Wednesday, July 31, 2013

A-Rod, Braun, Bonds and Company – Nothing But The Hall of Infamy Awaits Them

First appeared on Blogcritics.

hall wikimediaorgAs the Biogenesis Scandal continues to unfold – with Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun receiving the first strike of Darth Selig and his minions’ wrath – we await news on Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and others who dared to try to alter the “force” and tempt fate with performance enhancing drugs. If you question the idea that Commissioner Selig is not like a Sith lord from the Star Wars films, ask yourself how all this came to pass in the first place. Major League Baseball looked the other way for a long time, but then the Empire decided to strike back with a vengeance.

If you look back at guys like Mark McGwire, who morphed into something like Ray Milland and Rosie Greer in The Thing With Two Heads, MLB reveled in his homer quest and ignored him becoming Gigantor. The “force” was with him then to be sure, as it was Sammy Sosa and later Bonds. Homers were baseball’s crystal meth, and everyone was in denial as they sucked up as much of it as possible. Think of all the kids who had McGwire and Sosa posters on the walls in their rooms as MLB dared to compare these guys to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, or even Babe Ruth. Now MLB’s Hall of Fame is just a long lost dream, and nothing more awaits them than admittance to an eternal Hall of Infamy, with guys like Braun, A-Rod, Melky Cabrera and company to join their sadly pathetic fraternity.

braun cbsnews.orgNow we are way beyond the force (if it comes from less than natural sources) being with anyone – Darth Selig has become Emperor and there is no denying his total power and control. After deciding to get hard line on steroids or PEDs and maybe even eventually Gatorade, the dominoes were just waiting to fall. There was Barry Bonds in court looking a deer in the headlights, and Roger Clemens in his Teflon mode. Both are now baseball pariahs, and they are joined by Ryan Braun as the first of the latest dominoes to fall.

Braun, after all his slick machinations of a year ago, decided that the jig was up. He surrendered to the inevitable and took his suspension like the wimp that he is, allowing the Brewers and his teammates to answer the tough questions as he left for parts unknown (hey, Ryan, even Siberia isn’t far enough for you). If Braun serves his suspension and thinks he is coming back free and clear, he has another thing coming to him. Anthony Weiner has a better chance at redemption than Braun, who will be a laughingstock, and the citizens of every town in baseball will want to ride him out on a rail if he dares to step on their baseball field.

But then there is Alex (A - Class Jerk Rod) Rodriguez who believes his feces should be on the menu at Arby’s. He is so determined that his domino will not fall, so filled with delusions of grandeur that he thinks he will rejoin the Yankees and be a star again, that his lawyers are working feverishly to somehow avoid any suspension at all. Can you imagine the size of this guy’s ego (Mt. Everest comes to mind) to think he can evade the inevitable swing Emperor Selig’s red light saber?

Now there is word that Emperor is so intent on banishment – not just for a season but for a lifetime from the kingdom – that Selig is prepared to invoke some arcane portion of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that gives him seemingly more power than Darth Bloomberg of planet New York. Article XI, Section A ib would allow Selig to suspend A-Rot immediately for interfering with MLB’s Biogenesis investigation. This is a power given to Selig under the CBA, but it may not all go the Emperor’s way.

There could be a final battle (including red and blue light sabers?) between the Emperor, Clown Prince A-Rot, and the players’ union. Much of this could be rendered moot if the damning evidence MLB supposedly has on A-Rot is so overwhelming, and the Yankees third baseman is about as popular among fellow baseball players as Eliot Spitzer at a feminist luncheon, so he can forget any support there. As for the citizens of New York, I can say that we Mets fans aren’t the only ones who want to see A-Rot go the way of eight track tapes. I haven’t spoken to one Yankees fan who doesn’t hate him with a passion – and well they should because he has sullied the reputation of the team and is a dark stain on Yankee history.
A rod gp2sports

Some people say “how sad” in reference to A-Rod. He was once the chosen one – the Luke Skywalker of the diamond – “the force great was with him” as Yoda might say. But I don’t see it that way. I recall years ago, before he came to the Yankees, when Mets fans were lobbying for the team to sell the farm to get Rodriguez. At the time I didn’t like him, and mostly because I felt he had no affinity for fans in Seattle or Texas. His goal was always to get back to New York (his hometown), and the ultimate goal was to be a Yankee. If he came here and broke Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds’ records, they’d name a candy bar after him, right?

