Teaching Evolution

I won't need it just yet, but I happened on a useful website concerning what evolution is and how to teach it: Understanding Evolution for Teachers.

Non-teachers whom are nonplussed about evolution might venture a peek, as well.

from my opposite-of-humble abode to yours

I pay the big bucks for this blackberry to do pointless things like post entries in a mostly unknown blog, wishing a handful of readers a happy thanksgiving and such, but to also remind myself that I can afford certain luxuries, even on the school payroll. And then we spend thanksgiving in a family member's mansion and converse with lawyers and business folk, next to the personal home theater and swimming pool slash waterfall.
I grip my pda to avoid letting nervous sweats carry it out of my hands and make small talk lacking a "sophistication" but with an eye of certain envy. I hate the thoughts that money makes me think.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fresh Prince of the Eukaryotic Cell

A student turned in his cell project that I assigned the class. I gave a list of options as to what each student could choose to make for their project, and this student chose to write a short story about the organelles in a cell. Here is an excerpt:

"Hello, you may think that even the smallest of organelles, the ribosome, is not of any importance to the cell, but you're wrong! This is my story about a little organelle like me in a BIG cell! Today I was making proteins for the cell and giving them to the E.R. to fold them correctly. Suddenly, the cell went into code red! Every organelle needed to get its job done and protein was in high demand. Usually we can get stored protein from places like the vacuole but there were none left! The whole cell was working and in the confusion I was ripped from the E.R. and went flying through the cytoplasm.

I tried to swim back but I didn't have the strength. "I'm just a lowly ribosome!", I said as I tried to get back connected to the E.R. Just then, I bumped into another couple organelles who were up to no good, started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air." I whistled for a cab and when it came near, the license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, "Nah, forget it. Yo Homes.. To Bel-Air!" I.. pulled... up to the house at about 7 or 8 and I yelled to the cabby "Yo homes, smell ya later!" I looked at my kingdom I was finally there, to sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel-Air.

I fell out of my chair laughing.

Google predicts the next outbreak

I just taught viruses in class, but I might go back and introduce Google's latest creation to my class, Google Flu Trends:

"We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Of course, not every person who searches for "flu" is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries from each state and region are added together. We compared our query counts with data from a surveillance system managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and found that some search queries tend to be popular exactly when flu season is happening. By counting how often we see these search queries, we can estimate how much flu is circulating in various regions of the United States."

Their search data aligns well to actual medical data and, because of the time taken for CDC data collection/analysis, can be made available 2 weeks ahead of the news from health agencies. I seldom get the flu, but if you do, Google has surely invented something (else) that can help.

Great is our sin

"If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin."

- Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, 1839

Science may make a comeback

President-Elect Barack Obama has set science and society up for success with his new agenda:

The economy and foreign policy may be higher on President-elect Barack Obama's to-do list, but science and technology issues are on the radar screen as well. Among the top tasks: taking the ideology out of scientific issues, and doing more about what Obama has called a "planet in peril."

This is good news for many reasons, one of which: I'm tired of writing cynical blog posts relating to stem cells. Give me some better material to work with!

Bittersweet

The good: President-Elect Barack Obama's new website

The bad:

Prop 8, eliminating gay marriage in California, passed by a slim margin. Prop 8 was decided by 250,000 voters, or 2.5% of the total vote. I am convinced that these voters, if not more of them, were voting not because of a belief that gay marriage is wrong, but because they worried it would be taught in our public schools. The issue of gay marriage in schools was one of the bigger issues pushed by the Yes-on-8 crowd. You can even see evidence of it in their banner, with the 2 adult figures protecting the 2 children (as if gay marriage had anything to do with family structure).

As a public high school teacher, I could just spit when I hear about how absolutely convinced folks are that schools would have taught gay marriage had Prop 8 failed. It's also unnerving to see how poorly the No-on-8 campaign refuted this dishonest claim. One measly ad featuring Jack O'Connell, the California Superintendent of Schools, was not nearly enough to halt the momentum of this race. Prop 8 was never about gay marriage in schools, yet the other side succeeded in playing this canard to voters. I'd applaud their strategy were it not so vile and baseless, tainted with church views that homosexuality is sinful.

