet round and a lightning round. The category round is self-explanatory. The alphabet round is random general knowledge questions where every answer starts with a designated letter. The lightning round is also general knowledge but you have to be the first to buzz in with the correct answer.

I was going through the rules for our conference finals and came upon this:

The match will conclude with 20 questions in a Lightning Round. The
questions will be drawn from the previous ten categories (American Literature, Mathematics, World History, Fine Arts, Life Science, English/World Literature, U.S. Government/Economics, Physical Science
World Geography, U.S. History) as well as mythology, spelling, popular culture, world religion, world literature, philosophy, earth and space science, quotations, and theater.

I was wondering why they kept mythology separate from world religion. It is quite strange exactly how many religion-based questions come up and how few are answered correctly. When the kids don't answer (much of the time) I look at them in awe. The majority of the students I run into are not believers, but I don't think it is because they have read of all the absurdities and contradictions in the bible.

More Christian Hypocrites

I watched Outside the Lines this morning, a behind the scenes news show for sports. Usually there isn't anything interesting, but today they had a special on Lisa Howe, the former soccer coach of Belmont University, who is a lesbian. Yes, emphasis on the boldfaced words. Belmont is a christian university with a discrimination clause in their contracts. They did not come out and say that her sexual orientation was the reason for the decision, but we (rational people) all know it was just another example of chrisitians being hypocritical. We accept everyone, so long as they are not gay. So this must mean that Belmont must not think of the LGBT community as humans. Christian university, an institution of higher learning. I smell an oxymoron.

Follow up on Bible Study in High School

An anonymous person found my blog, printed off the Bible Study entry and placed it in Mrs. Pullin's mailbox at the school. They highlighted the footer at the bottom of the printout with my blog title with my last name in it. Now there are only 2 reasons why someone would do this. #1: They don't like her or something she is doing and found someone else with the same outlook, which by the way would be their opinion. At no point did I write anything about animosity between us. Our working relationship is very functional and friendly. #2: They don't like me or something I am doing and decided to give her ammo to discredit me in some way. There is one problem here - either reason is completely negated by the fact that they did this anonymously. If you want to express your feelings on this type of situation where there is choice of sides to take, the only sensible and worthwhile way to do so is in person. There is no rationalizing away fears or shyness. If you have a reason to do this, you must have the backbone to personalize it. In conclusion: this anonymous person is just a plain old pussy. If you have something to say, whoever it is directed to, say it. Right now, after reading this post, because I know you are, because you found my blog. Take the time out to address me or her directly. Trust me when you do, it'll feel great.

These are my students

I have an "interesting" group of students in my 7th period Pre-Calc class.  On Carl Sagan day I decided to take some time out of the normal schedule to show some videos of his in honor of him.  The six classes before my last one were all respectful of the content and Sagan.  7th period - not so much.  I have extremely bright students in this class, but for some reason, when it comes to commonly accepted views in the science realm, aka evolution, they are plain defiant.  They made rude comments about Sagan just because he was talking about the wonders of the explanatory power of evolution.  I stopped the video and layed into them.  I asked them what they believed about how species on earth evolved.  I got comments like "The bible says this or that" and god created man.  I asked them to prove this.  Naturally they are not fully matured or evolved in their thinking, let alone true biblical knowledge, so they fell back on what their parents said their bible says.  "SORRY! But you need to provide me with evidence without referencing a book full of reprehensible and immoral acts carried out in the name of your god."  Yes I did.  That sure sent a shock through the class.  They sat in silence until the bell rang.  The next day they brought in this book

Still trying to be funny, a couple of students wrote comments on their quizzes referencing how the problems would be solved because jesus said they would be.  Oh how I wish I could teach them how to be critical thinkers and to analyze their religion they way I did.  The problem is: I like my job.  One dim light of hope was one student now actively engaging with me in defending Christianity.  I asked if his parents knew and they do and have no problem with it - this student is the most "religious" in his family, oddly enough. 

Another interesting thing happened.  I received this email the day after from a 2nd period parent.

Mr. D,
My son (name) shared that his class watched a video on Carl Sagan. He showed me the video on You Tube. Could you explain how this fit in with your Math class?

Thanks,
Mr. xxxxxxxx

He was referencing the evolution video.  Really?  WTF?  I immediately responded by saying that it was to honor one of the greatest deliverers of science to the public we have ever known on a day that is recognized around the world as Carl Sagan day.  I ended the response with "Let me know if you need anything else."  Does this bible thumper really think someone is stupid enough to deconvert minors who are not your own children?  Naturally, I did not get any other emails from this brainwasher.  And people wonder why our country's science education is as sub-standard as it is. 

Bible Study at the High School

Another crazy friday was winding down after a spirited pep rally where I was the anchor of the staff tug-o-war team pulling against the seniors in which we got demolished. We all filed back inside from the football field for the end of the day announcements. "Next Tuesday there will be a bible study in Mrs. Pullin's room." I heard that and spoke out loud to my students, "Whatever happened to separation of church and state?" Well I researched the legal aspect of this and found out that it is legal to hold religious group meetings in public education buildings. This is only my third year teaching and I never really thought too much about this. I learned something new.

