heh

Lifted straight from Instapundit:

"This week, President Obama called for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers to beef up math and science achievement. Meanwhile, in America, Earth, Sol-System, public school employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment for 40 years (see chart), while achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and declined in science (see other chart).

Either the president is badly misinformed about our education system or he thinks that promising to hire another 10,000 teachers union members is politically advantageous–in which case he would seem to be badly misinformed about the present political climate. Or he lives in an alternate universe in which Kirk and Spock have facial hair and government monopolies are efficient. It's hard to say."

(original piece here.) 

Stoicism - an old idea is new again

A new book argues that some ancient Greek philosophers were onto something with their ideas about seeking

a life of "tranquility," meaning a life free of "anger, anxiety, fear, grief, and envy."

 

For everyone who complains

that Bush should have been more on the hot seat for the expansion of government under his watch: "Point taken."

On the other hand, throughout most of Bush's presidencies I just kept telling myself - "Thank heavens Gore(Kerry) didn't win."

I think that would have been worse.

And it doesn't mean that Obama should get a pass for going exponential on the path that Bush went down.

James Lileks from this date in 2003

It's worth reading ...

You'll shoot your eye out,

kid.

The facts about effective learning.

Essentially - mix it up.

For instance, many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite.

and

Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills. 

Also, different "learning styles"? False.

"Student traits and teaching styles surely interact; so do personalities and at-home rules. The trouble is, no one can predict how."

and

"The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing," the researchers concluded. 

Do Americans hate Muslims?

Actions speak louder than words ...