Parents Of Nasal Learners Demand Odor-Based Curriculum

The image from the Newsweek article in the post right below this one reminded me of the image of the student pictured here (at left). Click on the photo here to see the article on parental demands for odor-based curriculum. I think that article is actually very relevant to a point I’d like to raise […]

Congress math (& civics) deficits

What can we understand from this stunning performance by Jared Polis (D-CO) in the debate on the House floor (July 28, 2011)?: 2½ minutes were yielded to Polis so he could present prepared remarks, equiped with a neatly-printed three-color chart showing yields and interest rates paid by countries rated AAA vs. AA. The bottom line […]

Palin on Larry King denouncing Obama’s cookie policy (xtranormal animation)

For Sarah Palin’s crusading against the Obamas’ and the Democrat Party’s anti-cookie nanny-state, here is some real-world documentation, and an animated send-up.

Silhouettes of knowing as “Potemkin knowledges”

In a 2007 article,* I discussed how our prevailing approach to education results in the production of mere silhouettes in place of genuine knowing and understanding. Rhetorically, there might be some good occasion for referring to such things as “Potemkin knowledges,” analogous to the old “Potemkin Villages.” This fragmentary thought is hardly worthy of a blog […]

I’s on Edjukashun – Texas School Board – Eric Foner

My favorite line: Colbert: They say that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But, if you change what history was, doesn’t that solve that problem? more about “Colbert Puts His ‘I’s On Edjukashun’ …“, posted with vodpod

the debate I wanna see (Will Phillips v. Carrie Prejean)

On CNN Monday morning (Nov. 16, 2009), ten-year-old Will Phillips his reason for refusing to say the pledge of allegiance in his fifth-grade class: I’ve grown up with a lot of people and I’m good friends with a lot of people who are gay and I think they should have the rights all people should, […]

Mooney & the “new atheists”: another round

Another round in the ongoing Neuatheismusstreit was touched off by an opinion piece in the L.A. Times by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, authors of the new book Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future. They write: It often appears as though Dawkins and his followers–often dubbed the New Atheists, though some object to […]

Pluto demoted: Opposition in state legislatures

Last night I watched the BookTV airing of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s talk on his new book, The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet. Sometimes I find his showmanship annoying — a distraction from the substance that I’m interested in. This time I thought his presentation was wonderful. You can see the […]

Augustine on Scripture and Natural Science

Somebody who calls themselves “Sirius Knott” has left a comment on my post about the “Collapse of a Texas ‘Quote Mine’” website, in which they say You decry quote-mining and then you heartily endorse quote-mining Augustine [via Young who did not bother to critique Augustine’s comments in context but rather in light of the evolution […]

evolution — “I spent ages on that.”

I don’t have any comment on this; it’s just too good to not share. ===================================================== For other posts here on conflicts over teaching evolution, see https://curricublog.wordpress.com/category/evolution/ Note: January 21, 2009 Audio files for the Texas Bd. of Ed. hearings on teaching evolution are now posted at https://curricublog.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/tx-sboe-science-hearings/

“Behold: the atheist’s nightmare” (a banana) [ video ]

Before I say anything about it, just watch this video first:

The Simpsons evolution clip (restored)

In an earlier post, I had a link to this clip on YouTube; but then it became unavailable on YouTube. Here it is again now, but with a little advertising.

Tom Chapin: “IT’S NOT ON THE TEST”

Extra (Oct. 21, 2008): Breaking news on NCLB & assessment under President Obama ===================== You can play this video here, but be sure to visit Tom Chapin’s site for “It’s not on the test.” Includes Lyrics, Statement, Fact Sheet, Press Info, Advocacy …

Colbert WØRD: “Heated Debate”

Stephen Colbert says: “College students should be unformed lumps of clay fixed in the kiln of unchallenged thoughts.” Click here, or on the image below, for the Colbert video at the Comedy Central website. (The image was originally linked to the Cavuto interview on YouTube; but apparently FOX has had that YouTube video removed.) As […]

Does chewing gum make students smarter?

You can’t make this stuff up. My soon-to-appear “Education à la Silhouette: The Need for Semiotically-Informed Curriculum Consciousness.” Semiotica 164, no. 1/4 (2007): pp. 235-329.) begins with a brief excerpt from the NBC Today show in which test scores are equated with “smartness” (see below), in a story on “Two recent studies [that] show chewing […]

New operating system: the book (YouTube)

My thanks to Martha Ford of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education and the Delaware Writing Project for sharing this with our curriculum theory class!

YouTube: Dilbert, Simpsons, Family Guy – Evolution

YouTube clip of evolution & alternative, according to “Family Guy.”