Education

What is education? How is it best to educate someone? Are there those who simply cannot be educated to do certain things? Progressive education? Traditional education? How can we educate the most students as humanly possible without sacrificing the opportunity supposedly afforded to all? Is it possible to care wholeheartedly and at the same time be totally immune to individual needs and struggles? Such is the emotional, philosophical, ethical, practical, professional, and ideological juggaurknot that is school.

Through experience, study, and deep thought, I have come to some of my own core values and beliefs regarding education, but they are less definable than one would think. It is the old adage of "i'm not sure what it is, but i'll know it when i see it." As cliche as that may sound, it is true. I have an undefinable pedagogy. Does this have the ability to be evaluated? Can it be measured? What does this mean--not only for me and my practice, but for those who are the subjects of this experiment and this wordless pedagogy?

Some would say that practice makes perfect, but I am not so sure I would agree with that? What is the good of practicing something if it is wrong or the methodology is flawed, or it is simply too inefficient to be a success? And how, anyway, do we define success? Not only in education but in life as well? Are there not overarching personal definitions and rating systems to everything we do? Where one sees only failure others may see the glimmer of hope for success and all is open for debate.

Questions, questions, questions.

~casey

Do as I say, not as I wage an unnecessary war

In a gesture of patronizing and posturing, G. W. Bush made a phone call to China to urge President Hu Jintao to ease up on Tibet and try talking it out. The maverick president is giving advice about talking?! I am 100% in favor of a free Tibet and helping enable that, but is this the best course of action to take to ensure that this happens? I think many people around the world--especially those that actually have knowledge of world affairs would err on the side of caution and steer clear of any advice coming from a person who never takes advice, public opinion, or the greater interest into mind. President Hu, run! Run far away from this man and his ideas for talking. Have you ever really even heard him speak? It is another language--one I am quite sure does not translate that well.

~casey

The Thirsty Whale...going........

I'm not sure if anyone has ever been here, but The Whale is a fun time. Good food, great beer, fun time. I love it so much better in the off-season, (as with most things on MDI) but it is always a good time nonetheless. Here's to another whale of a time this summer!


Cheers!
~casey

New RedBull video

Trice is unreal in the new redbull video.......i think there may be a touch of Maine with the sleds on water....Crazy!!


hopefully I will be able to get up to the mountain soon! I need to get on the snow with the friends!



~casey

gas, gas, gas

Well, we have some more great news from the trading world: oil is up again! Having just come back from a trip to the great state of Maryland, I can attest to the pinch. It is wholly soul-crushing when I get excited about traveling on the NJ turnpike simply because they have cheap gas. (true cheap is a relative term) $3.09 was the cheapest at the travel plazas, and even then I felt sick to my stomach when outside filling up....come to think of it, that may have just been because I was in New Jersey. Regardless, gas hurts and not only after having spicy food.

Time to tune up the old mountain bike!


~casey

The Reason for the Season

Well, another Easter has come and gone and there are about 1200 more miles on my car. With a belly full of ham (after being off of meat for almost 2 months) and a fist-full of jellybeans, I have made it through another holiday without any of those dreadful peeps


I have heard they are better stale, but I cannot comment. I did, however, enjoy the article and seeing the smiles on the faces of kids young and old!

~casey

Why won't this man 'Shut up, just shut up!'?

Thank god for media matters.org......I know, by now, that Bill-O is one of those 'journalists' that regards the truth as a decent jumping-off-point. It just seems that he--and he is not the only one--has no regard for the truth, actual research, or the implications of his statements. In my many conversations with people who have different view-points from mine, I have heard them say they like Bill-O because he 'tells it like it is'. He tells it like it is--TO HIM! This is abundantly true in his comments on education.

What are these studies? It is so convienient that the actual names of the studies and the people who published them are completely absent. It may be true that there are more liberals in academia, but that does not show an anti-American curriculum. It is about time--don't you think--that history is taught from multiple viewpoints than just the rich white male? This perspective has guided the path of history curriculum for long enough. If the goal should be to educate our children and teach them how to consider different points of view and ask questions and think for themselves, then do we not want to teach them history that does not always present America or Western culture, for that matter, in an over-glorified light. Oh wait, that's right, independent thought is dangerous.

People like Bill-O seem to not only not care about real education, the seem to favor a system that is dumbed down all in the name of furthering the status quo. They fear change and the potential a power strongly argued point of view could yield. Bill-O and your followers, maybe try teaching before you bitch and complain about the methods and the subject matter.

~casey

my 1st time

And so it begins.........
this is the first entry of Maine on 'The Hill'. This will be the place for discussion on politics, beer, leisure time activities, and everything to do with the great state of Maine and the uber preppy Beacon Hill neighborhood in which I now reside.

A little about me:
I am Casey Lawson and I originally come from Dedham, Maine. A life-long resident of this great state, I decided to make the move to Beacon Hill in August of 2007. I, really, am not that interesting and I will keep the personal fodder to a minimum. I teach history and government at a small charter school in Chelsea, MA and live with my girlfriend and springer spaniel puppy.

Politics and history are my passions as well as the great outdoors. Hiking, snow-shredding, boating, camping, and the like are all things near and dear to my heart. Always a lover of the hops and barley, I am never one to forgo a tasting of good (and not so good) beer. In no way am I a beer snob and frequently partake in the consumption of the Ribbon and for all of you from the 'Land of Pleasant Living', some National Bohemian--when I can get it.

Stay tunned for politics, social commentary, my thoughts on education, some jokes, talk of snow, and beer stories--all with a nice liberal slant!

More to come..........