Off-topic: John Mulvaney on SVU

Chris just showed me this bit, and we guffawed….'cuz we've watched a lot of SVU in this household.

Warning: language. SVU language.

just let me staple the vicar...

I am going to try to get back on track here any minute now....but, in the meantime, and via Language Log, here is Peter Kay.

Il Est Né le Divin Enfant

I first heard Il Est Né le Divin Enfant just a few years ago, and it instantly became my favorite Christmas carol.

Then I saw this YouTube video and it became my favorite version. I don't know why!

Unfortunately, the video cuts off before the performance is over. I don't remember that being the case last year or the year before....

Chorus:
Il est ne, le divin Enfant,
Jouez, hautbois, resonnez, musettes;
Il est ne, le divin Enfant;
Chantons tous son avenement!

1. Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous le promettaient les Prophetes;
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous attendions cet heureux temps. Chorus

2. Ah! qu'il est beau, qu'il est charmant,
Que ses graces sont parfaites!
Ah! qu'il est beau, qu'il est charmant,
Qu'il est doux le divin Enfant! Chorus

3. Une etable est son logement,
Un peu de paille, sa couchette,
Une etable est son logement,
Pour un Dieu, quel abaissement! Chorus

4. O Jesus! O Roi tout puissant!
Tout petit enfant que vous etes,
O Jesus! O Roi tout puissant!
Regnez sur nous entierement! Chorus

Newhart

onward and upward

can you spell 'Oak'?

Australian school answering machine

Making the email circuit ----- no idea whether this is real. As much as I should disapprove of this message, I have to say: it's pretty funny.

I would be the person pressing '5.'

are flyswatters better than the 3-cueing system?

wedding dance

Vicky S just sent the link. I cried through most of the video.

That's because I have 3 kids. Back in Studio City I told my friend Debra, after the twins were born and I found myself mail-ordering goofy Christmas sweater knitting kits,^* that once you have 3 kids you turn into the kind of person who cries over Hallmark ads. My mom had four kids and she always cried over Hallmark ads.

She didn't cry over real life.

She just cried over the ads.


^* Once you have 3 kids you also turn into the kind of person who doesn't manage to actually complete the Christmas sweater knitting kit.

Michael Jackson does long division without a calculator

via Frederick Public Ed

desperately seeking YouTube

I desperately need a copy of the French Open LaCoste commercial on YouTube.



This is the song, not the ad.

Britain's Got Talent

Susan Boyle

second place

She reminds me of Temple. (Amazon has a wonderful video of her.)

pass fail

Live from New York

fly-over

dumb

parents need a union, part 2

YouTube reactions to Everyday Math

This curricula and others like it are in most school districts. No child will be left behind in math because no child will ever move off the starting line.

Another reason to get you[r] child out of the government schools.

+++++

I received that garbage, but why is it my job as a parent to relearn math, UNPAID, to teach my son? If I'm going to teach him, I'll teach him the proper way to learn which he does wonderfully with. Let him flunk the No Child Left Untested tests. I want him to actually MASTER MATH and he does it using traditional methods, just like Mom and Dad.

+++++

when I see this video, I'm so happy that my children live in Europe and don't need to grow up in America...

By the way... WHY IN HELL is there a chapter on how to use a calculator in the "everyday math"-book? 38 pages??? At least in Sweden, students are not even aloud to TOUCH a calculater before 8 grade!

+++++

i hate this math! my son is "learning" this in his 5th grade class, and it's just garbage!! what ever happened to bringing home a math book with 10-20 problems for homework?! the students move on to something new every day (hence the "every day" part) and they don't review enough to retain the lesson. now i have to learn this craziness so i can help him come test day...it's like i'm in grade school all over again! balony!!!!

+++++

I dont like my school! They teach this in my 5th grade class :(

+++++

What the bloody hell was that latticed matrix nonsense in the second part?

+++++

We teach this way because under education reform, everything has to be done differently than the old evil way. The district gets federal money if it picks any of the NSF funded no-math math books. Look up outcome based education reform if you want to see the entire reform beast and how it links up to standards based testing like WASL and a bunch of other bad ideas. The only thing standard about standards-based is that standard methods are not allowed.

+++++

What the ever-loving f***?!?

No wonder our school kids fail at everything; that is not math.

+++++

I don't doubt that a properly administered EDM program can be effective but you should see the mess when it is not. PARENTS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENT and more often than not they are left in the dark.

