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First and Foremost, Teach Facts

One of the big debates in public education, going all the way back to John Dewey, is just
how much basic knowledge should be taught.

There actually was a time when children had to memorize a great deal of information.
Arguably, that trend went too for. But now we've moved all the way to the opposite
extreme, to the point where children know virtually nothing. Not even the most basic and
necessary facts are allowed into their brains. Kids reach college not knowing what 6 x 8
is.

I write about this issue from many different angles, pointing out for example that if
children merely learned one tiny little fact each day, that would be about 200 each year,
and by the time they reached sixth grade, they would know more than the average college
graduate of today.

Teaching facts is no big deal. Problem is, the Education Establishment has declared war
on basic information. It is simply not taught, and I believe this is a crime against children.
Our brains are hardwired to want new information.

I recently ran into a quote I put on my site several years ago: “Facts are to the mind what
bones are to the body.” I don’t think I can improve on that. Without facts the mind is just
mush. Schools are turning kids into jellyfish and then feeling proud of this.

One way I try to dramatize the bad job that many schools do is to create easy tests, with
questions like, clouds are made of what, where is Japan, etc. Such tests are a simple way
to embarrass kids into realizing how little they know. (I would like to embarrass the
Education Establishment--but is that even possible?)

My newest easy-test has only 10 questions and is part of an article titled “Do American
Students Know Anything At All.”

A fun read; and at the end there’s a link to “20: The Quizz,” which has 100 easy
questions. (Also note the article has three videos: the one on the right is another easy-test
with 12 questions. The left-hand video makes the case for foundational knowledge. The
one in the middle explains why the brain wants new information.)

Also, I have to say that I take some pride in having created a new Latin proverb for this
article: “Non cogito ergo non sum.” Which I translate: “I don’t think therefore I don’t
exist.” This is meant to be an epithet for people who don’t know any facts. (Yes, "new
Latin proverb" is an oxymoron.)
ESL Grammar Activity for the Classroom
Learning English grammar can be a dry boring experience for ESL learners. Getting
students to work together in interactive groups with a common goal will wake the class
up on grammar teaching days. This next ESL classroom activity involves students
working in groups to detect grammar errors in the English passages that you provide.

Come up with a short story or paragraph that includes the vocabulary and grammar you
are working on in class. You will probably have to write it yourself, but it doesn’t have
to be long. As you are writing this story, make intentional grammar errors that have to do
with what you are teaching that week. You don’t need to indicate where they are.
Simply tell your class that there are several errors in the reading. Split the students into
groups of fours and explain that they are to locate and correct the errors. Before this
activity, it is probably smart to review the grammatical concept on the board for the entire
class to refresh everyone’s memory. Every student will receive a copy of the reading
passage, even though they are working in groups. Have them jot down any corrections
above the errors that are detected.

Once it is apparent that most groups have finished, get everyone’s attention and start
correcting these sentences as a class. Using the overhead projector present the passage as
you originally wrote it, but leave blank spaces for the mistakes you purposely made.
Select individual ESL students to come to the projector to write in the corrections their
group agreed upon. After having discussed each mistake, and what the correction should
be, inform the groups that they are to now write their own paragraphs or short stories.
These will then be presented to other student groups in the class. As with the sentences
that you the teacher originally made, there are to be intentional errors spread out
throughout the passage. In all each group will write one passage out (with errors) and
will correct one passage from a different group of classmates.

This activity can be used with any grammatical concept that is being taught in the ESL
class. As the teacher, you can decide if you want to collect the student created passages
for a grade or not. This will sometimes provide added motivation. Make sure to have
more advanced ESL students working in the same groups as your lower level students.
Let the students have fun with this activity and they may even end up not dreading ESL
grammar lessons so much!

I Want Your Money!

• Published 10/22/2010

Two versions of the American dream now stand in sharp contrast. One views the money
you earned as yours and best allocated by you. It champions the traditional American
dream, which has played out millions of times through generations of Americans, of
improving one’s lot in life and the entrepreneurial spirit of daring to dream and to build
big. The other believes that the federal government, using taxpayers’ money, should play
a major role in leveling out the nation’s wealth to guarantee outcomes to all, regardless of
effort. How America chooses between these two views of the role of government, at this
crucial juncture, will have everything to do with the future we and our children and our
children’s children will enjoy.

President Barack Obama clearly believes in the larger government view. In his Inaugural
Address, he said, “Now there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who
suggest our system cannot tolerate big plans…The question we ask today is not whether
our government is too big or too small, but whether it works—whether it helps families
find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.” With a
federal deficit of nearly one and a half trillion dollars for 2009 and deficit projections of
not less than a half a trillion dollars over the next ten years, the question of whether
government is too big or too small is very relevant, even vital to the future of the nation.

Join filmmaker Ray Griggs in this documentary film I Want Your Money as he contrasts
the two paths the United States can take using the words and actions of Barack Obama
and Ronald Reagan. The film uses interviews from well-known public figures, experts,
movie clips, dramatic portrayals, music, graphics and even comedic animation to tell the
story in the plainest terms of the choice between the Obama and the Reagan views of the
role of the federal government in our society. It also examines how these big government
programs have been tried in the past at great moral and financial cost to the nation.
California is offered as a case-in-point in understanding what economic challenges might
face the nation, if we choose the larger government path. Finally, I Want Your Money is a
call to action for those who care about the future of the United States.

Hajj: A Celebration of Peace


Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims declare that there is no god but
God, and that Muhammad is His messenger; they pray, they fast, they pay
obligatory charity, and they go to Hajj. Hajj is a pilgrimage to the city of Makah
in Saudi Arabia. At the mosque and in the surrounding area, Muslims perform
prayers and rituals. Hajj is an obligatory act performed once in a lifetime by all
mentally, physically, and financially able Muslims.