All these years later this Mets fan – who has seen his share of disappointment in everyone from Bobby Bonilla to Mo Vaughn to Jason Bay – counts the signing of A-Rot by the Yankees as the best thing that could have ever happened because he didn’t come to Flushing. I don’t feel sorry for the Yankees and the late Darth Steinbrenner, just as I have no pity for Darth Selig. Steinbrenner always cared little about the pedigree of his livestock (think Clemens) as long as they came to the ranch and performed. The Yankees have always thought they could buy championships – and boy have they done so going back to Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson – so they have reaped what they have sown.

In the end the worst thing about Alex Rodriguez can be the best thing – it will be a teachable moment for our children. He and all the stars who dared to take a syringe to their buttocks in name of performance cared little about the kids who love the game. They cared nothing about setting an example, about playing clean for the love of the game because they don’t love the game. They don’t love anything but themselves.

A-Rot is a prime example of this: a Narcissus who has had a lifelong love affair with himself; alas, he will not be so lucky to be turned into a flower as in the Greek legend. A-Rot is going to be shown the door; he will be an outcast, a man without a country – only Philip Nolan’s fate would be too good for him. No, Alex Rodriguez will be a prime example of how not to play baseball. He will be a greater pariah than Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, and Ryan Braun combined. His name will be synonymous with failure, disgrace, and abomination, and for the kids this will teach a greater lesson than anything else. Nothing awaits Rodriguez and the others but the Hall of Infamy.

Perhaps one day, when he is an old, decrepit man, Alex will use a cane to walk into Cooperstown and stand in the hallowed hallways and weep. Children and their parents will walk by him, and one of the kids will ask his dad, “Who is that guy?”

The dad will respond, “Nobody son, just some sad old man.”

Alex Rodriguez is already nobody – he just doesn’t know it yet. How sad for him, but on the day he is banned for life it will be the first day of the rest of MLB’s life without him. Despite the sins of the past and the machinations of Darth Selig, Darth Steinbrenner, and all the other sith lords of baseball out there, there is no other way to right the empire than to purge it. Then we will get back to the true “force” that has driven the game since Grover Cleveland Alexander’s time – the love of the game, America’s game, and all anyone can say is it’s about time!

 Photo Credits: A-Rod-gp2sports.com; braun-cbsnews.org; hall of fame-wikimedia.org

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Pope Francis's Trip to Brazil – In Its Aftermath a New and Amazing Openness

First appeared on Blogcritics.




pope 2 If you paid any attention to the trip of the Roman Catholic Pope Francis to Brazil (the country with the largest number of Catholics in the world), there was a welcoming to that South American country of the first South American pope that truly rose to unprecedented levels. Besides the outpouring of crowds at every appearance, it is Francis in humility and benevolence that is impressive and indeed Christ-like. In fact, it is becoming increasingly more obvious that he may be the pope (in recent memory) who is closest to Jesus in terms of practicing what was preached over 2000 years ago .

FrancisPlane national catholic reporterThere were the inevitably huge crowds – the one at the Mass at Copacabana Beach was estimated at 3 million – with large TV screens projecting Pope Francis’s image as if he were a super rock star giving an electrifying performance, but the music to the ears of those in attendance were words and not lyrics. The fact that so many people sought his message is perhaps not as astounding as it may seem to some people, and it also is reminiscent of the large (but obviously much smaller) crowds that turned out to hear Jesus speak wherever he made an appearance.

Despite the great opportunity and spectacle of the pope’s visit to Brazil, the even greater sound bites were to be found on Monday during the flight back to Rome. As people begin to digest the essence of what Pope Francis was saying in his dialogue with reporters on the plane, the reality is that Pope Francis made a stance that is profoundly Christ-like. He said, in reference to gay priests, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” This is amazing in its openness and clarity – it also echoes the Gospels where Christ again and again tells those who want him to condemn others that they should not judge lest they be judged.

pope 3 en.academic.ruThe conversation with reporters was wide ranging, including the controversial issue of the Vatican Bank (I.O.R.) scandal. Francis said of the future of the bank that “whatever the I.O.R. becomes requires transparency and honesty.” Yes, those who believe Francis to be a breath of fresh air in the stodgy and stagnant old vaults of the past are more than correct, honoring his namesake Francis of Assisi in his clarity and directness.

