Teacher Lore

One of my education classes at the College of Idaho included one in which we studied teacher lore. Studying teacher lore can be a valuable learning experience, even though it's not quantifiable and measurable--it doesn't have studies and statistics to prove whether or not it's true. Since studies and statistics can be altered and adjusted to fit the goals of those asking for the study, who can say what is true? I've posted arguments for and against charter schools and school choice. Here's an article that is entirely anecdotal, but convincing in its portrayal of charter vs. public schools.

My fun morning

I got an urgent phone call late last night--a ticket to see Sarah Palin had become available. With thoughts of the impossibility of finding a babysitter for an event less than 12 hours away, I almost dismissed the call. I can see Sarah any day on the news if I want to, right? But just in case...I sent an email to a friend who thinks she owes me babysitting (and she doesn't--she's way too nice about watching my kids), and to my utter surprise, she emailed me back, saying she was available!

So this morning, to my surprise, I found myself attending a Vaughn Ward rally, in which Palin was to be the guest speaker. (My husband likes Ward, I've been a supporter of his opponent, Raul Labrador, in case you're wondering.)

Here is a photo of the group I went with:

Dave and Tara Nielson, Suszette Rockwood, and Greg Ogden

Suszette and I have been Palin groupies since McCain picked her to be his VP. Suszette grew up in Wasilla, and has a particular affinity for Alaska and it's former Governor. Greg Ogden there on the right is the one that scored the tickets for us.


At first, this was as close a shot as I could get of Palin:


oops, that's Vaughn Ward! Just kidding--sadly for Ward, I think people were there to see SP more so than support his candidacy. He seems like a good guy, though.

OK, here's Sarah:


But after the rally--look at how much closer I was able to get!


The person holding the other camera you can see in this picture is Suszette, who, with my help (I have to steal credit wherever I can), was able to talk to Sarah, get an autograph, a hug, AND a photo with Sarah! You'll have to hear her side of the story--it's so fun! (She actually asked Todd Palin to take the photo before the security guard grabbed the camera and took it for her!) I knew that other people were there who wanted to see Sarah as much as I did, so I got out of the way after I took some close up photos. But before I left, I wanted to tell Sarah and Todd how grateful I am that they put up with so much garbage to do what they do. I barely squeaked out "Thank you!" before I turned to go, and I doubt they even heard. But my girl Suszette got to hang with her "Sista from Wasilla" so it was a good day!

Taxpayer dollars vs. Federal dollars

When will people realize that there is no difference between "Federal dollars" and "Taxpayer dollars?"

Just saw a quiz asking who will pay for the BP Oil disaster, and the choices were
A. BP
B. Federal Government
C. Taxpayer dollars

I think it's because people think of federal money as something different than taxpayer dollars that Greece is in the mess that it's in, and why the U.S. is headed down the same path.