+++++

Everyday Math is HORRIBLE! I have an elementary education degree, and honestly think that this is the most AWFUL math curriculum I've ever seen. My stepdaughter has been subjected to it throughout her elementary years, and we are going to pull her out of school and homeschool her to get away from this and other "progressive" educational methods that lead to disaster.

+++++

My sister uses Everyday Mathematics in school [elementary] and she hates it. She hates math, but enjoys dividing the simple way. She gets her answers wrong trying the EM way. But she is getting better at it, but she does NOT enjoy EM. Not even her teacher likes it! She has been doing EM since 3rd grade. She enjoys the old Mcgraw hill stuff. But...I go over her homework, and I was like 'What the heck is this stuff?'

+++++

We are starting Everyday Math at our school this year, after having Investigations.
The teachers will be baffled by lattice multiplication, and the kids will, as well.
That means more math teaching for this parent.

+++++

this one may be my personal favorite:

I don't blame you for being angry! Your school district has definitely been neglectful if you didn't receive the 4 page Family Letter that precedes every unit, explaining the concepts and algorithms in the unit, as well as the answers to every Home Link on the last page. It's also disappointing to hear your district didn't purchase the required Student Reference Book that your child could bring home and use as additional support for the new concepts.

+++++

no, wait, 5 stars to this one:

Speaking as a maths teacher, this is bollocks.

+++++

This video shows everything I wrote to the Everyday Math people. I did get a response from them.Their letter supported their program saying it does work. What did I expect them to say? I have a 3rd grader. We have not reached this level of Everyday Math torture. It must be hell in homes where no one knows what a partial sum is or the "lattice" method.Or for the children who come from homes where all of the tools needed for this program are unavailable. It is just ridiculous!

+++++

This video shows everything I wrote to the Everyday Math people. I did get a response from them.Their letter supported their program saying it does work. What did I expect them to say? I have a 3rd grader. We have not reached this level of Everyday Math torture. It must be hell in homes where no one knows what a partial sum is or the "lattice" method.Or for the children who come from homes where all of the tools needed for this program are unavailable. It is just ridiculous!

+++++

my son's school uses this idiot program and as a result i am putting him in private school next year, where they teach math the correct way.

help desk - getting parents involved

Jenny asks:

I want to know how to get parents involved. I found out that our district is considering Everyday Math. I've talked with parents and most people just don't care. I was one of two parents who showed up to look over the materials. Our district obviously doesn't want parent input in the matter and it seems other parents are happy to oblige them. It's mind boggling to me!

I might start by asking a couple of parents to watch this video:





Then I might send this interview I did with my cousin to parents and suggest they forward.

good news

in today's Wall Street Journal:

Regarding William McGurn's Main Street column "Will Obama Stand Up for These Kids?" (March 3): The Opportunity Scholarship program was created in 2003, as a five-year pilot project designed to give District of Columbia students federally paid vouchers to attend private schools. More than 1,700 students are enrolled in a wide range of private institutions, some world class and others with substantial problems.

Reviews of the program by the Department of Education and Government Accountability Office have found "schools" (sometimes consisting of a single room in a church basement) with significant health and safety issues; teachers lacking basic college degrees or teaching credentials; and no demonstrable evidence that students are performing better than their public school counterparts.

I chair the subcommittee which oversees funding for the District of Columbia and have reviewed and funded this program since its creation. But the five-year pilot program expires at the end of this school year and in order for the program to continue, Congress must pass a bill reauthorizing it. That's not a "sneaky maneuver" on my part; that's the language of the law establishing the D.C. voucher program.

However, 1,700 school children shouldn't be forced out of schools because Congress fails to act. That's why I've funded the program for an additional year, allowing it to continue through the end of the 2009-2010 school year. This gives Congress an extra year to act. Sen. Joe Lieberman has promised a timely hearing on the program and an honest evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses.

If the program is reauthorized, and the district approves it, I will continue to see that it's funded.

Dick Durbin (D., Ill.)
Assistant Senate Majority Leader
Chairman
Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee
Washington

Voices of School Choice
A Vote for Ignorance Chicago Tribune
Will Obama Stand Up for These Kids? Wall Street Journal
Voucher Subterfuge Washington Post
School Choice Has Media Mainstreamed CATO
President Bartlett signs on for vouchers
Senate votes down funding for DC vouchers

Granbury High School

Very cool.

up the down staircase

I may just abandon all hope & spend the coming 21st century global world meltdown years watching YouTubes.