On an even more pressing topic, Francis addressed the role of women in the church. Most Catholics know that if it were not for women, the church not doubt would have crumbled long ago, with many of the religious nuns and sisters carrying the heavy weight all over the world as the number of priests declined. While all popes before him ruled out female religious becoming priests, Francis opened the door wider by saying that the “theology of women” had to be explored, insinuating that long established supporting roles may be enhanced in the future.

Getting back to the old business as usual approach at the Vatican, Francis noted that the Synod of Bishops was in need of some kind of realignment, no doubt an attempt to bring them (perhaps kicking and screaming) into the 21st century where they have not kept up with the needs and realities of their constituencies.

While it seems that Pope Francis’s advisors were against the pope speaking candidly with reporters, it was his desire to do so. This again is quite Christ-like, for Jesus never wanted “handlers” between him and the people. It was Jesus’s style to press the flesh, to sit and engage in discourse, usually with all those whom society tended to shun. Jesus was more than just a religious leader but understood the psychology and economics of his time perhaps much more astutely than Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx respectively knew theirs.

Francis indeed is following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and many Catholics are breathing a deep sigh of relief and thinking, “It’s about time!” If established Christian religions teach people to be exclusionary and egocentric, it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Reading the Gospels will elucidate for any reader that Jesus had open arms for anyone and everyone. When he spoke of many mansions in his father’s house (John 14:2), Jesus referred to inclusion of all people. He never turned away anyone, least of all the diseased, the afflicted, the despised, the misunderstood, and most especially the poor.

This impromptu news conference aboard the papal plane was certainly something Jesus would have done. In this 80 minute conversation with reporters, Pope Francis opened eyes and hearts and minds – and his willingness to bend, to be open to all who hear his voice, will not only endear him to many more than all those who saw him in Brazil – it may just be the way to chart the course for a much brighter future for the Catholic Church.

Photo credits: Pope on plane-national catholic reporter; brazil crowd-guardian.co.uk; nuns-en.academic.ru

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Parents Need a Full and Equitable Partnership with Their Children’s Schools

First appeared in Blogcritics.

I recently read an article in the Washington Post regarding schools that refuse to send home tests to parents. In various patterns they will send home test scores or even the test sheet with multiple choice answers on it, but in all these cases parents didn’t get to see the questions associated with the test scores. At this point any reasonable person will be asking why?

One of the considerations in some of these schools was that these tests could be used again in that same grade. This reminds me of a teacher who used the same chapter tests for all twenty years of her career in the fourth grade. After I had been principal for two years in that school, I realized this. The tests had become so poorly copied, that the words and answers were slanted on the page. After a little investigation I realized that Mrs. X had been doing this in every subject all those years. That is why she never sent the actual test home. Parents were outraged, and I informed her that this practice had to stop immediately. It was no surprise when Mrs. X decided it was time to retire that June.

school 2 websitetemplates.bzThis is a microcosm of what is poor educational practice. Whenever a school or one of its teachers tries to obfuscate a situation, there is something rotten in the state of that school. There is absolutely no valid reason for a teacher to use the same test year after year – classes change, students are different, and the teaching and testing should align with those specifics each year. Yes, there are guidelines teachers must follow, but nowhere will anyone find an edict that states a teacher should use the same test. This is like a doctor using the same tongue depressor with every patient during the day – it is malpractice and then some.

Over the years I have seen much of this kind of thing and it is very discouraging. The number one rule in all schools should be transparency – there should not be anything that is not available to parents that will assist them in helping their children do better in school. If a student gets a poor grade on a test, it only makes sense for the parents to see the test, sign it, and be able to go over the questions and answers with their children at home. This is so incredibly simple that it boggles the mind that any school and its administrators would allow such detrimental procedures to take place.