But this isn't why I am posting this. We had a "religious" discussion in lunch the other day and it was no secret what my thoughts were. Mrs. Pullin never addressed me directly but the way she conversed with the group and the way she became defensive in her posture told me she had a problem with this. Let me remind you that we have had a perfect working relationship in my first 2 years. All of a sudden she organizes a bible study to be held in her room by her (I did find out it is illegal for a non-educator to hold religious meetings in a public school). Now I have no reason to link the 2 events but it seems to me a little more than coincidence. If there is a link, I want to know if this is an offensive move to combat any possible discussions on the topic occurring in my class? The topic does come up in brief snippets here and there but naturally, I am careful with my choice of words. I am considering sitting in on this study and offering an open-minded opinion of how to interpret and read the bible - READ THE WHOLE DAMN THING!

The Slow Whining Death of British Christianity

The title of this blog is an article written by Johann Hari for the magazine GQ. In it is the description of how the Chruch of England has gone from being the bully and persecutor to becoming the 'bullied and persecuted'. It is interesting to note that it is not faux pas to be openly irreligious in England, yet the religions control over a third of the state-funded schools. There is state-enforced prayer in schools. This does not resonate with the educational system in the states at all. But why the contradiction? How can America, with it's back-asswards view on a 'connection' between winning a presidential election and belief in a three-O god, not have an educational system like Britain's? I believe that the church's hold on the ed. system in Britain is the last piece of the puzzle to a truly secular nation. You might say that America is closer to this notion because our schools do not have state-mandated prayer, or that religion doesn't have as much influence in the schools here. This struggle can be seen in the ID/Creationism in the classroom debate. But I believe Britain has the correct model to apply in moving the human race forward towards rationality. The governing body needs to shed the assumption that irrational beliefs guide decisions which affect the populace. Then the younger generations (in colleges and universities, as well as primary education) will see the actions and attitudes displayed by their parents, their politicians, and their role models.

I tell my students that they always have a choice. They can choose to come to class, do their assignments, and treat each other with respect. If they choose to not do these things, there will be consequences. The consequences of not speaking up in favor of rationality in the educational arena and the political arena is the creation of a theocracy. We don't need to look any further than North Korea to see the consequences of this.

They should have seen it coming

In an update on Constance McMillen, the Jackson, Mississippi school that duped her into missing her prom had to pay a settlement of $35,000 in the discrimination lawsuit as well as implement a policy banning discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. I know this is going to be hard for such a back-asswards type of southern school, but hopefully any other schools practicing bigotry will see this and resolve their problems without being humiliated in national news. Then again, that would mean one less topic for me to blog about! But in the end, all that matters is equality and freedom.

Pledge of Allegiance

Here is an article from Boston, MA, School Committee Approves Pledge Proposal In it you will find happy people who are glad that they can again lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance. Students will not be forced to say it. The strange thing is that no where in the article is there a mention of the famous insert 'One nation under god'. But if students are not being forced to say the pledge, then I believe it is a fair assumption that the 1953 addition 'One nation under god' is part of it. Senior Sean Harrington has been hoping for this day. “It’s just tears of joy,” Harrington said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I’m just so overly excited.” “I’m proud that this passed,” Harrington said. “I just thank God it passed.” No Sean, do not thank god it passed. Thank the religiously zealous school committee. Just hope that you'll be learning actual science in the science classroom.

Ohio Academic Content Standards in Science

I am preparing for a workshop to prepare myself and a colleague to teach a STEM class (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) this coming school year. I was going through the science standards for Ohio to help get an understanding of what kind of projects the kids will be doing, and I found a great grade-level indicator. It is the 11th grade Ways of Knowing Standard, Ethical Practices Indicator:

Recognize that bias affects outcomes. People tend to ignore evidence that challenges their beliefs but accept evidence that supports their beliefs. Scientist attempt to avoid bias in their work.

This is a perfect statement to help understand why people hold on to their religious beliefs.

Nature Museum To Help Bring New Science-Teaching Techniques To Schools In Dallas

This is from a daily email I get from the National Education Association.

The Dallas Morning News (7/21, Hobbs) reports that the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), the Dallas Citizens Council, and the Dallas Museum of Nature & Science are collaborating on "a new program," called Leaders in Science, that will bring "fresh material and new science-teaching techniques to schools." Fifth-grade teachers and some fourth-grade teachers "will have access to a full-time museum staffer who will coordinate the program and make classroom visits." Teachers "also will receive lab support, collaborate with other teachers, and be able to request various artifacts to enhance learning." The Dallas Morning News notes that the program addresses the difficulty Texas students have faced in their attempts "to pass the science portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills."

Gee, I wonder why they can't pass the science test? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the "teaching" of creationism!