Self Identity

This mess with Rachel Dolezal makes me think of a young man I knew a long time ago. 

Let's call him David.

He was a Caucasian male with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, but in his heart, he was Korean through and through. He was far more Korean than I ever was even when I lived in Korea (maybe because I was only ten years old at the time).

I met him in the early 90's, and after graduating from college, he decided to do his graduate work at Yonsei University in Korea. It's considered one of the Ivy League universities of Korea. When he arrived at Yonsei University, he did complain about how blood was so thick in Korea, how it was almost impossible for a "foreigner" to become fully accepted, etc. But he didn't just complain. He joined clubs, really put himself out there to make friends, and got involved in on-campus athletics the only way possible for him (he wasn't at all athletic) - as the school mascot.

Initially, it was a big deal for him to take off his mask and reveal his face to the surprised and delighted audience members. But after awhile, no one was surprised to see his face; in fact, the audience was surprised when someone else stood in for him.

I've lost touch with David over the years. I don't know what he's doing, but I know where he is living - in South Korea somewhere. There was a connection, he said, and it was far deeper than anything he felt for his birthplace, Montclair, CA.

It is completely OK for Rachel Dolezal to identify herself with one group of people, but it was utterly wrong for her to pretend that she was from that group when she wasn't. She lied to the people closest to her. The very people who trusted and believed her, she betrayed. And she betrayed their trust every single day she kept quiet. 

The betrayal of trust. That is the difference. 

Looking for a Silver Bullet

2+2=What? Parents rail against Common Core math

http://news.yahoo.com/2-2-parents-rail-against-common-core-math-060635222.html

An Iowa woman jokingly calls it "Satan's handiwork." A California mom says she's broken down in tears. A Pennsylvania parent says it "makes my blood boil."

I don't know what to expect.

I often see some parent railing against Common Core Math (more so than any other subject) on Yahoo! every now and then, and the specific moronic examples make me wonder what is going on, but I know this is not fair. Not one thing, such as different teaching method, can change or improve something so drastically. I know this, but still hope to be wrong.

Call it what you like. Math by any other name is Math, and that alone intimidates a lot of kids and adults. Therefore, I go by the rule of simpler is better (actually, this is my rule for a lot of things). There is a time for multistep, drawn out explanations (Geometry with theorems and proofs) and maybe that needs to come in the middle school time-frame, I don't know. But I don't think making math more complicated or convoluted is the solution (I'm mostly going by the internet examples).

One more personal gripe about Common Core Standards (as I know it practiced at our school) - too much testing! I thought standardized testing went away with STAR testing being gone, but boy, was I wrong.  Now, instead of testing students once a year, I think our schools students are tested three times a year! What is going on? What happened to the reduction of standardized testing? Hey, testing by any other name is still testing. 

American children do not go to school as long as some of their better test-taking counterparts. Therefore, I'm not sure if they should lose any more time in testing (three times a year!) when we don't really know what the test results are used for. I ask you - what are they used for? Do they effect next year's curriculum? If anyone has an answer, please let me know.

 I've also heard the imperative of transforming our schools to meet "21st Century Education" challenges, meaning bringing more computers and technology into our schools. Again, I know this alone isn't going to improve our education system, but again, I live in hope.

But the reality is this. A computer is a tool, just like a piece of paper and a pencil. It can only be as effective as a student who is using it. And in order to be effective, this student must be under an effective teacher's guidance. But lately, people are expecting technology alone to be the silver bullet that fixes the broken educational system. 

More and more chrome books are going into our schools, and I'm not convinced that that's a good thing. So far, I think they are effectively used in ~1/3 of the classrooms, max. Otherwise, I think they are little better than baby-sitters. And I've seen my child guess at and trick programs to get the correct answers. Can this be called learning? What is my child learning to do? Trick a software program. I guess you can call that problem-solving, but I'd rather have my child problem-solve with other children and teachers.  Maybe I'm too old-fashioned or too-anti technology, but I think we need to minimize the computer time in schools rather than maximize it.