Testing is not the only thing that should be transparent – every assignment, projects, and classwork should be open to questions from parents and students. With the availability of school websites, everything that occurs in the classroom should appear on the class webpage. For example, I have seen cases of teachers giving projects – sometimes counting for a significant percentage of the final grade – and the guidelines and instructions were only given either orally or written on the blackboard. Students went home and were unable to discern all the necessary components of the project, and parents were left in the dark. This kind of thing should never happen and it is incumbent upon the administration to make sure that it does not.

Clear, consistent, and constant communication should occur between school and home. Every teacher should have a class page and an email address for contact. The administration should also have an accessible email for parents and guardians. It is essential that the website for the school is updated daily (I know when I was principal that I would update things on the site a few times a day). Parents should never feel that the school is not available to them, open to questions, and that there in an equitable and transparent relationship where the success of each child is everyone’s responsibility.

Sadly, many schools operate in a smoke and mirrors modus operandi. They allow parents only so much information – doors remain closed, the principal’s office is an armed camp, and everything is rather cloak and dagger. In this manner there is nothing but disaster in the making for all involved. I was aware of one school that had a website but rarely if ever updated the main page. Only the principal had an email address, so if parents wanted to contact a teacher, they had to write to the principal to get the message through. This Draconian process inhibits communication on all sides, especially since there are some matters which a parent may be reticent about involving the principal before speaking to the teacher.

school 1 mnps.orgIn our ever connected world, there is no excuse for schools to withhold anything pertinent about educational matters in the school. That means using the website to post standardized test scores, any other meaningful data, school procedures, emergency closing information, all applicable policies, and all budgetary matters. Parents should know as much about the financial health of their school as they do about the educational climate; furthermore, they should be made aware of any physical issues in the building, like problems with the boilers or electrical systems. In short, parents should always know what is happening in their children’s school because the only path to a successful educational journey is one where everyone involved in the process knows what is happening.

As for the experience inside the building itself, I always believed in an open door policy. If I did not have something seriously pending that required me to close the door and get to it, I left my office door open and went about my work. Whenever a parent would stick his or her head in the door and ask, “Do you have a minute?” I was only too happy to give that parent the time. There was no “You need an appointment” attitude, which I know is pervasive in some schools, where seeing the principal is harder than seeing your doctor. I also was very happy whenever a student knocked on the door and wanted to talk; in fact, I always appreciated that I had cultivated a relationship with them that encouraged students to seek me out to talk. Gone is the day, at least in my mind, where the principal should be an unapproachable, fire-breathing warden.

Classroom teachers should always have an open door policy. I always told my teachers that they should be ready for visitors. Sometimes prospective parents come to see the school, and they want to tour the building. In my experience nothing impresses parents (and students if they are with their parents) more than coming into the building when classes are in session. There should be no reason that a teacher should not welcome visitors or the administrator at any time of the day (obviously if testing is in progress that classroom is not entered). Again this goes to transparency – there is nothing that a teacher is doing that should not be witnessed. If a teacher feels differently, then something is wrong with that picture and it merits an investigation.

All of this comes back to the idea of parents as full and equal partners in their children’s schools. As a parent myself, I want to know about everything that is happening in my children’s school. I want to be able to go to the website and be able to find anything and everything I need. This should be the same for all parents. As expectations of the Common Core State Standards accelerate the level of instruction across all grade levels, more than ever before there is a need for parents to have all the tools they need at their full disposal. Parents want and need to be advocates for success for their children in school; it is up to schools to provide every mean necessary for this to happen.

If you are a parent in a school that is open, welcoming, and transparent, congratulations; if you are not, it is time for you to express some outrage and call for things to change. It is the right of every parent to be a full and equal partner with the school for his or her child’s success, but sometimes the only person who can make this happen is the parent who presses for things to change. It is up to every parent to force the issues, press for answers, and seek educational equity and justice for their children. Only when everyone works together for the same goals can there ever be the true success that we need and expect for children in our schools.

Photo Credits: website-websitetemplates.bz; principal's office-mnps.org

Monday, July 22, 2013

Blended Learning – The Wise Alternative to Longer School Days and Years


First appeared in Blogcritics.

