Looks like a winner to me!

“If teacher unions want to be strong and well-supported, it’s essential that they not only be teacher unionists but teachers of unionism. We need to create a generation of students who support teachers and the movement of teachers for their rights.”

– Howard Zinn in an interview with Bob Peterson for Transforming Teacher Unions

“…teachers of unionism”? Really!

Today’s teacher unions and educators in America, in public schools, are failing their students and for multiple reasons; some of which have nothing to do with the teachers. But some aspects of this failure have to do with bad teachers and ones that have agendas. Take the literature that is being promoted by the late Howard Zinn and other radicals. In some Universities and Colleges we are producing activists and not educators, and this explains what is happening in Wisconsin. Those who willing lied, took phony sick notes from unscrupulous doctors, and railed against the democratic system, are sending students the wrong message and setting the wrong example. You want to protest, do it after school or on the weekends. Want to organize peacefully, fine. In trying to come up with an editorial on this subject I found another teacher who also had issues with what was happening in Wisconsin, so instead of my own words I’ll let her speak:

To the editor:

When did getting one’s political way justify lying, cheating and disrupting the legal political process? As a teacher and a parent, I always found that example was the strongest teaching tool there was. I will speak only to the teachers and politicians in Wisconsin since those are the people with whom I am identified. What kind of example are you setting?

I was horrified watching teachers accept “sick” notes handed out indiscriminately on the street. In effect they are saying, “I’m well enough to stand in the cold and protest politically, but I’m too sick to be in my classroom.”

What would that same teacher call a student’s note of that sort? A lie. That lie also breaks the contract those teachers signed with their schools and the taxpayers who fund them. Cheating. One teachers’ union official was filmed saying, “Our first interest is in educating our children,” yet he supported abandoning classrooms in favor of seeking political ends. Might I add hypocrisy to my list?

Finally, the duly elected officials, elected by a majority of all the people in their districts, are so afraid of or complicit with this vocal sector that they abdicate their sworn duty to uphold the constitutional law of this country and go into hiding, disrupting the lawful process.

I won’t comment on the merits of either side of the political argument, but when the belief that the end justifies the means becomes prevalent, the rule of law disappears. Historically, the next step is anarchy. From the title of an Alan Paton novel, “Cry the Beloved Country.”

Anne Paradis

Not a lot apparently… SO TIRED of college elites talking down to high school teachers. They need to get their act together! I wonder how many of these students know about “social justice”?

Civil War doctors called it hysteria, melancholia and insanity. During the First World War it was known as shell-shock. By World War II, it became combat fatigue. Today, it is clinically known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a crippling anxiety that results from exposure to life-threatening situations such as combat.

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The HBO Documentary Films presentation debuts on Veterans Day, THURSDAY, NOV. 11 (9:00-10:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

The United States has had a rather eventful history — in spite of its being considered a somewhat young nation. Born out of a revolution, the United States is full of interesting turning points. History scholars have long been fascinated with the mix that has led to the rise of one of the most powerful nations ever to exist in a relatively short period of time.

You don’t have to be a history professional, though, to enjoy the history of the United States. Many people find history — specifically U.S. history — a great hobby. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the U.S., you can read some of these 50 American history blogs:

Blog 4 History: Looks at interesting facts, stories and more related to U.S. history.

Patience was mentioned 85 times by these same students; kindness, 80 times; clearness, 35; sense of humor, 32; understanding of students, 24; firmness, 21; impartiality, 24; cheerfulness and pleasantness, 19 each; sincerity, 14; sympathy, 16 ; and ability to make work interesting, 21. The writer’s own investigations along this same line with history teachers especially in mind reveal facts relative to the personal and social qualities of teachers similar to the foregoing ones. On one occasion he asked 150 high-school graduates to describe the history teacher who had helped them most to an appreciation and an understanding of history. In the tabulation of the responses to this request the following terms were used over and over again: astounding vitality, impartiality, broad-mindedness, friendliness and kindness to everyone, desire to help, keen sense of humor, attractive personality, pleasing personality, remarkable personality, pleasing manner, interest in the subject, personal interest in each pupil, delightful sense of humor, enthusiasm for the subject, power to inspire the class, ambition and energy, fairness and uprightness, truthfulness and exactness, and a companionable disposition. All these personal and social qualities in a teacher assume large proportion in the minds of their students.

These qualities seem to make a lot of sense. What year do you think this study was done?

The answer: (The teaching of history in junior and senior high schools By Rolla Milton Tryon)