Tonight's the night

"It's gonna be a glorious day!
I feel [our] luck could change."

- Lucky by Radiohead

A Teacher's View of Prop 8

I already voted via CA absentee ballot, so even if the fear-mongering ads supporting Proposition 8 were capable of hypnosis, my vote would safely continue to say, "No thanks: I don't much care for discrimination."

The latest polls show that this is a very close race, which it should not be, considering this is 2008 in Cali-fucking-fornia. Come on. It took us 2 years to get the hippies out of the trees of my university, yet we're really this willing to rewrite our state constitution to prefer one type of love over another?

Googling Prop 8 to see why this can actually be a possibility adds to the rage, since Yes-on-8 websites are clearly determined to shit all over the California Education Code with their own versions of truth designed to beguile the public.

***

Let's summarize what the code actually says, along with a 2003 sex education research study cited by the Yes-on-8 crowd, to understand what it is I actually have to teach your kids:

1) CA Education Code 51933 states that school districts "may provide comprehensive sexual health education" in any grade as long as it is age-appropriate and factual. It's likely your neighborhood school does. 96% of schools chose to do so.

2) CA Education Code 51890 elaborates on what a comprehensive sexual health education program entails, which is a vast spectrum of health topics concerning drugs, exercise, disease and making good decisions. Also included is this topic:

"Family health and child development, including the legal and
financial aspects and responsibilities of marriage and parenthood."

Notice I don't really get into what marriage is, but the fact that it is legally binding, and involves vague financial aspects. Oh, and sometimes you have kids, too. The big idea here is that with commitment comes responsibility. This will not change with Prop 8.

3) Jumping back to CA Ed. Code 51933, there is another passage concerning marriage that is part of the health program that most schools teach:

"Instruction and materials shall teach respect for marriage and
committed relationships."

Students should consider relationships and committed relationships with respect. Students should respect that 2 people choose to commit to one another. The point, as given from the context, is that commitment and honesty are both traits found in a healthy lifestyle. That includes the commitment of heterosexual couples and of homosexual couples. The institution of marriage and what marriage means is not the focus. This will not change with Prop 8.

4) Yes, you read right, I can talk about homosexual couples. Also from CA Ed. Code 51933:

"Instruction and materials shall be appropriate for use with
pupils of all races, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic and
cultural backgrounds, and pupils with disabilities."

My instruction would not be appropriate if I chose to disregard certain sexual orientations and not others. This will not change with Prop 8.

5) Another mention of the role of marriage is contained within CA Education Code 51930 as one of the goals of these programs:

"To encourage a pupil to develop healthy attitudes concerning
adolescent growth and development, body image, gender roles, sexual
orientation, dating, marriage, and family."

Marriage in this context is nothing more than a committed relationship, as another aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Notice again that I am already teaching about sexual orientation and how that relates to dating and committed relationships. This will not change with Prop 8.


6) Despite what CA Education Code states, an ACLU research study conducted in 2003 found that while 96% of schools opted to teach an (optional) sexual health education program, many did not include all of the required components discussed above. For instance, 71% of middle schools omit teaching the required topics about contraception, condom effectiveness or abstinence. Exact data on how frequently the "marriage/committed relationships" topic is taught is not reported, even though proponents of Prop 8 continue with dishonest claims that nearly all schools teach marriage.

7) Knowing all of this, if parents still look unfavorably at the topics covered in this sexual health education program, they have CA Education Code 51938-51939, which states that I must notify parents at the beginning of the year of sexual health topics that will be covered. Parents can request to see any of the materials I will use to teach these topics, and can pull their student out of any or all portions of this program. If you still don't believe me that marriage is not and will not be a focus in your school, ask to see the materials, and if it is not to your liking, request that your child be given alternative instruction. This will not change with Prop 8.

8) My diverse students have diverse perspectives and took diverse life paths to get to where they are now, and my instruction needs to be aware of that. Some kids are raised by families with a mom and a dad, but there are many exceptions to that "rule". To be certain that my kids are growing up with a respect for diversity and an open, critical mind to differences, I need to expose them to these differences now. In the context of a sexual health education program, I teach them that commitment is a healthy choice, regardless of who is doing the committing. This will not change with Prop 8.