If you have been reading any educational news recently, much of it has to do with extending the school day and year in order to give students more of what they need, but how about if there was an alternative? Blended learning may be the answer that will meet the needs of educators and students, at what should be a fraction of the cost of extending school days and years (which means increasing salaries and overhead).

class 2 npr.orgBlended learning is a combination of online and in classroom instruction, with opportunities available to meet the needs of all students at various levels. The misnomer here is that it is not like using a blender (throwing everything into one container and hitting the blend button), but rather a skillful attempt to bring students along at their own pace, enhance what is possible within a regular school day, and challenge those students who may need something more than they are getting.

As an educator, I have always felt like there is not enough time in in the day. Anyone who has ever stood in front of a classroom knows this to be true, but also because we have held to the old model for so long. If we spend the first ten minutes of a lesson checking last night’s homework, we set up the no-win scenario of never getting to the actual lesson plan or completing it. Blended learning can be many things – a combination of online instruction and classroom follow-up in numerous variations.

Imagine if the evening before my students had been “taught” the lesson online? So let’s say I am teaching subject-predicate agreement, and students had an opportunity to watch this lesson at their own pace, stopping and starting it again as often as necessary. What if there was also an interactive component that allows students to ask questions about the lesson if they were uncertain about something? The next day in the classroom becomes an entirely different situation. The "homework" (the lesson) then actually becomes part of a lesson that sets up advanced opportunities. Those who still do not get it could also put on headphones and use an iPad or PC to get more help, and those gifted and extremely talented students could do the same thing to enhance their experience. All the while a teacher is available to answer questions too, to solve problems, and to not only truly “differentiate” instruction but to bring it to a higher level than was ever possible before.

Since blended learning is so new – an educational frontier to be sure – there should be great excitement about its possibilities but also extreme caution in its implementation. Districts and schools need to invest in the technology to make this happen, train teachers, and prepare students for the brave new world that will combine online and in-classroom instruction. The wonderful thing about blended learning is that it is not carved in stone, and this flexibility could allow schools and districts to use it to best meet the needs of its population.

In high schools there could be a more rigorous model where students spend four evenings a week “in class” as they observe lessons (taught by their teachers), and then go into school prepared to discuss what they have learned. As an administrator, nothing has bothered me more than visiting a classroom and observing students reading from the textbook. The teacher will defend this by saying that he/she needs to be sure the text was read; however, this is an almost criminal waste of time.

Blended learning offers a solution to this that is pretty painless – students can read that informational text online (or join an interactive lesson where the text is being read). If we are reading about the American Industrial Revolution, wouldn’t it be far more productive to have this done the evening before, so that students could come into class ready to participate in an active discussion, answer essential questions, and bring the in-class experience to a level of discourse that would not have been possible before? Students who are having problems with a subject can benefit from this process as well. There can be additional lessons – ones taught at a slower pace or even focusing on one aspect of difficulty – at their disposal online anytime of the day or night. There also can be a parent portal that will allow parents and guardians an opportunity to also observe the lessons in order to assist their children as much as possible.

Gone is the day when a teacher can close the door and teach a class in a vacuum. There is a vast world of opportunity out there for learning, and the teacher must now extend the lesson beyond the brick and mortar classroom, making connections that will advance his/her instruction and make the most of the 45 minutes scheduled for that group. I know some of this will take time to catch on, but I am certain that blended learning will seem like an iPod compared to traditional learning’s record player in a few years.

The beauty of blended learning is that it respects the teacher’s place in the educational equation. Students and teachers still need to be in a classroom for it to work, but the wonderful thing is that the time in that classroom will be more about higher order thinking and learning, made possible by the online component that has expanded the day without increasing time students and teachers have to be in a physical classroom. With blended learning the possibilities are endless, but it is up to school districts and their leaders to recognize that the golden opportunities blended learning makes available.

During the summer months, blended learning could take the old “summer school” model and knock it over. Imagine a student who needed to take a summer course to pass his/her English class. The student would have an online learning module that would have to be completed over the summer. The parents could still take the family on vacation, the student would not have to suffer in the classroom, and the requirements could be met by the student watching lessons and completing assignments online. We always hear about “thinking out of the box” in order to move things forward, and educators tend to cling to what they know because it seems to be proven, but the world we live in requires flexibility and connectivity that we have not embraced before.