Another question I'd like to ask is...how much is this costing the school district? A software program can't be cheap for a 700 students let alone 7,000 or more. A software program is useless without a computer or chrome book to run it on. So, how much more does that cost a school of 700 students or 7,000 students? How much money are we talking about here? Is it $100,000? Is it$500,000? Or is it $1,000,000? More?? Is this the best way to spend that money? How about hiring more teachers? Or reducing classroom sizes so that there will be more interaction between students and teachers? So, introducing technology into the classrooms alone is not a solution.

Well, for starters, I think parental involvement is crucial. Parental involvement doesn't mean blaming the teachers and administrators of your child's school. What I mean by it is an active parental engagement - checking homework, talking with children about the day, listening, etc. Several times, I've been shocked to hear a parent blame a teacher for his/her child's problems. A school/teacher gets that child for usually six hours a day in elementary school (if we take away recess and lunch, probably about five hours). No matter how long the child is in school, we, the parents, are responsible for that child. Period. No ifs or buts. We, the parents, need to own the fact that whatever the problem the child has, existed long before he/she entered school, and will exist long after he/she leaves this teacher, this school if the parents choose not to correct the behavior/situation. I think parental disengagement is one of the biggest contributing factors in children who struggle in school.

 So, what is the solution? I think there's a place for innovative teaching methods, stronger curricula, and technology. But no matter how many fancy computers populate our classrooms and nifty teaching methods are introduced to our children, nothing is assured of success unless the parents engage with their children actively.

P.S. - Just in case anyone is curious, I am not a teacher, but I've been teaching science as a volunteer (hands-on science projects) at my children's school for seven years now, covering K to 6th grade.

Rough Waters over Asia

I had hoped for a more peaceful world since the Berlin wall came down, but maybe that was just a prelude to a nightmarish world riddled with conflict - over oil, over food, over territorial rights, etc. I see more and more of these headlines on Yahoo and other websites, and it concerns me for several reasons. 

1. I want a more peaceful world for my children to inherit. 
2. I'm from Korea, and what happens to it concerns me.
3. I don't want to live in a might makes right kind of world. 

But, I wonder what the Chinese websites would say about America's international influences and policies.... I try to remember that I'm not getting the whole picture of the situation and that there's always two sides to a coin. But....

China insists it has right to put oil rig off Vietnam

http://news.yahoo.com/china-insists-put-rig-off-vietnam-122818355.html

Scores of Chinese Fishing Boats Invade Korean Waters

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/05/02/2014050201344.html

As the world's population grows, the battle for resources (albeit food, water, energy, rare earth metals, etc.) will become even more fierce since economic growth will depend on having ready access to some or all of it. I wonder how much more dangerous the world will be when my children and grandchildren will take over the stewardship of this place.

Clive Cussler is one on my favorite authors. At a writer's conference while back, he was one of the speakers, and I tried to shake his hand at every opportunity. One of his books, and he write A LOT of books with the help of co-writers, titled Blue Gold. It's a riveting tale of world's powerful governments and people fighting over the dwindling source of potable water. When I first read it, a while back, I wondered if it would really come down to an awesome struggle like that, but now, with an increase in clashes over fishing rights, contradictory air space claims, mineral rights, energy rights, and more, I'm not sure an epic battle for water is that far off. 

The scariest part of all this is that parts of Chinese "posturing" reminds me of some pre-WWII events that took place in Europe. I hope I'm wrong. I hope China isn't going to just keep upping the stakes in Asian waters. I hope the world has learned something from the previous conflicts and take steps preemptively to prevent all out armed conflict (I haven't even touched on the situation in Ukraine). Is there a way to avoid all out armed conflict? I guess it all depends on whether one or the combination of USA, China and Russia believe in might makes right and try to test that adage.