Can We Persuade President Obama to Listen?

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1. Uncle Bruno says:

   October 8, 2012 at 8:43 pm

   He knows. He just doesn’t care.

   Reply
2. Lilac says:

   October 8, 2012 at 9:26 pm

   When he declared that “race to the top “was up bottom up approach he led me to believe that he either doesn’t know, doesn’t care or is just lying to us. Our only hope is to influence Congress and state elections. Obama’s pitiful performance in the debate has doomed him. The Republican voter registration scheme has not helped us either. Take your pick, America: The Hindenburg or the Titanic.

   Reply
3. Peg Metzger ( NY) says:

   October 8, 2012 at 11:25 pm

   Love the novel approach !
   Cute!
   Thanks:)

   Reply
4. chemtchr says:

   October 9, 2012 at 12:15 am

   I’m convinced Obama finally hears us, and is also trying to sort out public non-reaction to his debate non-performance. Now what?

   I’m speculating that his opening declaration of allegiance Race to the Top was felt necessary to his reassure big-money corporate education industry donors, who coincidentally also control many influential “liberal” media empires. Had his administration stepped too far outside their control, by refusing to condemn the Chicago strike? Were his handlers worried we actually might have talked him over? He made it very clear he’s doubling down on federal mandates for privatization and corporate control of local and state education policy.

   Several pundits, like Josh Bernstein of the Examiner, have observed that Obama’s heart doesn’t seem to be in the debates and speeches he’s giving. Why is that? Well, while Romney was practicing Reagan impersonations, Obama might have turned to FDR. Can you imagine what that particular muse would say to him at this point, at 2 AM in the Oval Office? I looked for a long time at a photo of Obama visiting Hoover Dam, http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2012/10/wednesday-open-thread-215/obama-visits-hoover-dam-in-nevada/

   Roosevelt dedicated the dam on September 30, 1935. I was dead certain Obama had just read the dedication speech FDR delivered then. That address laid out the specific justifications, the costs (except for one glaring omission), and the payoffs for the dam , and for the New Deal itself. I tried to choose a quotation to cite, but it’s a disservice to uncouple any line. Read it all. My question was, did Obama have the guts to even refer to it?
   http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=14952

   Knowing that there are many other students of history who read this blog, I’ll also include a link to Michelle Turk’s magnificent paper describing how the 114 workers who “gave” their lives for the Boulder Dam project contributed to subsequent worker safety advances.

   Click to access Turk2007.pdf

   I watched the debate with a very small sliver of hope that the man we lifted to the presidency has decided to try to rise to the office he holds. In the first two minutes, he gave his resounding answer – no, not yet. And, yes, he knows he’s dancing to string pullers instead of filling FDR’s shoes. And no, his heart isn’t in it.

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5. Sean Crowley says:

   October 9, 2012 at 12:56 am

   Now that he’s blown his lead with that disastrous debate performance he might like to know that a lot of teachers are not voting for him unless he changes courses. That’s what’s in my letter on Oct 17th. He still has time to smarten up.

   Reply
   • Dienne says:

     October 9, 2012 at 6:18 am

     This is my approach as well.

     Reply
6. Cosmic Tinkerer says:

   October 9, 2012 at 5:25 am

   Did this just skate past everyone? “Arne Duncan Calls For Textbooks To Become Obsolete In Favor Of Digital”

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/education-chief-wants-tex_0_n_1933469.html

   I really wish Duncan et al would stop making such sweeping policy statements without any piloting or discussions with educators. This is my 5th year teaching courses at strictly online universities, which have been moving to courses without textbooks and, for the past year, I’ve been teaching courses where the textbooks are only digital. Often, that means they are pdf files and many don’t include an Index.

   I’ve found that most students don’t read the digital textbooks. They search them for answers to tests and their scores typically reflect the version of Acrobate Reader they have, because some versions have better search features than others.

   In discussions, where I require that students refer to the readings and cite their textbooks, MOST don’t do it. That means instead of discussing course content, they discuss personal experiences and express opinions that are not based on research.

   My conclusion is that, if you want to dumb down education and foster test takers rather than readers with in-depth content knowledge, digital textbooks are definitely the way to go.

   Reply