Blended learning is a frontier for education – a brave new world for educators and students to embrace with full vigor. It’s a promising opportunity that could not only change teaching as we know it now but for the foreseeable future.

Photo credits: old time classroom- edublogs.com ; computer class-npr.org




Friday, July 19, 2013

Movie Reboots Getting Awfully Redundant

First published on Blogcritics.

usmagazine I know some people like movies that shake things up. The current films Man of Steel and The Lone Ranger come to mind as perfect examples. In the former, whether you may want to kindly call it a "re-imagining" of the superior Superman II starring Christopher Reeve or not, there is clearly more darkness and less humor. If that is your cup of tea, so be it, but I find it to be bitter to swallow. The latter sort of desecrates the TV series with the great Clayton Moore as the Ranger and even greater Jay Silverheels as Tonto. Armie Hammer’s Ranger is like Henry Cavill’s Superman in that neither one is recognized as the character until deep into both way too long films, and I know Johnny Depp is known for eccentric characters, but his Tonto goes around feeding a dead bird that he wears as a hat and is like the wayward son of Edward Scissorhands and Captain Jack Sparrow.

dark knight breibar.comIn Man of Steel the word "superman" is only used once, and in such a flippant way as to almost negate its importance in the proceedings. This may be a long haul for many viewers, like waiting for Chris Pine to don the captain's shirt in Star Trek (2009) when director J.J. Abrams turns our previously constructed world of Kirk, Spock, and company on its head. He uses time travel as a way to justify changing perspective, but to see Spock and Uhura locking lips (instead of Kirk and Uhura) boggles the mind. If you want further insults to the “canon” watch Star Trek Into the Darkness and wait for the scene with Spock and Kirk and the needs of the many. It will not blow you away, but it will blow your mind with its insipid slap to the face of all things sacred to the Trek world.

But for perspective, we also have seen this happen in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight series of Batman films. Always a fan of the Bat, I was happy to see that the Caped Crusader was more serious, but Nolan also forgot (as does Zack Snyder under his guidance in Man of Steel) that a wry sense of wit and humor made the original Batman TV series so much fun. Man, do I miss seeing Batman (Adam West) dangling from a helicopter with a shark attached to his leg. Those were the days. So perhaps my beef with rebooting is not so much being opposed to something new as much as it is desecrating what has come before. I do not need new versions Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead (Snyder also the guilty party there), or The Poseidon Adventure. Mainly because the first film was far superior (I know that’s a stretch with Poseidon but still true) and a need for a remake or reimaging is unjustified and unnecessary.

monk npr.org This problem in films similarly haunts the Broadway stage, where revival after revival hits the boards and the tourists and the bridge and tunnel crowds go wild. How many times can someone “revive” something that is better off left in the collective memories of theatre goers? One can argue that a whole new generation that never saw the original deserves to see Pippin, but I would contend no one needs to see a new version because that means tinkering with plays better left like sleeping dogs – to lie quietly somewhere.

I know that I am fighting a losing battle here. The remakes, revivals, and re-imaginings will go on ad infinitum because, unfortunately, all things on heaven and earth that can be imagined can be re-imagined. There is nothing sacred anymore. Absolutely nothing! And nothing makes money like something someone has seen before. If you don’t believe me, explain the box office for Despicable Me 2 and I am certain you will get an A+ in your quantam physics course.

I am sure television will not be far behind. They have remade shows such as Charlie’s Angels and Hawaii Five-O. Sooner or later we will have someone making I Love Lucia, with an Hispanic housewife and her overwhelmed American rock star husband; or maybe we will have the The Mary Tyler Les Show with befuddled newsroom guy Les (Tony Shalhoub) running around the streets of Manhattan, throwing his straw hat in the air, and returning to work to be told “I hate spunk” by his annoying boss played by Kathy Bates.

I don’t know about you, but I like the way Star Trek, Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Batman used to be. Maybe I am deluding myself, or perhaps I am not as open as I should be to change, but I swear that I will completely lose it if Disney does a Star Wars remake and the line “Luke, I am your mother” appears anywhere in that script. Then there will indeed be a disturbance in the force, and it won’t be pretty!

Photo Credits: Lone Ranger- usmagazine; dark knight-briebar.com; shaloub-npr.org