what's behind the rabbit?

Olympic Trials in Black and White

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:09:53 -0400

Old-school running kicks, smoke breaks and Bruce Jenner. Images from the 1972 United States Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore.

Photo

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:39:30 -0500

"Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or..."

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:26:20 -0500

“Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.”

- Bill Baxley, 2003.

Sometimes, the darkness wins.

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:06:02 -0400

Sometimes, the darkness wins.

Photo

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:05:41 -0400

That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:29:09 -0400

That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.

Ontological Parsimony

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:20:05 -0500

It is irrational to believe in the existence of anything unless the overall evidence supports your claim.

"Teachers are not the problem in education. Look, most teachers are altruistic do-gooders who are in..."

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:54:30 -0500

“

Teachers are not the problem in education.

Look, most teachers are altruistic do-gooders who are in the profession because they believe in the importance of what they are doing. We are not motivated by money so “merit pay” is pointless. We have certain protections (not tenure, though) because our jobs would otherwise be subject to the whims of state legislatures, principals, parents, and even students, not the marketplace. Like doctors and lawyers, teachers sign an oath. Unlike doctors and lawyers, teachers can’t pick and choose their clients. Like other professions, the more experienced teachers are the better teachers. Unlike other professions, the majority of teachers leave the profession in their first five years. Like all human beings, teachers have certain physical and emotional needs. Unlike other professionals, teachers can’t go to the bathroom when they need to, call in sick if they want to (not unless they want to come back to a class in utter chaos), take a break if they need it, make or accept phone calls, have a long lunch, leave early on a Friday, come to work late on a Monday, get paid for all the work they do, chat with colleagues around the water cooler, give all the grunt work to a secretary, expect more than cursory attention to the cleanliness of the workplace (floors get mopped once a year, rooms are never dusted, windows are never washed).

While I have no doubt that there are people who should leave the teaching profession, the “bad teacher” meme has become the new “conventional wisdom.” If districts were given the latitude to lay off any teacher they wanted, believe me, they would not be looking at the effectiveness of the teachers. They would simply look at how much each teacher costs the district and lay them off accordingly. How do I know? Because districts always make decisions that maximize revenue, even at the expense of student learning. I’ve seen it.

The fact of the matter is that teachers are not the problem in education. Schools that do poorly are in areas with students who come to school with certain disadvantages. (See Diane Ravitch) Comparisons with students from other countries generally compare their elite students to our general population. Head to head comparisons between American and other elite students show much less disparity or none at all. Unions do not stand in the way of educational progress. As I tell people, my working conditions are my students’ learning conditions. My union, while far from perfect, has been out front in advocating for children - smaller class sizes, more money for the classroom, universal preschool, etc.

I’m so tired of having to justify myself and my profession. We’re teachers, for goodness sake. We provide a much needed service to the welfare of the nation’s children. We’re not responsible for the crash of the economy, the collapse in revenues, etc. I’m not paid enough to be that much of a problem. It is a topsy turvy world where teachers are the new villains and the crooks on Wall Street and big business are the knights in shining armor.

”

- swampland comment section

Wind and Mr. Ug

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 10:41:43 -0500

Wind and Mr. Ug

The Other Parent

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:12:35 -0500

full tank

empty car

homeward bound.

Voodoo. who do? you do! ( reblogged just for @aswarren ).

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:55:58 -0400

Voodoo. who do? you do! ( reblogged just for @aswarren ).

Clever girl. via gordonshumway: Clever girl. —via

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:02:02 -0400

Clever girl.

via gordonshumway:

Clever girl.

—via

"The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the tower of nine storeys rose from a..."

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:40:46 -0400

“The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout;
the tower of nine storeys rose from a heap of earth;
the journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step.”

- Tao Te Ching (Lao-Tzu)

Beside the Point

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:35:00 -0400

(by Stephen Cushman)

The sky has never won a prize.
The clouds have no careers.
The rainbow doesn’t say my work,
thank goodness.

The rock in the creek’s not so productive.
The mud on the bank’s not too pragmatic.
There’s nothing useful in the noise
the wind makes in the leaves.
Buck up now, my fellow superfluity,
and let’s both be of that worthless ilk,
self-indulgent as shooting stars,
self-absorbed as sunsets.
Who cares if we’re inconsequential?
At least we can revel, two good-for-nothings,
in our irrelevance; at least come and make
no difference with me.

via The Virginia Quarterly Review.

Calvin & Hobbes: Han and Chewie. gordonshumway: TeeFury:...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:23:25 -0400

Calvin & Hobbes: Han and Chewie.

gordonshumway:

TeeFury: Tell us a little about this design.

Chris Wahl: Like most nerds my age, I was raised watching Star Wars and reading Calvin and Hobbes and the two sets of characters combined seemed to work perfectly together. Which begs the question, was Chewbacca just Han’s stuffed toy/ imaginary friend?

— Buy it on TeeFury

— More from Chris Wahl

meldoesgradschool: (Not So) Bad Romance

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:55:15 -0400

meldoesgradschool:

(Not So) Bad Romance

Lose the shits.

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:48:50 -0400

Lose the shits.

WTF? Survival BRACELETS?

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 08:21:03 -0400

WTF? Survival BRACELETS?

"You missed that I, like millions of others, go to work 5 days a week. That business are sitting on..."

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:32:13 -0400

“

You missed that I, like millions of others, go to work 5 days a week. That business are sitting on cash and are waiting for me to spend my money before they will spend theirs. At the same time they are telling me that they must retrench, reduce my benefits, lay-off workers etc., all in an effort to maximize profits.

I know the argument, they are the risk takers, they make the economy, create the jobs, etc.. If true why are asking me to spend my money, take the risk to go in debt for their product and, they are sitting on the cash waiting for me to jump in, while laying us off? Where is their risk?

”

- Swampland

Whetting Stone

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:40:19 -0400

Whetting Stone:

Let the wheel spin

‘til the wet stone whines

let the blade thin

‘til the sharp edge shines

this world is the whetting stone

for my jagged soul.