Don't go changin'...to try and please me...

Another moment in subversive speeches to students

Did anyone else cry at this speech? I read it and cried. Then saw it and cried.

Sheesh.

I'm with stupid

A good excuse?

From the Chicago Tribune:

One 10-year-old Wisconsin girl has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama. John Corpus of Green Bay stood to ask Obama a question about health care during his town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School. He told Obama his daughter Kennedy missed school to attend the event and he hoped she didn't get in trouble.

"Do you need me to write a note?" Obama said. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious. On a piece of paper, he wrote: "To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama." He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note -- to the girl's great surprise.

"I thought he was joking until he started walking down," Kennedy said after the event, showing off the note in front of a bank of television cameras. "It was like the best thing ever." The fourth-grader at Aldo Leopold elementary in Green Bay already knew exactly what she was going to do with the note: get it framed along with her ticket to Thursday's event. She said she'd make a copy to give to her teacher. Kennedy said Thursday was the first time she's seen Obama. "He's really nice," she said.

A good start?

Wrong one

The inevitable joke

If asked 100 years ago, if an African American man would ever be elected president, the answer would have been: When pigs fly.

Look! 100 years later. Barack Obama is president and Swine Flu (flew)

Ar-ar-ar-d-ar-ar!

Sorry.

I just had to share!

Congratulations, Mr. President on your first 100 days

As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity. Fully 73% of Americans – including as many as 46% of Republicans – hold a favorable view of Obama as a person. Fewer people held favorable impressions of George W. Bush (61%) and Bill Clinton (60%) early in their first years.

Are we there yet?

Obama backs merit pay, charter schools

Personally, I agree but will this ruffle some feathers? Probably.

Even if it causes a flap, thank god we are having this conversation. And, from the big cheese himself. The time is long over due.

So, I am with you, big O; now let's hear some details.

What do you think?

From the AP:

President Barack Obama called for tying teachers' pay to students' performance and expanding innovative charter schools Tuesday, embracing ideas that have provoked hostility from members of teachers unions. He also suggested longer school days — and years — to help America's kids compete in the world.

In his first big speech on education, Obama said the United States must drastically improve student achievement to regain lost international standing.

"The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens," he said. "We have everything we need to be that nation ... and yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us."

His solutions include teacher pay and charter school proposals that have met resistance among members of teachers unions, which constitute an important segment of the Democratic Party.

Obama acknowledged that conflict, saying, "Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom."

Despite their history on the issues, union leaders publicly welcomed Obama's words, saying it seems clear he wants to include them in his decisions in a way President George W. Bush did not.

"We finally have an education president," said Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers. "We really embrace the fact that he's talked about both shared responsibility and making sure there is a voice for teachers, something that was totally lacking in the last eight years."

Should we help him or give him a wedgie?

You tell me.

Great speech, Mr. President! Hurray!!!!!!

Inaugural address is controversial in Federal Way schools?

Although schools, businesses and households throughout America and the world will proudly broadcast and watch this historic Inaugural address, Federal Way School District has decided that it is just too controversial and wants individual parents to decide if they want their kids to see it. Parents need to sign a permission slip or "opt in" for their children to see the address.

O brother!

From King 5:

Millions of people will be glued to the TV next week when President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath of office. But in Federal Way, students will need to get permission from their parents to watch the historical inauguration in school.

“I think that's a little overkill,” said parent Pam Ditzhazy. “Maybe it should even been required to see it. It's a huge event.”

Federal way principals received an e-mail notifying them of the rule.

“There is no big deal. The goal is to once again build partnerships, keep parents informed. Say ‘Hey. This is your child. Your education.’ We think it's a great opportunity. We're going to afford the kids that opportunity, but we want the parents to make that call,” said Dr. Joshua Joseph Garcia, Federal Way's Executive Director of Teaching for Learning.

The concern is that the televised inauguration was not listed in syllabus handed out at the beginning of the term. The district considers the inauguration a full length documentary, unlike some newspaper or internet reference articles which do not require pre-approval.

Students who don’t return the signed forms will go somewhere else for a different assignment.

Federal Way is the same district that put a moratorium on Al Gore's Oscar winning film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth,” while the board investigated whether a screening adhered to district policies.

Some parents do not consider the inauguration as an issue needing balance but, instead, a current event that will shape their child's future.

“It’s pretty exciting, like the Olympics,” said parent Liu Rameriz.

Neither Seattle nor Tacoma schools require parental permission before students can watch the inauguration.

A shining moment...

It's official!

I, and so many others, dared to hope and look what happened! Let that be a lesson, pessimism. I will not doubt the collective will and energy of positive thinking again.

Tonight we sleep happy and content and tomorrow we rise to work and build a positive future for our world.

Thanks so much to all who worked hard and hoped.

Bless you.

XOX

Vote! Vote! Vote!

I really wasn't going to get political but with less that one week left before the election, I just couldn't help it.

I don't think it will surprise anyone that I am a very committed, super excited Obama supporter. I love my country and I want it back.

This is a historic election; go out and Vote!

I just have to share a couple of things I have stumbled across on the internet;

Rosa sat, so Martin could walk…
Martin walked, so Obama could run…
Obama is running, so our children can FLY!




This is powerful stuff folks!