“And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makah) to the House (Kaba) is a duty that mankind owes
to God, those who can afford the expenses (for one’s conveyance, provision and
residence) ; and whoever disbelieves then God stands not in need of any of
mankind, jinn and all that exists” (Quran 3:97)

This year, 2010, Hajj is in the middle of November. Muslims from all over the
world will gather to worship God. They arrive in Saudi Arabia, by plane, bus, car,
etc. Some endure great hardship, others merely buy a first class ticket, but they
come as equals. People make this journey prepared to stand at the House of God
(or Kaba) and affirm their love for God and His religion of Islam.

“And proclaim to humankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on
foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide)
mountain highway (to perform Hajj)” (Quran 22:27)

Hajj commemorates Prophet Abraham, his wife Hajar and their son Ishmael, and
the sacrifices and hardships they endured to establish the city of Makah and the
house of God. Because of this Hajj is often described as following in the footsteps
of Prophet Abraham. The Hajj is several days of total devotion to the One God.
Muslims come together to celebrate His praises, ask for His forgiveness and
demonstrate unity for His sake alone.

Through out the Muslim world, Hajj has come to symbolise unity. Although
Muslims may be disunited due to many outside influences, such as money,
politics, border disputes or other worldly concerns. Hajj is the great leveller. At
Hajj, all Muslims are equal; nothing about the rituals they perform makes one
person better than another.

More than 2 million Muslims stand in one place, wearing the same simple
clothing, following the same rituals and saying the same words. They are united
in their devotion to God. The black man stands next to the white man and they
call on God with one voice. The king stands beside the pauper and they declare
their submission to the will of God using the same words.

Muslims from every corner of the globe are united in their submission to the will
of God. They cry out as if with one voice, “Here I am O God, here I am at your
service, and You have no partner. Here I am. All praise, grace, and dominion
belong to you. You have no partner”. This supplication is said repeatedly by the
pilgrims. It is their answer to God’s call for the Muslims to perform Hajj.

These words are repeated with joy and reverence by all, regardless of status or
class. Some people are so overcome with emotion that they weep, others feel
elated and happier then they have ever felt before. Every person there feels that he
is one person, alone among millions answering God’s call and God hears his
supplication and sees his arrival. The pilgrims feel amazed that they are the guest
of the most Merciful God. He or she attends this gathering by the invitation of
God, not at the invitation of a government or an organisation, nor at the request of
a family member or friend.

Hajj is performed because God has invited the believers to congregate together.
Regardless of place of birth, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or status, all are
welcome, and all are equal in the sight of God. The Muslims gather to meet one
another and demonstrate to each other, and the world that they are united. Unity
in diversity. They are united by their worship of One God.

“O humankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you
into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most
honourable of you with God is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa (piety, God
consciousness). Verily, God is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Quran 39:13)

Islam is the religion of unity. Repeatedly throughout the Quran God reminds the
believers that they must remain united and seek strength through unity. Hajj
epitomises this unity. People from every race and colour come together in
submission to the will of God. Muslims are one brotherhood and they come
together with a sense of purpose and a desire for peace.

“The believers are nothing else but brothers (in Islam). So make reconciliation
between your brothers, and fear God, that you may receive mercy.” (Quran 39:10)

“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of God (this Quran), and be not
divided among yourselves, and remember God’s Favour on you, for you were
enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace,
you became brethren (in Islam), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He
saved you from it. Thus God makes His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons,
signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided.” (Quran 3:103)

Hajj is the largest annual gathering of Muslims; it is the largest gathering of people
united by the peacefulness and serenity that is Islam. Hajj is a celebration of
peace. Peace with God, peace with one’s own self and peace with one another.
Anything that disturbs the peacefulness of Hajj is prohibited. No matter what is
happening in the material world at Hajj, peace prevails.

Muslims gather together and their diversity is a wonder to behold. The old stand
with the young, the rich stand with the poor, people of all colours and nationalities
stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer, and perform rituals side by side. Prophet
Muhammad said, “In their love, kindness, and compassion for each other, the
believers are like a human body.[1] Muslims at hajj are one people, they are a
soothing sea of humanity, gathered together to worship One God. Muslims turn
their faces in one direction and submit to the will of God. They are united by
their love of God, and united in their diversity.
Abstract Expressionist New York
Saturday August 7, 2010

Abstract Expressionist New York will open on October 3, 2010 at The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, and I can't wait. Seriously, unless it's hung haphazardly--and it
most assuredly won't be--there is no possible way to make this exhibition a dud. Think:
Birthplace of Abstract Expressionism/New York School, combined with a huge
collection of AbEx works, topped with documentary materials out of the ginormous
MoMA archives. (And maybe some whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry flourish.)

You know? The harder I look at Abstract Expressionism, the closer I get to actually
understanding it. Currently, it seems like primal scream therapy to me, in that the artists
just wanted to "let it all hang out;" inner demons, emotional baggage and, not least,
responses to the worst acts of violence, death and mass destruction ever known to
humankind, WWII.

Take, for example, Willem de Kooning's Woman I (1950-52), pictured here. Of the many
women from his Woman series, she terrifies me the most. She looks fully capable of
eating small Dutch boys for brunch, developing the atomic bomb over her afternoon,
piloting the Enola Gay in the evening, and wrapping up her day by mating and killing the
hapless sperm donor. This woman is fierce, and not in a good way. AbEx is full of
interpretations, but the artists never make it easy for the rest of us. In fact, they often
seem to go out of their respective ways to make us think ... and perhaps that was the
whole point?

In any case, please try to catch this show if you can. To whet your appetite, we have a
fraction of the +/- 300 works from Abstract Expressionist New York in this image gallery,
courtesy of MoMA.

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